"It's TEA, Jim, but not as we know it!" (Lipton Clear Green Mint) (Lipton Clear Green Mint Green Tea)

Member Name: karimkha

Product:	Lipton Clear Green Mint Green Tea
Date:	10/11/09 (192 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Smell gorgeous and it's Lipton!

Disadvantages: The colour and too much mint!

Personally . . . I am a coffee drinker more than a tea one; I can't imagine wasting a day without having my favourite drink! I won't fully function in the morning without my morning drink...after that I can happily enjoy tea at anytime. I used to drink fruity and herby teas and one of them was jasmine tea, which I enjoyed over the years, but recently my dad became addicted to Lipton green tea varieties! Yes, they have Green Tea Jasmine, Green Tea Citrus, Green Tea Pure and Green Tea Mint, which I'm going to review.

I used to hate drinking anything that contained mint as it always makes me sick when drinking it so I was more than happy to share with my dad most of the green tea varieties and left the Green Tea Mint until the very end!
What encouraged me to try it, is the green tea so it wasn't 100% mint, I thought the taste of mint might be disguised with the strong flavour of green tea.

== First, who is Lipton? (The name and the company) ==

Before very recently, I didn't know that Lipton is originally a surname as well a tea brand! Lipton was and still one of the most drunk tea brand in the world and one of the world's well known and highest selling brands of tea. At present, it is owned by Unilever. Sir Thomas Lipton in Glasgow (Scotland) first introduced Lipton tea in1890. His small project soon grew and increased and soon he established a chain of grocers, starting from Glasgow (the mother of the project), then the rest of Scotland, until finally he had stores throughout Britain and a few years later across the world! Mostly known as Lipton the yellow label.

He first started with the usual tea but now they have a lot of varieties including fruity tea, milky tea, and herbal tea. I am going to review one of their newest products Lipton Clear Green Mint. . .

== What is green tea? And what are its secrets and health benefits? ==

Green tea is a leafy tea that mainly made out from Camellia sinensis which is originally from China. It is a species of plant, which its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea. It is mainly a dark green leaves and when boiled it produce a pale green tea. It is sweet smell and taste as well. It was first drunk in China for over 4000 years, as they knew the real benefits and advantages of it later on it was spread to Asia and Middle East and recently to the western world! It was spread across the world fast for its health benefits.

Many claims about the usage and benefits of green tea, I'm not sure if all of it are true but I'm going to mention them anyway.

== "Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one." (Ancient Chinese Proverb) How wise from Chinese people? ==

Some studies shows that drinking green tea can reduce the risk of oesophageal cancer; it can significantly lower total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol. Many other benefits include: easing the pain of rheumatoid arthritis, clearing some infections, and preventing cardiovascular disease because it contain high amounts of catechin polyphenols (specifically epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG)). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant that can clear your system of impurities, and surprisingly help break down fat and help you lose weight! Also, it can prevent tooth decay!
The good news is that there are no adverse side effects or harmful consequences anyone has mentioned!

== Lipton Clear Green Mint . . . the packaging ==

Examining the package, you see that they still have their usual Lipton logo (the same shape and the original orange colour) at the top of the pack. The box that I'm reviewing contains 25 tea bags, is a pretty small rectangular box with an opening cover at the top. The box is made from very thin cardboard, mostly green (referring to the green tea) with a small pic of green leaves and a big writing on the middle (clear Green) Green tea mint. From the back of the pack you can read some brief information about green tea and its advantages; at the very end you can see their official website address.

== The tea bag . . . ==

Opening the cover to see the extremely well organised tea bags, all set horizontally!
The tea bag was exactly the same size as the original tea bag: 1/3 of it filled with the mixture of green tea and mint (yes, it's not only green tea it has mint in it). The usual white thread is attached to the tea bag and wrapped around it ending with a small Greenish square-shaped tag with the Lipton name and logo and 'Clear Green' name on it.

== The smell (without brewing) . . . ==

Ok . . . Taking a deep whiff to find out it's almost . . . A minty smell! Taking another breath in, I recognise another smell, but a lot more delicate and sweeter; at the end the strong smell of mint was dominating the whole thing.
The texture. . .

Oh yes, I was so nosy that I ripped the tea bag to see what was inside that coarse mixture! I was extremely surprised actually! I first found a mixture of darker green granules, lighter green pellets and some brownish-yellowish bits. I looked furthermore to find some smaller white crystals a lot like sugar granules to me or broken pieces of rice I couldn't resist eating them raw ...surprisingly it turned out to be mint crystals (sweet tasting but very strong) to boost the already strong smell of mint! So try opening your green tea mint tea bag and see for yourself!

