Monday, March 11, 2013

Bigelow’s Eggnogg’n Tea Is A Flavorful, But Inaccurate Seasonal Tea Well Worth Trying!


The Good: Nothing terrible in it, Easy to make, Smells like delightful spices, Caffeinated
The Bad: A lot of extra waste, Tastes more like egg nog’s spices than like actual egg nog.
The Basics: Bigelow’s seasonally-available Eggnogg’n tea is one of the best teas that does not quite taste like it is supposed to!


My wife and I have taken a shine to Bigelow’s Eggnogg’n tea. The flavored tea is an enjoyable one, but not one that truly lives up to the implications of its name. Eggnogg’n is not an egg nog-flavored tea; instead, it is a tea that tastes like all of the wonderful spices added to egg nog and in that regard, the tea is a rousing success. Still, as one who hoped for egg nog-flavored tea (which admittedly seems like an ambitious goal!), the Eggnogg’n is an initial letdown.

Fortunately, what the tea is more than makes up for what it is not!

Basics

Eggnogg’n is an all natural tea from Bigelow. It is a hibiscus-based tea that is caffeinated and richly spiced. It is inviting from the moment it comes out of the box and tea bag through the final sip. Eggnogg’n comes in Bigelow's standard individually-wrapped tea bags, which means that each tea bag has a wax 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 Eggnogg’n reminds me of why I like the easy environmentalism of Celestial Seasonings' stringless bags. A box of Eggnogg’n comes with 20 individually-wrapped tea bags.

Eggnogg’n is marketed as a winter tea that implies the flavor of egg nog and it lives up very well to mimicking the spices one associates with egg nog, while providing a decent caffeine kick!

Ease Of Preparation

Eggnogg’n is a tea, which means preparation is as easy as boiling a pot of water! A single tea bag will make the standard 8 oz. coffee mug worth of tea and reusing the tea bags works fairly well with this flavor of tea. I tend to make my tea using a 32 oz. steeping tea pot and that works well, even with a second pot. Eggnogg’n is a great tea to reuse with a second pot coming out about 3/4 as strong as the original pot, though it is a little drier than the first pot!

To prepare Eggnogg’n, simply boil some water, and pour it over the tea bags in a cup, mug or steeping pot. This tea is recommended to take two to four minutes to steep and after a couple cups and pots, I've found that with truly boiling water, the tea is ready at the three minute mark. Letting the tea steep more than four minutes does not net any additional flavor, nor does it denature the flavor of the tea.

Taste

The Eggnogg’n smells primarily like nutmeg and cinnamon. The scent is very inviting.

On the tongue, Eggnogg’n tastes like a dry black tea. The flavor is pleasantly spicy, but not distinct to egg nog. With a teaspoon of sugar, the tea flavor dissipates and is replaced by a sweet and spicy flavor, which is nice, but not at all the flavor of egg nog. Milk overwhelms this tea, save for the generic spice flavor.

This tea has a very dry aftertaste, which sugar cuts some.

Nutrition

It is not surprising that the dominant flavor of the Eggnogg’n tea is tea, considering that the primary ingredients are: black and green tea, eggnog flavor, and cinnamon. There is nothing unpronounceable in this tea’s ingredients.

Were it not for the sugar I add whenever I make pots of Eggnogg’n, this tea would be devoid of any nutritional value, save 1% of one’s RDA of Potassium. It contains no calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrates, protein. This tea is about as caffeinated as half a cup of coffee and it does invigorate the drinker. As well, this tea is gluten-free and Kosher.

Storage/Clean-up

Eggnogg’n 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. If composting, though, one needs to remove the string and staple in order to insure that everything being put in your garden is actually biodegradable. This tea is very dark, especially at full strength, and it will stain light-colored fabrics. However, mug that holds the tea rinse clean. Spills ought to be cleaned up quickly to prevent this tea from staining fabrics, though that's a pretty good general rule not just limited to the Eggnogg’n tea.

Overall

One of the few entirely worthwhile seasonally-available teas, Eggnogg’n tea from Bigelow might not be purely the promised taste, but it is an extraordinary and delicious tea in its own right. Anyone who loves spicy teas will enjoy this one!

For other Bigelow tea reviews, please check out:
Peppermint
Apple Cider Tea
Fruit & Almond

8/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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