Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Organic caffeine-free honeybush with organic sweet cinnamon and apricot flavors. This is a tea the whole family will love. We made a similar rooibos blend with these flavors for a 52teas blend years ago. It was my wife’s favorite and received the name, “Sheri’s Blend”. One of our tea bar customers took one sip of that tea and exclaimed, “It takes just like Christmas!” Personally, I think this honeybush blend is even better.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I remember really liking the Sheri’s Blend from 52Teas which was a rooibos based blend with the same flavors of apricot and cinnamon. And as weird as it is for me to admit, I think I liked that blend better than I’m liking this Cinnamon Apricot Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas.
Maybe it’s the “iced” part, because I am of the firm belief that I prefer honeybush over rooibos so I don’t think that’s the issue with this. Then again, maybe it is the rooibos – maybe rooibos just goes better with the apricot and cinnamon flavors than the honeybush does. I don’t know.
Don’t get me wrong, I do like this tisane. It’s tasty. But its not as tasty as I remember Sheri’s Blend being. I remember tasting a good, strong flavor of apricot that tasted true to the fruit, and here, I’m having trouble finding much apricot flavor at all.
The cinnamon is really dominant in this blend. I taste mostly cinnamon and it seems to be masking the flavor of the apricot a bit. After drinking about 2/3 of the glass, I start to pick up on the apricot notes, but they’re still not as strong as I’d like them to be.
The cinnamon is the top note, with mid-notes of honeyed nutty flavors and a low note of apricot. It’s a tasty blend, but if you’re looking for a strong apricot flavor, this tea isn’t bringing that for me. But if you like a really nice cinnamon flavor that’s a little sweet and a little spicy – kind of like the cinnamon you’d sprinkle on your breakfast toast – this tea delivers!
Overall, a tasty iced tisane, but I’d like it better if the apricot were more pronounced.
Sugar Cookie Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Organic caffeine-free honeybush with organic sweet, cakey, sugar cookie flavors. This is one of those teas that your family might end up squabbling over, so be sure to stock up on a few of these. Blends like these are a great alternative to sugary caffeinated sodas–we don’t let me daughter have much caffeine, but she LOVES these honeybush iced teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
After having tried Christmas Cookie Shou Mei from 52Teas, I thought that this iced tea might be a lot like that blend, but it really isn’t.
This doesn’t have the same warm spice profile that the Christmas Cookie tea has. This is more of a sugar cookie. (Just like the name implies!) I like that it’s not overly sweet. I don’t get a heavy “sugar” cookie sugary taste, but I get that freshly baked shortbread-type of flavor. It’s sweet but not too sweet. This isn’t like a heavily iced sugar cookie that you’ll find in your grocery store bakery.
You know the cookies I’m talking about, right? They’re really colorful and they have trigger kind of names like “cotton candy” or “caramel apple” that lure you in and you have to try it, but then when you bite into it, it doesn’t taste like cotton candy or caramel apple, it tastes like sugar and shortening. It’s so cloying that a bite is all you can handle.
This is more like the homemade cookies that are rolled in sugar, so you get a even, consistent, sugary-sweet flavor, but as long as the cookies are made right, it isn’t too cloying. The dough is not overly sweet, more like a shortbread so balance is achieved.
I enjoyed this. I liked that despite the name “sugar cookie” this isn’t a too-sweet kind of drink. It’s really tasty!
Please take a moment to check out Southern Boy Teas’ Indiegogo Campaign – they’re looking to take their teas to new heights and could really use your support!
Cinnamon Chai Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
If you’ve never had an iced chai, you’re missing out. And this one, with it’s organic honeybush base, is exceptional. I think we found just the right balance of chai spice flavors to add to this one–some cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, black pepper and a touch of clove.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
I personally prefer my chai hot, but, it’s really nice to drink an iced chai now and then. This is really refreshing and flavorful.
If you’ve read any of my other SBT reviews, you’re probably familiar with how I brew these teas. The tea comes in a big sachet which is really convenient for iced tea brewing. You can cold brew it or hot brew it and because it’s in a sachet, you can stash the brewed sachet in the fridge to resteep it for a second pitcher of tea if you’re so inclined.
I don’t usually resteep honeybush teas because I find that they lose flavor quicker than say, a white or green tea. But I highly recommend resteeping the white and green tea varieties of Southern Boy Teas!
I heated 1 quart of water to 195°F and then I added the sachet to the pitcher and let it steep for 9 minutes (because it’s a honeybush base, there are no tannins – this won’t become bitter if you ‘oversteep’ it – so keep it steeping for maximum flavor!) Then I poured the tea into my favorite tea pitcher and I repeated the process with a second quart of water, resteeping the sachet for 12 minutes. This produced a full 1/2 gallon pitcher of iced tea. (Well, you gotta let it cool first! I usually brew the tea at night and in the morning, I have a pitcher full of refreshing iced tea.)
I like the honeyed sweetness from the honeybush. It’s a light, nutty taste that melds well with the chai spices. The spices are zesty but not overly spicy. The name of this chai is “Cinnamon Chai” so I expected a big burst of cinnamon flavor but that didn’t happen. It’s got the cinnamon flavor there, to be sure, but it’s not super cinnamon-y. It’s a gentle warmth and I’m getting that not just from the cinnamon but also the ginger, cardamom, pepper, and cloves.
It’s warm and zesty, but not what I’d call ‘spicy.’ Just a pleasant, warmly spiced tea. I like this one – it’s one I wouldn’t mind having on hand to enjoy regularly. It’s tasty!
