Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This iced tea is tasty!
I really like the combination of blueberry and banana. The blueberry is the top note. It is sweet with a pleasant level of tartness – not too sour or tart, I’m not puckering … but there’s just enough tartness to add a little bit of contrast. The banana is more like an undertone. It’s consistently there throughout the sip, from start to finish, but it isn’t a loud or aggressive flavor. Then again, banana isn’t usually a loud or aggressive flavor, is it?
It’s a sweet banana flavor, but I’m not getting the “candy-ish” banana flavor that I often get from the Southern Boy Teas/52Teas banana flavored blends. It tastes sweet but it doesn’t taste like banana runts.
I’m not a big fan of banana runts, so I consider this a good thing. I like the other runts in the package, but I’m always passing the banana runts over to my daughter, who loves them.
The blueberry flavor perks up the blend, adding it’s own “brightness” to the glass. Sweet with just a hint of berry tarty tingle at the finish. Yum!
The black tea is not overwhelmed by these flavors, either. It’s a brisk yet smooth tasting black tea base. The three flavors – black tea, banana and blueberry – work together very well to create a pleasantly sweet, refreshing iced tea. I like this blend. I can see myself getting more of this one in the future.
Wildberries Flavored Green Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Wildberries = Blackberry, raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, elderberry, and black currant. Premium Organic green tea with organic flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Here it is … my first review of one of Southern Boy Teas green tea creations. I was excited to learn of SBT’s expansion into other tea types – they’re not just black teas anymore – since I usually prefer green or white iced teas (I find them more refreshing than black tea).
And this Wildberries Flavored Green Tea is VERY refreshing. Mmm! It’s bursting with berry flavor. My first sip I could really taste the elderberry and black currant flavors. In the aftertaste, I started to pick up on the other berry flavors, strawberry, blackberry and raspberry are the flavors that seem to tickle the palate in the aftertaste, with an emphasis on the raspberry notes.
The blueberry is a little less conspicuous.
As I continue to sip, I start to notice more of the berry flavor throughout the sip, not just the elderberry and currant. Now I’m tasting more blackberry, strawberry and raspberry throughout the sip, and I can even pick up on some blueberry notes.
And the green tea base is ideal for these flavors because it’s a lighter tasting base. I feel that a black tea base might be a little bit too much. It could work, and I’d certainly be more than happy to try it, but I like the softer flavor of the sweet green tea with light buttery notes and how the green tea allows the berry flavors to really express themselves fully, while not hiding off in the background. I still taste the green tea, but it doesn’t intrude upon the berry notes. It’s a very lovely balance that’s been achieved.
To brew this, I went ahead and used the “hot brew” method. I filled my kettle with one quart of water and heat it to 175°F. Then I allowed the sachet to infuse for 1 1/2 minutes. Then I poured the hot liquid into my tempered glass pitcher (to temper it, I just run it under hot tap water for about a minute to get the glass warm so that the hot liquid doesn’t shock the glass and cause it to break). Repeat with another quart of water heated to 175°F, this time allowing the sachet to steep for 2 full minutes. Then I stashed the sachet in an airtight container and put it in the refrigerator to see how a resteep would taste.
The verdict: The resteep is still VERY flavorful. Almost – if not just as – flavorful as the first half gallon that I prepared. This tea is a winner! It’s one that I’ll be getting more of!
Cinnamon Roll Flavored Honeybush Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
OK, so I have to admit that I’m less excited about a honeybush iced tea than I am a black iced tea. (Or should I say honeybush iced tisane?) Anyway, despite my less than enthusiastic attitude about this product, I am LOVING IT! It is really delicious and very refreshing.
The honeybush base is actually ideal for these flavors because the naturally sweet, nutty flavor of the honeybush creates a sort of bready/doughy flavor for the “roll” part of this taste experience. I can taste notes of butter that further accentuate the pastry flavor.
It’s sweet and gently spiced with cinnamon. I don’t get a heavy “icing” taste from this but I do get a light vanilla-y, creamy undertone to this that tastes a bit like the icing that would be smothered over a freshly baked cinnamon roll. I don’t think I’d want it to be a heavier icing taste, I like the way that the creamy notes here are softer in flavor than your typical mall-food-court cinnamon roll because while my sweet tooth gets happy at the thought of that sweet, decadent icing … it’s the part of the cinnamon roll that keeps me from indulging in cinnamon rolls very often – that sweetness becomes cloying too fast and I feel a little overwhelmed by the sweetness (and sometimes a little sick from it.)
This – on the other hand – is just right with the sweetness. This is the way I’d want my cinnamon roll to taste: lighter on the icing with a nice, well-pronounced cinnamon note and a satisfying, buttery pastry.
A really enjoyable iced tea. This is one that I could see myself ordering again.
Citrus Blast 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 was pretty sure that I’d enjoy this iced tea flavor from Southern Boy Teas … I mean, citrus and black tea? These are two flavors that just go together … much like iced tea and summertime go together.
And this is really refreshing. It definitely has a big BLAST of citrus flavor, but I appreciate that I’m tasting more iced tea than citrus fruit. And not surprisingly, the citrus notes are quite complementary to the flavors of black tea. Like I said before, these are two flavor profiles that just work.
This tea is not overly tart, the tea balances out the tart flavors and lets some of the sweet notes of the citrus flavors come through. For me, I think that the lime is the most prominent citrus note that I taste, but I also taste hints of lemon and orange. There is also a grapefruit-like note to this and I like how all these flavors meld together into a “blast” of citrus: all the citrus notes work together to create a very harmonious tasting, refreshing glass of iced tea that seems to disappear from my glass quickly.
And while citrus flavors and black tea DO work together well, I find that this is not just “lemon” or “lime” or “orange” flavored iced tea. It’s a medley of flavors so that makes it just a little different from an average pitcher of iced tea. I like that I can count on SBT to deliver not just tasty iced tea, but something that’s a little outside of the box. Something a little different, something a little unexpected … SBT not only keeps my palate cool and refreshed but happy too!
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
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 love a bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream! So rich, creamy and the crisp, cool mint flavor really makes it a perfect summer time treat. And hey … let’s not forget the chocolate chips. Mmm! Chocolate!
So I was looking forward to trying this new flavor from Southern Boy Teas: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Iced Tea!
It is a tasty iced tea. There is a palate-pleasing balance of mint, chocolate and creamy flavors along with a backdrop of black tea notes.
That said, I do have a little issue with it. My one complaint is that the chocolate notes are just a bit on the “fake” tasting side, but this is something that I found an easy fix for: just add a little bit of sugar.
But because this tea is already on the sweeter side, if you sweeten your iced tea while it’s still hot (so that the sugar melts!), you might want to use a little less than you usually would, or you might want to hold off altogether and make a simple syrup to sweeten to your taste once it’s chilled.
I found it to be rather tasty without the sweetener but as I said, the chocolate tasted just a little off. I then made a simple syrup: I just add a teensy bit of boiling water to about a half teaspoon of water and stir in a coffee cup until the sugar is dissolved, and then add it to my tea. The simple syrup enhanced the flavors nicely and improved the flavor of the chocolate.
Even without the sweetener, this is still quite tasty. The chocolate notes don’t taste bad, but, there’s just a little something not quite 100% perfect about it either. The sweetener does improve this issue with the chocolate, but I am not thrilled with the fact that I need to sweeten my tea to make it taste right.
I liked it, but I’ve liked other teas from SBT more than this one.