Earl Blue Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-Earl-BlueTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Southern Boy Teas

Tea Description:

Our awesome organic Iyerpadi black tea blended with organic bergamot and blueberry flavors. This is sure to wow your guests.

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.

Taster’s Review:

I know that I’ve mentioned on this blog at least once before in a review of one of Zoomdweebie’s Earl Grey/Bergamot teas that I’m not particularly crazy about the bergamot flavoring that Zoomdweebies uses.  Maybe I’m a bit of a bergamot snob or something but Earl Grey tea is something I take very seriously and it should be right.  So, when this Earl Blue Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas was announced as a recent tea of the week for SBT, I wasn’t all that excited about it.

But this isn’t too bad.  It’s actually pretty tasty.  As an Earl Grey tea or more accurately as a ‘twist’ to the classic Earl Grey -well, it doesn’t really cut it as an Earl Grey, I’m afraid.  But, as a flavored iced tea, it’s really pleasant.  The blueberry is strong and yummy.  The bergamot – well, it doesn’t taste as bergamot-y as I’d like it to.  But when I just drink it and I don’t think “bergamot” and instead, I think “citrus” it works for me.

It has a really enjoyable, sweet-tart fruity flavor to it. And the black tea base is smooth and brisk.  No bitterness, no astringency – just really tasty black tea and fruity flavors.

This is something that I could see myself putting in my shopping cart again the next time I’m shopping at Zoomdweebies dot com.  It’s very refreshing and it’ll be really nice to have it chilling in the fridge on those warm summer days that lie ahead.

Peach Apricot Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas

Peach-ApricotTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Southern Boy Teas

Tea Description:

Here’s our organic Iyerpadi black tea paired with the sweet, juicy flavors of peach and apricot. This is a great thirst-quencher and palate pleaser. Serve some of this to your guests and watch the double-takes you get out of this delicious iced tea.

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.

Taster’s Review:

This Peach Apricot Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas is a glassful of yummy, ice cold refreshment!

The flavor is spot-on!  I’m not sure if it’s the way that the Iyerpadi single estate tea melds with the apricot and peach flavors or just the flavors themselves, but it tastes like someone pureed a peach and an apricot and strained it into a glass of black tea.  The flavors are very true to the fruit!

The black tea is a smooth tasting tea – it’s strong enough to assert its flavor into the sip without being too aggressive.  It doesn’t taste bitter or astringent.  Just smooth and delicious.

Together with the authentic flavors of peach and apricot – this tea has a taste that’s sweet – the kind of sweetness that you experience when you take a bite of a sweet, juicy peach or a tree-ripened apricot.  It doesn’t taste overly ‘sugary’ sweet and it doesn’t have a fake taste to it.

There are a lot of ready to drink iced teas on the market out there and peach seems to be a flavor that those RTD tea companies embrace – but they are all so loaded with sugar.  This is so much better than anything I’ve tasted RTD!

Passion Fruit Cheesecake Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-Passion-Fruit-CheesecakeTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas

Tea Description:

Passion fruit and cheesecake? Does it get more decadent than that? Well, yes, actually it does, when we combine the organic flavors of passion fruit and cheesecake with our premium organic Iyerpadi black tea to make an iced tea from heaven!

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.

Taster’s Review:

I made a half-gallon pitcher full of this Passion Fruit Cheesecake Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas last night, and now (less than 24 hours later and I’ve only been drinking this for about 3 of those 24 hours!) the pitcher is nearly empty.  I think I have one glass of this tea left in the fridge!

In other words:  this stuff is so tasty that I don’t want to stop drinking it!

The black tea base is a very harmonious flavor with the added flavors of passion fruit and cheesecake.  The natural fruity notes of the Iyerpadi single estate black tea marries well with these flavors, allowing the flavors to come alive in my glass of iced tea while still managing to maintain its own presence there.  It tastes brisk and refreshing.  It’s strong without being aggressive or overwhelming.  It’s not astringent or bitter.  Just really, really lovely.

The passion fruit is a very well-defined flavor here.  The cheesecake is less pronounced but it adds a really lusciously smooth and creamy taste to the sip.  The tangy note of the cheesecake is there too, it’s a subtle little note that hits about mid-sip.  A slight contrast from the sweet and creamy that is quite welcome and keeps the tea from becoming cloying.

