Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Here’s a unique treat to tempt your tastebuds. How about some of our premium black teas blended with raisins and the organic flavors of vanilla ice cream, raisins and rum? Our Rum Raisin Ice Cream tea is sure to impress. Get some while it lasts!
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Yummy! I’ve been looking forward to trying this Rum Raisin Ice Cream Flavored Black Tea ever since 52Teas announced it as the tea of the week for December 9th. I can’t recall ever tasting a Rum Raisin ice cream, but the idea of rum soaked raisins and sweet, creamy vanilla ice cream sounds delicious. And I usually enjoy 52Teas ice cream inspired teas, so I was fairly certain I’d enjoy this one too.
And I’m loving this. It is so good. The flavors all come together so well. I taste raisin, I taste rum, I taste the sweet, creamy notes of vanilla and even a hint of a milky/creamy taste that is giving it an ice-cream-y sort of flavor.
And then there is the black tea. The “usual” black tea base that 52Teas uses for their black tea blends is perfect for this blend. It is robust and has notes of malt that marry well with the rum notes. The black tea tastes rich and full and fills out the background while the flavors play in the foreground.
This not only makes a great “dessert” type tea, but also offers an amazing, guilt-free way to enjoy dessert for breakfast. I enjoyed the tea served straight up, and after the first couple of sips, I decided to try it with a little bit of turbinado sugar, so I added about half a teaspoon. The sugar enhanced the sweet raisin notes and the ice-cream-y taste, so I highly recommend trying this one with just a little bit of sugar. Then I poured myself a second cup of this Rum Raisin deliciousness, and this time I tried it lightly sweetened with a splash of milk … and oh my goodness! So, so good.
A really good one from 52Teas. As I write this review, I see that there are eight (count ’em … 8) pouches of this tea left. I highly recommend getting yourself over to 52Teas and picking up one of these pouches for yourself before they’re gone. It’s a winner!
Honey Ginger 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:
During their recent fundraising campaign, 52Teas/Southern Boy Teas had a few “flavorful” initiatives that once certain fundraising goals were achieved, new flavors were created. This is one of the flavors that customers of Southern Boy Teas could vote on – and they did! – and have created. And I’m really glad this Honey Ginger Flavored Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas was created, because I’m loving it.
To be honest, it isn’t a flavor that I would have really thought of to vote on. Not that I have anything against the flavor combination of honey and ginger, it’s something that I turn to whenever I’m sick. A cup of hot tea with ginger and honey always makes me feel a little better when I’m down for the count. But as iced tea? I wasn’t as thrilled with the flavor.
But I was wrong, because this is really yummy! The flavors come through just right. The ginger is a softer, sweeter ginger, which I contribute as much to the presence of the honey as I do the way the flavor was added to the tea. The honey softens the usual zesty, peppery ginger so that it is a warm taste, but not a spicy one. It is a very refreshing change to the way I usually experience ginger.
The honey is the strongest flavor of this tea, but I like that also. I don’t usually add honey to my tea unless I am feeling under the weather, because I find that it adds too much of it’s own flavor to the cup and I want to experience the tea and not really the honey, you know what I mean? So, I usually refrain from adding honey to my cup – but this tea allows me to enjoy the taste of honey and I’m liking that.
And the brisk, bold flavor of the black tea is perfectly balanced with the flavors. I taste tea, I taste honey and I taste a hint of ginger. It’s really a tasty glass of tea. This is one that I’m going to put on my re-order list.
On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, Southern Boy Teas Edition!
Well, this is it, everyone! The last day of the 12 Iced Teas of Christmas. And I really love the tea that was especially created for today!
Candy Cane Iced Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the tea that we’ve been waiting for … the newest tea to the Southern Boy Teas lineup. And I do hope that Frank (of 52Teas/Southern Boy Teas) does decide to keep this Candy Cane iced tea in his Southern Boy Teas collection because it’s so good!
It’s got a crisp, cool mint taste to it with just a hint of sweet vanilla-y flavor. These flavors are balanced with the rich tasting black tea. I like that the mint is strong and minty but it isn’t taking over. It’s a strong mint flavor but it doesn’t taste like someone added mouthwash to my glass of iced tea.
The creamy undertones add just enough sweetness to make this taste like a candy cane without making it come off as too sweet. While one doesn’t usually associate iced tea with Christmastime … this glass of iced tea does indeed taste like Christmas! It makes me think of the day after Christmas, when it’s alright to start taking the candy canes off the tree and enjoying them.
Just the right amount of all the components to create a really refreshing glass of iced tea that I’d be happy to enjoy year ’round!
Well, that’s it … that’s the end of this year’s 12 Iced Teas of Christmas from Southern Boy Teas. I had fun with this countdown, I hope you did too.
On The Eleventh Day of Christmas, Southern Boy Teas Edition!
My Christmas Tea countdowns are about to come to an end! Tomorrow is the last day. I’ve enjoyed trying all these new iced teas from Southern Boy Teas. Some teas I enjoyed more than others, of course, but, I had fun with this countdown!
Strawberry Zabaglione Iced Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
Yum! At the start of this countdown, I was hoping that one of the teas featured would be this new iced tea flavor. The original Strawberry Zabaglione black tea from 52Teas is one of the very best that I’ve tried from 52Teas, so, just like with the Coconut Cream Pie Iced Tea, I had high hopes!
And this is good … although I don’t know if I can say that I like it as well as I liked the aforementioned coconut cream pie iced tea. I think that the original 52Teas version of this tea was better. Then again, it’s been a while since I’ve had that tea so I’m basing that opinion solely on my memory. It was a very memorable tea, though!
This does have a nice strawberry taste that is particularly noteworthy in the aftertaste. In the aftertaste, there is a flavor that is very much like the taste I’d experience after I’ve eaten a fresh, ripe strawberry. And this tea does have a nice creamy, custard-like flavor, although I think that this is where this iced tea pales in comparison to the original, because it had a very decadent, sweet, custard-y flavor that was so delightful. And while this tea does have a certain creaminess to it, it isn’t quite as memorable as the original version.
That said, this is still quite tasty. The black tea is brisk and invigorating. The strawberry flavor tastes delicious and true to the fruit. The custard-like notes are creamy and sweet. And it’s a very refreshing iced tea … one that I wouldn’t mind having chilling in my refrigerator on a regular basis.
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.