== How to brew? (For the people who don't know how to and I was one of them!) ==

Oh yes, it's not an easy job to prepare a decent cup of tea (ask me about it)! My dad has never been satisfied with my cup of tea; he has always said that tea is like beer . . . the more you leave to brew . . . the better results you get! Good old papa!

Ahem . . . Anyway . . . the directions for preparation . . .

* Use one tea bag per person in a cup.

* Add freshly boiled water

* Leave it to infuse for 4-5 minutes as instructed but I much prefer to leave it for over 10-15 minutes!

* Add sugar or you can drink it without any!

* Sprinkle some chopped mint (optional) or squeeze some lemon (if you prefer)

Caution . . . can be extremely hot!

== The results ==

After more than five minutes, I had a look but I didn't like the results! It looked very watery and there was hardly a colour there! Anyway . . . I waited for another 10 minutes.

== The colour ==

It wasn't like the normal tea so the colour surely won't be the same. It was more like a greenish-light brown colour, I understand now why they mentioned CLEAR green in the box, it's mainly because the tea was more like water to me, very clear indeed; even when I left it for extra time it still looks very light to me.

'''Colour wise 6/10'''

== The aroma ==

Oh, yes! I loved the smell; to be honest I was expecting to find that sort of smell . . . I predicted a more like mint toothpaste smell but I was surprised!
Although I'm not a great fan of minty tea, this time it smelt gorgeous - especially with the slight hint of grassy/ herbal smell (a bit natural smelling) that suddenly reminded me of open fields and nature! I couldn't stop sniffing the tea!

'''The aroma 9/10'''

== The decisive moment . . . The taste! ==

I was expecting a subtle sweet taste of herbal tea but the results were not quite what I was looking forward to tasting!

At the very first sip . . . there was a definite taste of mint . . . as a matter of fact the whole tea cup tasted mostly very minty! I was very disappointed as I was counting on the green tea leaves to enhance and change the taste but the faint taste of green tea was hardly noticeable!

I waited for another couple of minutes and tried again . . . The minty flavour still dominated the whole taste so I started to doubt their claim about including green tea in the concoction and prepared a quick mint tea drink to compare! Yes . . . the taste is slightly different! Lipton's Clear Green Mint has a slight sharpness . . . it's a bit peppery as well, but at the end of the day I'm drinking mint and I'm not a minty person after all!

== After taste? ==

The after taste wasn't that major, some dryness in the mouth and a toothpaste breath and taste in the mouth (which wasn't too bad); also a slight heartburning sensation!

== And . . . a tiny point to mention! ==

I think you need to know that after drinking Lipton Clear Green Tea Mint I started to pay little visits to the girl's room even though I didn't drink much that day! So my advice to you is that you don't drink it when you are going out on important dates; also don't drink it straight before bed unless you like your sleep to be disturbed!

== Where to find it? ==

I can actually find it very easily in any supermarket or any corner shop. I guess Lipton was (and still is) a very well known brand that is drunk by thousands of people around the world so definitely it can be found in many supermarkets, food stores and cash and carry with slightly different alternative packaging. In addition, you can order online both from the UK and globally.

== Sizes and prices ==

Lipton Clear Green Tea Mint tea bags are available in different sizes; it is available in packs of 100, 50 and 25. Once the pack is opened you can transfer the remaining teabags into an air tight jar. This is to keep its freshness and great smell and taste. The prices vary from different place to another. The price (I asked a friend to check for me, it can be between 0.99p-£1.20 from a cash and carry shop
Conclusion (to summarise)

== The Good Points (look at the bright side!) ==

* It contains antioxidant Flavonoids

* Can help by flushing the system from toxins and impurities

* Strong aroma, very refreshing

* Can help you relax

* Light and taste good (if you like herbal teas and especially Mint!)

== Now . . . the Bad (relax nothing to worry about) ==

* Looks very watery to me

* Too much taste of mint dominating the whole flavour

* As a result of flushing your toxins from the body you will visit the bathroom for the next 2-3 hours!

== My final conclusion . . . ==

It's an ok drink if you are a light tea drinker; I have drunk better herbal teas. I guess I will leave the rest for my dad to enjoy!

Give it a try . . .

'''Thank you for reading xx'''

'''© Karimkha ~ November ~ 2009'''

Summary: Get minty!