Trader Joe’s A Tasting of Ten Teas with Infuser

The pros:  If there is a tea lover in your life Trader Joe’s Tasting of Ten Teas could make a wonderful gift, stocking stuffer, or hostess gift for someone.

The cons:  The tea infuser is less than ideal. Less than ideal is an understatement. Some teas I almost needed a fork and knife to consume. I had a hard time cleaning it out after making the gun powder green tea. It didn’t handle the Lemongrass Rosehip Infusion well either. It had made loose bits in my tea. You’ll need a funnel to try to transfer the tea to the infuser.

The verdict:  We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

For $12.99 it’s a reasonable price for 10 different teas and an infuser that is marginally useful. Would absolutely make a lovely stocking stuffer or gift to someone who really enjoys their tea.

The box on the shelves:

The back of the box:

What’s inside the box:

Loose tea is expensive, especially if you are an enthusiast or a Teavana fan. One bag can easily set you back $10 (if not more). This is a good way to try out a variety of flavors without having to commit to several ounces of a flavor you end up hating. You just have to hope Trader Joe’s keeps those flavors on the shelves so you can buy the ones you really like. I doubt I’ll keep the infuser after I polish off the set. While it’s a nice idea, its not well executed. I had to use some of my seafood forks to get the tea out of the infuser which I found frustrating. The utilized the space they had in the package, but if you really like the person you are giving this to, then please give them a real infuser or better yet, tell them they can use their french press to properly infuse and strain their tea.

As far as the flavors go here are my thoughts:

Floral Herbal Infusion- It smelled both floral and of rosemary. When tasting it, there was a very delicate taste, almost like a green tea but with a lavender finish.

Gun Powder Green Tea- I tried this first because of the name and curiousity. The leaves expanded greatly without the flavor being strong. Even with the infuser half full this struggled to make the water look even flavored. Mild green tea taste

Lemon Grass Rosehip Infusion-  Light in color when brewed. This tea liked to escape the infuser. I loved the taste of this it was nice, mellow and very lemony. I did not love having texture to my tea in the form of the loose tea.

Minty Green Tea- Exactly what is says in the same, however Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Green Tea was far tastier and I wasn’t fighting with the infuser. Did I mention the infuser isn’t great? This tea left some, um, texture, in my tea as parts of the tea were able to pass right through the infuser.

Raspberry Black Tea- Tasty, nice and dark brewed in water. Very subtle raspberry flavor. Black tea was strong but the raspberry was the finish.

Vanilla and Rooibos Tea-  A strong red/brown tea that is fine in texture. This gave me the biggest headaches with the infuser. Flavorful tea but won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Subtle vanilla flavor and strong Rooibos flavor.

After buying this infuser from Amazon.com, the same Vanilla Rooibos tea looked like this after being brewed. I own this infuser, its awesome and I recommend it:

Now you won’t need a fork, knife, and dental floss to enjoy your tea.

Want to see more items I’ve tried from Trader Joe’s? Click on Thoughts & Reviews of Trader Joe’s for a searchable list.

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