Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Zoomdweebie’s tea of the week programs here.
Taster’s Review:
Over the last year or so, my iced tea consumption has definitely increased. A couple of years ago, iced tea was a summertime beverage. Period. I only brewed it during the hottest months of the year, because I preferred (and still do prefer) hot tea. But, I’ve found that it’s so nice having a pitcher of iced tea waiting in the fridge when I want something cold to drink and I want something cold to drink every day. I may not drink it as often as I drink hot tea and I do drink more iced tea in the warmer months than in the cold months. But I have reached a point where I’m drinking (and thoroughly enjoying!) iced tea on a daily basis.
So I have been enjoying exploring the teas from 52Teas/Zoomdweebies iced tea line: Southern Boy Teas. These teas are crafted with organic teas and flavoring and then bagged in large sachets to make brewing easier. Yeah, yeah, I do prefer loose leaf. However, when it comes to iced tea brewing, I have to admit that the convenience of the sachet/bag is one that is difficult to overlook. Yep, I’m just going to come right out and say it: I prefer a bagged or sacheted tea when it comes to iced tea brewing.
And what I like about these bags from SBT is that they’re large, unbleached bags. The tea leaves have plenty of room to expand and do their thing to produce a very flavorful tea. To brew this Strawberry Kiwi Green Tea, I heated 1 quart of freshly filtered water in the jug of my Breville One-Touch to 170°F and then I tossed the tea bag right into the jug of my tea maker and let it steep for 1 1/2 minutes. I poured the brewed tea into my favorite glass iced tea pitcher (I temper the glass first by filling the pitcher with hot water from the tap so that the glass isn’t “shocked” by the heat from the 170°F liquid!) Then I repeat the process, resteeping the tea bag but steeping it for 2 minutes with the second infusion and add this to the pitcher. Then I allow the tea to cool at room temperature a bit before I put the pitcher in the fridge. The next day, I have a pitcher full of tasty iced tea! (Oh, and I keep the tea bag for next time. I stash the tea bag into an airtight container and put it in the fridge, and then I resteep it again. The green teas are especially GREAT for maintaining their flavor for a second 1/2 gallon of iced tea.)
My first impression of this tea: Hmm … I couldn’t really taste strawberry and kiwi. I can taste the green tea and I can taste a fruity sweet element to this but did it really taste like strawberry and kiwi to me? No. I found myself having to think “OK, what tea did I brew last night?” The flavors of strawberry and/or kiwi were not immediately recognizable.
My second impression: My second glass … OK! Now I can taste more of the intended flavors! I can taste more distinct strawberry notes. The tea has a delicious strawberry sweetness and I’m getting that tart berry tingle in the aftertaste. As I’m drinking, I can taste the kiwi too. The kiwi is less discernible than the strawberry. And I can still taste the fresh green tea flavor too: sweet, slightly buttery and smooth.
The more I sipped on this tea, the more I enjoyed it. I wouldn’t say that it’s my favorite tea from SBT but it is refreshing and I found myself guzzling it. Even in the beginning when I couldn’t really immediately pick up on the flavors of strawberry and kiwi, I was still gulping it down because it’s still a very good, thirst-quenching glass of iced tea.
And the second pitcher of iced tea from this sachet is even better than the first. The strawberry and kiwi flavors are much more focused in this pitcher. Tasty!
Lady Londonderry from English Tea Store
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: English Tea Store
Tea Description:
Our Lady Londonderry Tea is a delightful afternoon tea with a malty floral flavor and hints of strawberry and lemon. This tea is made from black tea, dried orange, daisy white, and natural flavors. This tea is delicious hot or iced, and either way, your family and guests will feel like royalty!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ah … this is nice!
The black tea base is so smooth and malty. I like that I’m getting a rather rich, malty taste but it’s not an overly assertive tea. It truly is a perfect afternoon tea. Not a strong or hefty cup of tea that you need in the morning, but a pleasantly smooth cup – an ideal tea to brew for guests to make them feel welcome.
There are pleasant floral notes that are soft and add a touch of femininity to the cup. The notes of strawberry and citrus are delicate. I like it when I find flavored teas like this – where the flavoring is strong enough to be tasted but not so strong that they’re overwhelming the flavors of the tea.
To brew this tea, I had just enough of it in the sampling that I received from a friend to brew in my Kati Tumbler. I put the loose leaf into the basket of the Kati and added boiling water to the tumbler and let it steep for 3 minutes.
