The Good: Good aroma, Good ingredients, Good ginger kick
The Bad: Expensive (comparatively), Weak primary taste
The Basics: A good, but in no way extraordinary tea, Organic Ginger from Yogi Tea meets the ginger tea enthusiast's needs at a steep price.
In recent years, tea has become a health food that is associated with almost every diet fad and alternative lifestyle. I tend to like my teas made from all natural ingredients and environmentally responsible, but I don't subscribe to any specific philosophies that surround tea drinking, like practicing yoga (not since college), eating all organic (I'm a cheapskate) nor embracing vegetarianism (I love meat). So when I was granted some Yogi Tea - check out my review of the Berry Detox by clicking here! - my instant thought was that Ginger Organic was more part of a food fad than an actually wonderful product.
Fad or not, the Ginger Organic is a good tea, but it's not an extraordinary tea. This comes from the simple fact that Ginger Organic is more robust in its aftertaste than its primary flavoring. The result is a tea which is good, but in no way extraordinary. When one considers that it is also one of the more expensive teas on the market, it becomes even harder to recommend.
Basics
Ginger Organic is a tea from Yogi. It is a tea that is caffeine free and it is a fairly weak herbal tea. Ginger Organic comes in Yogi's standard individually-wrapped tea bags, means that each tea bag has a papery envelope it is sealed in for freshness. Each tea bag has a five-inch string with a little paper tab at the end, which is quite a bit more waste than I like from a tea bag. When I make pots of tea, I tend to use two bags and making a steeping pot of Ginger Organic reminds me of why I like the easy environmentalism of Celestial Seasonings' stringless bags. A box of Ginger Organic comes with only 16 individually-wrapped tea bags, which makes it proportionately more expensive than most teas on the market.
Ginger Organic is marketed as a ginger-flavored tea and it is adequate in that regard, but only because of the aftertaste. For those looking for a prepackaged ginger tea, this might fit the bill, but it is a bit pricey and the benefits are not as plentiful as one might hope. Yogi Tea recommends using Ginger Organic tea as a digestive aid, but I've not had digestive problems to evaluate the medicinal aspect of this tea.
Ease of Preparation
Ginger Organic is an herbal tea (no actual tea leaves in it), which means preparation is as easy as boiling a pot of water! Ginger Organic, as the directions clearly state, require water that is boiling. A single tea bag will make the standard 8 oz. coffee mug worth of tea, though reusing the tea bags yields little more than hot water. These tea bags can be reused and the resulting beverage is about 1/2 strength and has a more potent dry aftertaste than the original brewing. I tend to make my tea using a 32 oz. steeping tea pot and that works well, even for a second pot.
To prepare Ginger Organic, simply boil up some water, and pour it over the tea bags in a cup, mug or steeping pot. This tea is recommended to take three to five minutes to steep and after a couple pots, I've found that with boiling water, the tea is ready at the four minute mark and letting it steep longer does not truly change the results. Letting the tea steep more than five minutes does not net any additional flavor, nor does it denature the flavor of the tea.
Taste
Ginger Organic smells like ginger, which prepares the consumer for a strong tea from the first sip. The aroma is distinct and clear and those looking for a ginger scent (not gingerbread, but actual ginger root) will find it from this tea.
The taste, however, is very bland, for the first two to three seconds. In that time, Ginger Organic tastes like a diluted black tea which is utterly disappointing. For seconds, the tea tastes like mildly flavored water and the consumer is likely to be seriously bummed by the experience.
But then, the aftertaste kicks in. The aftertaste is a mix of ginger and black pepper and it is sharp and delightful. The flavor is a perfect liquid embodiment of ginger and the black pepper flavor enhances it with a bite that is an intriguing taste sensation.
With a teaspoon of sugar, Ginger Organic's flavor is muted, but not undone. The tea is only mildly less sharp and sugar does not dilute the pepper taste much at all. As a result, this is a tea that always has kick. Similarly, milk does little for the tea, as it is overwhelmed by the pepper kick and the ginger sharpness. This is not an ideal tea to have iced, unless one likes cool, dry and sharp for their beverage choices.
Nutrition
It is utterly unsurprising that the dominant flavor in Ginger Organic is ginger as organic ginger root tops the ingredients list (followed closely by organic lemongrass and organic licorice root). Ginger Organic tea is all natural, gluten free, and does not contain caffeine. Were it not for the sugar I add whenever I make pots of Ginger Organic, this tea would be devoid of any nutritional value. It contains no calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrates or protein.
Storage/Clean-up
Ginger Organic is a fairly light tea. As a result, cleanup is rather simple, save on fabrics. The mugs and steeping pot easily rinse out. This tea will stain if it is left on fabrics, so simply do not let the tea cups or mugs linger on light colored materials that might stain!
Ginger Organic is easy to clean up after - the tea bags may be disposed in the garbage, or composted if you have a good garden and/or compost pile. One of the nice things about this tea - like most - is that so long as it is kept cool and dry, it can last for a long time and it is easy to clean up. However, like all Yogi teas, there is extra waste from the strings, paper tabs and individual wrappings around each bag.
Overall
Organic Ginger tea from Yogi Tea is good, but because most of the taste comes delayed from the aftertaste, it is tough to laud it as a great tea, especially with the expense of it.
For other teas, please check out my reviews of:
Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane
Twinings Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng and Tahitian Vanilla
Dilmah Ceylon Green Tea
6/10
For other beverage reviews, please check out my index page!
© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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