Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Premium organic caffeine-free honeybush with organic flavors.
Learn more about this iced tea here.
Learn how to subscribe to SBT’s tea of the week here.
Taster’s Review:
I could really smell the strawberry lemonade-ish-ness of this blend the moment that I tore open the pouch! It smelled like a pitcher of yummy strawberry lemonade!
When I first saw this blend on the website, though, I wasn’t as confident about it. Oh sure, I love strawberry lemonade. But I wasn’t really sure how I’d like these flavors combined with the natural nutty flavor of honeybush. It just didn’t seem like something that would work well.
Well, I was wrong. Please don’t tell my husband I admitted that. It’s much better that he operate under the notion that I’m always right.
This is really tasty. The strawberry and lemonade notes are strong and forward, while the nutty, sweet notes of the honeybush are a little off to the background and don’t really obstruct the flavors of the sweet-tart lemonade and strawberry.
The lemonade is the prominent flavor. It’s tart, but not pucker-y tart. There is some sweetness to it thanks to the strawberry. The tartness comes through strongest at the finish, when I taste both the sour notes of the lemon as well as the tingly berry tart. There is some sweetness from the honeyed notes of the honeybush base.
Something else that I found interesting: as I neared the bottom of the glass, I started to pick up on this creamy taste. I don’t usually get a strong “creaminess” from honeybush. Occasionally the nutty flavors translate into a slight creaminess but this time, the creaminess was strong enough that I really took notice of it. Nice! “Cream” is not a flavor that I would normally associate with Strawberry Lemonade but I like it here.
It’s a really tasty and refreshing iced tea. I’d recommend keeping a couple of packages of this on hand for when you’re having guests over – this is the kind of tisane that everyone will enjoy. It’s a funky twist on the Arnold Palmer!
Maple Vanilla Honeybush from 52Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
This week’s tea is a new blend of caffeine-free honeybush, vanilla bean pieces, marigold petals and organic vanilla and maple flavors. This is an awesome relaxing night-time blend.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m not generally all that excited about the honeybush blends from 52Teas. I mean, I usually like them alright and some of them I enjoy quite a bit. But when I read the announced flavor of the week and it happens to be a honeybush flavor, I can’t say that I’m all giddy about it. But this one … this one I was excited about. I love maple. I love vanilla. And the idea of maple and vanilla together with the naturally nut and honey notes of honeybush? Yeah, that sounds pretty darned tasty!
And it is. This is the perfect late-night snack when you want something yummy to satisfy that sweet tooth craving. Sweet, creamy vanilla. Nutty flavors from the honeybush. The maple … mmm! And there is a light honey-like note in the background that sort of melds with all these flavors. This is deliciously, decadently sweet!
To brew this, I put 3 bamboo scoops of the tisane in the basket of my Breville One-Touch tea maker, and then added 500ml of freshly filtered water to the kettle. The reason I added 1 extra scoop of tisane is that I generally do add a little extra leaf to honeybush and rooibos blends. They tend to have a slightly thinner body and I feel that the little extra leaf really helps enhance the flavor. I set the parameters for 10 minutes steep time at 195°F.
And like I said – yumminess! This would make the ideal dessert substitute for someone who is looking to cut the calories and fat without losing out on the flavor of a delicious dessert. This really does taste like an indulgent dessert. Like vanilla bean ice cream that’s been topped with real maple syrup and a sprinkling of chopped nuts.
Because it has that decadent flavor, I think that this is best hot. Sure, it still tastes good as it cools, but there’s something remarkably cozy about it when it’s served hot. It’s like comfort food. It’s like that big chunk of cake that you eat to coddle the broken heart after a break up, but it won’t keep you from fitting in that little black dress next weekend!
Garlic Toast Flavored Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Er, yeah, we went there. On our recent trip to the ASD tradeshow in Las Vegas, we met some folks who were from the “Garlic Capital of the World”. They challenged us to make a tea with garlic in it, and here it is. It’s our premium organic Iyerpadi black tea with organic garlic, bread and butter flavors. If you like garlic, you’re going to have to try this one. It made the whole office smell like a pizzeria or something.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
OK … this is the weirdest flavor that 52Teas/Zoomdweebies/Southern Boy Teas has ever come up with. And if I’m going to be honest, I’m a little jealous. I admit it! I wish I had come up with it.
Yes, this is weirder than bacon tea. It’s weirder than chocolate covered bacon tea. It’s weirder than the pineapple bacon tea. It’s weirder than Jalapeno Tea. It’s even weirder than my beloved Tomato, Basil and Black Pepper tea.
When I opened the pouch, WOWIE! This smells like garlic toast. Like fresh from the oven garlic toast! I steeped it the way I usually steep these large tea bags: I heated 1 quart of water to 212°F and dropped the teabag into the water and let it steep for 2 minutes. Then I removed the teabag and poured the hot tea into my favorite iced tea pitcher and repeated the process, adding 30 seconds onto the “resteep” time.
The brewed tea smells less like garlic toast than the dry tea. Oh, it still smells like garlic toast, but it’s just not nearly as potent.
After allowing the tea to chill in the refrigerator overnight, it was time for testing! I admit I’m excited and nervous and a little weirded out about trying a Garlic Toast flavored iced tea. When I opened the pitcher, I could smell the garlic! It’s still a rather distinct aroma, even though it’s not quite as strong as the dry tea was. The odor of garlic is still there. Then again, it should be, right? I mean, I’m about to take a sip of garlic flavored tea.
