Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
You can also learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I recently ordered a few of the newer iced tea flavors that Southern Boy Teas has added to their line, and I’m excited for that order to arrive. This Almond Milk Flavored Iced Tea is the last of the “new-to-me” iced tea flavors that I have in my cupboard right now. Don’t take that as my way of saying that I’m running out of tea (nothing could be further from the truth), but I have run out of new to me iced teas … at least until that order arrives.
And to be honest, I wasn’t sure how I’d like this tea. I mean, I like almond milk alright, I guess. I’m not a big drinker of milk (almond or otherwise), and really, milk’s only purpose as far as I’m concerned is to pour over cereal or to add to tea when I’m feeling like I want a latte. The latte doesn’t happen very often, because I really would rather drink a tea straight up. Every once in a while, though, I’d like that creaminess of a latte, so on those occasions, I do add a splash of milk to my tea. But they are rare occasions. I’m just not all that into milk.
But I am in to tea! So, I figured hey, I like tea and the black tea base that 52Teas/SBT uses for thier Southern Boy Teas iced teas is quite a lovely black tea. Rich and flavorful, not overly astringent, and not bitter. And since I don’t hate almond milk, I thought that this tea had a pretty good chance of success.
And I am actually liking this a whole lot more than I thought I would. In fact, after I poured my first glass of this tea to sit down and write this review, I had to stop writing and go and refill my glass because I was enjoying it so much. At this rate, I might very well have the half gallon pitcher of tea nearly empty by the time I finish writing the review.
I can really taste the almond here, and there is a lovely creamy element to the cup as well. It tastes sweet and nutty and it’s a very refreshing drink. The black tea base is tasty and melds in a pleasant way with the almond milk flavor. It reminds me a lot of a lighter version of Thai iced tea, and I suspect that is why I’m liking it so much. Thai iced tea – serious yum. This … is also serious yum!
Now I’m thinking I wish I would have tried this tea before I placed that order, because I want more of this! This is great!
Lishan Hong Xiang Milk Oolong Tea from T-Oolong Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: T-Oolong Tea
Tea Description:
This quality Lishan Hong Xiang milk oolong tea is handpicked, handcrafted and produced from Jinxuan varietal. This milk oolong is naturally processed with no artificial flavoring. The aroma of this tea is very floral and milky, and the taste is intensively and naturally sweet, and delightful milky. The aftertaste is very sweet and long lasting. This tea stands up well to multiple infusions, and it is smooth and delectable with almost no bitterness. A healthy and pleasant milk oolong we recommend.
Lishan Hong Xiang Milk Oolong, also known as Pear Mountain Oolong, is one of Taiwan’s highest mountain oolong teas. Li Shan Mountain is located in Taichung County of central Taiwan, and it is renowned for producing the highest quality high mountain oolongs. The tea plantations of Li Shan range in altitude from approximately 1600 meters. The loose tea leaves are thick and juicy with a rich fragrance.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf of this Lishan Hong Xiang Milk Oolong from T-Oolong Tea has a very strong aroma that is vegetal with notes of flower. Once brewed, the vegetative notes soften significantly, allowing the floral notes to be expressed more fully.
Ah … this is NICE! I’ve often touted my love for Lishan and Alishan Oolong teas. This one is a perfect example of why I love these teas so much. It’s so sweet and creamy.
Now, granted, sweet and creamy are two generalized tasting notes that you would expect from any Oolong touting a “Milk Oolong” identification. But, let’s face it, some Milk Oolong teas are better than others! And this is one of the very best that I’ve tried. And it’s milkiness is natural, this is not an Oolong that has been flavored to taste milky or creamy.
I combined the first five infusions in one cup, and this cup is absolutely divine. There is a lovely complexity to the tea, with a smooth, creamy taste and texture, an exotic floral sweetness (orchid perhaps?) and mere whispers of vegetal notes.
Currently this tea is not in stock, but this is one of those teas that it’s well worth the effort to check in occasionally with the company to see when it is restocked. It’s so good!
Jin Xuan Oolong Tea from Yezi Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Yezi Tea
Tea Description:
Just as many people call Wimbledon tennis’s most important Grand Slam tournament, many a tea connoisseur likes to think of Jin Xuan as the most important oolong to come out of Taiwan. Jin Xuan is grown at 7,500 feet above sea level. At this altitude, the tea leaves are worked upon by hot days and extremely cold nights. These varying climatic conditions, along with a year-round fog, lend this tea a complex and diverse palette of flavors and sensations.
Like most Taiwanese oolongs, Jin Xuan has a naturally sweet flavor. After your first sip, you might find yourself thinking of sugarcane reeds swaying and glistening in the sunshine. However, after a few more brewings of this loose-leaf tea, its accompanying floral and tangerine scents will transport your imagination to a lush green orchard. Grown in the cool, high altitudes of Hualien County, Yezi’s Jin Xuan is brought to you from local tea farmer Gao Xiu Chen and is an ideal beverage for cooling you off on a hot summer day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been looking forward to my tea time with this Jin Xuan Oolong Tea from Yezi Tea all day! I drink tea daily, and I drink a LOT of tea daily. But the time that I spend with an Oolong is special for me, because I love the complexity of an Oolong. I love that I can keep steeping and steeping and explore so many different layers of flavors with an Oolong. It’s such a relaxing and wonderfully contemplative experience!
And this Jin Xuan from Yezi is top-notch! So sweet and creamy! This first cup of tea (infusions 1 and 2 following a 15 second rinse) is very smooth and has a lightness to it that I’m sure will probably be gone with subsequent infusions. The creamy texture is so delicate and really lovely. I taste notes of flower. Not sharp or perfume-y, these floral notes reside in the background at the moment, as if to let me know that they will soon be a bigger part of what I’ll be enjoying soon.
