Product Description:
Ready to Drink Tisane from Argo Tea.
Argo Tea’s White Tea Açai Squeeze® is youthful white tea from the Fujian province of China, vitamin-rich açai from Amazon rainforests of Brazil and fresh-squeezed lemonade.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
This White Tea Acai Squeeze from Argo Tea is actually pretty tasty. As some of you might be aware, I’m not always crazy about ready-to-drink teas because they usually taste more like sugar/sweetener than they do tea. But, I can taste tea here.
Yeah, it’s still sweet, but this is actually more tart than it is sweet! The lemonade notes are especially profound in this tea. The white tea adds a crisp, airy sort of background note with a hint of vegetative flavor. The acai berry is also a strong flavor, but it unites with the lemon-y notes quite nicely.
I guess if I were to offer any complaint about this, it would be that I wished there was a little less lemonade and acai berry and a little more tea, but I still found this beverage refreshing and not too sweet and it didn’t leave behind that syrupy feel on my tongue after I finished drinking it – you know, that sort of cloying, sickeningly sweet sensation that seems to coat the palate when one drinks those overly sweetened RTD beverages that they call tea? I didn’t get that with this, and I’m glad. This is not too sweet and I can taste the tea – these get big PLUS points from me when it comes to RTD teas.
Argo is currently promoting their Scratch and Win promotion on Facebook – you can win a free bottle of their tea from their website! Good luck!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Giant Peach Green Tea & Peach Flavored Juice Blend from Tazo
Product Information:
Peach is such a happy-go-lucky fruit, brimming with golden possibilites. When it’s mixed with ripe apple and the easy smoothness of green tea, you can’t help but run barefoot through the tall grass.
To Learn more about Tazo Tea, visit their website.
Taster’s Review:
While shopping this evening at my local grocery store, I picked up a bottle of this ready-to-drink Giant Peach Green Tea & Peach flavored Juice Blend from Tazo. I don’t usually even bother to stop and browse through the supermarket’s selection of RTD teas, because it’s been my experience that these convenient beverages are more sweetener than they are tea. And I like tea. I like the taste of it. I find myself put off a bit when the flavor is overpowered by sweetener. It’s not just disappointing … it’s almost an insult!
But something about this particular bottle of tea caught my eye. I think it was because there wasn’t any sediment that had built up at the bottom of the bottle. This was clear. I don’t know if that really means anything to any of you. I just don’t like it when I buy a bottle of anything and all the flavor seems to be settled at the bottom of it, and I have to shake to distribute this “sediment.”
As far as a Peach flavored Juice blend, this is … well, this is sweet. It tastes like peach. It’s sweet. I taste notes of apple. It is very fruity. It’s sweet. Did I mention that already? Well, that’s because it’s really sweet. Too sweet for my liking, but, I guess I can see how some might find this appealing. Someone who likes sweet drinks might really like this.
As far as a “tea” goes … this isn’t doing anything for me. I taste next to no tea flavor in this. And that’s really a very generous statement to suggest that there might be some tea flavor to this. If I slurp it as I sip, I can pick up hints of green tea-ish taste. But, it’s very faint. It’s barely there. It’s so barely there that it’s not even worth trying to taste it.
This was not a tea drink that was crafted for someone who actually likes tea. Perhaps I should say that this was not a tea drink that was crafted for me. You might like it. If you’re looking for a peach juice cocktail type drink, I think you’ll enjoy this. If you’re looking for a tea drink with peach notes, I believe that this is going to leave you feeling at least a little disappointed.
PRODUCT REVIEW: Ready-to-Drink Original Iced Bhakti Chai
Product Information:
Antioxidant rich black tea, fresh ginger, spices and a touch of soy milk.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
While out shopping at Whole Foods, I found Bhakti Chai! Having previously tried their Chai concentrates, I knew I would enjoy this Ready-to-Drink Original Iced Bhakti Chai, so I grabbed a bottle of it. (In case you’re wondering, my favorite of the concentrates is the Unsweetened Chai.)
I really enjoyed this RTD Chai … although, I must say that I really prefer the concentrate because I can control the type (and amount) of milk product that is added. This ready-to-drink iced chai is made with soy milk, and I found the texture of this to be somewhat lacking.
Yeah, I know it’s the hip thing to like soy milk, but, I prefer good old cow’s milk. Or, if I need to go dairy-free, I’ll go with an almond milk. Soy just doesn’t do it for me. One thing I will say about the soy … it was less creamy and heavy tasting, which was nice for this very warm, end of the summer day.
But I was happy that this tasted as spicy as I remember Bhakti Chai tasting. Lots of fiery ginger and warm spice. This is sweetened, so it is a little sweeter than I usually go for when it comes to chai but, it is still a really tasty RTD, and better than a lot of the RTDs that are out there.
