QandAs: Food

What are Tazo Teas?

Answer:
Its label says “New Age,” but Tazo tea is

imported tea in the finest tradition, according to renowned Starbuck’s of coffee house fame.

Originally owned by Tazo Tea Company, Starbuck’s purchased the up-and-coming company in 1999, and continued importing prime teas from Japan, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia and Africa. Varieties include select black, green, and white teas, plus botanicals for herbal teas. Usually caffeine-free, herbal teas are not tea at all, but blends of herbs, spices, flowers, fruit peels, berries, bark and roots. I’m pretty traditional and favor the black Earl Grey tea.

From its founding, Tazo Tea Company marketed the tea as a beverage with great taste that soothed one’s emotional state and uplifted the spirit. As demand rose for the teas, they became available in grocery and natural food stores, as well as restaurants and tea houses across the country. Starbuck’s continues to distribute teas to some of the same venues.

Tazo teas come in different forms, including loose leaf, filter bags, iced teas and bottled varieties. I love a brisk cup of hot tea on a cold afternoon, and nothing pleases me more than to sit down in a restaurant and have a perfectly brewed glass of iced tea. I don’t go much for the bottled variety, but I haven’t tried the Tazo version.