Every once in a while, I also pick up on light buttery/pastry type of notes.  This buttery/pastry flavor seem to mostly be hidden within the ubiquitous cheesecake note, not really standing on it’s own so much as being part of the collective ‘cheesecake’ but every once in a while, I taste a little more of that flavor, as if it is trying to stand up and shout: “Hello, I’m here too!”

So I guess if I were to offer any sort of criticism at all about this tea, that would be it.  I might like just a tad more of that buttery/pastry flavor here.  But as I mentioned at the start, I’ve nearly polished off an entire half-gallon of this magical liquid in fewer than four hours.

I think I’m going to be needing more of this.

Sweet Apple Cider Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-Sweet-Apple-CiderTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Zoomdweebies

Tea Description:

Our premium organic Iyerpadi black tea blended with organic apple, green apple and cinnamon flavors. This is a super refreshing iced tea. I may have created a few apple flavored teas lately, but the apple and cinnamon notes with this Iyerpadi black tea are just astounding.

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.

Taster’s Review:

Mmm!  I admit that my first thought was “another apple tea” but now that I’m tasting this, I don’t mind at all.  This Sweet Apple Cider Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas is really good.

I hot brewed this iced tea, bringing 1 quart of water to a boil and then letting the tea bag steep for 2 minutes.  Then I strained the tea into my favorite iced tea pitcher and brought another quart of water to a boil and resteeped the bag for 2 1/2 minutes.  No, this doesn’t make the tea too strong for me, it’s strong, yes, but not too strong.  Then again, I like my tea strong.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I really like the Iyerpadi estate tea that Southern Boy Teas has been using for their black tea base.  It’s got a pleasant flavor, it doesn’t have a bitter taste nor is it astringent.  It’s smooth and even without tasting too weak.  It’s really a delightful tea.

The apple flavor is coming through nicely.  I found that with my first few sips, the apple flavor was less obvious than the cinnamon, which seemed to overpower.  But, after the first few sips, the apple notes developed and the cinnamon waned just enough.  Now, the cinnamon is still a strong presence, but the apple comes through and adds a pleasant sweet-tart note to contrast with the warm, zesty taste of the cinnamon.

Really tasty!

Georgia Peach Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-Georgia-PeachTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Zoomdweebies

Tea Description:

Our premium organic Iyerpadi black tea blended with sweet organic peach flavors. This may not be as crazy as Garlic Toast or Maple Bacon, but this will make you happy inside.

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.

Taster’s Review:

When I first saw that Southern Boy Teas created this Georgia Peach Iced Black tea as their tea of the week for the first week of January, I thought, Oh!  That sounds good!  Then I thought, kind of boring though, isn’t it?  Then my mind wandered to the ready-to-drink peach flavored iced teas that are mostly sugar and flavoring and very little tea.  Bleh!

So, as I was brewing this, I was hoping that it wasn’t going to taste like the stuff you can find on the supermarket shelves.  I was hoping that I’d taste tea that’s been flavored with just enough peach flavor that I could taste the peach and still enjoy the flavor of the black tea.

And that’s exactly what is in my glass right now.  Well, actually, I should say that’s exactly what WAS in my glass, because I’ve finished my third glass of this iced tea in a matter of a half an hour.  This stuff is good.  I know that Southern Boy Teas is embracing the slogan “tea that’s meant to be shared,” but my mind is embracing the notion that I need to drink this before anyone else realizes how good it is.  All for me, none for you!  Share?  Ha!

The black tea that Southern Boy Teas has been using for their black tea blends is an Iyerpadi estate black tea that’s brisk and has a solid black tea flavor.  It’s not an aggressive tea, but it isn’t too shy either.  It doesn’t hide behind the flavors.  It’s a tea that’s rich, smooth, not astringent or bitter, and just … really good.

The peach flavoring starts out subtle.  My first few sips, the peach flavor wasn’t strongly apparent, but there was something luscious there that kept me sipping.  About midway through that glass, I realized – LOVELY peach!  Yum!  The peach is a sweet flavor but not candy sweet, it’s more like a true to the fruit sweetness.

Really nice!

And please don’t forget about Frank’s Indiegogo campaign that’s going on right now!  He’s looking to enhance his iced tea business so that he can take it to the next level!  Please help this small business achieve its goal!