Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Capital Tea Limited
Tea Description:
Quality Ceylon black tea infused with a natural fruit and caramel flavour.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yum! It’s pretty much a given that a tea will have me at the word “caramel” and this Marco Polo Blend from Capital Teas Limited did. This is rich and sweet and delicious.
The black tea base is a Ceylon. Most Ceylon teas are medium bodied, and I’d probably categorize this as a medium-to-full bodied tea too. It’s not quite as hefty or thick as an Assam would be, but it’s not what I’d call a thin textured tea either. It’s pleasantly flavored, nicely round and it’s got some gusto. It’s smooth until the finish where I notice a slight dryness of astringency. It’s not a harsh astringency and the tea itself is not bitter.
It’s not an aggressive tea and for the subtly of the flavoring, an aggressive tea is not needed here. The fruit and caramel flavor is more of what I’d call a ‘delicate’ level of flavoring. It’s not in your face. There’s a gentle note of caramel and an even gentler note of fruit.
It’s gentle, but it’s effective! I like the subtle approach here. It’s a soft, creamy note of caramel that seems to glide over the palate. The fruit notes add just a whisper of sweetness and a little dimension to the cup without offering a distinct fruit flavor. I can’t tell you exactly what fruit I’m tasting. It’s just a hint of fruitiness.
A very enjoyable cuppa! I’m glad I had the opportunity to try it.
Georgia Peach Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea 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
Tea 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!
Blackberry Sangria Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Our amazing organic Iyerpadi iced tea base blended with the organic flavors of blackberry, red wine, and citrus fruits. This will delight your palate and the palates of your guests. A great iced tea to share with your holiday guests.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s a tasty iced tea, but as someone who typically doesn’t get all that into alcoholic beverages, I’m not finding the flavor combination of fruit and red wine all that alluring. It’s just not my ideal flavor combination.
But it is tasty. The blackberry notes are very forward which I am enjoying, and I taste notes of red wine. I like that the red wine isn’t a particularly strong flavor, it reminds me a bit of the wine flavor you’d taste if you were drinking a wine cooler. Yeah, I used to drink those. They were pretty popular when I was younger. Boy, I just aged myself, didn’t I?
There’s also a background note of citrus. These flavors add more ‘tang’ than a real focused citrus-y flavor. A little bit of contrast to the sweet notes of blackberry.
The black tea is tasted among these other flavors, and I appreciate that as well. I can’t say that this is my favorite iced tea flavor, but I’m enjoying it. It’s refreshing and fruity and my palate finds it pleasing. But if I were to sit down and place another order, I don’t think that this would be one that I’d put into my shopping cart.
But Southern Boy Teas does have a lot of other teas that I’d put into my shopping cart (more than I’ll allow myself to buy! ha!) Have you checked out their Indiegogo campaign yet? They’re looking to take their brand to new heights with this campaign, so please consider contributing and helping them reach their goal!
Banane Chocolat Flavored Black Tea from Lupicia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lupicia Tea
Tea Description:
Banana and chocolate flavored black tea with bright yellow petals.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of this tea is delicious! I can smell the banana and the chocolate and it’s making my mouth water! Mmm!
And this is certainly tasty! The chocolate notes are a dark chocolate note, reminding me a bit of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder that you’d use to make brownies. Not bitter like that, but the chocolate flavor reminds me of that deep, rich cocoa flavor.
But the banana is the real star of this show. The banana comes through strong with a really good banana flavor. It tastes very true to the fruit. It’s sweet and I can almost feel the creamy texture of the banana in this.
One of the better banana teas that I’ve yet to try.
The black tea is more of a background flavor here – and if I were to offer any complaint about the tea, that would be it. I think that a slightly stronger black tea base might be nice. Maybe a malty Assam (I would love to see how that malty flavor tastes with the banana notes!)
I found that this tea is best served hot. When it’s still fresh from the teapot hot, I found that the flavors were less distinct. The banana was strong but I didn’t get a strong chocolate-y presence. So let it cool a few minutes, and then taste it again. The chocolate notes start to come forward, and the banana is really well defined.
This one might just end up being my favorite from Lupicia! Or, at the very least, this belongs in my top five of favorites from Lupicia.