Product Information:
A refreshing hint of organic natural lemon in harmony with green tea.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
I am probably the last person to ever try Kombucha. Yeah … imagine that … a tea reviewer has been hesitant to try a tea product. About as inconceivable as the thought that I would be hesitant to try something new (especially when it pertains to tea.) But there it is … I love my tea, but, the idea of fermented tea … and what little I have read about Kombucha, the making of it sounds a little bit like how they make vinegar.
Now, I like vinegar when I drizzle it on my salad or my green beans, but, it’s not something that I will chill in the refrigerator and then pour myself a glass to drink. You know what I mean? Yeah, I know that they make sipping vinegars, but I haven’t tried those either. And to be perfectly honest, if I hadn’t received this can of Green Tea & Lemon Sparkling Fermented Tea from Kombucha Wonder Drink in my April Knoshbox, I probably wouldn’t be about to try it now, because, I doubt I would have actually paid for a drink that has filled me so much unease.
So, I sit here, with this innocent enough looking can of chilled tea drink, still sealed … wondering if I will actually open it and drink it. And after looking at it for some time … I finally popped the top and took a sip.
First impression: weird.
Second impression: tart and lemony.
Third impression: I’m not getting a whole lot of tea flavor here.
I get the lemony tingle on my tongue … and I don’t know how much of that is actually lemon and how much is the fermentation. It’s very bubbly like a soda pop would be. I’m not big on soda. This is also quite sweet despite the tarty taste of it … which I guess I’m glad for the sweetness otherwise it might end up being too sour.
It’s different. It’s not bad. It reminds me a bit of a sparkling lemonade with a little bit of something else to it. I find myself wishing I could taste more green tea, and as I continue to sip, that wish is granted – but only barely! – because the green tea notes do develop as I sip. It’s never a strong green tea taste. I don’t get a lot of grassy or vegetative notes or anything else that strongly resembles a green tea. Just a hint of it.
And I do taste a slight ‘vinegary’ note to this as well, and this taste develops by about “mid-can” … it’s like someone added maybe a teaspoon of vinegar to my sparkling lemonade, along with a teaspoon of green tea. I taste more lemon than green tea here though, and I feel that is important to mention since the description suggests that there is a “hint” of lemon, and to these taste buds, it is more lemon than anything else with the exception of sugar.
Overall, I’d say that my first impression is the best one: it’s weird. Very unusual, but I don’t dislike it. But, I like other things better, and because of that, I doubt I’ll be buying another can of this in the near future. That said, I do find myself sort of intrigued by the Asian Pear and Ginger flavor, so I might … MIGHT try this flavor at some point.
Cranberry Pomegranate from Rooibee Red Tea
Product Information:
What It Is: Ready-To-Drink beverage crafted from Red Rooibos
Where to Buy: Goodies Company
Product Description:
Refreshing and delicately flavored with cranberry and pomegranate, Rooibee Red Tea is sure to please. It’s also rich in antioxidants, low in calories, naturally caffeine-free, and certified USDA organic. What’s not to love?
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
Recently, I subscribed to a new monthly subscription with Goodies Company, a company that sends out monthly “foodie” tasting boxes. This bottle of Rooibee Red Tea was one of the products in my very first box, which I received a couple of months ago, but am just getting around to trying it now.
I guess you could say that I’m very often reluctant to try Ready-to-Drink teas. I usually find them to be too sweet for my liking, as most of them seem to be crafted with more sugars and sweeteners than actual tea. Add that with the fact that I’m not wild about red rooibos, and you have a product about which I am – at the very least – skeptical.
However, I’m finding this to be quite pleasant to drink. I like that the sweetener used here is Cane Sugar rather than corn syrup, so it doesn’t have that sickeningly, sticky sweet taste that not only sticks to the tongue but to the teeth. The rooibos is naturally sweet, so I think they should have maybe added a little less cane sugar here than they did, because this is still rather sweet.
The flavors of cranberry and pomegranate are not overtly obvious, they meld well into the flavor of the rooibos to create a very unified taste that is part nutty, sweet rooibos, part cranberry and part pomegranate. I notice that the taste of the fruits is most prominent in the aftertaste, where I get a gentle berry tingle on the tongue that tastes very much of both cranberry and pomegranate, but I think that this could be tastier of the two fruits were better represented during the sip and not just after.
Overall, I enjoyed this bottle of RTD rooibos. It is sweet, yes, and a tad too sweet for my liking, but, it was also very refreshing, and nice to drink after a meal. It managed to curb that tendency to hunt down some dessert when I sipped it right after my meal, and I do like that.
Will I buy it again? Probably not. I might try another flavor of the Rooibee Red Tea if I happened to find it while I was out and about, but, I don’t know that I’d go out of my way looking for the product, nor do I think it would be my first choice of beverages if given a wide variety of choices, but if the choices are limited, and the Rooibee Red Tea products happened to be one of those limited choices, I might choose it.
