Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Here’s our delicious organic Iyerpadi black tea blended with the organic flavors of vanilla ice cream and maraschino cherries. Life really is just a bowl of cherries, you know. Enjoy it with some of this delicious iced tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Nice! I wasn’t too sure about this Sweet Cherry Ice Cream Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas because the words “Sweet Cherry” often mean “cough syrup” in the world of tea and I worried a little bit that this might end up tasting like that. But I’m happy to say that the cherry notes are not an overwhelming flavor and there’s no hint of cough syrup!
Instead, I’m tasting what was promised in the title: I’m tasting a cherry ice cream flavor that brings me back to the days when we used to go to the local drug store and get a ice cream cone.
Wow, I just aged myself there, didn’t I? Are there any small drug stores like that anymore?
The black tea is the dominate flavor of this tea and it’s smooth. Brisk and lively, this isn’t an aggressive black tea, nor is it astringent or bitter. It’s just really smooth and delicious.
When I first pour myself a glass of this tea, I find that the flavors seem to ‘hide’ themselves until I’ve consumed about half a glass. Then the cherry flavors really seem to pop. Now I’m tasting a cherry note that’s sweet but there’s also just a hint of tart to it. Enough tart to keep it from tasting too sweet and to give it a more fruity taste and not so much a medicinal one. The vanilla undertones add to the smoothness of the black tea and give the glass of tea a really pleasant, creamy taste.
This tea would be perfect for the hot summer months that lie ahead. It’s going to be a flavor that both kids and adults will enjoy!
Kenyan Chai from 52Teas
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Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
We had some rich GFOP Kenyan black tea which I thought would be great for a chai blend, but I wanted to combine the Kenyan tea with spices that are more specific to Kenya . . . the Ras el Hanout that I used for this chai listed the ingredients as:
“Tumeric, ginger, cinnamon, fennel, anise seed, cardamom, galangal, anise star, cayenne pepper, garlic, nigella, paprika, rosebuds, salt, ajwan seeds, lavender blossoms, mace and other spices.”
Whatever is in it, it is very fragrant, and it makes a lovely and interesting chai that is at once familiar and still just different enough to make it unique. You’re going to want to get your hands on some of this tea. I’m really looking forward to hearing what you guys think about it.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
This is different. And as I’ve said before, different is good and that definitely applies in the case of this Kenyan Chai from 52Teas.
I could smell the spices as soon as I opened the pouch. The aroma here is different from the typical chai – I’m not smelling a strong ginger note like I would probably notice in a Masala chai blend. I am picking up on a hint of cinnamon, but mostly what I’m smelling is tumeric. Subtle notes of anise. Some floral notes. But mostly, tumeric.
The overall fragrance reminds me a bit of what I’d smell if I walked into an Indian restaurant, actually. Or perhaps a restaurant that offers Middle Eastern Cuisine.
Which is in itself interesting since I’d probably be more likely to get a more familiar Masala chai tea blend at the Indian restaurant than I would get something like this Kenyan Chai. Although at our local African Restaurant, they serve “chai” which is also the more familiar Masala blend type chai. Incidentally, they also serve Middle Eastern cuisine at that restaurant.
To brew this chai, I put 1 bamboo scoop of the tea and 12 ounces of boiling water into my Kati tumbler and let it steep for 3 minutes. The scent that filled the kitchen was rather delightful!
After it finished steeping, I took a wee sip to see if I wanted to add anything to the cup. I decided to forgo the ‘latte’ with this (although I think a latte would be quite interesting! I might have to try that next time!) but I did add a little less than half a teaspoon of raw sugar to the cup to accentuate the spices. Sugar and spice goes nice together, and the sugar seems to elevate the flavors of the spices just a bit.
And wow! I’m really liking this blend. It’s certainly different, mind you. This is not like any chai you’re likely to find anywhere else. But as I said at the start, different is good. It’s not overly spicy and these particular spices give this cup a more savory flavor than ‘spicy’ or even ‘warm’ flavor. It’s more like a really unique, savory cuppa that I really like.
The black tea is rich and robust. Now that I have nearly finished the cup, I don’t know if latte is the way to go with this. I don’t know how well they’d fair with the creamy element since this isn’t a spicy-sweet type of chai, this is more of a warm-savory type of chai.
