Sweet Apple Cider Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-Sweet-Apple-CiderTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Zoomdweebies

Tea Description:

Our premium organic Iyerpadi black tea blended with organic apple, green apple and cinnamon flavors. This is a super refreshing iced tea. I may have created a few apple flavored teas lately, but the apple and cinnamon notes with this Iyerpadi black tea are just astounding.

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.

Taster’s Review:

Mmm!  I admit that my first thought was “another apple tea” but now that I’m tasting this, I don’t mind at all.  This Sweet Apple Cider Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas is really good.

I hot brewed this iced tea, bringing 1 quart of water to a boil and then letting the tea bag steep for 2 minutes.  Then I strained the tea into my favorite iced tea pitcher and brought another quart of water to a boil and resteeped the bag for 2 1/2 minutes.  No, this doesn’t make the tea too strong for me, it’s strong, yes, but not too strong.  Then again, I like my tea strong.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I really like the Iyerpadi estate tea that Southern Boy Teas has been using for their black tea base.  It’s got a pleasant flavor, it doesn’t have a bitter taste nor is it astringent.  It’s smooth and even without tasting too weak.  It’s really a delightful tea.

The apple flavor is coming through nicely.  I found that with my first few sips, the apple flavor was less obvious than the cinnamon, which seemed to overpower.  But, after the first few sips, the apple notes developed and the cinnamon waned just enough.  Now, the cinnamon is still a strong presence, but the apple comes through and adds a pleasant sweet-tart note to contrast with the warm, zesty taste of the cinnamon.

Really tasty!

Cinnamon Apricot Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-HONEYBUSH-Cinnamon-ApricotTea 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.

Lime Gelatin Salad Iced Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-GREEN-Lime-Gelatin-SaladTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Zoomdweebies

Tea Description:

Grandma’s Jello!

Okay, but seriously, This is a tea that combines all of the goodness of lime gelatin, pineapple and marshmallow without forcing you to stare down the quivering mass that looks like something from outer space. When these flavors combine with our sweet, buttery Chinese sencha fannings, well, trust me, this is a tea that will blow you away.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Mmm!  Lime Jello was one of my all time favorite teas from 52Teas, and I loved Southern Boy Teas’ black tea version of the Lime Jello too.  So, I felt very confident that I’d love this Lime Gelatin Salad Iced Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas too.

And it is YUMMY!  I have to admit that it isn’t quite as tasty as I remember the original Lime Jello tasting.  It’s still really good though.  Very refreshing.  The flavors are delightful with bright notes of lime that’s sweet with just enough tart to keep it from tasting too sweet.

I also taste a little bit of marshmallow in there.  The pineapple is a little more difficult to pick out.  It doesn’t just jump right out and say “hello, I’m pineapple.”  But you taste something a little different, something that’s fruity but not quite lime and after a while, my taste buds start to recognize it as pineapple.

This is a really enjoyable iced tea.  I like that it’s sweet without adding anything to it – you don’t need to add sugar or other sweetener to this tea.  It’s really enjoyable as it is.

And what I really LOVE about the green teas (and white teas) from SBT is that you can resteep the bag with no loss in flavor.  Actually, I find that the second pitcher is even tastier than the first!

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!

Georgia Peach Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-Georgia-PeachTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Zoomdweebies

Tea Description:

Our premium organic Iyerpadi black tea blended with sweet organic peach flavors. This may not be as crazy as Garlic Toast or Maple Bacon, but this will make you happy inside.

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.

Taster’s Review:

When I first saw that Southern Boy Teas created this Georgia Peach Iced Black tea as their tea of the week for the first week of January, I thought, Oh!  That sounds good!  Then I thought, kind of boring though, isn’t it?  Then my mind wandered to the ready-to-drink peach flavored iced teas that are mostly sugar and flavoring and very little tea.  Bleh!

So, as I was brewing this, I was hoping that it wasn’t going to taste like the stuff you can find on the supermarket shelves.  I was hoping that I’d taste tea that’s been flavored with just enough peach flavor that I could taste the peach and still enjoy the flavor of the black tea.

And that’s exactly what is in my glass right now.  Well, actually, I should say that’s exactly what WAS in my glass, because I’ve finished my third glass of this iced tea in a matter of a half an hour.  This stuff is good.  I know that Southern Boy Teas is embracing the slogan “tea that’s meant to be shared,” but my mind is embracing the notion that I need to drink this before anyone else realizes how good it is.  All for me, none for you!  Share?  Ha!

The black tea that Southern Boy Teas has been using for their black tea blends is an Iyerpadi estate black tea that’s brisk and has a solid black tea flavor.  It’s not an aggressive tea, but it isn’t too shy either.  It doesn’t hide behind the flavors.  It’s a tea that’s rich, smooth, not astringent or bitter, and just … really good.

The peach flavoring starts out subtle.  My first few sips, the peach flavor wasn’t strongly apparent, but there was something luscious there that kept me sipping.  About midway through that glass, I realized – LOVELY peach!  Yum!  The peach is a sweet flavor but not candy sweet, it’s more like a true to the fruit sweetness.

Really nice!

And please don’t forget about Frank’s Indiegogo campaign that’s going on right now!  He’s looking to enhance his iced tea business so that he can take it to the next level!  Please help this small business achieve its goal!

Christmas Fruitcake Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas

Christmas-FruitcakeTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Zoomdweebies

Tea Description:

What’s Christmas without fruitcake? Not some brick of processed dried up yuck and colored cherries, but real, moist, sweet cake with cherries, oranges, cranberries, and pineapple–that’s the kind of Christmas fruitcake we tried to recreate here. And we did it, like always, with just premium organic Iyerpadi black tea and organic flavors. Enjoy!

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.

Taster’s Review:

OK, confession time:  I actually like fruitcake.  I’m probably one of the only people on earth that does like it.  I don’t like all fruitcake, but if I happen to find a bakery that does fruitcake right – something that’s been baked in-house with good quality ingredients and that’s been doused with brandy … yeah, that stuff, I’d eat happily.  That, to me, is the best way to ingest brandy.

So I was happy when Southern Boy Teas announced this Christmas Fruitcake Iced Black Tea as a flavor for the week of December 29th!

I don’t taste brandy flavoring here, so I don’t know that it was actually utilized in this flavor.  But that’s OK, because this is really tasty just the way it is.

I’m really liking the flavors here.  Of the fruit flavors, I think I taste the orange most.  I taste orange throughout the sip and into the aftertaste.  I get a nice little sweet and tart citrus note in the aftertaste.  I taste notes of pineapple and cranberry and cherry, and I appreciate that these flavors are nicely balanced.  I’m not getting an overwhelming, cough syrupy cherry note which is good.

The cake notes are softer than the fruit notes, but they’re definitely there.  I get a sweet, cake-y flavor that is really pleasant.  I taste hints of a buttery flavor.  I like the way all the flavors come together in one sip:  the sip starts out with a sweet orange note, and shortly afterward, I pick up on hints of cranberry.  Pineapple is present throughout the sip.  Cherry weaves its way in and out.  The cake notes are sort of a sweet undertone throughout the sip and if I happen to slurp the sip, I get more of the cake-y sweetness (although it feels a little weird to slurp iced tea, I’ve gotta tell you.)

Overall, a really good, fruity, fun iced tea.

And please consider supporting this small business with their Indiegogo Campaign!  They’re looking to reach new heights with their company and they need your support!