PRODUCT REVIEW: Marley’s Mellow Mood Lite – Half Lemonade/Half Tea from Marley Beverages
Product Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Marley Beverages
About Marley’s Mellow Mood:
Marley’s Mellow Mood is a new line of 100% natural relaxation beverages created in partnership with the family of legendary musical prophet, Bob Marley.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little hesitant to try this one, mostly because when I see the word “lite” on a beverage, I worry that it contains aspartame to which I’m allergic. Having suffered one too many reactions because of this artificial sweetener, I tend to avoid “lite” products all together.
So, I read the ingredients:
water, sugar, erythritol, pear juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, black tea, sodium citrate, reb A (stevia leaf extract), natural flavor.
No aspartame. But what was this erythritol? It is a sugar alcohol which is safe … at least, safer for me to consume than aspartame. So, I waited until late evening (as it does say it can make you drowsy), and opened the bottle and started sipping.
The pros: This is pretty tasty. The first few sips had a sort of artificial sweetener sweetness to it, and I suspect that this is the stevia. However, once the other flavors started to emerge, I didn’t taste that funky sweetness anymore, and just enjoyed a very pleasant combination of sweet-tart lemonade and black tea.
The Cons: Because the black tea is sharing center-stage with the lemonade, it is a less distinct (although still quite distinguishable) flavor. And it is sweet. A bit sweeter than I usually would want my iced tea to be.
Overall: I am enjoying it, even though it’s a bit on the sweet side and even though the tea is not as prominent as I’d like it to be. And… the mellow part works. I’m already starting to feel drowsy, and before opening the bottle I probably would have been awake for at least a couple more hours.
So, even with the drawbacks of this beverage, I’d still give it two thumbs up because it does deliver what it promises, which is a mellow mood!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Green Tea Ginger Twist from Argo Tea
Product Description:
Ready to Drink Tisane from Argo Tea.
Ingredients: fresh brewed green tea (water, green tea), pure cane sugar, ginger root, lemon juice concentrate, natural vanilla flavor.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
After not being completely disappointed with my sampling of Mojitea, I decided to give another Ready-to-Drink tea beverage from Argo Tea a try. This time, though, I made sure that there was actual Camellia Sinensis in the blend!
And I have to say that I like this quite a bit better than the aforementioned Mojitea. There is a lot of ginger in this one though, so if you’re not keen on ginger, this is not the tea for you.
I can also taste the lemon in this, it isn’t an abundant flavor, but, it adds a nice touch of acidic taste to offset the peppery taste of the ginger. The green tea seems a little lost in the blend, but, I can taste it back there … somewhere! It would be nice to have a little more green tea flavor, but on the plus side, I like that this isn’t overwhelmingly sweet. In fact, I find that the sweetness is balanced nicely with the spicy note from the ginger and the bit of lemon flavor.
There is also just a hint of vanilla to this, and I notice that particularly in the aftertaste which is a little sweet and creamy tasting.
Quite nice for a RTD. I would definitely be happy to drink this one again.
PRODUCT REVIEW: Mojitea from Argo Tea
Product Description:
Ready to Drink Tisane from Argo Tea.
Ingredients: fresh brewed mint tea (water, peppermint), pure cane sugar, lime juice concentrate, natural mint flavor.
Contains 7% juice.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve said before, I don’t purchase many ready-to-drink teas. In fact, according to my husband, I point my nose up at them, inferring that I’m a tea snob. And while I accept this label, I don’t really think this particular action has earned it. Most ready-to-drink teas are over-sugared and overly saturated with flavorings to hide the flavor of the tea. Why would anyone do that to a tea? It seems as though it should be a criminal act.
And while this ready-to-drink “tea” has done very little to assuage my opinion of most ready-to-drink tea products (here is an exception), the fault really isn’t with this particular product but with me, as I didn’t take the time to read the label properly. This is actually an herbal tisane, and not a tea (as it contains no Camellia Sinensis leaves), so there is no tea to actually be tasted.
That being said, this is actually quite a tasty tisane. I am not finding it to be overly sweet … sweet, yes, perhaps a bit sweeter than I would have liked, but, not so sweet that I’m put off by it. And I like that what I taste is peppermint and lime over the sweetness. I like that it is made with pure cane sugar, and not some syrup. Yeah, yeah, I saw the commercial and I know that “sugar is sugar,” and the body doesn’t know the difference between cane sugar and corn syrup, but, I’d like to think that my palate does.
Truth be told, what lead me to this purchase was the pretty glass bottle. Yeah, I’m a sucker for neat packaging. But it was enjoyable enough for me to pick up another bottle of it if I happen to be out and about and in need of hydration. Not something that I’ll keep stocked in my fridge, but I am now interested to try the other flavors that Argo Tea offers, and that fact alone makes this a better product than most of the ready-to-drink tea offerings out there.