Wow … it’s day 10. This countdown is rapidly winding down! Getting close to the 12th day of Christmas!
Grape Iced Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
Of the different teas that Southern Boy Teas recently introduced, I think that this was the one I was least excited to try. I’m not real crazy about grape flavored things – I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned that at least once on this blog! I love grapes, especially the seedless “holiday grapes” that are available this time of year in Whole Foods. But, I don’t really care for grape flavored things. I really dislike grape soda, I’m not crazy about grape flavored candies or grape ice pops. I don’t even really care for grape juice.
So, I guess it goes without saying that the idea of a grape flavored tea isn’t all that exciting to me. But I have tried a few grape flavored teas in the past few years and I’ve enjoyed those that I’ve tried. So … there is a glimmer of hope for this tea!
The aroma of the dry leaf is that of grape flavored candies, reminiscent of the grape flavored sugar powder that you might find in the pixie sticks. Or perhaps grape flavored jolly ranchers. Neither of which are very appealing to me.
But this tea doesn’t taste as bad as I thought it would, or as bad as I worked myself up to think it would be. It’s sweet, and it tastes like sweet grape. But, I think that the addition of the black tea helps even out the flavor so that I don’t just taste grape candy. I think that this tastes a bit like what a black iced tea might taste like if it were sweetened with the aforementioned grape flavored pixie stick powdered candy.
Not bad … certainly something I’ll enjoy drinking. But, I don’t think it would be something that I’d add to my must order again list, you know? I like it, but I don’t love it.
On the Ninth Day of Christmas, Southern Boy Teas Edition!
Day 9, and the second day of the New Year. I can’t believe that the Christmas vacation is nearly over. I have enjoyed having my young one around these past couple of weeks … I will miss her when school starts back up.
Vanilla Cola Iced Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
This is one I was excited to try. I have been a big fan of Frank’s cola teas, and some of you may remember that the Southern Boy Teas Lime Cola is one of my FAVORITES from the SBT lineup.
And this one is another winner! This tastes like a splash of vanilla soda mixed with a glass of black iced tea! It’s cool and refreshing and very flavorful. The black tea is brisk and melds well with the flavorings of vanilla and cola.
And as I mentioned before, Frank manages to nail the cola flavored teas. I’m not sure how he does it, but I can actually taste the “bubbly” carbonation aspect in the tea. It isn’t actually carbonated (although, I suppose you could brew this strong to make it concentrated and then mix it with club soda or something), but I can taste that uplifting, bubbly taste that you get when you take a sip of cola.
But, what I don’t get here is that overly sweet, sticky coating of the teeth sensation – and that’s a good thing. That sticky feeling is the reason why I don’t drink soda very often, I just don’t like that icky sweetness that coats the teeth. So this tea offers all the good taste of a vanilla cola but none of the stuff I don’t care for when it comes to drinking soda. Plus … it’s got tea! That’s a win-win in my opinion.
A really good iced tea from Southern Boy Teas. This is one I’ll probably buy again.
On The Eighth Day of Christmas, Southern Boy Teas Edition!
Day eight. Happy New Year, everyone! I hope that last year was a good one for you, and that this one is even better. May you have delicious tea to drink all year long!
Coconut Cream Pie Iced Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
Another tea that I am very excited to try! I have, of course, tried the 52Teas version of the Coconut Cream Pie Black Tea and it’s a delicious tea – one of their best! So my expectations are high with this one!
And SBT did not disappoint! Oh goodness! This iced tea flavor is – thus far – my favorite of the newest releases from Southern Boy Teas. This tastes just as good as the 52Teas version. Sweet, creamy, and luscious. Just like a slice of coconut cream pie!
The black tea is not just a background flavor with this tea. It’s pretty well balanced with the flavoring, so this tastes to me like black tea and coconut cream pie, which is what was intended (at least, I’m assuming that was the intention!) The black tea is a robust, rich tasting tea. It’s invigorating, not overly astringent, and not bitter. Delicious and full-flavored.
The flavoring is sweet and creamy with notes of coconut and vanilla. I taste notes of buttery sweetness as well, which represents the pie crust. It’s very smooth and creamy tasting, and it adds just the right amount of sweetness. Even though this is a rather “dessert-y” flavor, it doesn’t taste cloyingly sweet.
This is a big WIN from Southern Boy Teas!
On The Seventh Day of Christmas, Southern Boy Teas Edition!
We’re already past the halfway mark on this countdown! Time FLIES!
Cotton Candy Iced Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a tea that I’ve previously reviewed, because this is one of the “original” Southern Boy Teas that were made available to the public a couple of years ago. (I think that Southern Boy Teas started out as a company to provide restaurants with iced tea options for their customers.)
But I’m happy to see this tea in these 12 iced teas of Christmas, because it’s one of my favorites. It is so delicious. It is a sweeter tasting tea – so if you’re one that tends to prefer your teas on the plain side, this is definitely not the iced tea to put in your fridge! But, for the rest of us that love a flavored iced tea – this is one of the best that SBT has to offer!
I’ve been really happy with this countdown thus far. If for no other reason, it’s encouraging me to keep iced tea in the fridge all the time, and that isn’t something I used to do year ’round. I’d usually cut off the iced tea brewing around the end of September, when the weather starts to turn cooler.
So yeah … it’s a little weird for me to be drinking iced tea at Christmastime. This is new to me. I’ve always been more of the “tea is a hot beverage” sort of girl, but I like having that pitcher of cold refreshment in the chill box waiting for me when I want something to drink with my meals. I still drink cold drinks in the winter, just not as often. So, why shouldn’t those cold drinks be iced tea?
Usually, my only cold drink during the winter is water, because I don’t drink soda or juice very often. Even less than not very often. Like it’s a rare occurrence for me to drink a soda or juice. So, I like having the iced tea readily available to enjoy when I want a cold drink.
And this Cotton Candy iced tea is one of the tastiest teas from Southern Boy Teas!
On the Sixth Day of Christmas, Southern Boy Teas Edition!
I’ve decided to hot-brew the rest of the iced teas for this countdown. I figure it would be the best way to capture the flavors as they were intended by the blender … plus there’s a little less wait time! I now only have to wait as long as it takes to hot brew the tea (much faster than cold-brewing!) and then the wait time to let the tea cool. A couple of hours in the fridge will do the job.
I hot-brew this like so: I drop the pouch in 1 quart of boiling water and let it steep first for 2 minutes. Then I bring another quart of water to a boil and re-steep the pouch for 3 minutes. This produces a very flavorful half-gallon of tea. I probably could get away with adding 1 quart of ice or cold water to the first 1 quart of brewed tea and still have a flavorful pitcher of iced tea, but, I feel like I’d be missing out on a lot of flavor that way. When prepared this way, the flavor is strong but it isn’t too strong either.
Root Beer Float Iced Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
As some of you are probably aware, I’ve already tasted and reviewed 52Teas “original” Root Beer Float flavored black tea, but this tasting is my first of the SBT iced tea version.
This is good. I think that the aforementioned original Root Beer Float tea is a tad more … something. Perhaps it’s the marshmallow root that is in the 52Teas version that I don’t think is in this that is making the difference. This still tastes root-beer-ish and there is a certain creamy element to the taste here, but, it isn’t as creamy and “fluffy” as the 52Teas version.
However, this is very tasty. I am getting a delicious root beer flavor. I even taste notes of “carbonation” in the taste, where I can taste the ‘bubbly’ taste of a root beer. And I do taste a light creaminess to this as well, giving it a sort of “float” type of taste. And yes, I can taste the black tea in the background too.
Overall, this is a very refreshing, delicious tasting iced tea.