It’s a new year, and one of my many resolutions is to drink more tea. As a Christmas gift, I received a gift certificate to Gong Fu Tea. For those that don’t know about this tea shop, it is a wonderful place to grab a wide variety of loose-leaf teas in central Iowa.

I was determined to pick up a sampling of some great teas:

Black Mango
This is a black tea that has the essence of mango and marigold flower petals. I was told that this tea would be great iced or hot.

La Piña Colada
I couldn’t resist trying this Bai Mu Dan white tea. It is blended with bits of pineapple and shredded coconut. After my initial smell of the tea, I was a bit weary of whether this tea could live up to it’s name; the smell reminded me of buttered popcorn. This was the first tea that I brewed after coming back from the shop, and I was not disappointed. With each sip, I have to remind myself that I’m drinking tea, and not an alcoholic beverage.

Spice
This is a spicy black tea that is blended with exotic spices. I find it to be a great way to start the day, but I am aware that other people believe that it’s too strong and feel that it’s giving them an ulcer with each sip.

Constant Companion
This black tea isn’t as potent as the Spice tea, but it still has a light kick. I has an orange citrus taste blended with some spices. Delicious.

Starbucks And Its Tazo Tea Latte
This past week I tried Starbucks London Fog. This drink is Earl Grey tea steeped with half water/half milk with a shot of vanilla. Starbucks adds some other stuff in it which I’m guessing is to attempt to mask the nasty mint flavor that their tazo brand of teas seem to have. Except for the mint flavor, the drink was pretty good. I’ll probably order it again.

Speaking of Tazo mint and other ramblings
Why does every Tazo tea have a mint flavor? The only Tazo item that doesn’t seem to have the weird minty flavor is their chai syrup, but I don’t think that it is really made tea — just flavored sugar. The chai at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is much more bold and has a kick, but the best chai I’ve had is made by Mike at Gong Fu Tea.