As I write this review, I see that there are still 20 pouches of this tea left which kind of surprises me! If you haven’t gotten yours yet, you really should get on over to Zoomdweebies and pick up a pouch of it – this one is a unique and really quite tasty blend.
We Are Nearing The Home Stretch!
Please help us reach our S-t-r-e-t-c-h Goals! Please click here and contribute!
We are nearing the home stretch of our Kickstarter and we’re so excited that we’ve reached our goal and we will be funded. This means that I will be – together with my daughter, Amethyst – taking over 52Teas as of June 1st!
But we are looking to achieve MORE with our campaign! The more funds we raise, the more we can invest in equipment to make the business more effective. We also desperately want a new website!
We have about eight days left on the campaign and I believe we can go FAR with those eight days! Please click here to go to the campaign and contribute what you can. As little as $5 will get you some tea – and you’ll have helped build our business and help my dream come to life! THANK YOU!
And after you’ve contributed, don’t forget to vote! Right now, backers are voting on five new reblends to add to the campaign reblends, so if you have a favorite 52Teas blend that you’d like to see reblended, please contribute and then VOTE – let me know what tea you’d like to try!
Strawberry Pie Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Our premium organic caffeine-free honeybush blended with organic strawberry, cinnamon, brown sugar and pastry flavors. A delicious caffeine-free treat. Don’t miss your chance to grab one.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
From the moment that I tore open the pouch of this Strawberry Pie Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas, I knew I was in for a treat! I could smell the strawberry right away! And the berry with the cinnamon produced an aroma that was absolutely irresistible! YUM!
And this really is yummy. The nutty, honey-sweet honeybush with the notes of buttery pastry, earthy cinnamon and sweet brown sugar notes create a really delightful ‘pie-like’ flavor. The strawberry tastes sweet with hints of tart, just like the real thing. It tastes like the glazed strawberries in a strawberry pie (or a strawberry shortcake!)
It makes a really refreshing iced tea. It tastes a lot like I remember the “My Sweet Honeybush” version of this flavor tasting: sweet and delicious. I think that ‘hot tea’ version of this tea also had more of a vanilla-y taste to it. I do taste some vanilla-ish flavor to this, like a creamy sweetness, but it’s not as strong as my taste buds want to remember based on reading my past review.
However, I don’t feel like I’m missing that vanilla note in this tea because I rather like that this is about the strawberry and the pie. Very refreshing, pleasantly sweet and dessert-like. Nice!
White Chocolate Lemon Shou Mei Tea from 52Teas
Please check out my Kickstarter Campaign to Take Over 52Teas!
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
As popular as our White Chocolate Raspberry Shou Mei was, I expect this one might even be more popular. Our premium shou mei white tea blended with white chocolate chips, lemon myrtle and organic white chocolate and lemon flavors. This is a gorgeous blend of sweet and tart that suits the hay-like shou mei beautifully.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! I must admit that I wasn’t as much a fan of the White Chocolate Raspberry Shou Mei from a couple of months ago as I thought I would be. I thought I’d love that blend and it was just alright for me. My daughter – with whom I’m going into business – loved it. I expected her to because that’s probably her favorite flavor combination, or at least one of them.
But this White Chocolate Lemon Shou Mei Tea from 52Teas – I’m loving this! Similar to the White Chocolate Raspberry, this is primarily a lemon tea. That is to say, I taste more lemon than I do white chocolate. But I taste enough white chocolate to satisfy me, and I like the way the sweet, creamy notes of the white chocolate soften the tangy notes of the lemon and highlight the creaminess of the Shou Mei base.
And the Shou Mei isn’t hidden behind the flavors either. I taste the light, slightly earthy, slightly hay-like flavor of the Shou Mei. This tea has some really wonderful layers of flavor.
This tea is best if you let it cool slightly. After pouring the piping hot tea into your cup, let it set for just a few minutes. This seems to let the flavors come forth and now that I’m nearly finished with the cup I notice even more lemony notes as well as a stronger white chocolate presence.
A really good tea. One of the better white teas that I’ve tried from 52Teas!
If you’ve been keeping up with our kickstarter campaign, then you know that we recently reached our goal! Yay! We still have roughly 19 days until the campaign comes to a close – so please contribute what you can to help our business succeed. We have some really awesome incentives for those that pledge to the campaign! Please check it out!