Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream in an iced tea, from our Southern Boy Teas collection. This is a great blend of finely processed (CTC) Indian black tea blended with organic flavors and sealed in an oversized teabag. Each individually packaged teabag will yield 2-quarts (a full gallon if you re-steep) of the best iced tea you’ve ever had.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about SBT’s subscription service here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s easy to get hooked on these iced teas. They’re just so flavourful and easy to prepare, there’s really nothing not to love. I’ve tried a couple of other “ice cream” flavoured teas, but this one is still by far the best. This one got the standard SBT brewing treatment from me – 2 mins in a 1/4 litre of boiling water, topped up to 1.8 litres with cold water, and into the fridge overnight. The main flavour I can pick out here is chocolate, followed by a creamy vanilla in the background. The strawberry is a little shy and fleeting, but it’s identifiable in the mid sip most of the time. The three combine beautifully in the aftertaste, to give the full neapolitan effect. Amazing!
I’m actually finding it hard not to gulp this one down – it’s so refreshing, and the flavour is absolutely fitting on a warm, just-about-summer day. The black base tea is smooth and unobtrusive, supporting the flavours without ever overpowering them. I’m surprised it took me so long to work out that iced black tea is what I’ve been lacking at work every summer. It’s a lot more refreshing than my usual hot tea, and because it’s black I can get my caffeine fix in as well. Paired with the great flavour, it really is a win-win-win!
This one comes highly recommended. It’s sweet, delicious, and unbelievably flavour-accurate. Your summer needs these teas.
Rainbow Sherbet Iced Tea by Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Creamy raspberry, orange and lime sherbet in an iced tea, from our Southern Boy Teas collection. This is a great blend of finely processed (CTC) Indian black tea blended with organic flavors and sealed in an oversized teabag. Each individually packaged teabag will yield 2-quarts (a full gallon if you re-steep) of the best iced tea you’ve ever had.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is my first iced tea of 2015! I tried this one for the first time last summer, and it was so good I went back straightaway for another pouch. I was a bit of a Southern Boy Teas doubter at first, because I didn’t see how tea could taste of ice cream or sherbet, jello or bubblegum. Somehow, though, they do, and this one is no exception.
I brewed this one up the way I usually do – the bag gets 2 minutes in 1/4 litre of boiling water, which is then topped up to 1.8 litres with cold water and put in the fridge overnight. I usually drink half a jug a day (so just under a litre), and as the tea bag is good for a second brewing, these teas represent great value for money. More important than that, though, is the flavour! This one is out of this world! The sherbet is creamy, fruity, and even a little effervescent tasting. I can detect flavours of raspberry, orange, lemon and lime by turns, although they’re not particularly distinct. Just tiny flashes that skip across my taste buds and are gone. Ultimately, the individual fruit flavours merge together into a generically sherbet-y taste. However it’s done, it’s truly amazing.
It’s also worth mentioning that the black base here, although remaining firmly in the background, is beautifully smooth, and neither too heavy or too light for the flavourings. It gives the tea a decent amount of body, so you know that’s what you’re drinking, but it’s never overpowering, and it’s not at all bitter of astringent.
To sum up my thoughts, then: this tea is magic. You need to try some.
Hard Candy Tisane from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal/Tisane
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
Looking for a new way to satisfy your sweet tooth? This sweet and tangy tea is where it’s at. With sour cherries, kiwi and coconut, it has all the taste of a candy shop treat – at next to no calories. Brewed over ice, it’s a deliciously fruity, kid-friendly summer treat. And brewed extra-strong then topped up with sparkling water, it’s an unbeatably refreshing TeaPop. How sweet is that?
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is part two of a five part review of the DAVIDsTEA Summer Collection.
This year I found myself relatively interested in all five teas offered from DT’s Summer Collection so I decided to do a review of the whole collection here on SororiTea Sisters. Not all the teas are going to be prepared the same way; I decided to go with my gut and prepare each in the way I thought that they were best suited for. Now, because DT has marketed/designed these blends to be prepared iced that does mean most of the five teas were tried in a cold preparation style.
This is not an exception; for my first taste of the summer collection I decided to cold brew this one. Based on the initial stream of reviews on Steepster this blend seems to be pretty well liked; as of writing my review there aren’t really any bad reviews of this tisane. That’s definitely unusual, and it has me quite curious especially since this is the blend I was least interested in initially.
Dry I think this has a really intense aroma, and it reminds me a lot of Lipsmacker’s Strawberry Kiwi flavour. It’s very over the top, and really candy sweet. And as long as this doesn’t mysteriously pick up a ‘waxy’ taste then I think that’s a good thing because candy is obviously what DT was going for. I’m not totally sure where I’m getting strawberry from though since that is definitely not one of the ingredients in this: but it’s distinctly strawberry and NOT cherry or cranberry.
Steeped up and strained this has a powerful flavour; it’s incredibly sweet with just a hint of tartness. The first thing I noticed was actually the absence of a flavor – coconut in this case. DAVIDsTEA is really heavy handed with coconut as an ingredient, in fact three out of five of this seasons blends have coconut as an ingredient! It’s only the returning blends that don’t, and I can’t help but wonder if they were maybe so popular because of the lack of coconut. I definitely anticipated the coconut to be strong though – and I’m not getting it at all. It’s really weird, actually. And thinking about it, I don’t remember seeing any coconut shreds in the measured out leaf either.
The first flavor I’m actually tasting though is the kiwi – it’s much strong than I thought it would be. It’s followed closely behind by very plump, juicy cherry, cranberry and – yes, strawberry notes too. It tastes A LOT like Strawberry Kiwi Lipsmacker, no matter how hard I try to shake the comparison. Another popular comparison with this one is Jolly Ranchers; both cherry and watermelon. I can understand the comparison, but I don’t necessarily agree with it. Although, it’s reminding me a lot of a summer cold brew favourite of mine: Prickly Pear from Tea Desire, and now that I’m thinking about it not only do both teas have intense kiwi flavour but Prickly Pear also has a rich melon flavour so maybe I am subconsciously drawing melon comparisons too.