The result is a really enjoyable cup that isn’t overly astringent. I feel a slight dryness toward the end of the sip. The sip starts out smooth and sweet with light floral notes. Then I start to pick up on the strawberry and the strawberry is a whisper of a flavor but it lingers well into the aftertaste where I experience that berry tingle. The lemon is a light “brightness” that weaves its way throughout the sip and it’s a very uplifting flavor.
Very nice, indeed!
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!
Summer Romance Tea Blend from ArtfulTea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Teas
Where to Buy: ArtfulTea orArtfulTea on Etsy
Tea Description:
Let this magical blend carry you away like a summer of love. Sweet papaya and strawberries intertwine with black and green teas for an intoxicating, exotic flavor. Refreshing hot or iced.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm … this Summer Romance Tea Blend is TASTY! I often have my misgivings about a tea blend such as this, where two totally different tea types are used – in this case, it’s black tea and green tea – because it’s difficult to determine just the right steeping parameters to use. Black teas usually do best with boiling water (or at the very least, near boiling) and the green tea leaves may end up scorched if I were to use boiling water to brew them. So with blends like this, I usually cater to the more delicate tea, and so I brewed this with 180°F water, and then I steeped it a little longer than I normally would a green tea: 3 minutes.
These parameters produced a very flavorful, tasty cup of tea.
Of the two types of tea leaves, the black tea offers the strongest flavor. I taste a rich flavor from the black tea, although I’m sure that it would be far more robust if I had chosen to steep this at a higher temperature. The green tea is not quite as discernible, but, I do notice some light, buttery notes from the green tea. The overall cup is a bit lighter and that has to do not only with the lower steep temperature but the presence of the green tea. And despite my “misgivings” about black/green tea blends, I do like that these two teas were utilized as the base for this tea because it’s a very unique sort of taste and I like the way the flavor of the base plays with the notes of strawberry and papaya.
The rosehips don’t give off a lot of flavor to the cup, but I do notice a slight bitterness from them which acts more as a slight “brightness” to the sweet fruit notes rather than make the cup taste “bitter.” The same is true of the sunflower petals. They add a subtle sharpness to the cup, accentuating the sweet flavors of papaya and strawberry.
This tea blend is aptly named, for it does taste a bit like summer in a teacup. At the moment, we’re experiencing a rainy summer day. These are the kinds of days that I look forward to in the summer, because it cools things off for a while. We had some pretty obnoxiously hot days over the past couple of weeks, and I was ready for the rain to come and bring the heat to a halt. But the tea that’s in my teacup reminds me of just how lovely summer can be.
Picnic in the Park Oolong from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
This week has been crazy. I can’t believe it’s Friday night and I’m just posting the Tea of the Week. Well, better Nate than lever… Here’s a fun new blend inspired by a suggestion from my wife. It’s a nice Fujian oolong with freeze-dried strawberries and watermelon, strawberry and champagne flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Every year when my birthday comes around, I send a message out to Frank that I expect a really exciting tea for my birthday. Unfortunately, I don’t think ahead enough to give him enough time to really THINK about the exciting tea that he’s going to create for my birthday.
So the tea that ended up being released during the week of my birthday was the Strawberry Banana black tea … and while I ended up really enjoying that, I wasn’t all that excited about that tea, so when this tea was announced for the week following, I considered THIS to be my birthday tea.
Next year for my birthday, I hope that Frank will be releasing a new tomato tea. Right, Frank?
This tea is simply YUM! And … it really does taste like a picnic in the park! I taste the strawberry and the watermelon and the champagne notes, as well as the soft, creamy notes of the green Oolong tea. There is a really good balance of flavors – the Oolong isn’t overpowered, and I taste about equal parts of strawberry and watermelon while there is just a hint of champagne “bubbly” dancing around on my palate. Nice!
It tastes really good hot … but I like it even better as an iced tea. And because it’s an Oolong, a little bit of the tea goes a long way – a couple of teaspoons produced a half gallon pitcher of delicious, flavorful iced tea! Seriously yummy refreshment!
Before I forget … Frank (the chief Zoomdweebie at 52Teas and Southern Boy Teas!) is trying to raise funds to attend the ASD Trade Show in Las Vegas in a matter of weeks. This will boost his visibility and potentially put his product into the hands of those who can get his business off the ground! Please consider helping fund his Kickstarter campaign so that he can set up a display at the retail trade show!