Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Why hasn’t anyone combined these two flavors yet? I don’t know, but I’m not scurred. Here’s our premium organic Indian black teas blended with organic maple and marshmallow flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
YUM! This is seriously good.
My mouth watered when I saw the label on the package. I want those cupcakes.
And while this tea doesn’t have “cupcake-y” flavors to it, it definitely has the maple and the marshmallow! These flavors are strong and very well-defined. And even though they are really strong, I still taste plenty of black tea flavor too.
It’s sweet and refreshing. It’s something that tastes so good that you’d swear you’re cheating on your diet when you drink it, but you aren’t! It’s iced tea! It only TASTES indulgent.
This is one of the best flavors I’ve tasted from SBT thus far. This might even be better than my lime favorites (Lime Cola and Lime Jello).
If you’re one who doesn’t like sweet flavors – this tea probably won’t be to your liking. But for the rest of us, seriously, you’ve got to try this. It’s so good.
AND Southern Boy Teas has a new Kickstarter Campaign going. Please take a moment and check out the campaign and if you can, please consider contributing to this small business!
Classic Earl Grey Black Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
That classic Earl Grey taste. Our classic version uses just two ingredients: tea and bergamot extract. The kind folks over at the Uva Halpewatte tea estate grow an extra smooth, light, and sweet black tea, perfect for complimenting the sweetness of the bergamot orange!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Hmm. When I opened the pouch, I have to say that I was a little disappointed. Where’s my bergamot? I want bergamot and I want the bergamot to be evident when I open the package of tea. I want that big gust of BERGAMOT essence to blow me away. Didn’t get that when I opened this package. I’m hoping that the bergamot will show up after the tea is brewed.
To brew it, I used my trusty Kati tumbler. I measured 1 bamboo scoop of loose leaf tea into the basket, and then I added 12 ounces of boiling water. I let the tea steep for 3 minutes.
The aroma smells more like Ceylon tea than it does bergamot. Again, I have to ask: Where’s my bergamot?
Then I taste it.
Hmm.
Well, I’m bummed out.
I taste very little bergamot. As in next to no bergamot. This is the Earl Grey tea for those of you out there who don’t like bergamot. Then again, why are you looking for an Earl Grey tea if you don’t like bergamot?
But for this bergamot lover, I’m left feeling a little let down. Maybe more than a little. I love me some bergamot, and there really isn’t much bergamot to speak of in this tea.
I can taste hints of orange in the background, and it’s difficult to say if that orange note that I’m tasting is from the UVA Halpewatte Ceylon tea (because quite a few Ceylon teas have a natural ‘citrus-y’ note to them), or if that’s supposed to be the bergamot.
In the aftertaste, I am getting notes of bergamot.
As for the Ceylon tea, it’s a pleasant tasting tea. It starts out smooth and finishes with a moderate astringency. A medium-bodied tea with that brisk flavor that I generally associate with a Ceylon. Notes of citrus in the background (again, not sure if that’s the tea or if it’s supposed to be the bergamot) and a subtle floral note. The aftertaste of the Ceylon is clean which allows me to notice the faint presence of the bergamot.
The bergamot does come forward just a little as the tea cools off a little bit. To be honest, it tastes more like orange than it does bergamot and its still not punching me in the mouth. I expect a strong PUNCH of bergamot when I drink an Earl Grey tea and I’m just not getting that, even after some cooling time.
Sorry M&K’s … I’ve enjoyed most of the teas that I’ve tried thus far but this one just isn’t doing it for me. They can’t all be winners, I suppose, it saddens me that the one that fails me is one of my favorite of three tea flavors (the others being chocolate and a tie between caramel and vanilla. And jasmine.) OK, so I have more than 3 favorite tea flavors.
This is the ideal Earl Grey tea for those of you who like your bergamot on the subtle side. But if you’re like me and want the tea to be unmistakably bergamot-ish, then this one might be a bit of a disappointment for you.
Please don’t let that stop you from trying other teas from this company though, they have a nice selection of teas and I’ve enjoyed many of the others that I’ve tried. Plus … they have fantastic customer service!
Spiced Orange Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Premium Organic black tea with organic flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Yum! This tastes like a “holiday” tea blend – only iced! It has a great flavor with the warm spices and the burst of orange. It’s a little sweet and a little spicy and I love the way the bright citrus notes perk up the flavors of the spices.
The black tea base is flavorful and has a refreshing yet bold, brisk flavor. This isn’t your average black tea that you’ll find in the yellow, white and red box in the supermarket. (You know which tea I’m talking about, don’t you?) You can taste the quality in this tea.
It isn’t overly spiced. But I can definitely taste clove and cinnamon. The photo above shows star anise but I don’t taste it. I don’t really taste a strong presence of any spice – it’s more like a zesty medley of spices to add some depth to the iced tea.
