Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebie’s
Tea Description:
Premium Organic black tea with organic flavors. Each 14g teabag will make one 2-quart pitcher of DELICIOUS iced tea. Re-steep the teabag and you can get a full gallon out of each one. Steep in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. (3 minutes MAX.) 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.
Taster’s Review:
I love me a Banana flavored tea. They are hard to find, especially ones that are not red rooibos flavored. So when I saw this one during one of the recent sales, I had to grab it.
SBT’s teas are pretty convenient. Fill a pitcher with water, throw the tea pouch in, and a few hours later you have yourself some iced tea. Pretty tasty iced tea too. They make 2 quarts to share or not to share with others. I chose the not to share route with this one.
The banana sadly in this one is more of a hint or a slight aftertaste. The black tea base shows through the most with the blueberry falling into second place. If I hadn’t know there was supposed to be banana flavoring in this, I would have just thought it was a blueberry tea. I was really hoping for more banana. But even with that, I can see this one being a purchase here and there. The blueberry flavor that is used I really enjoy.
I’ll have to pick more of this up in the summer months for get together and family time at my parents’ pool. I can see this one going over really well!
Bananas! Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Lots of people have commented on our banana tea blends in the past. We’ve used banana in a few blends inspired by banana pudding, bananas foster and even banana bread, but I thought this week we would really go bananas and just go with an all out banana tea. We’ve blended our Pettaiagala Extra Long Leaf OP black tea from Sri Lanka with real freeze-dried bananas and organic banana flavors, and this, my friends, is bananatacular! It’s bananaramic! It’s enough to leave you humming the Batman theme– “Nana nana nana nana nana nana… Batman!”
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
While I was sipping this Bananas! Black Tea from 52Teas, I wasn’t thinking of the Batman theme, I was thinking that this sh** is Bananas! B-a-n-a-n-a-s!
And it definitely IS bananas.
And unlike so many of the various banana flavored teas out there, this doesn’t taste overly candied. It doesn’t taste like banana runts (I hate banana runts) and it doesn’t taste like banana (insert any other banana flavored candy here).
What it does taste like is black tea and banana. It’s a little on the sweet side, like a sweeter banana – perhaps one that has been lightly sprinkled with sugar and caramelized under the broiler.
The black tea is really nice here, it’s a rich, robust black tea. Somewhat astringent at the tail, but not too astringent. There are even hints of a slightly bitter intonation. I think that the bitterness and astringency helps this blend because it cuts through some of the sweet notes and makes this more like black tea and banana rather than an artificial banana flavored candy with hints of black tea in the background. The hints of bitter and astringency offer balance to this cup.
I really enjoyed this. I brewed a large pot of it so that I could have some served hot and some iced, and I like it hot and cold. I think that if you’re going to drink it hot, I’d recommend letting the temperature drop to a drinkable temperature. In other words, pour the cup and let it cool for about 4 – 5 minutes before you start sipping. This is long enough to let the temperature drop but it’s still nice and hot. The wait time allows the flavors to develop in the cup and it really gets the bananas going BANANAS!
If you like bananas, this tea will have you singing like a minion.
Cantaloupe & Berries Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
This super refreshing and delicious iced tea will definitely get you in the mood for spring. We’ve blended our sweet organic Chinese sencha fannings green tea with organic cantaloupe, strawberry, blackberry and blueberry flavors. Be warned, this will disappear out of your fridge really fast!
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
If you’re a frequent reader of our site, then you’ve probably already read a review of this Cantaloupe & Berries Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas! A few of the sisters are fans of Southern Boy Teas!
I recently acquired a new iced tea jar. I’ve been looking for either a half gallon or gallon sized glass jar (not a pitcher but a jar) and I’ve finally found one. This search started several years ago when I was still yearning to make sun tea – before I discovered the joy of cold-brewing tea.
Note: sun brewing tea is essentially the same thing as cold brewing tea. The big difference is that with cold-brewing tea, you don’t leave the jar out in the sun, you stash it in the fridge. This bestows one obvious benefit onto the brewed tea: it’s COLD when it’s finished brewing. I don’t think the sun actually ‘brews’ the tea. The steep in the water brews the tea. I don’t know that the sun actually does anything to the flavor. But, I don’t think you could have convinced me of that a few years ago before I actually tried cold-brewing tea.
So I don’t know why it was still important for me to have a jar. I have an awesome iced tea pitcher that works great for cold-brewing tea. And to be honest, I prefer my awesome iced tea pitcher over the new tea jar, primarily because this jar has a very annoying lid. It screws on, the way most jar lids screw on, but the threads don’t line up as easily/nicely as I’d like them to, making it more of a chore to screw on/unscrew the lid than it needs to be. It’s a minor annoyance, certainly, but, because my awesome tea pitcher doesn’t have this annoyance, it makes it the preferred iced tea vessel.
