Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush/Herbal
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Premium organic caffeine-free honeybush with organic flavors. Each 14g teabag will make one 2-quart pitcher of DELICIOUS iced tea. Steep teabag in enough boiling water to cover the teabag (and to allow it a little room to expand) for 4 minutes or longer (honeybush cannot be oversteeped). Then combine with ice and water to make a 2-quart pitcher. It couldn’t be simpler–OR more delicious!
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about SBT’s subscription here.
Taster’s Review:
Strawberry Lemonade. . yes please! Any tea that has that combination that doesn’t have red rooibos in it, I’m all about. And oh mama. . .this one did not disappoint!
I have been cold brewing like mad lately! I love it. I throw a pitcher in at night with either loose leaf or one of these SBT pouches (which are just too handy!) and in the morning before I head out to take the kiddos where they need to go, I have my tea all set. It is fantastic! For some reason, I always shied away from these in the past, not sure why. Maybe I was just not sure about the whole cold brew thing. But not anymore!
I am a huge fan of lemonade. So I thought this one I would enjoy. I think I cried when I finished this one up and wasn’t able to steep it anymore ( I think I got about 3 infusions out of it). This is probably my favorite of all of the SBT offerings. The strawberry flavor is spot on. Sweet but not overly so. The lemonade has that fresh squeezed lemon taste to it. No chemical taste or artificial tastes to this delightful treat. Only berry lemon goodness. Neither flavor dominates the other either. The honeybush provides the a touch of sweetness and a hint of creaminess to the iced tea. As I am typing this up I am wondering if I can justify to myself ordering about 10 pouches of this stuff right now. . . just so I have my own little stockpile.
I am really happy with it. And highly recommend it. This tea is going to be perfect for the awesome weather coming our way in a few weeks.
Earl Blue Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Our awesome organic Iyerpadi black tea blended with organic bergamot and blueberry flavors. This is sure to wow your guests.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
I know that I’ve mentioned on this blog at least once before in a review of one of Zoomdweebie’s Earl Grey/Bergamot teas that I’m not particularly crazy about the bergamot flavoring that Zoomdweebies uses. Maybe I’m a bit of a bergamot snob or something but Earl Grey tea is something I take very seriously and it should be right. So, when this Earl Blue Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas was announced as a recent tea of the week for SBT, I wasn’t all that excited about it.
But this isn’t too bad. It’s actually pretty tasty. As an Earl Grey tea or more accurately as a ‘twist’ to the classic Earl Grey -well, it doesn’t really cut it as an Earl Grey, I’m afraid. But, as a flavored iced tea, it’s really pleasant. The blueberry is strong and yummy. The bergamot – well, it doesn’t taste as bergamot-y as I’d like it to. But when I just drink it and I don’t think “bergamot” and instead, I think “citrus” it works for me.
It has a really enjoyable, sweet-tart fruity flavor to it. And the black tea base is smooth and brisk. No bitterness, no astringency – just really tasty black tea and fruity flavors.
This is something that I could see myself putting in my shopping cart again the next time I’m shopping at Zoomdweebies dot com. It’s very refreshing and it’ll be really nice to have it chilling in the fridge on those warm summer days that lie ahead.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Our premium buttery sweet organic Chinese fannings green tea blended with organic yellow cake, pineapple, brown sugar, and a hint of maraschino cherry flavors. This is ridiculously delicious. Don’t miss your chance to grab one.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about SBT’s subscription here.
Taster’s Review:
Pineapple Upside Down Cake used to be one of my favorite desserts my mom would make as a child. Growing up, my brothers and I were never fans of the traditional birthday cake. My poor mom would always ending up baking a pie or some other dessert (she tried once to make orange fluff and put candles in it-true story). She would ask us if we were sure we didn’t want a chocolate cake and we would always say no, we want pie or we want cheesecake. Or we would ask for Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Which was a little different than the traditional Pineapple Upside Down Cake. My mom would make it as a cheesecake instead. To this day, even as adults,we devour that dessert whenever she makes it. And she makes a healthy version of it now too- so you don’t have to feel guilty about cramming huge bites of it in your face.