I like the way the spices accent the vibrant orange taste. Like the spices, the orange isn’t overdone. There is a really good contrast between juicy orange flavor, lively spices, and brisk tea notes.
It may not be as unusual as “cotton candy” or “garlic toast” iced tea but this is a tasty, flavorful, refreshing iced tea that will quench the thirst and it has a certain holiday flair to it, making it seem quite alright to be drinking iced tea when it’s chilly outside! This is something that I’ve started doing over the last few years – keeping a pitcher of iced tea in my fridge even in the cooler months. A few years ago, I limited my iced tea brewing to the warm months when I really needed some cold drink waiting for me in refrigerator, but now I’ve come to embrace drinking both hot and cold teas year ’round.
And this tea would be great any time of year!
Cookie Dough Flavored Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
What’s better than eating a tub of cookie dough? Drinking an awesome organic iced tea with accents of organic cookie dough flavors and zero calories!
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
So, I was really excited to learn about this tea! Cookie Dough iced tea? Yum!
But I was a little skeptical too, because I wondered how well the idea of cookie dough would translate to an iced tea. But if anyone could do it, Frank at Zoomdweebies could do it!
And this is really tasty. It took a few sips of the tea for my palate to get used to the idea that it was drinking cookie dough. But once those flavors developed on my palate, I really found it difficult to stop sipping! I’m on my third glass of this tea now, and it’s almost gone!
It’s sweet and I taste the buttery flavors of the dough. I also taste hints of a brown sugar like sweetness and hints of chocolate. These flavors meld nicely with the brisk flavor of the black tea base.
To brew: I used the hot brew method (I usually do with iced teas that I’m going to be reviewing because I feel that this is the best way to get the flavor from the tea so that I can offer the best and “most accurate” review I can.) I heated 1 quart of water to boiling and then steeped the large tea pouch for 2 minutes. I poured the hot tea into my favorite tea pitcher and then repeated the process, heating another quart of water to boiling and resteeping the pouch for 2 1/2 minutes. Then I combined both quarts of tea in my pitcher and I let the temperature drop to room temperature before stashing it in the fridge.
It is a sweet iced tea so I’d advise caution if you are one who sweetens the whole pitcher of tea as you’re making it. Maybe either go a little lighter on the sweetener or better yet, don’t sweeten it and maybe make a simple sugar syrup to sweeten it if you decide it needs a little something. I didn’t sweeten this at all and it tastes great served unsweetened.
A really yummy iced tea. Now, I’m looking forward to the “hot tea” version of this from 52Teas! (That’s your cue, Frank.)
Fujian Golden Monkey (Jin Mao Hou) Black Tea from What-Cha Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: What-Cha Tea
Tea Description:
A delightful black tea with a caramel nose and taste without any bitterness or astringency. Perfect for all times of the day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is AWESOME! Seriously, this is one of my favorite black teas of all time. It’s amazing. Astonishingly good. This!
To brew this tea, I could have gone all out and grabbed the gaiwan and steeped it like that. But, I don’t like to use the gaiwan for black teas because even though I’ve got my easy gaiwan, the boiling water does get those little ceramic “handles” for the fingertips hot and I didn’t want to burn the fingers. So, I used my Kati Tumbler and measured 1 bamboo scoop into the basket and brought 12 ounces of water to a boil and let it steep for 3 minutes.
Even the aroma of the brewed tea, as the cup sits here in front of me and I await the tea to reach a cooler temperature so that I can start sipping – even the fragrance is enough to send me into a state of excitement.
Imagine a kid on Christmas morning. It’s 5: 58 am and his parents said that under no circumstances were they to be awakened before 6 am and the child is trying to be mindful of his parents’ command. So, there he sits, in a state of pure impatient bliss and excitement waiting out those 2 minutes. Yeah, that’s me now, waiting on this tea.
The fragrance is sweet, caramel-y with delicious notes of cocoa. Background notes of leather and earth. It smells so rich and it’s that smell that is telling me to get ready because this is going to taste GOOD!
Oh … so good.
The flavor is what the aroma suggests it would be: sweet, caramel-y with notes of cocoa. The notes of cacao are so well defined that it almost tastes like I dropped a few cacao shells into the basket of the Kati before I brewed the tea. I didn’t, of course, but it tastes like I did!
There’s a backdrop of earthy notes and a leathery tone. Delightful notes of malt that mingle with the notes of caramel and cocoa for a rich flavor that hints at being creamy. It isn’t “creamy” the way some teas can be exactly but it entices the mind to evoke thoughts of something creamy and dreamy.
And really, dreamy is what this tea is. If I had to limit myself to one pure black tea for the rest of my life, this tea would probably be the one that I’d choose. This is the kind of flavor that I love so much that I wouldn’t mind starting every day sipping it. There is no bitterness. There IS a sweet yet savory quality to the tea with an emphasis on the sweet. There is virtually no astringency.
The sip is pure pleasure from start to finish. I love this tea!