Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t drink a lot of soda, but on the rare occasions that we go out to eat and the iced tea available at the restaurant is questionable, I usually ask for a cherry cola.
So I was excited to try this iced tea flavor from Southern Boy Teas, because it’s a flavor that I enjoy and would be able to identify and also because in the past, I’ve been impressed with the cola flavored teas that 52Teas has offered. They really do have a bubbly, effervescent taste of soda pop, which is a little weird when I would drink the hot tea. Weird, but in a wonderfully weird sort of way.
To brew: The Southern Boy Teas are a “bagged” tea, sealed in a large tea pouch that makes it easy to cold-brew (put it in a pitcher with a half gallon of freshly filtered, cold water and then stash that into the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, take out the sachet – and save it to resteep later! – and enjoy) or to hot brew.
I do have another pouch of this tea and I plan to cold steep it to see how that turns out. I’ll have to come back and comment on this review to let you know how that turns out when I do that.
I usually hot brew all these iced teas for the first tasting, because I feel like I’m getting the true, intended flavor that way and since I want to write about the experience, I think that this is the best way to do that.
To hot brew this, I start with a quart of freshly filtered water and put it in my kettle and heat it to boiling. Then I just toss the sachet into my kettle and let the tea steep for 2 minutes, strain the tea into my favorite iced tea pitcher, and then I repeat the process, pouring another quart of water into the kettle, heating it to boiling and then resteeping the pouch, this time for 3 minutes. I let this come to a room temperature cool before I put the hot glass pitcher into the cold refrigerator. Then I let it chill for several hours (or overnight).
This is a tasty glass of cold refreshment. I can taste the notes of cherry and cola. And I can taste the black tea flavor too. It’s a bit like someone poured some flat cherry cola into my iced tea.
Yes, I’m still getting some of that aforementioned bubbly taste from this, but, it’s not as bubbly or effervescent as you’d get if you were drinking a straight soda pop. Nor should it be. This is tea, not a carbonated beverage. However, you can make it a tea soda.
I can taste that bubbly sort of flavor that I’ve experienced in the past with 52Teas soda flavors, although for some reason (I’m not sure of the reason) and this is something that I’ve noticed with the other cola flavored iced teas from SBT, the “soda” or “cola” flavor doesn’t shine through quite as copiously as it seems to when I sip on a cup of hot soda flavored tea from 52Teas. As I said, I’m not quite sure why this is.
That said, this is still really tasty. It quenches the thirst and it tastes great while it’s quenching the thirst, and that’s what I look for in an iced tea.
PGB Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
As difficult as you might imagine it would be to replicate a Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster here on Earth, particularly since the only ingredient we could obtain here would be the olive, it is an even MORE difficult task to create a non-alcoholic tea inspired by the drink. BUT I think we have succeeded in creating something awesome. Here’s our awesome premium black tea base blended with organic lemon-, brandy-, bourbon-, sherry- and red hot cinnamon flavors, cinnamon chips, lemon balm, lemon myrtle, lemon verbena, lemongrass, some chili pepper flakes and a TEENY touch of cayenne pepper to give it that little extra bit of BITE. Instead of an olive we added a tiny touch of organic maraschino cherry flavor for sweetness. I’m sure my creation can’t hold a candle to the awesome concoction from the fertile imagination of Douglas Adams, but I’m pretty sure it will put a smile on your face anyway, and now you can offer your guests a cuppa PGB.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
OK, I can’t tell you how excited I was to learn that 52Teas’ tea of the week was this PGB which – for those of you unfamiliar with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – stands for Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster. It’s one of my favorite movies.
I still haven’t read the book. I have the book, but I just haven’t taken the time to read it yet. I plan to do that soon. As in eventually.
At the same time, I was a little afraid of the tea. I mean … I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to have my brains smashed in by a slice of lemon that’s been wrapped around a large gold brick. As amazing as that sounds, I just thought that might be something that’s a little like skydiving: it sounds fun. But jumping out of an airplane doesn’t sound like something I should do.
But I decided to summon up the courage and brew some of this tea and try it. Even if it meant that I would soon feel as though I had my brains smashed in a brick of gold that’s been wrapped in lemon.
At first the tea starts out rather mellow. But after about three sips, I start to pick up on FLAVOR. A lot of it! I taste cinnamon and notes of citrus, a hint of chili pepper. It’s sweet and spicy and fruity. The description states that there are flavors of brandy, bourbon and sherry in this, and I’m having difficulty discerning specific alcohol flavors in this. This could be that I’m either not very good at determining alcohol flavors because I’m a tea-totaler, or it could be that these alcohol notes meld into the background, behind the stronger flavors of black tea, cinnamon, citrus and zesty pepper.
I REALLY like this concoction. It’s different from any tea that I’ve tried before but it’s also similar enough to things that I’ve tried in the past that it doesn’t taste weird to the point of being off-putting. It’s a good weird. Kind of like 52Teas.
As I continue to sip, I’m picking up on a delicate sweetness from maraschino cherry. It’s a really nice contrast to the low and slow burn that I’m getting from the red hot cinnamon/natural cinnamon and cayenne and chili pepper.