OK. Here goes …
Hmm … OK, here are my first impressions: the garlic doesn’t hit you right at the start. The smell of garlic hits you before you even take a sip, mind you, because the aroma, as I said … is THERE. But the flavor of garlic doesn’t smack you upside the palate from the onset.
The first flavor I notice is the black tea. The flavor is smooth and brisk and refreshing. I am picking up on sweetness from the black tea that I hadn’t noticed from this particular black tea base before this tasting. (The Pumpkin Cheesecake iced tea uses the same Iyerpadi black tea base.) I suspect that the different flavoring has inspired the palate to pick up on different flavors from the tea.
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
After about a half a second of tasting the black tea, I start to pick up on delicate garlic notes.
Yeah, I used delicate and garlic in the same sentence, and one was used to describe the other. I don’t know that I’ve ever used the word “delicate” to describe garlic before.
And really, delicate is the right word to use for the garlic flavoring here. Although the pungent odor of the garlic in both the dry tea and the brewed tea wouldn’t really suggest a delicate garlic presence, the flavor itself doesn’t overwhelm the palate with garlic-y … um … goodness. Yeah, that’s the word I was looking for.
It’s garlic toast but it’s not all about the garlic. It is also about the tea. And SBT has managed to create a balance to bridge these two seemingly opposing forces. I mean, really … when was the last time you sat down with a cup of tea and thought: you know what would really go well with this tea? A piece of garlic toast! No. I might sit down to a plate of spaghetti and think, ‘I need garlic toast.’ A cup of soup perhaps, but a cup of tea? No.
But I like this. The zesty, savory flavor of the garlic brings flavors of the tea into focus that I might not have otherwise picked up on. Like I mentioned earlier, I’m noticing the sweetness of the tea itself more now. When you have sweet flavor elements in the tea – such as pumpkin and cheesecake – you miss some of the sweet nuances of the tea. But with the garlic tasting like … well, tasting like garlic … I am noticing some of the sweeter qualities of this tea base. I like that I taste the garlic but it’s not a garlic-y assault on my palate.
I will actually be buying at least one more package of this tea because I want to try it as a cold-brew. I noticed that an iced tea that I didn’t really care for (the bacon iced tea) tasted much better when it was cold-brewed so I want to see how this one works with the cold-brew process.
It’s definitely different – but really tasty.
Pina Colada Flavored Honeybush Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Premium organic caffeine-free honeybush with organic flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m not big on alcoholic drinks. In fact, I can’t tell you when the last time was that I last had a drink but if I were to guess, I’d say it’s been several months and that would have been one drink and I probably didn’t even finish it. I’m just not big on alcohol, I much prefer tea. I’m drunk on tea.
But I do like this Pina Colada Flavored Honeybush Iced Tea from SBT! It’s really tasty. The honeybush base is ideal because it adds a pleasant honeyed sweetness and the nutty notes of the herb add a nice dimension of flavor to the tea.
The pineapple is sweet and balanced with the flavor of coconut. I like that these two flavor profiles are so well matched. They aren’t competing with one another and one doesn’t overpower the other. They are content partners in this tropical tea-tail. I’m picking up on light notes of rum too. A light touch of rum that allows the tropical flavors to shine through.
And I love how easy it is to brew these teas from Southern Boy Teas. I hot brewed this pitcher of tea, bringing 1 quart of water to 195°F and steeping the large sachet of tea for 9 minutes. Then I poured the hot tea into my favorite glass iced tea pitcher and brought a second quart of water to 195°F and resteeped the pouch for 11 minutes. Because honeybush is a tisane with low tannins, you can steep it for longer periods of time without bitterness. This is the best way to get a full flavor from the tisane.
This is a really refreshing tisane. I almost wish I had tried it a couple of months ago when we were in the middle of one of the hottest summers I can remember. It would have made a great summertime “escape” for the taste buds. Then again, it’s kind of a nice getaway for the taste buds now that we’re experiencing a rather wet autumn. Hey, I still need some cold refreshment on days like this, don’t you?
Pumpkin Cheesecake Flavored Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Our awesome premium organic Iyerpadi black tea blended with organic pumpkin and cheesecake flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This is really yummy.
I’ve tried 52Teas version of Pumpkin Cheesecake tea previously and it was yummy too. Rather than being a blend of black teas, though, this appears to be a single type of tea blended with the flavors. I like the black tea base, it’s smooth and rich and provides an enjoyable and solid background of flavor for the flavors of pumpkin and cheesecake.
I like the combination of pumpkin and cheesecake especially because the creaminess of the cheesecake flavor really enhances the pumpkin. I’m a fan of squash and I think that it just tastes better when there is a creamy element added to a winter squash dish, even if it’s a bit of browned butter that has been added to the squash mash. That little bit of creamy really elevates the dish.
And the creaminess of the cheesecake flavors elevates the pumpkin here too.
This is sweet and there are hints of spice. I taste subtle notes of cinnamon in the background. Not a strong flavor – it doesn’t intrude and become a focus of the tea, but it’s enough to add just a little warmth to this autumnal iced tea. The black tea is a rich, robust flavor that doesn’t get overwhelmed by the flavors. The cheesecake is sweet, creamy and tangy. The pumpkin is sweet, rich and savory. It’s a really delicious combination of flavors that is very well rounded on the palate.
Really good!
To prepare: I used the hot brew method for this, heating 1 quart of water to 212°F and then steeping the teabag for 2 minutes and pouring the tea into my glass iced tea pitcher (temper it first so that it doesn’t break from the shock of the heat). Then I repeated the steeping process, resteeping the teabag for 2 1/2 minutes in a quart of 212°F water and adding that quart to the pitcher to make a half gallon of iced tea. Delicious!