Overall, I really enjoyed this Chai, and I was happy to find it at my local Whole Foods. I tried to find the concentrate at Whole Foods too, but, I didn’t find it anywhere. I would love for them to start carrying the concentrate because this is a yummy, delicious, ginger-y chai!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Green Tea & Lemon Sparkling Fermented Tea from Kombucha Wonder Drink
Product Information:
A refreshing hint of organic natural lemon in harmony with green tea.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
I am probably the last person to ever try Kombucha. Yeah … imagine that … a tea reviewer has been hesitant to try a tea product. About as inconceivable as the thought that I would be hesitant to try something new (especially when it pertains to tea.) But there it is … I love my tea, but, the idea of fermented tea … and what little I have read about Kombucha, the making of it sounds a little bit like how they make vinegar.
Now, I like vinegar when I drizzle it on my salad or my green beans, but, it’s not something that I will chill in the refrigerator and then pour myself a glass to drink. You know what I mean? Yeah, I know that they make sipping vinegars, but I haven’t tried those either. And to be perfectly honest, if I hadn’t received this can of Green Tea & Lemon Sparkling Fermented Tea from Kombucha Wonder Drink in my April Knoshbox, I probably wouldn’t be about to try it now, because, I doubt I would have actually paid for a drink that has filled me so much unease.
So, I sit here, with this innocent enough looking can of chilled tea drink, still sealed … wondering if I will actually open it and drink it. And after looking at it for some time … I finally popped the top and took a sip.
First impression: weird.
Second impression: tart and lemony.
Third impression: I’m not getting a whole lot of tea flavor here.
I get the lemony tingle on my tongue … and I don’t know how much of that is actually lemon and how much is the fermentation. It’s very bubbly like a soda pop would be. I’m not big on soda. This is also quite sweet despite the tarty taste of it … which I guess I’m glad for the sweetness otherwise it might end up being too sour.
It’s different. It’s not bad. It reminds me a bit of a sparkling lemonade with a little bit of something else to it. I find myself wishing I could taste more green tea, and as I continue to sip, that wish is granted – but only barely! – because the green tea notes do develop as I sip. It’s never a strong green tea taste. I don’t get a lot of grassy or vegetative notes or anything else that strongly resembles a green tea. Just a hint of it.
And I do taste a slight ‘vinegary’ note to this as well, and this taste develops by about “mid-can” … it’s like someone added maybe a teaspoon of vinegar to my sparkling lemonade, along with a teaspoon of green tea. I taste more lemon than green tea here though, and I feel that is important to mention since the description suggests that there is a “hint” of lemon, and to these taste buds, it is more lemon than anything else with the exception of sugar.
Overall, I’d say that my first impression is the best one: it’s weird. Very unusual, but I don’t dislike it. But, I like other things better, and because of that, I doubt I’ll be buying another can of this in the near future. That said, I do find myself sort of intrigued by the Asian Pear and Ginger flavor, so I might … MIGHT try this flavor at some point.
PRODUCT REVIEW: Marley’s Mellow Mood Lite – Half Lemonade/Half Tea from Marley Beverages
Product Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Marley Beverages
About Marley’s Mellow Mood:
Marley’s Mellow Mood is a new line of 100% natural relaxation beverages created in partnership with the family of legendary musical prophet, Bob Marley.
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little hesitant to try this one, mostly because when I see the word “lite” on a beverage, I worry that it contains aspartame to which I’m allergic. Having suffered one too many reactions because of this artificial sweetener, I tend to avoid “lite” products all together.
So, I read the ingredients:
water, sugar, erythritol, pear juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, black tea, sodium citrate, reb A (stevia leaf extract), natural flavor.
No aspartame. But what was this erythritol? It is a sugar alcohol which is safe … at least, safer for me to consume than aspartame. So, I waited until late evening (as it does say it can make you drowsy), and opened the bottle and started sipping.
The pros: This is pretty tasty. The first few sips had a sort of artificial sweetener sweetness to it, and I suspect that this is the stevia. However, once the other flavors started to emerge, I didn’t taste that funky sweetness anymore, and just enjoyed a very pleasant combination of sweet-tart lemonade and black tea.
The Cons: Because the black tea is sharing center-stage with the lemonade, it is a less distinct (although still quite distinguishable) flavor. And it is sweet. A bit sweeter than I usually would want my iced tea to be.
Overall: I am enjoying it, even though it’s a bit on the sweet side and even though the tea is not as prominent as I’d like it to be. And… the mellow part works. I’m already starting to feel drowsy, and before opening the bottle I probably would have been awake for at least a couple more hours.
So, even with the drawbacks of this beverage, I’d still give it two thumbs up because it does deliver what it promises, which is a mellow mood!