Please don’t forget about Southern Boy Teas’ Indiegogo Fundraiser! Help this small business grow! As little as $4 can help further their dream and you’ll get some really tasty tea in return!
Gingerbread Flavored Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
This is a crowd pleaser. Order this today and offer your Thanksgiving dinner guests an awesome caffeine-free treat with organic flavors of gingerbread and a hint of cream cheese frosting. This is a real treat and likely to go fast. Do not miss out on this one.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Gingerbread is not something I eat often. I like some gingerbread, but most that I find tends to be a little on the wimpy side with no real ginger flavor. An exception to that is the gingerbread that I’ve tasted from Nikki’s Cookies. Good stuff.
But a lot of the gingerbread that you can buy in the grocery stores (about a month ago, you couldn’t walk into a grocery store without seeing a “gingerbread house kit.” And most of that stuff tastes like it was made from cardboard. No real ginger flavor – it’s as if the ginger that they use in the recipe is ground ginger that had been sitting on the shelf since Christmas in 1990. Boring flavor with no ginger kick.
So I’m hoping this tea will give me the kind of gingerbread flavor I want!
I hot-brewed this tea. I brought a quart of water to 195°F and dropped the sachet into the kettle and let it steep for 9 minutes. Then I strained the liquid into my favorite half gallon iced tea pitcher and repeated the process: heated a quart of water – 195°F – and put the same sachet into the kettle. This time, I let it steep for 11 minutes. Then I let the pitcher come to room temperature before I stashed it in the refrigerator to cool overnight.
Today, I have a pitcher full of gingerbread tea! Well, I guess I should say, I did have a pitcher full of gingerbread tea. Now I have about 1 glassful of tea remaining at the bottom of the pitcher and that glassful will be consumed soon!
This has a nice ginger flavor. The ginger is subtle but present in every sip. It doesn’t have a strong, peppery zing from the ginger, but there’s enough ginger in there to know that you’re tasting ginger. And there’s a pleasant sweetness, almost molasses-y, and that’s something I want to taste with gingerbread too.
This is sweet and enjoyable without being cloying. The ginger cuts through enough of the sweetness to keep it from tasting too sweet. The honeybush is a good base for the gingerbread flavors because the nutty and honey-esque flavors of the honeybush really tie in well with the overall gingerbread concept.
If I’m to offer any “complaint” about this tea, it would be that I want a little more “buttery/pastry” like flavor. That – it would seem – has become a common complaint of mine about some of the baked good flavor teas that 52Teas/Southern Boy Teas/Zoomdweebies has been producing as of late. I’m just not getting the buttery/pastry-like flavor that I’ve come to love from some of 52Teas’ classic flavors like their Pancake Breakfast tea. I think that would make this taste more like a gingerbread cookie.
That said, I found this iced tisane to be enjoyable. I like the flavor of the ginger and the molasses notes are quite delightful. It’s not my favorite iced tea selection from Southern Boy Teas, but it’s tasty and refreshing. The fact that the half gallon pitcher is nearly empty after it being in the refrigerator for less than a day should be testament to the fact that I enjoyed the flavor and it is very easy to drink.
Please take a moment to check out Frank’s Kickstarter campaign! He’s looking to take Southern Boy Teas to new heights and the fundraising effort will help get him started in the right direction! Please help this small business!
Cinnamon Apple Honeybush from 52Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
Organic, caffeine-free honeybush blended with real freeze-dried granny smith and red delicious apples, cinnamon chips and organic flavors.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Please check out my campaign to take over 52Teas here! Please help me keep 52Teas alive and kicking out those teas every week!
Taster’s Review:
It seems that this fall season, Zoomdweebies is embracing the apple! There have been several apple-y flavors released this year. That’s OK with me, because I’ve been enjoying them!
For this review, I decided to try something a little different with the brewing process. I steeped it in my Breville One-Touch (nothing different about that) but instead of going with 500ml of water, I went with 750ml of water and poured the whole pouch (1/2 ounce) of tisane into the basket of my Breville. The reason for this is that when I was measuring out the 3 bamboo scoops of tea into the basket, I noticed that there was about a scoop left of the tisane (maybe a little more than 1 scoop, like a heaping scoop). So, I decided to to ahead and add a little more water to the jug and use the whole pouch. I set the parameters for 195°F and 10 minutes steep time.
The result is a tasty pot of caffeine-free tisane! Two very large mugs full to the brim of cinnamon apple-y goodness. Before I took my first sip, I set my Breville One-Touch to “keep warm” so that I could have another hot cup of yummy, but shortly afterward, I thought that I’d like to try it iced. So, I poured the rest of the tea into a lidded cup so that I could refrigerate it.
This blend is a really delightful combination of flavors: the sweet apple notes with just a hint of tartness toward the finish, the zesty, warm notes of cinnamon and the honeyed nutty flavors of the honeybush. It’s pleasantly sweet – no need for additions with this one – so if you’re one who typically adds sweetener before you taste it, I would recommend trying this one before you add anything to it. If you like your drinks sweet, a dollop of honey would be a nice addition.
Served warm, I find it to be somewhat hot apple cider-like and I really liked that. It also makes a refreshing cold drink, although I found that as it cooled, I could taste a slight chemical note from the flavoring. It’s very slight and it was not as apparent to me when I drank the hot tea.
I enjoyed this, but not quite as much as I enjoyed some of the other apple offerings this season from Zoomdweebies.