I was devastated to find out that I’d missed out on Starbucks’ Free Tea Friday. My body melted into the floor. I had to be picked out of the carpet and reassembled.
Then I remembered that I had some samples left. (YAAAASSS.) Lo and behold, this Simpson & Vail blend was batting its eyelashes at me.
“Hello,” Louisa May Alcott purred. “I am a light flowery green berry thing, and would probably be the bomb if you iced me.”
“You aren’t free,” I whispered, dabbing a tear from my eye.
“I am,” the tea said. “You get a lot of free samples from the SororiTea Sisters in exchange for reviews.”
“But… I have to, like, get the steeper, and make sure there’s ice,” I whined.
“Ugh, come on,” the tea said. “You don’t even need to boil the water. It comes out of your work’s water cooler’s hot side.”
I finally submitted to the tea’s taunts, and I’m very glad I did!
This tea does a lot of things very well that I’m often on the fence about:
1) Rose petals. Sometimes there are too many and the tea tastes like soap. These petals, on the other hand, are blended with a light hand.
2) A little bit of tartness. JUST A LITTLE. I need everything in my life to taste light and candylike. (My wines. My teas. Even my beers need to be light wheat-plus-fruit offerings.) The tartness here comes from the green tea, and it totally works.
3) Strawberries. This blend uses ACTUAL strawberries, not the fake mix-in stuff. This makes a big difference. It’s the difference between a juicy, authentic taste and a face-smack of Stevia.
4) Apples. They sweeten this blend up and go with its fruit-fiesta theme. Sometimes I wonder what apples are doing in a blend. They seem like a thing most tea-makers have in the cupboard and gleefully toss in there, crying, “WHY THE HECK NOT?”
My general thought here is: yum. This is a great iced tea. My sample is pretty big, so I think I’ll continue to give into its cajoling ways.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
Early in Little Women, while visiting a sick Laurie, Jo says that her sister Meg’s blancmange is made “very nicely.” Later, her own attempt turns out “lumpy” and accompanied by strawberries that were “not as ripe as they looked.” Our blend follows Meg’s example and is almost, as Laurie says, “too pretty to [drink].” Combining almond and strawberry flavors, this blend brews to a delicious tea that is fruity and aromatic. It manages to be both sweet and light thanks to the Chunmee green tea base and the gentle floral notes added by the rose petals.
Ingredients: Green tea, apple pieces, flavoring, strawberry pieces and rose peta
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
