Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Don’t let the simplicity of this flavor fool you: this is a blend of our premium organic shou mei white tea fannings with organic peppermint candy cane flavors and it does not disappoint. Believe me when I say, you’ll have a hard time keeping this tea in your refrigerator.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
After having tried the Candy Cane Iced Black Tea from SBT last year and loving it, I had really high expectations for this white tea version. Unfortunately, it fell a little short of the expectations I had.
Oh, this is still a really tasty iced tea. It’s just not as amazing as I remember the black tea version. Then again, it could be that my expectations were too high, so this was not going to reach those heights.
But this is – as I said – quite tasty. The white tea is light and I like the crisp, refreshing flavor. It has a sweet flavor that’s airy and hay-like and very fresh tasting.
This fresh taste melds well with the cool notes of the minty candy cane flavor. It’s not just “minty” – there is a light sweetness in there too so this tastes more like a white tea flavored with a candy cane than it does a white tea flavored with peppermint. There are hints of vanilla and a soft, almost ‘candy-like’ sweetness in there. I like that I’m getting this really delicious sweetness but it isn’t too sweet.
It’s a tasty tea. That said, if I’m going to be shopping for a candy cane iced tea, I’d probably be putting the black tea version in my cart before I’d grab the white tea version.
Please take a minute to check out Southern Boy Teas’ Indiegogo campaign and support this small business – help them take their business even further.
Candy Cane Tea from Naked Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea & Rooibos
Tea Information:
Organic! A fun tea inspired by the classic holiday candy. It’s not like drinking a candy cane though. It’s actually more on the softer side. Perfumed floral aroma, lightly minty, softly sweet with hints of raspberry.
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
It’s also part of Amoda Tea’s Holiday Box!
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
So, I got a nice surprise from Amoda! As their way of thanking me for not only subscribing but also for writing reviews of the teas that they send, they sent me the Holiday Box that I wished for when I received December’s subscription box! Amoda = my Santa Claus!
And this is the first tea that I’m trying from the Holiday Box.
And YUM! This is really good. It’s a bit different than you might expect if you taste this without reading the above description of the tea. The name Candy Cane is a very suggestive name and having tried several different “candy cane” teas over the years, I’ve kind of come to expect a tea called “Candy Cane” to taste a little bit like liquefied candy cane in tea.
But just as the description above states, this doesn’t taste like that. This has a minty taste (just like most candy canes!) but the mint is balanced with a sweet-tart raspberry flavor, hints of cinnamon and whispers of sweet jasmine and rose.
The base of this tea is a green tea and red rooibos base – very festive! I don’t taste a strong flavor from the rooibos, maybe a hint of nutty flavor but it’s slight. I taste the sweet green tea peeking through the mint, raspberry and cinnamon.
The mint is a combination of peppermint and spearmint, but even though we’ve got two mint types in this blend, the mint doesn’t overpower the cup. It’s minty without tasting too much like a swig of mouthwash. The warm cinnamon contrasts with the cool minty tones and gives this cup it’s holiday flavor.
The rose and jasmine are very subtle. There’s just a soft insinuation of flower in this – and it’s just enough to add a little bit of interest to the cup. If you take a sip of this and find yourself searching for the floral notes, slurp the sip. The aeration will bring those floral notes to life.
Raspberry is the one unexpected flavor of this cup, but I like that fruity sweetness and the hint of tart that melds with the cinnamon in the aftertaste.
This is definitely an unusual Candy Cane! (But let me tell you, if I found a candy cane that tasted like this, I’d be a big fan of it, because this is yummy!) It definitely has a ‘sweet treat’ kind of taste to it, but it isn’t the traditional Candy Cane. This is a new-and-improved Candy Cane, Naked Teas Galore style!
Cotton Candy Honeybush Iced Tea From Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Our cotton candy iced teas have been a big hit, so I decided we really should have a caffeine-free, honeybush version.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
I love the cotton candy teas that Zoomdweebies creates. So I was confident that I’d enjoy this one too.
And I do.
I way, way oversteeped this – but because it’s a honeybush blend, I wasn’t worried. When I say “way, way oversteeped” what I mean is that I infused 1 quart of water with the sachet for over 30 minutes.
I forgot to set my timer and I stepped away and then I looked at the clock a half an hour later and remembered that I had this tea steeping! Yikes!
But again, no worries. And no bitterness. Honeybush just doesn’t get bitter. The same is true of rooibos. However, I’ve found that if you use too hot of water to steep either one, the leaves may impart a funky, sour wood kind of flavor that I don’t really enjoy. But since I heated the water to 195°F rather than boiling, I didn’t have to worry about that funky flavor either.
