Tea 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.
Goomtee China Classic First Flush Black Tea from Udyan Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: Udyan Tea
Tea Description:
Goomtee is a very well known Darjeeling heritage garden planted with pure china bushes almost a century ago. Picked from special section of the garden called Ghani between 3000-4000 sq.ft. height, this tea is for the strong hearted first flush lovers as it has a strong body with a very slight tinge of muscatel (grape flavour usually associated with second flush Darjeelings). It is a well balanced cup that leaves a stong after taste as well. With repeated steepings, the liquor becomes sweeter and midler. Perfect tea for long winding day with a good book in hand to read.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
What a treat! I love it when I get to try the new teas of the season! This Goomtee China Classic First Flush Black Tea from Udyan Tea is wonderful.
As I’ve confessed before, when it comes to Darjeeling teas, I generally prefer a 2nd flush to a 1st flush because I do love those grape-y, muscatel notes of the 2nd flush. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t find things to love about the first flush Darjeeling teas.
This has a slightly stronger taste than I would normally associate with a Darjeeling. I still tastes very crisp and Darjeeling-esque to me, but it’s a little bit more forward than the “usual” light flavors of a Darjeeling.
And there is a muscatel note too! It’s not as dominate as in a second flush Darjeeling, but it’s there – a delicate, muscat grape note that lingers in the background at the beginning of the sip and comes forward a little bit as the sip progresses. Lovely!
Floral notes weave their way throughout the sip. A sweet note that almost tastes as though someone drizzled a drop or two of honey in my cup. Notes of wood, hints of fruit that complement the muscat grape notes, and a slightly dry, wine-like finish.
Another fantastic tea from Udyan Tea – if you haven’t yet tried teas from them, I highly recommend checking them out!
Goomtee Oolong Tea from Udyan Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong (Darjeeling)
Where to Buy: Udyan Tea
Tea Description:
Goomtee is a very well known Darjeeling heritage garden planted with pure china bushes almost a century ago. It produces one of the best teas from Darjeeling. This tea is for Darjeeling Tea Lovers and newbies alike. It has a very sweet aroma with fruity notes. It makes a well balanced cup that leaves a sweet after taste and refreshing feeling as well. The flavour is superb with a soft and smooth texture.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve always been fond of Oolong teas from Darjeeling so when Udyan Tea sent me this Goomtee Oolong Tea, I was excited to try it.
I brewed it the same way I’d brew most Oolong teas – in my gaiwan! I did a 15 second rinse, and then steeped the first infusion for 45 seconds (180°F). I added 15 seconds onto each subsequent infusion.
My first cup is the combination of infusions 1 and 2. And it is wonderful. The best way I can think of to describe the flavor is what you might taste if you combined an autumnal flush Darjeeling (with all those lovely muscatel notes!) with an Oolong – I’m thinking an Asian Beauty type Oolong – something light and fruity. I get the crispness from the Darjeeling, the pungent grape-y notes of muscatel and the smooth body of an Oolong. It’s not a heavy tasting tea – it’s light and refreshing. There is some astringency to this, the finish is slightly dry.
And because it is an Oolong, that means that you can look forward to many wonderful infusions with this tea.
My second cup (a combination of infusions 3 and 4) was more intensely flavored than the first. I’m getting a lot more of the muscatel now. Still very sweet, I’m picking up on notes of a light buttery taste that reminds me of a browned butter taste. It has a silky texture to it. There is more astringency to this cup but it isn’t something that gets in the way of enjoyment. It’s more like a dryness to the cup, sort of like what you might experience if you were to sip a glass of wine.
My third cup (infusions 5 and 6) is where I started to notice the flavors were waning. The second cup was so profusely flavored and this one is much lighter. Still quite nice though! The texture is not as silky or buttery as the second. But I still taste the muscatel – this cup is much more like a Darjeeling than an Oolong to me.
Overall, a very enjoyable tea experience – one I’d recommend to all Oolong enthusiasts as well as those fond of Darjeeling teas. It’s a rather wonderful tea!
Peach Apricot Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Here’s our organic Iyerpadi black tea paired with the sweet, juicy flavors of peach and apricot. This is a great thirst-quencher and palate pleaser. Serve some of this to your guests and watch the double-takes you get out of this delicious iced tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
This Peach Apricot Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas is a glassful of yummy, ice cold refreshment!
The flavor is spot-on! I’m not sure if it’s the way that the Iyerpadi single estate tea melds with the apricot and peach flavors or just the flavors themselves, but it tastes like someone pureed a peach and an apricot and strained it into a glass of black tea. The flavors are very true to the fruit!
The black tea is a smooth tasting tea – it’s strong enough to assert its flavor into the sip without being too aggressive. It doesn’t taste bitter or astringent. Just smooth and delicious.
Together with the authentic flavors of peach and apricot – this tea has a taste that’s sweet – the kind of sweetness that you experience when you take a bite of a sweet, juicy peach or a tree-ripened apricot. It doesn’t taste overly ‘sugary’ sweet and it doesn’t have a fake taste to it.
There are a lot of ready to drink iced teas on the market out there and peach seems to be a flavor that those RTD tea companies embrace – but they are all so loaded with sugar. This is so much better than anything I’ve tasted RTD!
Passion Fruit Cheesecake Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Passion fruit and cheesecake? Does it get more decadent than that? Well, yes, actually it does, when we combine the organic flavors of passion fruit and cheesecake with our premium organic Iyerpadi black tea to make an iced tea from heaven!
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
I made a half-gallon pitcher full of this Passion Fruit Cheesecake Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas last night, and now (less than 24 hours later and I’ve only been drinking this for about 3 of those 24 hours!) the pitcher is nearly empty. I think I have one glass of this tea left in the fridge!
In other words: this stuff is so tasty that I don’t want to stop drinking it!
The black tea base is a very harmonious flavor with the added flavors of passion fruit and cheesecake. The natural fruity notes of the Iyerpadi single estate black tea marries well with these flavors, allowing the flavors to come alive in my glass of iced tea while still managing to maintain its own presence there. It tastes brisk and refreshing. It’s strong without being aggressive or overwhelming. It’s not astringent or bitter. Just really, really lovely.
The passion fruit is a very well-defined flavor here. The cheesecake is less pronounced but it adds a really lusciously smooth and creamy taste to the sip. The tangy note of the cheesecake is there too, it’s a subtle little note that hits about mid-sip. A slight contrast from the sweet and creamy that is quite welcome and keeps the tea from becoming cloying.
Every once in a while, I also pick up on light buttery/pastry type of notes. This buttery/pastry flavor seem to mostly be hidden within the ubiquitous cheesecake note, not really standing on it’s own so much as being part of the collective ‘cheesecake’ but every once in a while, I taste a little more of that flavor, as if it is trying to stand up and shout: “Hello, I’m here too!”
So I guess if I were to offer any sort of criticism at all about this tea, that would be it. I might like just a tad more of that buttery/pastry flavor here. But as I mentioned at the start, I’ve nearly polished off an entire half-gallon of this magical liquid in fewer than four hours.
I think I’m going to be needing more of this.