Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf here.
Tisane Description:
A sweet, smooth honey-scented herbal tea, Honeybush is made up of the leaves, stems, and flowers of a bush native to South Africa. Honeybush provides a bit of a natural smoked flavor with a touch of a tart finish. It is caffeine-free, low in tannins and contains antioxidants, making it a delicious, healthy, and versatile beverage.
Ingredients: South African Honeybush Herbal Tea
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.
Save 25% off when you sign up for the Selection Club. Use the coupon code SISTERSELECTION25 when you join. This discount is applicable only to the monthly Selection Club subscription and not the retail selection of teas.
Taster’s Review:
It’s not very often that I have a cup of straight-up honeybush anymore. Usually, I’m tasting honeybush as part of a flavored blend. But as I sit here, sipping on this Honeybush from this month’s box from Simple Loose Leaf, I find that I’m quite enjoying this! I’m enjoying it a lot more than I expected to.
In fact, as I was brewing it, my attitude was kind of glib. I wasn’t all that excited about it. I mean, it’s not like I’ve not tried pure honeybush in the past.
But as I said, it’s been a while since the last time I had a cup of pure honeybush. I don’t know for sure how long it’s been, but it’s been long enough to where I’ve forgotten just how tasty a cup of straight-up honeybush tastes.
It’s sweet and honey-esque. Hence the name. There is a nutty note to it, and a slight woodsy tone. The description above suggests a “natural smoked flavor” and while I can’t say that I ever remember that smoky note in the past, I am noticing it now. It’s slightly toasty. It enhances the nutty flavors, so perhaps that’s why the smoky/toasty note was indistinguishable in the past because what was “smoky” or “toasty” was also “nutty.”
It’s a very soothing beverage, and because it’s naturally caffeine free, it’s one that you can drink later in the evening without worry that you’ll start bouncing off the walls from a caffeinated buzz. And while pure honeybush is not something that I keep on hand regularly, it sure is nice to have a cup of it every once in a while, and I have Simple Loose Leaf to thank for reminding me of that!
That’s one of the reasons that I absolutely LOVE the Selection Club tea box that arrives from Simple Loose Leaf in my mailbox every month. I get five sampler size packages of high quality loose leaf tea in every box. Each month, these five teas are different, and every month, the box is a new adventure. It’s so much fun to receive this box every month!
Wildberries Flavored Green Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Wildberries = Blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, elderberry, and black currant. Premium Organic green tea with organic flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Here it is … my first review of one of Southern Boy Teas green tea creations. I was excited to learn of SBT’s expansion into other tea types – they’re not just black teas anymore – since I usually prefer green or white iced teas (I find them more refreshing than black tea).
And this Wildberries Flavored Green Tea is VERY refreshing. Mmm! It’s bursting with berry flavor. My first sip I could really taste the elderberry and black currant flavors. In the aftertaste, I started to pick up on the other berry flavors, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry are the flavors that seem to tickle the palate in the aftertaste, with an emphasis on the raspberry notes.
The blueberry is a little less conspicuous.
As I continue to sip, I start to notice more of the berry flavor throughout the sip, not just the elderberry and currant. Now I’m tasting more blackberry, strawberry and raspberry throughout the sip, and I can even pick up on some blueberry notes.
And the green tea base is ideal for these flavors because it’s a lighter tasting base. I feel that a black tea base might be a little bit too much. It could work, and I’d certainly be more than happy to try it, but I like the softer flavor of the sweet green tea with light buttery notes and how the green tea allows the berry flavors to really express themselves fully, while not hiding off in the background. I still taste the green tea, but it doesn’t intrude upon the berry notes. It’s a very lovely balance that’s been achieved.
To brew this, I went ahead and used the “hot brew” method. I filled my kettle with one quart of water and heat it to 175°F. Then I allowed the sachet to infuse for 1 1/2 minutes. Then I poured the hot liquid into my tempered glass pitcher (to temper it, I just run it under hot tap water for about a minute to get the glass warm so that the hot liquid doesn’t shock the glass and cause it to break). Repeat with another quart of water heated to 175°F, this time allowing the sachet to steep for 2 full minutes. Then I stashed the sachet in an airtight container and put it in the refrigerator to see how a resteep would taste.
The verdict: The resteep is still VERY flavorful. Almost – if not just as – flavorful as the first half gallon that I prepared. This tea is a winner! It’s one that I’ll be getting more of!
Cinnamon Roll Flavored Honeybush Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
OK, so I have to admit that I’m less excited about a honeybush iced tea than I am a black iced tea. (Or should I say honeybush iced tisane?) Anyway, despite my less than enthusiastic attitude about this product, I am LOVING IT! It is really delicious and very refreshing.
