The taste of the tea is OK for a green tea but it doesn’t have any recognizable blueberry flavor. I purchased 30 boxes of this stuff when it went on sale at Pathmark ($1.66 a box) when I discovered the tea was yellow and awful (for a blueberry tea that is). I contacted Celestial Seasonings and they remedied my situation by offering me 5 coupons for 5 free boxes of any flavor of their tea. Rather than return my tea, I used the coupons to buy the “True Blueberry” herbal tea which is quite excellent but no has caffeine (which I desperately need). I now mix one True Blueberry bag with one New Recipe bag to create a tea similar to the older more wonderful Blueberry Breeze.

I’m also angry at the box redesign. The older boxes are artistic with literary quotes and a caffeine meter. The new boxes look cold and “corporate”.

My other favorite tea “Honey Lemon Ginseng Green Tea” was also reformulated but it tastes the same as the original so no complaints.
Rating: 1 / 5

You will also find blueberry herbal teas. Each herbal tea offers its own health benefit. However the polyphenols found in green teas, and generally not in herbal teas, are backed by study after study suggesting their use prevents chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. I’ve hit the jackpot: a flavor I love AND a superfood in one!

Update 4/14/09: read ingredients. I just bought a box of Blueberry Breeze at the supermarket. It’s marked as “Improved Taste”. Don’t buy this improved taste one. Make sure you get the one with the Hibiscus, and Blackberry and Blueberry leaves. Makes all the difference. The box I bought at the supermarket is nowhere near the flavor of the original. Even the color is different. Instead of ruby red, it’s yellow. I don’t know why they would change the ingredients. I don’t like the improved one at all. Just wanted to warn you. I gladly recommend the original, but not the improved.

Yet another update 8/25/09: The ingredients that gave this tea such a great flavor are now in True Blueberry, a Celestial Seasonings herbal tea, and not in this one. I wish they hadn’t changed this great green tea. If you want the flavor you can go herbal, but you won’t get the green tea benefits.
Rating: 1 / 5

They did their focus groups, and had their meetings, and decided that changing the formula and the artwork for that matter was strategically superior to what they were doing before. We just have to accept that sometimes the powers that be get it wrong, and try to come up with a workaround.

I have found that the Hibiscus/Blueberry Superflower Tea from the Republic of Tea is a decent substitute, as long as you brew it with a bag of your favorite green tea.(Was brewing two bags at a time anyway because I drink 16 oz. of tea at a time.)
Rating: 2 / 5

I’ve gone out of my way to purchase this tea. In the New York City metropolitan area, one may also find Ujinotsuyu’s genmaicha in ethnic Japanese, Korean, and Chinese supermarkets, although searching may be required.

Rating: 5 / 5

Also, as noted before–this is tea, NOT soup. The rice is enclosed in the bag with the tea leaves. It lends flavor, not substance.
Rating: 5 / 5