Thursday Tea Time - Up, Down, Up, Down

This week - a two times twofer!  Tazo Calm and Awake and Yogi Relaxed Mind and Refreshing Mint ReVitalize (which for ease of typing and your ease of reading, I shall refer to as - Calm, Awake, Relaxed and Revitalize.  I tried to match the box colors!)

Cost:  Calm & Awake - $2.79 sale at Target, regularly $3.29
Relaxed & Revitalize - $2.99 sale at Kroger, regularly $4.29
Number of teabags:  Calm & Awake - 20
Relaxed & Revitalize - 16
Caffeine: Calm - No
Awake - Yes
Relaxed - No
Revitalize - Yes
(That was easy to figure out, yes?)
Type of tea:  Calm - Herbal, Awake - Black, Relaxed - Herbal, Revitalize - Black & Herbal
Steeping time: Calm & Awake - 5 mimutes
Relaxed - 8, Revitalize - 4
Add ins:  Calm - plain and then Stevia, Awake - plain and then CBTL Fat Free/Sugar Free Vanilla powder
Relaxed - Honey, Revitalize - Honey (Instinct just told me honey would be best and it was perfect!)
Teabag fragrance:  Calm - Spearmint, Awake - Malty-fruity, Relaxed - Sage!?  That's a new one. Revitalized - Peppermint, and oddly familiar and reminiscent of the 1970's "Morning Thunder"!
Ingredients: Calm - Chamomile and hibiscus flowers, spearmint leaves, lemongrass, rose petals, blackberry leaves, color (turmeric & riboflavin , peppermint leaves, sarsaparilla root, lemon balm leaf, licorice root, natural flavor.
Awake - A blend of black teas
Relaxed - Sage, English lavender flower, nettle leaf, skullcap leaf, chrysanthemum flower, blackberry leaf, Gotu Kola, Helichrysum, Shank Pushpi, lemon myrtle, stevia leaf, boysenberry and lavender flavor
Revitalize - Peppermint leaf, Assam black tea, spearmint leaf, cinnamon bark, ginger root, cardamom seed, green tea leaf extract, black pepper, stevia leaf, kola nut, guarana seed and clove bud.
Opinion:  Calm was horrible!  It tasted of spearmint with an odd aftertaste.  I even thought the teabag smelled awful.  I threw it all in the trash as soon as I finished this review.  "Wonderful apple-like aroma"?!  per the box - don't think so.
Awake - Loved this!  It was absolutely perfect with the vanilla powder, making a great tea latte!  A good, strong black tea when you are just looking for a "cream and sugar" tea.
Relaxed - I felt like I was drinking poultry seasoning!  All I could smell was the sage as I held my mug to drink, then it tastes a little fruity, and then the sage returns.  Yuck.  This was formerly named, Meditative Time.  All I can think of is Thanksgiving turkey.  Maybe someone might like it at work, if they don't read this review first.  It is different, that's for sure!
Revitalized - Wow!  This does revitalize you! I even checked the mirror to see if my eyes were dilated.  (They weren't.)  The box says each teabag has 77mg of caffeine, compared to 90mg in an 8 ounce cup of coffee.  If you need a pick me up, this will do the trick!  No jitters or racing heartbeat, just bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!  I'm still buzzing a bit two hours later, even after trying that Relaxed Mind turkey.
Rating:   Calm - 0
Awake - 4.5
Relaxed - 0
Revitalized - 4, 5 if you need a buzz!