But one advantage that the new tea jar has over my awesome iced tea pitcher is that the tea jar has a 1 gallon capacity. Therefore, I could hot-brew a whole GALLON of this tea all at once and didn’t have to stash the tea bag in the fridge to resteep. I got my full gallon during one brewing session. (Well, technically, it took four infusions to fill the gallon tea jar.) Plus, it freed up my iced tea pitcher for another tea so I can have 1 1/2 gallons of iced tea in the fridge for the warm weather ahead.
So, yes, I brewed a gallon of this tea. I steeped it one quart at a time, bringing the water to 170°F and then allowing the bag to first steep for 1 1/2 minute and adding 30 seconds to each subsequent infusion.
Refreshing! I like the combination of cantaloupe and berries. The berries offer the strongest flavor – with strawberry and blackberry dominating, but not by much. I also get a nice amount of blueberry flavor. The berries are sweet with that familiar berry tart note. The cantaloupe offers a sweet, delightful melon note that contrasts nicely with the tart and tangy berries.
The green tea is a little lost in this – but I do get a hint of buttery flavor as well as a hint of that buttery mouthfeel. I also get just a hint of a fresh, grassy taste. These notes are subtle and even though I think I’d like the green tea flavors to be a little more distinct, I found this tea very enjoyable overall.
Nilgiri Coonoor Black Tea from Camellia Sinensis
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
Grown in the hills of the Nilgiris district of Southern India, this is a highly aromatic and light black tea that is characteristic of the region. On the nose, you’ll smell stone fruits and flowers as this steeps. On the palate, you will taste a ton of character: it’s smooth, a little malty, fruity, spicy, floral and slightly green.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I fell in love at first sight with these leaves! Oh my, they’re gorgeous! Beautiful, whole leaves that have been rolled into long, curly, chocolate-y brown wires. You can really see the quality of this Nilgiri Coonoor Black Tea from Camellia Sinensis – these leaves are exquisite!
And the flavor is just as exquisite as the leaves!
Nilgiri is one of my favorite black teas because it has some of that malty character that I love in an Assam tea but a Nilgiri is smoother. There’s no bitterness and it’s not as astringent as an Assam can be. It’s a little lighter in body/texture than a hearty Assam, but this is still a delightfully robust cuppa.
It’s smooth. It’s fruity (I taste notes of stone fruit and raisin!) There are some floral notes that offer a pleasant contrast to the sweet, fruity tastes. I also taste a honeyed undertone that plays well to the floral notes.
The description above suggests a “green” taste to it and I get that too, it’s like a hint of vegetation to the background. Nothing strong or intrusive to the ‘black’ flavors of this cup. It’s more of another layer of flavor rather than something that distracts the palate.
About mid-cup, I start to notice a spice note to this as well. Slightly peppery, evocative of a Yunnan. Interesting!
Overall, a stunning Nilgiri, one of the most interesting Nilgiri teas I’ve yet to try. All you black tea fans out there, this is one you should put on your must try list!
Perles de Antilles Rooibos Blend from Camellia Sinensis
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Roiboos
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
What makes this extra good? One, it’s organic. Two, the coconut is subtle, rather than being the main note. Three… is that banana I taste? How unusual, but very pleasant. Together with the green rooibos, this is a fantastic combo. Soft, sweet and creamy. You can try it hot or iced.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Rooibos blends just aren’t my favorite. They just aren’t. But I do enjoy green rooibos more than I do red rooibos – I find that light, fruity note of the green rooibos to be appealing, especially when it’s part of a fruit flavored blend like this Perles de Antilles Rooibos Blend from Camellia Sinensis.
I think that the above description from Amoda Tea to be pretty spot on: the coconut notes are soft and unassuming, and the banana adds a pleasant flavor to this delightful tropical fruit flavored tisane. The overall flavor is indeed “soft, sweet and creamy.”
The creaminess is kind of a surprise for me, because I haven’t had a lot of green rooibos blends that have been what I’d categorize as “creamy.” Usually, they’re light and crisp and have almost a ‘bubbly’ type of character to them. I suspect the coconut and banana flavors brings a bit of creaminess to the party.
The pineapple adds a little bit of brightness to the cup. The apple is not particularly distinguishable, but I do note a little bit of apple-like sweetness that enhances the overall cup.
I really like this: it’s a soothing, gentle kind of flavor, the kind of tisane you want to curl up to late at night. And because it’s naturally caffeine-free, you can do just that. It’s sweet and it’s fruity without tasting like a cloying fruit punch concoction. It’s quite tasty, really.