Tazo Awake Black Tea has a clear, deep orange appearance in a white mug with little if any bitterness, even when steeped for longer than the recommended five minutes.
For a premium name brand black tea, Tazo is relatively inexpensive, fairly easy to find, and it stores well and for long periods due to the individually wrapped and airtight teabags. A staunch tea fan since I stood under five feet tall, I’ve consumed thousands of cups of hundreds of makes of teas, including this brand. Though Tazo is a bit more pricey than I’m used to, this breakfast tea has a flowing, sassy taste. The box describes this tea as follows: A breakfast tea of boldness, depth, and character, invigorating any time of the day. I agree with much of this, but would avoid drinking this beverage too late in the day.
Tazo Awake Black Tea Benefits, Features, Pros, and Advantages
Well sealed individual serving teabags. Tea bags are individually wrapped for freshness; so tightly in fact, that I smell no black tea aromas in or around the box; at least, not until after you tear open a pouch. So this breakfast tea can keep for years without its delicate flavors escaping the bags through the wrappers.
Similar caffeine amounts to other black teas. Caffeine levels in this tea seem to match that in other brands.
No bitterness. This tea rarely tastes bitter, and that only happens when you make it exceptionally strong. Should that occur, just add a bit more water. This effectively cancels out the bitterness.
Strong taste and look. Tazo black tea will certainly not leave you wanting for flavor even though it contains zero calories per serving.
It quells the craving style appetite for sugary foods about as well as a diet pill; though I haven’t used any diet pills since 1986. Perhaps today, diet pills work better. I wouldn’t know and do not plan on finding out.
Accelerates basal metabolism. It not only weakens the food cravings for a time, but also revs up the body’s metabolism; a one-two punch.
Does not lose its flavor with the adding of sweeteners. This tea accepts stevia sweetener without significant flavor changes except for the added sweetness. Or, agave nectar and honey produce a pleasant and unique flavor combination when stirred into this tea. The strong black tea flavor is not easily altered by non-neutral sweeteners such as dark agave nectar and pure maple syrup. So add your sweeteners to Tazo breakfast black tea without worry of destroying its flavor. You will not.
Green product, but not green tea. Tazo is an exceptionally environmentally conscious company that functions by the motto: More karma, less carbon. They use only renewable power sources.
Tazo Awake Black Tea Disadvantages, Cons, Problems, and Concerns
Can be too strong on an empty stomach. Sometimes, when I drink this black tea on an empty stomach, I get to feeling nauseated. However, that feeling passes within a half-hour if I eat nothing, and much sooner when I have breakfast with the tea.
May stimulate appetite. Be careful. Though this is an all-natural tea, it’s also a black tea, and the naturally occurring caffeine can actually exacerbate hungrier feelings, especially if you’ve not eaten anything solid for twelve hours or so. Still though, when I’m seriously dieting, and that knee-weakening hunger appears, I can frequently quell it successfully by drinking a mug of this Tazo tea product.
Cheaper teas available. While this tea is not the most expensive, neither is it the cheapest on the market either. It costs roughly a third more per box than Bigelow or Celestial Seasonings teas. At $3.48 for twenty tea bags, Tazo Awake tea costs much more per serving than one-hundred bags of other black teas, which also cost $3.48 per box. However, the more airtight bag wrapping of Tazo, better promotes a fresher-tasting tea beverage. So this added cost is probably justifiable, though I wouldn’t buy this tea all the time.
Not recommended as an evening tea. Given the caffeine levels in this product and the fact that it’s intended for consumption at breakfast time, avoid drinking this beverage too close to bedtime, lest you lie there awake for much of the night. To those that are not sensitive to caffeine: Ignore this advice.
Discontinued? No longer see this product in stores. Appears that they’ve either stopped making it or they’ve repackaged it.
Brewing Instructions
- Start with filtered, fresh water.
- Boil that water.
- For hot tea, put one Tazo filterbag in your mug, flask, or other drinking container.
- Then, pour 1 cup (8 Oz.) of the hot water into the mug.
- Steep for five minutes.
- Remove the filterbag, sweeten or otherwise season to taste.
- Finally, enjoy.
Ingredients
A blend of black teas.
Our Rating
I’d indeed recommend this black tea, whose flavor is strongly reminiscent of orange pekoe tea but somewhat stronger. I would rate this product at 95 out of 100.
Where To Buy Tazo Awake Black Tea
Look for this premium black tea in the classy, thick paper light tan and red box, with the tear-open flap on the box’s left side bottom, at your favorite larger grocery stores. I found mine at a Walmart super center. However, have been unable to find this over the past few months. It may have been discontinued, as it no longer appears on the Tazo website. Too bad. However, the Tazo version of English Breakfast Tea tastes very similar to the Awake Black.
References
- Black Tea on Wikipedia
- Tazo Tea Website
- Tazo Tea Company on Wikipedia
- Where to buy Tazo Awake Black Tea
Revision History
- 2014-12-23: Revised and extended content.
- 2014-12-01: Added picture.
- 2014-11-24: Adjusted placement of ads, added whitespace, and updated content to reflect the apparent discontinuation of this Tazo tea flavor.
- 2014-09-04: Originally published.