My second cup (infusions 3 and 4) is indeed creamier and richer than the first was. The floral tones are beginning to emerge now, but they remain pleasantly soft and sweet. The cup is sweet and creamy and the mouthfeel is somewhat milky.
The third cup (a combination of infusions 5 and 6) is my favorite of the three cups that I enjoyed of this tea. It is a delicious balance of silky creaminess and sweet floral tones. It still has that milky texture. And as the above description suggests, I do notice a hint of tangerine to the aroma when I inhale before a sip, and this influences the sip in a very delightful way, adding a hint of fruity finish to the sip.
A really FANTASTIC tea journey awaits you with this tea … I highly recommend it.
Liu An Gua Pian Green Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
A great find for those looking for a more green tea with more character! Like several of our other teas, Liu’an Guapian is deservedly in the list of China’s top ten teas. Made only from larger, mature leaves that are rolled up during processing, the dry leaves have a distinctively plump shape to them – giving rise to its Chinese name of “melon seeds”. Very uncharacteristic for a green tea, it has a quite sweet taste and strong aroma, that is also overlaid with an almost smoky, spicy tang.
From Qiyun Mountain(齐云山), Liu’an, Anhui province
Harvest Time: April 2, 2013
Round shaped, vibrant leaves without any bud or stems
Produces a bright emerald coloured tea
A distinctive taste – sweet with a rich, slightly spicy taste
Low caffeine (less than 10% of a cup of coffee)
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Liu An Gua Pian Green Tea from Teavivre has the mouth watering aroma of milk and honey. When I opened the dry leaf packet I let out an audible ahhhhhh. When I steeped it the moist leaf let off that sticky sweet smell of milk and honey and I was in love. The beautiful hand rolled leaf look like tiny unicorn horns. Yes this tea is what dreams are made of!
The flavor of this tea is like none other. Seriously this is not your average green tea! Yes there is a note of vegetation and unlike my SororiTea Sister I do get a bit of a grassy note, but it is so much more complex than that and I am in agreement with my SororiTea Sister Anne, that it is a stellar green tea to covet! Like her, I think my new favorite.
I too get that kick of a spicy note and a deep earthiness for a green. Something like peat moss perhaps. This is easily a tea that I could get all flowery with the words about but rather I want to just sit back and relax into this sublime cup. It is sweet, a tiny bit tangy and tart, a kick of spicy, a whole lot of grounding earthiness, vegetal, subtly grassy, with a touch of fruit flavor very much like that of a melon yet I also detect something perhaps like lychee with a light floral undertone to it.
Regardless of what verbiage I could use to persuade you to try this tea, I will restrain myself, if you don’t buy it then that just means more for me, and for my SoroitTea Sister Anne too I suppose. Seriously if you are not a fan of green tea you must try this. You will be changed for life. If you do enjoy green tea, you have to experience this one, and if you are a green tea lover you simply can NOT be without this in your stash!
Sinharaja from Golden Moon Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Golden Moon Tea
Tea Description:
For Sinharaja we use rich, dark loose leaf tea leaves that are nourished by fertile rain forest streams in the hills of Ceylon. It has a toasty, molasses-like character with ripe berry notes and a caramelized finish. Serve with a touch of raw sugar and cream for a taste that is smooth, full-bodied and warming.
WHY IT’S SPECIAL:
A sweet, full bodied Ceylon Tea
Natural notes of cocoa and honey with a finish of molasses
A personal favorite of our Owner, Marcus Stout
Pairs excellently with milk and honey
Grown at the basin of a rainforest giving it a wonderfully rich flavor
WHAT TO BE CAREFUL OF:
Sinharaja has a touch of astringency, which is great for first thing in the morning
A bold flavor that is heavier than most Ceylon Teas
While good as an iced tea, it actually tastes better hot
Not as malty as other Black Teas (like Assam)
If you drink the tea without milk and sugar/honey, then the second infusion is better than the first
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of Sinharaja from Golden Moon Tea is delightful. It smells rich, robust, sweet, and full of molasses. Yet to balance out this sweet tea we have an almost spicy, woodsy flavor. It is quite delicious. Now I can’t say it is the most robust black tea, nor the heaviest in the mouthfeel. Actually I have had teas with far more depth of flavor than Sinharaja, however I do love this tea. I like the subtle astringency indicative of a breakfast tea, without the ability for it to easily become bitter when oversteeped. Let’s face it, if I am going to over steep a tea it is going to be when I am barely awake, in the mornings. Well in honesty my mornings are more early afternoon, but you get the idea.
If you like to add creamer, milk, sugar, etc to your tea this is an excellent one to do it with. Although I find this tea to have plenty of flavor on its own and does not need additives, I have to admit that the milk and sugar do bring out new and exciting qualities in this tea. It enhances the richness and makes the tea a bit more robust, rather than drowning out the flavors. I also only added a slight hint of milk, and sugar.
There is a earthy yet sweet balance in this tea that keeps drawing me back. Chocolate notes that seem almost creamy as the cup cools some present. Bright berry notes do liven up the cup giving an almost sparkly like sensation to the palate. The berries taste more red berry, perhaps even a slight cherry or perhaps raspberry note to the cup. Based on the sparkly sensation I am going to have to go with very sweet raspberry.
I particularly love the after taste and while I know that Golden Moon says this is better hot I can’t wait to try it iced. I feel like this is one of those teas that can really match any weather. I can see this being so comforting on a dreary day, or really refreshing on a hot day. I need to get my hands on some more of this.