The spice is the best part of this because it’s not TOO spicy. This isn’t one of those hot-cha-cha kind of spicy teas that becomes too difficult to drink because the spice is overwhelming. It isn’t sending me to the kitchen for a drink of ice water to cool the mouth. I’m not in need of a bite of yogurt to tame the zesty flavors that are dancing around in my mouth right now. It all works together very well. It’s warm and it’s – as I said before – a low and slow kind of burn in the back of the mouth and toward the back of the throat.
This is the kind of drink that I’m going to want to turn to when autumn arrives and there’s a cool crispness to the air. It’s just warm enough to give me that all-over sort of warm feeling that I would get if I just drank a shot of whiskey but without the flavor of whiskey in my mouth. That’s a big bonus for this tea-totaler.
I really like this. It’s definitely a suitable tribute to one of my all-time favorite movies.
Retour a La Ligne Green Tea Blend from Les 2 Marmottes
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Les 2 Marmottes
Tea Description:
This Tea will be your partner throughout the day as part of your weight loss mission. Flexible, it adapts to any situation. It is hot, warm or even cold, it is always delicious. Temptations no longer have control. You’re all set!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It was exciting to receive this box of samples – all the way from France! This Retour a La Ligne Green Tea Blend is the first that I’m trying from this new-to-me company, Les 2 Marmottes.
When you visit the Les 2 Marmottes website, you’ll find that you need to translate the website … unless you are able to read French. Alas … I am not, thankfully Google Chrome will translate it for me.
The dry leaf smells strongly of mint. Of course, this could be not only because of the spearmint but because of the meadowsweet. It’s a very fresh and uplifting fragrance. The brewed tea has a slightly softer mint aroma and I can detect the notes of the green tea and verbena now.
The flavor is much more subdued than I expected it to be, given the strong minty fragrance. The mint notes here are subtle but refreshing. The green tea has a sweet, buttery taste. There is a herbaceous overtone to this, tasting a bit more like an herbal tisane made of green herbals rather than a green tea.
I taste distant notes of fruit too, but they are a little difficult to discern because they’re off in the distance somewhere behind the stronger herbal notes. It’s a calming drink to sip, I find myself relaxing more with each sip I take.
Overall, this is a pleasant, mild tasting beverage. I don’t know if I taste anything from the tail cherries (or cherry stems), then again, I can’t recall ever having a tea with tail cherries in the list of ingredients so I don’t know what kind of contribution this ingredient makes to the overall flavor of the tea. I do taste spearmint and I do taste green tea. I taste notes of verbena and a slight sharp note from the meadowsweet.
It’s an interesting cuppa! With my first few sips, I was a little unsure if I was liking it, but now that I’ve nearly finished the cup, I find myself wanting a little more, so that’s gotta tell you something, right?
Berry Patch Black Tea Blend from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of the dry leaf of this Berry Patch Black Tea Blend from Tea of Life smells quite yummy with its notes of strawberry and cherry. It’s a fruity scent, obviously, but, it isn’t an overpowering fragrance. It doesn’t smell artificial or candy-like. It smells lightly of fruit, reminiscent of a farmer’s produce market in the summertime when the strawberries are fresh and ripe and perfuming the air with their delicious goodness.
I’m happy to report that what I smell translates to the flavor. The fruit notes are delicate and do not overwhelm the black tea notes. The black tea is a mellower tasting black tea, and I’d categorize it as a medium-bodied black tea base. Smooth and nicely round, this is probably a Ceylon, although Tea of Life does not clarify that on the packaging. It just says “Black Tea.” I like that it’s a flavorful tea, but not too aggressive, especially when considering the delicate fruit notes of this tea. A stronger tea base would mean that I would miss out on the lovely strawberry and cherry flavors.
The cherry is less potent than the strawberry. The strawberry starts out rather subtle but as I continue to sip, the flavor of sweet-tart berries builds on my palate. The cherry is a soft flavor and it’s quite pleasant. It isn’t too sweet nor does it taste medicinal.
Overall, a nice cuppa from Tea of Life.
Forest Fruit Black Tea from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
As I start a tea to steep, I find myself wondering – anticipating? – what the tea will taste like. This Forest Fruit Black Tea from Tea of Life has the flavors of strawberry, blackberry, black currant and cherry, so obviously I was expecting a very fruity tea.
But, what what surprised me – happily! – is that this tastes more of tea than it does of fruit. Oh, the fruit flavors are there and they’re loud and clear, but, the black tea base is robust and has a strong, solid black tea flavor. It doesn’t take a back seat to the fruit notes.
Instead, I taste a medley of fruit notes that sit just beneath the black tea notes. Strawberry pops out first with a sweet-tart cherry note coming in just after. The blackberry notes seem to weave their way in and out of the sip and are sometimes more difficult to discern than the strawberry and cherry. The black currant is most recognizable at the finish, when I notice a sort of tart note, and the astringency of the black tea makes that more distinguishable. It’s almost “wine-ish” at the finish. The aftertaste is like a blend of the four fruits, with a prominent berry tingle on the tongue.
An enjoyable black tea blend from Tea of Life: it’s sweet, fruity and flavorful. I find it especially nice as it gets cooler, making this an ideal choice for iced tea.