The sweet, sugary cotton candy flavor is strong and I like it with the honeybush base. The lightly sweet flavor of the honeybush highlights the sweet candy notes. I don’t taste a strong nutty or woodsy note from the honeybush. I taste some background flavors of the honeybush, but it doesn’t overpower the fluffy notes of cotton candy.
This flavor works really well with the honeybush, in fact, I think that I might prefer the honeybush base to either the black tea or the green tea versions of cotton candy iced teas from Southern Boy Teas!
Another yummy iced tea. Very refreshing!
Cotton Candy Iced Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Premium Organic green 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.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! OK, it was pretty much a given that I’d LOVE this flavor of iced tea from Southern Boy Teas. I love the original 52Teas version of Cotton Candy, I loved the Cotton Candy with the White Tea Base. And of course, I loved the Cotton Candy Black Iced Tea from SBT which was part of their original series of iced tea pouches. So, I was really confident before I even poured the first glass of tea that I’d love this too.
And I do.
It is sweet and refreshing. The lighter base of green tea is perfect for the Cotton Candy flavors which tend to be on the delicate side. The Cotton Candy notes are able to shine through nicely. And the buttery notes of the green tea work really well with these flavors.
I find myself emptying the glass of iced tea almost as quickly as I can refill it! It just tastes so good, but even though it’s crafted as an homage to one of my favorite carnival treats, it doesn’t taste sickeningly, sticky sweet. It’s sweet, certainly, and those of you who don’t like sweet beverages might find this to be a bit cloying, but for those of you with a sweet tooth, this cold drink might be right up your alley.
To brew this, I hot brewed the sachet in 1 quart of freshly filtered water that was brought to 170°F. I steeped the sachet for 1 1/2 minutes, and then I poured the brewed tea into my iced tea pitcher. Then I repeated the process – same amount of water and the same temperature, but this time I steeped the sachet for 2 minutes. And what I LOVE about the green teas from Southern Boy Teas is that you can resteep it for another half gallon of tea! I just stash the sachet in the fridge in an airtight container, and then I resteep the sachet at the same temperature (170°F), 2 1/2 minutes for the first quart and 3 minutes for the second. I get a full gallon of delicious iced tea out of this.
It tastes fresh and light and it’s a very invigorating glass of refreshment. This one is definitely one I’ll be reordering in the future. With the next one I buy, I want to try cold-brewing the sachet to see how it fairs!
I like it a lot!
Product Review: Chai Caramels from Big Picture Farm
Product Information:
Where to Buy: Treatsie
Product Description:
Big Picture Farm’s goat milk chai caramel won the gold medal in the prestigious 2013 Good Food Awards. The team at Big Picture makes this exquisite caramel with organic chai supplied by their friend Neil Harley of Chai Wallah.
Learn more about Treatsie’s Subscription Box here.
Product Review:
As you may be aware, I previously reviewed another product that I recently purchased from Treatsie. I bought these caramels at the same time, because … hello, Chai Caramels? Yeah! I gotta try ’em!
I’ve previously tried (and reviewed on my now inactive foodie blog) the goat’s milk caramels from Big Picture Farms, and I really enjoyed those. Goat’s milk caramels do taste a little different than caramels made with products other than goat’s milk, and it’s a taste that isn’t to everyone’s liking. I personally like the flavor, because goat’s milk has a certain “tangy” quality to it and I like that contrast to the sugary sweetness of the caramel.
And these caramels are not only made with goat’s milk, but also organic chai tea supplied by Chai Wallah, another product that I’ve previously reviewed! I was happy to see that Chai Wallah was the supplier of the chai for these confections, because this company makes a very memorable chai. I’ve tasted a lot of chai in the past, and Chai Wallah makes some of the very best that I’ve tried.
So, I was confident that I’d enjoy these treats from Treatsie! The caramel is super-fresh, I can feel the freshness as I unwrap the candy: it feels soft and gooey, and there isn’t even a trace of hardness on the exterior of the candy. It’s soft and pliable. When I bite into it, it seems to melt in my mouth (and of course, stick to my teeth a bit – hey, it’s caramel, it’s supposed to do that!)
The first notes I experience are the caramel notes, you know, that “burnt sugar” taste that’s sort of … incredible and delicious? Then I pick up the tangy notes of the goat’s milk. Then I start to taste the notes of chai. The spices hit the palate as I’m chewing on the confection, and they linger in the aftertaste. Now that I’ve finished the bite of chewy, delicious, caramel-y goodness, I can still taste notes of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cardamom and pepper. Mmm! So good!
Yeah … you gotta try these! If you’re a fan of chai, you’ll love them. If you’ve got a sweet t00th, you’ll want more than just the 10-piece pack! (Trust me on that.) If you just want to try something that’s a little different than your average caramel … get some of these!