Today we’re trying something new.  We’re stepping away from coffee and hot cocoa, and trying our first K-Cup Tea variety.  Actually, Canarino is not a tea, but rather a “lemon beverage”, but I digress.  As all Keurig enthusiasts know, these little machines can do more than just coffee and hot cocoa.  The variety of teas available is nearly as impressive as the coffee selection, and since my goal is to review pretty much anything that comes in a K-Cup, we’re going to have to start sipping things other than coffee.

Having reviewed the last of the samples provide by our friend at Shoffee.com, founder, Joe Simonovich was kind enough to send us a re-up of sorts.  I could launch into some ridiculous diatribe about why I decided to start with Canarino, and that diatribe would no doubt reek of the type of sophistication that the truth itself lacks.  That truth, of course, being that Canarino is the first item listed under Timothy’s Tea K-Cups on Shoffee.com.  Score one for the alphabet.  And as always, thanks to Joe and the team at Shoffee.com for providing today’s sample.

The Description

Canarino is an all natural lemon beverage that has been enjoyed for hundreds of years throughout Italy and the European world. The healthful hot drink only consists of lemon peel and water. This 100% natural classic Italian beverage has a crisp, clean lemon taste. Sugar or honey may be added to enhance flavor. Great iced, too! Did you know: Dr. Iman Hakim found that the use of lemon peel in the diet exhibited a 34% reduction in the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma (ALTERNATIVES Health Letter, July 2000) A healthy choice!

What is Says on the Box (Paraphrasing because I’m too lazy to go downstairs to get it)

No Sugar, No Caffeine…probably something about lemon

The Aroma

Big, big surprise.  I’m talking shocker of the year here.  This stuff smells like…wait for it…now wait some more…LEMONS!  Wow.  It basically comes down to this:  If you like the smell of lemons, Canarino smells good.  If you don’t like the smell of lemons, then well, not so much.

Drinking it Straight (the tea equivalent of black)

First, what the hell is a “beverage”?  Why can’t this be classified?  It’s not tea, it’s not coffee, not cocoa, not soda, not juice, not milk, not water?  What’s left?  The only other “beverage” that comes to mind is YooHoo, and I don’t know what that is either.

Rants aside, the flavor is quite good.  Again, if you’re a fan of lemons.  If you’re expecting lemonade you’re going to be disappointed.  The flavor is more in line with lemon zest (that’s the peel for those of you who don’t spend all day watching food TV).  I know the flavor of lemon zest quite well since my wife does indeed spend all day watching TV, and quite frankly seems to zest a whole hell of a lot of lemons.  I happen to like lemon zest since it usually yields a strong lemon flavor without all of that sour that you get from sucking the fruit (not that I’m a big lemon-sucker or anything).

With Sugar (and Honey)

I found that adding a single packet of Splenda adds just the right amount of sweetness to Timothy’s Canarino.  As I said, it’s not bad straight, perhaps a little bland, or maybe too lemony.  The sweetness from the Splenda cuts the lemon nicely and makes for a very nice cup of hot beverage.

I also tried it with about a tablespoon of honey.  At first I thought I liked the Splenda better, but as I got closer to the bottom of the honey-flavored cup, I decided I like it better that way.  I’m guessing I did a poor job of mixing in the honey, which is why the bottom was so damn good.  Next time I’ll add 2 tablespoons of honey just to be safe.

On Ice

I’ve decided that every tea (or Italian Beverage) that I test will get tested no only hot, but also over ice.  With that in mind I started brewing a cup of Canarino to let chill in the fridge for a bit when… HOLY CRAP!  BREECH, BREECH, WE HAVE A BREECH.

Somehow I ended up with a defective K-Cup.  After watered down Italian Lemon Beverage was finished spraying all over my countertop, I popped the lever up on my Keurig B70 to discover that the foil had split from the K-Cup along the edge causing beverage to spray everywhere, and worse, the contents of the K-Cup itself at erupted inside the brewer itself leaving behind one hell of a mess.  I’m seriously considering sending Timothy’s a strongly worded letter.  Color me a lemony-shade of displeased.

As for the actual taste of Canarino over ice.  Yeah, it’s not good.  In fact, it borders on nasty.  I tried it straight and with sugar.  Once it cools off, the bitter lemon flavor really takes over.  The only way I managed to make it drinkable was to really overdo the sugar, and by that point it was so over sweetened I could practically chew it.  So in summary; hot good, cold bad.

Final Thoughts

Unpleasant cleanup aside (hopefully that doesn’t happen often), Timothy’s Canarino is quite tasty, and very refreshing for a hot beverage.  I suppose I’m fortunate that I was in good health while trying my samples, but I could help but thing, “I bet this will be really good when I have a cold”.  So, you know…something to look forward to there.

If you’re looking for a hot Italian lemon beverage for your Keurig home (or office) brewer, I would highly recommend you try Timothy’s Canarino (also, I think it’s really your only option anyway).  Whether or not it holds up against authentic Canarino, I really can’t say.  Never been to Italy, never had Canarino.  I will, however; attest to the fact that it’s the finest hot lemon zest flavored beverage I’ve ever had in my life (as I’ve had no other).

Shameless Plug

One word, people: Shoffee.  Add a “.” and another word: com, and you’ve got yourself Shoffee.com; a fine place to buy Keurig Brewers and accessories, and of course, pretty much any K-Cup variety you could want, including Canarino - a delicious Italian hot lemon beverage if ever there was one.

Please help keep the K-Cup Challenge going by stocking up on K-Cups (and other stuff) at Shoffee.com.  You should also check out Joe’s K-Cup blog cupoftheweek.com, where you will find a different K-Cup deal each and every week.

While you’re here check out the growing list of reviews in the K-Cup Challenge.

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