Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Tea On a Plane

After my last tea fiasco on Southwest Airlines, I casually tucked in a green tea bag that my employer provides in the lunch room. Although I normally drink my own loose leaf at work, I thought I might be grateful even to have this Tazo China Green Tips on the plane. The package assures me that it's "a light & lingering tea with a fine fresh flavor" bilingually  no less. I think the French is supposed to make the drinker feel even more refined and cultured to have chosen this tea.   How does  Tazo's claims hold up?  There definitely is an aftertaste of a light cigarette which could vouch for the "lingering" aspect of this tea.  This tea is definitely a notch better than Foojoy and up in the skies, I am grateful for even this much.


This week I'm in Las Vegas to attend the world's largest pole dancing conference.  With my lame left arm that I'm not supposed to bend and a tender left foot which needs rest, I almost canceled. When you have an injury - seeing others freely using their limbs triggers only bitter twinges of jealousy.  But where else to learn the latest back hook spin techniques? The industry is competitive and one needs to keep on top of such innovations.

I vastly miscalculated my hotel accommodations.  While I have a suite almost as large as my house, there is no tea making facility of any kind in the room. I almost bought a $20 coffee maker at Walgreens and surprisingly I read on a forum that's what a poster normally does when they stay here. Tut tut.  Las Vegas is NOT a town for serious tea drinkers I might add.


6 comments:

  1. Actually the French is so that they can sell to Canada without needing an extra packaging, I think. Unless the ingredient list isn't in French.

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  2. Ah, tea on a plane is always a risky endeavour :) and no, I can't imagine Las Vegas having a vibrant tea culture! Good luck with your injury, I wish you a speedy recovery so that you can be back on the pole soon!

    All the best :)

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  3. Tazo started out in the 90s when I was managing a coffee shop in San Francisco. I remember when our then owner first brought their 'brand new' products to sell. They had those few blends, Awake, Zen... something else... Thinking about this is really making me feel old. Anyway, all that rattle to say, I am not 100% certain of why the use of French, though MarshalN's suggestion may be part of it. However the owner, Steve Smith, is a big marketer/entrepeneur, who lived in/still lives in France. They may very well be using French for little more than his love for French things. I seem to remember thinking that the product back then was a marketers wet dream, so I can't imagine it has changed all that much...

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    1. Tazo definitely was a pioneer in tea marketing to upcharge their tea. Lipton and Stash sell to French Canada without such florid descriptions.

      I haven't yet tried Steve Smith's new artisan Teamaker line but clever marketing just tires me out these days.

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  4. Teabags in flights, the British should invent those:
    http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2013/02/food-and-drink-planes?fsrc=rss

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    1. Ah- I would actually buy such a box of tea for myself. While I'm thankful the British are making this effort- have you noticed how many tea-indifferent cranks have commented.

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