Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Mountain Witch Tea Company
Tea Description:
Quench your thirst with our special prickly pear tea blend. We infused our finest black tea with the flavor of Mojave Desert prickly pear for a delicious & unusual tea. Made with our best black tea, natural & artificial flavors, marigold & safflower petals, citric acid.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I can’t say that I’ve ever had anything like this one before. I’m not sure what Prickly Pear is supposed to taste like so I did some research and it from what I can gather it is supposed to taste similar to watermelon with a slight bite like kiwi fruit. I’m not sure if that is what I’m tasting but this is really good!
Another offering from the Mountain Witch tea Company and I am impressed. So far I’ve had three or four of their teas and they all seem to have a nice fresh crisp taste to them without having the artificial flavoring chemical taste. I can’t say this is one of my favorites of theirs but it makes an amazing cup of iced tea!
The tea itself has a sweet yet tangy flavor to it. I don’t pick up any kind of black tea base. I do pick up a melon like flavor that has hints of a peach or apricot flavor with a side note of honey. I know, it sounds really different but the flavors work. The description says that it is a unusual tea and I agree with that. This is a great light tea for the spring/summer months. The dry leaves have a peach and honey like aroma to them. I would love a candle that smells exactly like these tea leaves.
Cucumber Melon White Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Our premium organic shou mei fannings white tea blended with organic cucumber and melon flavors. This is a seriously refreshing glass of yum. Don’t miss your chance to nab one of these.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Nice! I’m really LOVING this Cucumber Melon White Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas! It’s so refreshing!
Having previously enjoyed the original 52Teas version of Cucumber Melon White tea and to a lesser extent, the SBT Cucumber Melon Black Iced Tea, I was excited to try SBT’s version of these flavors with a white tea base. I really think that the delicate qualities of the cucumber and melon are better suited for the softer white tea base!
To brew this, I tried something just a tad different. I hot brewed it (as usual) – heating 1 quart of water to 160°F and letting the teabag steep for 1 1/2 minute and then straining that tea into my glass tea pitcher. But for the second quart, instead of steeping it for 2 minutes (I usually add 30 seconds onto the resteep time), I only steeped the bag for 1 minute with the resteep. And the flavor is PERFECT.
I’m getting a strong melon flavor with notes of cucumber. It’s sweet with a hint of savory and the white tea base comes through nicely without overpowering the soft flavors of the cucumber and melon. A really delightful balance has been achieved here and I daresay that this is just as good as the original 52Teas version!
Cucumber Melon 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 really enjoyed the Cucumber Melon Green tea that 52Teas created back in 2010 (wow! Has it really been that long?) so I was excited to try the black Iced Tea version from Southern Boy Teas.
And this is alright. I really think this flavor combination is better as a green tea (Hey, Frank, I think that you should start adding green teas to the Southern Boy Teas line!) because the lighter, buttery flavor of the Chinese Sencha just seemed to work better than the blend of black teas that is used for the SBT tea line.
I think that the stronger black tea base seems to mask some of the cucumber and melon notes. I taste some cucumber notes and the melon notes are a little more distinct than the cucumber. It’s a very refreshing taste, don’t get me wrong. I’m enjoying it.
But, if I were to sit down and drink this blindly, without knowing that this was supposed to be a Cucumber Melon flavored iced tea, I don’t know that I would have guessed that was what it was. I would have probably guessed it was some sort of melon, but I don’t know that I would have guessed that this flavor is Cucumber Melon.
It’s a tasty, refreshing iced tea. I just think that these flavors work better with a lighter base, and the vegetative notes of the green tea seemed to elevate the cucumber a little bit to better define the flavor.
Peppermint Melon Green Tea Blend from English Tea Shop
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: English Tea Shop
Tea Description:
Peppermint Melon: Green tea, cinnamon pieces, licorice and peppermint leaves with melon flavour.
Taster’s Review:
I wasn’t too sure about this Peppermint Melon Green Tea Blend from English Tea Shop when I read the ingredient list. Melon and peppermint sounded alright together, but cinnamon and licorice? I love cinnamon and I absolutely adore licorice, but, I wasn’t sure how these sometimes zesty spices would taste with the melon flavor.
But as it turns out, the cinnamon and licorice are very faint, barely-there notes in this cup. The melon and peppermint dominate, and I’m happy to report that even though peppermint can sometimes overwhelm a blend, it’s not doing that here. The peppermint is more of an uplifting note, allowing the melon to shine through very nicely.
The green tea is a little lost in this though. By the time I reached mid-cup, I found myself wondering where the green tea was. I can taste hints of vegetation (more grassy than vegetable), but there really isn’t a lot of green tea taste to this cup.
But the melon and mint notes are nice. The mint tastes cool and refreshing and it’s a really pleasing accent to the melon flavor. The melon is sweet.
Overall, a tasty tea that tastes more of melon than of tea, and because of that, it’s just a wee bit disappointing. I would like a little more tea flavor here. Not the best tea that I’ve tried from English Tea Shop, but for the melon-ness of this … I found myself glad that I tried it.
Ginger Sweet Peach Herbal Tisane from Tiesta Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit & Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Tiesta Tea
Tisane Description:
Take a break from the day and let yourself relax in the golden world of this delicious fruit blend. Smooth ginger and spicy peppercorns unite with soft peaches and mouth-watering honeydew to form a sweet and spicy flavor that just don’t stop.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
As I poured this Ginger Sweet Peach Herbal Tisane from Tiesta Tea into my teacup, I couldn’t help but be captivated by the aroma – it smells like fresh, juicy peaches! It reminds me of summer at my gramma’s house when I was young and the peach tree would yield its delicious fruit … the kitchen would smell so delicious as my gramma would slice up the peaches for peach pie (and of course, my favorite, warm peach sauce for Sunday morning waffles!)
I didn’t smell much of the ginger or the pepper as I poured the tisane … just peaches. But now that I sip it, I do taste the ginger and pepper … although the flavor is not an overwhelming presence in the cup. The ginger is gentle and relaxing, as the label on the pouch from Tiesta Tea promises. Tiesta Tea offers five different “types” of teas and tisanes: Energizer, Relaxer, Eternity, Immunity, and Slenderizer. This tisane is part of the Relaxer category … and it is gentle in flavor, and it is very relaxing to sip. It is also rather soothing, making it a nice choice for after meals.
I steeped this tisane for 7 minutes in almost boiling water (195°F), and this yielded a cup that started off rather muted, but, after sip number two, I began to pick up on the flavors. The peach is very nicely defined at this point, and I taste subtle hints of the melon.
I taste floral tones as well. I am surprised – but happily so – that I taste very little hibiscus here. Maybe a hint of tartness comes through here and there. And the hibiscus is noted in the texture of the tisane … it has a nice, smooth character. I think that if I had steeped this tisane longer, the texture might have gone from smooth to syrupy. By mid-cup, I start to notice the pleasant warming sensation from the ginger and the pepper. It is a mild warmth.
This tastes a lot like a thin warmed, peach nectar that has been infused with ginger and pepper, with just a splash of honeydew melon juice. It’s quite yummy! A really nice tisane from Tiesta Tea!