Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Here’s our delicious organic Iyerpadi black tea blended with the organic flavors of vanilla ice cream and maraschino cherries. Life really is just a bowl of cherries, you know. Enjoy it with some of this delicious iced tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Nice! I wasn’t too sure about this Sweet Cherry Ice Cream Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas because the words “Sweet Cherry” often mean “cough syrup” in the world of tea and I worried a little bit that this might end up tasting like that. But I’m happy to say that the cherry notes are not an overwhelming flavor and there’s no hint of cough syrup!
Instead, I’m tasting what was promised in the title: I’m tasting a cherry ice cream flavor that brings me back to the days when we used to go to the local drug store and get a ice cream cone.
Wow, I just aged myself there, didn’t I? Are there any small drug stores like that anymore?
The black tea is the dominate flavor of this tea and it’s smooth. Brisk and lively, this isn’t an aggressive black tea, nor is it astringent or bitter. It’s just really smooth and delicious.
When I first pour myself a glass of this tea, I find that the flavors seem to ‘hide’ themselves until I’ve consumed about half a glass. Then the cherry flavors really seem to pop. Now I’m tasting a cherry note that’s sweet but there’s also just a hint of tart to it. Enough tart to keep it from tasting too sweet and to give it a more fruity taste and not so much a medicinal one. The vanilla undertones add to the smoothness of the black tea and give the glass of tea a really pleasant, creamy taste.
This tea would be perfect for the hot summer months that lie ahead. It’s going to be a flavor that both kids and adults will enjoy!
Planters’ Green from P.M.David Silva & Sons
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: P.M.David Silva & Sons
Tea Description:
Fresh, sweet and reinvigorating our Planters’ Green Tea is hand crafted on a single estate. The unique climate and soil conditions coupled with ozone friendly planting practices ensure that this tea leaves the palate fresh and clean. Best of all it is a fantastic aid for the health conscious; moreover, it’s the perfect beverage for the Green Tea Connoisseur.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ll admit it . . . I’m a green tea junkie. I love it. I love the crispness you can pull out of green teas that I don’t always get from other types of teas. Green tea has a fresh tasting quality that I adore and a buttery richness/smoothness that my taste buds crave. I gotta say, Planters’ Green hit all of those notes and more! I am a fan!
The tea can be bought in pyramid bags or loose leaf. I had the bagged version, which is fantastic for work. Once I got to work, I headed to the break room, poured some water from the coffee machine into my mug, tossed the bag in, and began checking emails. Somehow I wound up getting lost in my daily routine and completely forgot I had started preparing my morning cup. Worried that I had oversteeped and there would be a bitter brew awaiting me, I cringed as I took my fist sip.
The description of the tea says it will leave your palate fresh and clean and that is exactly what happened. They definitely deliver upon that promise. There was absolutely no bitterness whatsoever (even after getting distracted) just that rich clean flavor that I have come to love about green teas. Some green teas also have a vegetal or grassy flavor profile. This one doesn’t have that but leans more towards having a really subtle flavor profile. I can see this being a fantastic tea to have after a large meal.
I can see this being a great to go tea. The one that you know will be forgiving . . . even after you forget about it and go along with your day . . . its a winner in my book!
Traditional Black Tea from Rington’s Premium English Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Rington’s Premium English Teas
Tea Description:
Our Traditional Blend contains some of the best teas produced from around the world, selected predominantly from our long standing relationships with family businesses in East Africa and India. Our expert tea blenders taste and choose each individual tea that goes into the blend, ensuring you always receive that unique, refreshing and lasting flavour that makes Ringtons Traditional our most popular blend.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Of the different teas that I’ve tried thus far from Rington’s Premium English Teas, I think that this Traditional Black Tea blend might be my favorite. Yes, it’s a bagged tea. Yes, I prefer loose leaf over bagged varieties. But occasionally, I’ll find a bagged tea that’s decent. Sure, I’d still rather drink loose leaf, but when I do find a bagged tea that’s worthwhile, I’m going to say so.
And after having tried the one loose leaf offering from Rington’s the other day, I must admit that I’m finding this one – a bagged tea – more enjoyable than their loose leaf variety.
Why?
Because this tea is smoother. It is richer and more rounded. There’s less astringency. Put simply, I’m finding this variety from Rington’s to be more satisfying than their loose leaf blend. Now, if this Traditional blend were offered loose leaf, I’d be one very happy sipper!
The sip starts out sweet. I taste delicate notes of honeyed caramel. The tea has a robust character – it has a nice, satisfying round flavor. A little earthy, a little flowery, and a little fruity. It’s very smooth with no bitterness and very little astringency. Very, very little astringency – as in virtually none. I like that.
This tea tastes great hot and it also tastes really good as it cools. I had finished about half the cup and then I needed to step away and came back to a cold cup of tea – and it still tasted really great. It doesn’t need any additives to taste good – it just does.
It’s one of those types of tea that you want to keep on hand when you just want a no-fuss cup of tea.
Green Tea Peppermint from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
This Green Tea Peppermint from Tea of Life is alright but to be honest, I really expected a bit more than what I’m getting from it. The flavor is just a wee bit flat and “flat” isn’t a word that I normally would associate with peppermint.
The green tea is pleasant enough – it’s soft and buttery and doesn’t impart a strong, grassy flavor. It’s a nice complement to the herbal notes of the peppermint.
But generally when I drink a peppermint tea, I’m expecting a burst of zingy flavor. You know? That bold, refreshing, unmistakable flavor of mint? And I didn’t get that with this tea. My first few sips, I found myself thinking, “There’s mint in there?” Because it was just sort of … flat and uninspiring.
Now, as I’m about halfway through my cup, I can taste the peppermint and it’s pleasant. It feels cool and crisp and it leaves that fresh flavor on the palate. But, it’s still very lackluster and boring and mint shouldn’t be like that.
It’s as I said at the start. It’s alright but not my favorite selection from Tea of Life.
Strawberry Pie Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Our premium organic caffeine-free honeybush blended with organic strawberry, cinnamon, brown sugar and pastry flavors. A delicious caffeine-free treat. Don’t miss your chance to grab one.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
From the moment that I tore open the pouch of this Strawberry Pie Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas, I knew I was in for a treat! I could smell the strawberry right away! And the berry with the cinnamon produced an aroma that was absolutely irresistible! YUM!
And this really is yummy. The nutty, honey-sweet honeybush with the notes of buttery pastry, earthy cinnamon and sweet brown sugar notes create a really delightful ‘pie-like’ flavor. The strawberry tastes sweet with hints of tart, just like the real thing. It tastes like the glazed strawberries in a strawberry pie (or a strawberry shortcake!)
It makes a really refreshing iced tea. It tastes a lot like I remember the “My Sweet Honeybush” version of this flavor tasting: sweet and delicious. I think that ‘hot tea’ version of this tea also had more of a vanilla-y taste to it. I do taste some vanilla-ish flavor to this, like a creamy sweetness, but it’s not as strong as my taste buds want to remember based on reading my past review.
However, I don’t feel like I’m missing that vanilla note in this tea because I rather like that this is about the strawberry and the pie. Very refreshing, pleasantly sweet and dessert-like. Nice!