Bananas! from 52Teas

BananasTea 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!”

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Taster’s Review:

Can say Banana Pudding? Wow.  This smells just like Banana Pudding.  Like the kind you would have during a family get together.  You can even see the banana chips in the blend.  This just smells so good!  I’m now officially singing the Batman theme.

Now it is time for the test.  Liberteas had already informed me to let this cool.  So I did.  And made an iced tea out of this.

This tea may be one of the best I’ve had from 52Teas/Zoomdweebies.  Creamy Banana Pudding. Wow.  I can find nothing negative to say about this and am creeping on the site now to see if there is any left. No artificial flavors here.  Just smooth rich sweet creamy banana flavors that really mingle well with the black tea base.

Might just need to place an order.  Insert me taking a sip here.  Need to place an order.  Insert me taking another sip.  Yeah. . .Have to place an order. Must try this a a latte.

If you are looking for a banana tea like I have been, this will take care of any craving you may have.  I am impressed.

Tequila Sunrise Iced Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-GREEN-Tequila-SunriseTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Southern Boy Teas

Tea Description:

Tequila-, orange- and cherry organic flavors blended with our awesome organic Chinese sencha fannings make this iced tea bliss. Blow your guests away with this awesome iced tea!

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.

Taster’s Review:

As I mentioned in my review of 52Teas Tequila Sunrise Black Tea – it’s been quite a while since I’ve had the cocktail.  To be honest, tequila isn’t my favorite alcoholic beverage – but as far as cocktail inspired iced teas go, this Tequila Sunrise Iced Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas is a refreshing drink.

I don’t really taste ‘Tequila Sunrise’ here.  Then again – it HAS been a long time since I’ve had one, so don’t rely upon my memory of what a tequila sunrise should taste like.

During the sip, I taste green tea with hints of citrus.  In the aftertaste, I taste cherry and orange more distinctly and occasionally, a flavor crosses my palate that reminds me of tequila.  But that doesn’t arrive until the aftertaste.  During the sip, I taste green tea and notes of bright, sunny citrus flavors.

What I do like about this particular iced tea is that it’s refreshing and it’s quenching my thirst without tasting overly sweet.  I’m enjoying that I taste more green tea than flavor.

It’s a pleasant iced tea.  Not my favorite from SBT, but they can’t all be my favorite.  Even so, I like it enough to say that I might buy it again.

Earl Blue Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-Earl-BlueTea 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.

Lemon-Lime Iced White Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-WHITE-LemonLimeTea 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!

Cantaloupe & Berries Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas

SBT-GREEN-Cantaloupe-and-BerriesTea 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.