This tea brought all those warm and fuzzy memories to me. This tea reminds me of that dessert my mom makes minus the cheesecake part. So good! The green tea provides a rich buttery base. The pineapple flavor is mixed in with just the right amount of brown sugar and maraschino cherry flavoring. You can seriously taste each flavor separately. But they do mingle very well together. The only flavor I didn’t pick up was the yellow cake but I’m wondering if that was a flavor that the green tea kind of overshadowed. Oh well. Regardless I am really enjoying this one.
I cold brewed this one and was very happy with the results. I didn’t try making it up like a hot beverage because I ended up steeping this one until there were just no more infusions in the poor little tea pouch. I see myself picking more of this one up for sure. This one is going to be a fantastic addition to those teas I keep on hand to keep my sweet tooth from demanding a piece of candy or junk food around 2pm each work day.
Lemon-Lime Iced White Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Here’s our sweet, hay-like organic shou mei white tea fannings paired with the delicious tartness of organic lemon and lime flavors. It might not be as complicated as some of our other tea blends, but it will definitely put a smile on your face.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Lemon-Lime Iced White Tea from Southern Boy Teas … not the most innovative flavor combination out there, but, I do like the combination of lemon and lime.
There is a delicate, creamy, lightly sweet flavor to the Shou Mei tea that gives the tart, tangy notes of the citrus some contrast. The lemon and lime flavors are strong enough to be tasted, but delicate enough to allow the white tea to shine through.
It’s crisp and refreshing. It’s tart and a little bit sweet, too. Is it my favorite iced tea flavor from SBT? No, I can’t say that it is. But, it is tasty. It has a really light, refreshing taste that I enjoy and I think that this would be a real crowd pleaser – perfect to serve at your next family BBQ!
Choco Shou Pu-erh Tea from Camellia Sinensis
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
f you’re new to pu-erh, this is a great introductory tea. If you’re not new, you’ll still enjoy its vanilla chocolate goodness. This is slightly earthy and woody, as you might expect from an aged tea. The taste is smooth, rich (there’s mini chocolate chips in this afterall) with a lingering sweetness. Go ahead and try this hot with milk or even as an iced latte.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve said on several occasions, I’m usually hesitant when it comes to sampling pu-erh. I actually have enjoyed most of the pu-erh that I’ve tasted over the years but if I had to choose between pu-erh and most other tea types, I’d probably go with something else. I’m not a big fan of the earthiness that seems to go along with most pu-erh and especially with shou pu-erh. And as the name of the tea indicates, shou pu-erh is the base tea used for this Choco Shou Pu-erh Tea from Camellia Sinensis which is the last of the four teas that I’m sampling from this month’s Amoda Box.
And while I don’t usually like that earthy flavor of pu-erh, it works with this particular blend. The earthiness actually enhances the flavor of the chocolate and gives it a deeper, richer flavor. So while I may not be all excited about a shou pu-erh, I do get excited about a tea that complements the flavor of chocolate.
Yay chocolate!
So, yes, this is earthy. But not so much that it knocks me upside the head with a flavor that makes me think that I steeped soil instead of tea. This tastes much better than I would assume the steeped soil would taste – I’m going to go with that assumption because I’m not going to steep soil and drink it. Just not gonna do it.
The chocolate flavor here tastes dark and decadent, like an expensive chocolate bar that says 70% cacao on it. If you prefer your expensive chocolate bar to say “milk chocolate” on it, add a splash of milk to make a latte because this tea tastes amazing as a latte!
To steep: I used my Kati Tumbler rather than my gaiwan to steep this tea because of the little chocolate chips in the blend. I felt like the Kati was the better way to go. I did rinse the tea for 15 seconds before infusing though – you’ll want to do this with any shou to help wash away some of those stronger earthy notes. After the rinse, I infused the first cup for 2 1/2 minutes in 190°F. I added 30 seconds onto each subsequent infusion.
I resteeped twice – creating three very flavorful cups of tea – with the first two much more chocolate-y than the third. The third was still quite nice, just not as much chocolate flavor.
So smooth! No bitterness (not even from the chocolate!) and no astringency. Just a deep, mellow, luxuriously chocolate flavor that I would happily drink on a regular basis. As I said before: the chocolate flavor lasts through a couple of steeps – I got two very chocolate-y steeps out of the tea before the chocolate notes began to wane.
This tea gets a thumbs up from me. Quite good!