Neapolitan Ice Cream Iced Tea by Southern Boy Teas

by scheherazade

NeapolitanIceCreamTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas

Tea Description:

Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream in an iced tea, from our Southern Boy Teas collection. This is a great blend of finely processed (CTC) Indian black tea blended with organic flavors and sealed in an oversized teabag. Each individually packaged teabag will yield 2-quarts (a full gallon if you re-steep) of the best iced tea you’ve ever had.

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn more about SBT’s subscription service here.

Taster’s Review:

It’s easy to get hooked on these iced teas. They’re just so flavourful and easy to prepare, there’s really nothing not to love. I’ve tried a couple of other “ice cream” flavoured teas, but this one is still by far the best. This one got the standard SBT brewing treatment from me – 2 mins in a 1/4 litre of boiling water, topped up to 1.8 litres with cold water, and into the fridge overnight. The main flavour I can pick out here is chocolate, followed by a creamy vanilla in the background. The strawberry is a little shy and fleeting, but it’s identifiable in the mid sip most of the time. The three combine beautifully in the aftertaste, to give the full neapolitan effect. Amazing!

I’m actually finding it hard not to gulp this one down – it’s so refreshing, and the flavour is absolutely fitting on a warm, just-about-summer day. The black base tea is smooth and unobtrusive, supporting the flavours without ever overpowering them. I’m surprised it took me so long to work out that iced black tea is what I’ve been lacking at work every summer. It’s a lot more refreshing than my usual hot tea, and because it’s black I can get my caffeine fix in as well. Paired with the great flavour, it really is a win-win-win!

This one comes highly recommended. It’s sweet, delicious, and unbelievably flavour-accurate. Your summer needs these teas.

scheherazade

Hi! I'm Sarah, and I live in Norfolk in the UK. My tea obsession began when a friend introduced me to Teapigs a good few years ago now. Since then, I've been insatiable. Steepster introduced me to a world of tea I never knew existed, and my goal is now to TRY ALL THE TEAS. Or most of them, anyway. I still have a deep rooted (and probably life-long) preference for black tea. My all-time favourite is Assam, but Ceylon and Darjeeling also occupy a place in my heart. Flavoured black tea can be a beautiful thing, and I like a good chai latte in the winter. I also drink a lot of rooibos/honeybush tea, particularly on an evening. Sometimes they're the best dessert replacements, too. White teas are a staple in summer -- their lightness and delicate nature is something I can always appreciate on a hot day. I'm still warming up to green teas and oolongs. I don't think they'll ever be my favourites, with a few rare exceptions, but I don't hate them anymore. My experience of these teas is still very much a work-in-progress. I'm also beginning to explore pu'erh, both ripened and raw. That's my latest challenge! I'm still searching for the perfect fruit tea. One without hibiscus. That actually tastes of fruit.

This post was posted in Black Tea

Southern Boy Teas Series, Part 7: Neapolitan Ice Cream from 52Teas

by liberteas

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where To Buy:  52Teas

Tea Description:

Premium Indian CTC black teas blended with organic flavoring. Amazing tea with a great Neapolitan ice cream finish.

Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.

Taster’s Review:

YUM!

I am nearly finished with this series of teas (just one more flavor to try – Bubblegum!), and I’ve really enjoyed them all so far.  Each one has been deliciously unique – revamping the idea of boring iced tea, transforming it into a very exciting way to enjoy cool, summertime refreshment.

The original “Neapolitan Ice Cream” tea from 52Teas was actually a flavored honeybush that I quite enjoyed, although I didn’t really drink a whole lot of it.  My oldest daughter went through a honeybush phase where she would have honeybush tisane every morning, and this was one of her favorites (Her #1 favorite, though, was the Coconut Cheesecake Honeybush)  Anyway, my pouch of this vanished pretty quickly during her honeybush phase, so I have to admit that I was pretty excited to try this new black tea version of the dynamic flavor.

Before brewing it last night (I cold-brewed this the same way I did the other six Southern Boy Teas before it), I smelled the teabag, and I could smell each of the flavors:  chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, although the strongest fragrance came from the strawberry.  It almost overpowered the other notes, with a subtle vanilla/creamy note coming through and mere hints of chocolate.

This translates into the brewed tea as well.   The strawberry is the strongest flavor – in fact, with the first few sips, all I could taste, really was the strawberry and the black tea.  By about the third sip, I began to notice some creaminess coming through, and by the time I was nearly finished with my first glass, the chocolate was coming through … and it was really weird because it wasn’t really like “boom! and now, here is the chocolate” … “it was more like hello!  I was here all the time, I just wanted to let the strawberry have its time in the spotlight.”

Now that I’m nearly finished with my second glass (goodness this tea disappears quickly!), all three flavors are shining through.  I get a sweet yet tart note from the strawberry, complete with the tickle of berry in the aftertaste.  I get a smooth, rich chocolate note that is nicely complemented by the creamy, sweet vanilla notes.  These three flavors together give it all a very ice-cream-y kind of flavor that is really delectable!

But what I think I like even better than the flavors of this tea is how well the black tea performs with these flavors.  It comes through very pleasantly strong, with delicious malty notes and a nice amount of astringency that I find to be very refreshing.

Another winner in this set of iced teas!  I’m loving it!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Black Tea, Tea Company, Type Of Tea

On the 11th Day of Christmas … from 52Teas

by liberteas

Today is Christmas Eve… and I still haven’t finished all the holiday preparations.  I still have presents to buy!

Yeah… I’m not the most organized individual you’re likely to meet.  That’s putting it mildly!

It may not appear so by just reading these words, but … I’m about to have a panic attack!  Good thing I have some tea to help soothe my nerves!

And the tea that I’m enjoying today is …

NEAPOLITAN HONEYBUSH

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Honeybush

Where to Buy:  52Teas

Product Description:

Our caffeine-free African Honeybush (If you are still not familiar with honeybush, it is very similar to Rooibos, but a bit sweeter and without the woody aftertaste that rooibos frequently has) blended with organic vanilla beans, organic cacao nibs, freeze-dried strawberry pieces and all natural flavors. This is a real treat hot or iced!

Taster’s Review:

I can’t believe that I haven’t yet written a review for this tea!

Well, no time like the present, eh?  This is a tea that I’ve had on hand for some time now.  I am not going to say its my favorite tisane from 52Teas, because it isn’t, but, I do like it quite a bit!  I think I like it even more now than I did when I first tasted it.

For those of you that have one, I recommend brewing this in a Libre Tea Glass (or similar type vessel).  I put the leaf into the main chamber of the glass, screw on the straining lid, and sip the tisane through the strainer.  This enables me to keep the honeybush in the liquid as I sip it, and the flavor continues to intensify.  This tea just keeps getting better and better the longer it steeps!

After steeping just six minutes, my first few sips were delicious.  I could taste a good combination of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry, together with the somewhat nutty/honey sweet taste of the honeybush.  But now, after continuing to steep some additional 15 or 20 minutes after those first couple of sips, the flavor is even better.  The chocolate – RICH!  The strawberry – SWEET!  The vanilla – CREAMY!  I think I actually like this tisane better than the ice cream after which it was created!

The flavor is really smooth and creamy, just like ice cream.  The only real difference is the temperature and the slightly nutty taste that comes from the honeybush.  I have tasted this tea hot and iced, and it is really tasty either way.  I found it to be very refreshing this past summer when I iced it.  Right now, I’m finding it to be particularly soothing on the nervous tension I’m experiencing due to my shopping dilemma.

This tea is such a wonderful treat!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Honeybush, Tea Company, Type Of Tea