I may be the first ‘negative’ review of this one though; while I didn’t think it was bad I did think that ultimately there was too much going on about about half way through my cold brew I was just getting really sick of the intense sweetness and artificial fruit flavours. I get why it’s getting good reviews so far, it’s different from a lot of other tisanes from DT; but I’d call myself neutral at best. It’s not going to be a restock for me.
Just Peachy Tisane from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal/Tisane
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
It took us years to find the perfect peach iced tea – but this sweet, summery blend is so peachy, it tastes like it’s fresh from the orchard. Now that we’ve finally mastered our favourite summer fruit, we just can’t get enough. And we keep discovering new, delicious ways to try it. It’s amazing mixed up with peach sliced and frozen into ice pops. Or served chilled with a splash of Prosecco. But the best way might just be straight up, with lots of ice and a touch of agave. However you enjoy it, this blend is a real peach.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is part one of a five part review of the DAVIDsTEA Summer Collection.
Just Peachy Tisane from DAVIDsTEA was around last year, but I didn’t get around to trying it because it just really didn’t interest me: I’m kid of fickle towards peach teas, and at that time I was especially wary of them. However, this year I’ve opened up quite a bit more to trying new things so I gave it a shot! It was popular enough to come back a second year so there’s got to be something good about it.
This review is for my tea soda preparation of the tisane; I did this at home using my standard tea soda method (Infuse the tisane into a simple syrup and then float the simple syrup in a can of club soda), not as one of the in store tea soda’s that DT makes.
Dry, the leaf smells very intensly of sweet peach candy with some apple-y undertones – it’s really fresh and in your face. I also took a small sip of the syrup before it had been diluted with the club soda, and (keeping in mind how concentrated it was) I thought it tasted exactly like a Fuzzy Peach!
Based purely on this tea soda, I would one hundred percent buy more of this: it’s absolutely one of the better tea sodas I’ve ever made – The peach is very strong, fresh, and sticky sweet tasting. I’d describe it as Fuzzy Peaches meet Peach Bellini meets Peach Schnapps. The Peach Schnapps comparison is very high praise; that’s easily my favourite liqueur or, really, kind of alcohol in general. It does a great job of navigating away from overly artificial or cloying territory, as well.
The touch of sweeter but also slightly tart green apples stops this from being totally monotone in flavor, but really that secondary flavour is all this needs – the absence of blackberry doesn’t disappoint me. This is just a simple, fun tisane that’s incredibly hydrating and energetic with the peach candy flavour. I can’t get enough of this one; and just writing about this tisane soda has me craving it again so badly; I’m sure a restock will be in my future – I think the question is just how much I’ll be picking up.
Honey, I Dew White from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
In Vietnam, melons are a sign of good luck. In Chinese medicine, they’re said to help cool the body down. Around here, we think they’re just about the tastiest fruit around – especially when you pair them with fresh, delicate white tea. With fruity hints of pineapple and mango, this melon-packed blend is refreshing, juicy and naturally sweet. The best part? This tea was named by our customers! Is there anything they can’t dew?
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s very refreshing to see another permanent white tea blend on the DAVIDsTEA walls; I’ve been complaining for months about the dwindling amount of permanent white teas – I’ve even suffered some losses that were more emotional than I’d care to admit (Coconut Grove, Sweet Strawberry, and Big Apple…). At least a lot of seasonal blends for Spring featured a white base, and one of the Mother’s Day blends as well.
And not going to lie, the fact this was named by DT’s customers (and has such a cute name) is really appealing as well; I find I’m definitely more drawn in to wanting to try a tea when it has a unique name, even if the ingredients/flavor pairings aren’t that unusual. Let us put an end to the “Earl Grey Creams” and “Jasmine Greens” that every company seems to have a version of; give yours a neat name, and make it stand out!
I’m doing this one iced; yes, iced and not cold brewed. I don’t often have the means to do iced tea because I don’t actually have ice at my place. We don’t own an ice tray, and I don’t have the freezer space in my little apartment for larger bags of ice. I know it could be easily remedied by buying an ice cube tray but I always forget; so iced tea is a special treat for me provided by being in the right place (err, chef’s kitchen) at the right time.
My initial thought when I tried this was of Trident’s Watermelon Twist gum – the sugary, candy sweet watermelon top notes were pretty identical. I was expecting something both more mellow and, based on the name, more in the line of Honeydew so I was a little taken aback but once I got accustomed to the taste I found it really enjoyable. Contrasting that, the tail of the sip was a lot more natural tasting once the sweetness has subsided, and definitely a lot more honey dew than watermelon. I like the layers of melon that this one has. Almost like Trident Layers? That’s a bad pun, sorry.
The body of the sip is interesting too; somewhere in between where the watermelon eases up and the honeydew takes over there are a lot of very strong apple notes and some very vague mango and pineapple notes. I’d say they mostly create a tropical fruit vibe rather than make an impact as unique, stand-alone flavors though.
This was really enjoyable, and I think quite different from any other white blend that DT is currently offering, let alone any of their current blends. I really, really like the way they do Honeydew flavors; I’m thinking in particular of Honeydew Mate and Cool Cucumber (two seasonal blends). I loved both quite a bit (I still have some Cool Cucumber), and they definitely honed in on that awesome honeydew flavor. While DT’s watermelon can get too sweet or artificial, honeydew is a flavor they have successfully nailed. If you’re a fan of either of those two blends I absolutely 100% recommend giving this one a shot.