The honeybush base is actually ideal for these flavors because the naturally sweet, nutty flavor of the honeybush creates a sort of bready/doughy flavor for the “roll” part of this taste experience. I can taste notes of butter that further accentuate the pastry flavor.
It’s sweet and gently spiced with cinnamon. I don’t get a heavy “icing” taste from this but I do get a light vanilla-y, creamy undertone to this that tastes a bit like the icing that would be smothered over a freshly baked cinnamon roll. I don’t think I’d want it to be a heavier icing taste, I like the way that the creamy notes here are softer in flavor than your typical mall-food-court cinnamon roll because while my sweet tooth gets happy at the thought of that sweet, decadent icing … it’s the part of the cinnamon roll that keeps me from indulging in cinnamon rolls very often – that sweetness becomes cloying too fast and I feel a little overwhelmed by the sweetness (and sometimes a little sick from it.)
This – on the other hand – is just right with the sweetness. This is the way I’d want my cinnamon roll to taste: lighter on the icing with a nice, well-pronounced cinnamon note and a satisfying, buttery pastry.
A really enjoyable iced tea. This is one that I could see myself ordering again.
Product Review: Stur Liquid Water Enhancer Black Tea & Lemon
Product Information:
Where to Buy: Stur
Product Description:
Brewed Black Tea + Lemon – a mouthwatering and naturally sweetened blend of real, brewed black tea and fresh lemons! It just tastes natural, not chemical or processed. Add Stur to your tap water, bottled water, Sodastream/ sparkling water, even cocktails.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
During a recent shopping trip to my favorite produce market, Chucks, I came across a end-cap display of Eternal Bottled Water. Attached to several of these bottles were little trial size packets of Stur products. Most were fruit flavored, but I found a couple of Black Tea & Lemon trial packets, so I grabbed one of those.
These Stur products are similar to the popular “liquid water enhancers” that you can find in most grocery store aisles where juice is sold (or alternatively, where bottled water is sold.) My daughter has recently “discovered” the liquid water enhancers because I’m not fond of her drinking a lot of sugared sodas or fruit juice (which has a lot of natural sugars and really isn’t that much better for her than soda, in my opinion). Sure, I do make tea for her on occasion, but she doesn’t want tea that often, so, I find that these liquid water enhancers – many of which do not contain any sweetener in them – are something I’d prefer for her to drink over the over-sugared soft drinks.
This Stur product does have a sweetener in it: stevia. I would rather that not be in there, because … there’s something off about the stevia in this. Either there is too much stevia in it or the stevia used in this product is a lower quality stevia because I’m tasting chemical-y taste … not just “aftertaste” but chemical while I’m tasting and then chemical that is lingering in the aftertaste.
It reminds me a lot of the drink mix that my step-mother would sweeten with saccharine. Not my favorite taste.
And unfortunately, because of the off tasting sweetener, it’s hard to really talk about the black tea flavor or the lemon. The lemon is there – and it’s a tart, acidic flavor (as if someone squeezed lemon juice into my water bottle). The lemon is actually the best part of this “liquid enhancement.”
I don’t taste a lot of the black tea flavor, and that could be because the sweetener flavor is blocking my ability to really taste the black tea. I don’t know, but I’m finding it hard to enjoy this particular beverage because of the stevia in it.
There is either too much stevia in this or the stevia product used is not a high quality product. I wish I could say that I like this, but I just can’t … because … I don’t. And I feel as though I ruined a perfectly good bottle of Eternal Water.
Citrus Blast Flavored Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I was pretty sure that I’d enjoy this iced tea flavor from Southern Boy Teas … I mean, citrus and black tea? These are two flavors that just go together … much like iced tea and summertime go together.
And this is really refreshing. It definitely has a big BLAST of citrus flavor, but I appreciate that I’m tasting more iced tea than citrus fruit. And not surprisingly, the citrus notes are quite complementary to the flavors of black tea. Like I said before, these are two flavor profiles that just work.
This tea is not overly tart, the tea balances out the tart flavors and lets some of the sweet notes of the citrus flavors come through. For me, I think that the lime is the most prominent citrus note that I taste, but I also taste hints of lemon and orange. There is also a grapefruit-like note to this and I like how all these flavors meld together into a “blast” of citrus: all the citrus notes work together to create a very harmonious tasting, refreshing glass of iced tea that seems to disappear from my glass quickly.
And while citrus flavors and black tea DO work together well, I find that this is not just “lemon” or “lime” or “orange” flavored iced tea. It’s a medley of flavors so that makes it just a little different from an average pitcher of iced tea. I like that I can count on SBT to deliver not just tasty iced tea, but something that’s a little outside of the box. Something a little different, something a little unexpected … SBT not only keeps my palate cool and refreshed but happy too!