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Smells like grapefruit? Hmmm, interesting.

Now I know that Swampwater is supposed to be the tea you brew for kids, but, no sooner had I taken this out of the fridge—after brewing it for 10 minutes, straining, then placing it there to cool—then my 18-month-old hold her sippy cup out to me. She’s probably thirsty and I prefer to fill it with cold tea, instead of juice, anyways. I hand her the full cup and she literally starts drinking without stopping for a breath! Either she’s really thirsty of she really loves this tea. Probably a combination of both! Looks like this will be in full rotation this summer as I brew it up for my daughter to drink.

Now, what do I think of it? I find it’s a really flavourful brew, especially when you just leave it for a bit, then strain and chill. I could see it being a little on the weak side if you brewed it then poured it over ice, so to get maximum flavour I recommend steeping it for 10+ minutes, straining it, then forgetting it in the fridge for a day so it reached peak coldness.

Trust me on this one, have I ever lead you astray before?

Recipe for the perfect iced Root Beer Float:
‣ Root Beer Float tea, brewed extra strong
‣ ice
‣ sweetened condensed milk
‣ tall glass

Add a couple tablespoons of the sweetened condensed milk (that is, if your husband hasn’t found it already and nearly polished off the whole can!) to a tall glass filled with ice. Pour the extra-strong brewed tea* over the ice + milk, stir, and enjoy!

*I highly recommend letting the tea cool in the fridge for a couple hours, otherwise nearly all of the ice melts, but if you want instant gratification (like I did today) feel free to pour the hot tea over ice.

Hot: Not really my “cuppa tea” (har har), reminding me too much of forgotten, day-old root beer that’s turned flat and warm. However, I remember one of the sales-associates recommending this with milk and ice. Hmmm, worth a shot…

Iced: So, I mixed in some sweetened condensed milk instead of just milk and sugar, poured the whole mixture over ice and, oh. monkeys. It’s creamy, delicious root-beer-float-goodness without all the calories of ice cream! I never thought I’d see the day, but it’s here and it’s delicious. I’m not really sure how else to describe it…

Reminds me of Green & Fruity, but I’ve never tried bamboo leaves before. We’ll see how this goes!

Hot: I wasn’t really a fan, like drinking warm fruitopia or something. So, I put the whole shebang in the fridge overnight and…

Cold: So, so, so much better! Taste-wise it reminds me a lot of Green & Fruity, but cooler somehow. I can see what they mean about bamboo leaves being “cooling” because it somehow just feels like drinking liquid cold (and I didn’t even add any ice to it). Definitely a refreshing summertime beverage full of light, tropical flavour. Drink up!

I was eating a piece of rich chocolate cake and needed a nice black tea to accompany it… boy, did I make the right choice with this one!

I’m not going to rate it, since the magic in my mouth of both chocolate cake + Salted Caramel tea was pretty delicious, but didn’t really give me a good taste of the unadulterated tea. However, the combination of the two was a match made in heaven, with the creamy astringency of the tea cutting through the richness of the cake. Like both drinking and eating a caramilk bar. Yes, it’s just as awesome as it sounds!

So, if you ever need something to pair with that rich, velvety slice of chocolate-ganache-delight look no further than this tea, your taste buds with thank you. And probably have a party in your mouth. Where everyone is eating cake. And drinking tea. Caramel tea.

I seem to have difficulty brewing this tea correctly… it either tastes over-brewed and bitter or under-brewed and bland. So far I’ve brewed it twice with vastly different results, but now it’s too late in the evening for me to try again since a black tea has enough caffeine to keep me up for a good portion of the night. Alas, we shall have to wait until morning for the final verdict… stay tuned.

The next morning: Sigh. Still got it wrong… and it turned out slightly bitter. Again! Maybe you others will have more luck with this tea than I do because right now, I wouldn’t really recommend it. I can’t help but wonder if it would’ve been better without the black tea base, just the berries to steep, but then it might get an awful lot like Bear Trap.

This latest batch of tea seems to be much more tart than the tea I originally tried. Strange. I can see why everyone would be complaining about it, however, I have the solution!

Just use your tea to make the Perfect Pear Fizz recipe: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidstea/7267619520/

Seriously, do it.

I made a jar of the Perfect Pear syrup and just keep it in the fridge for when I want something icy, yet amazing to drink. Even my husband likes it and has taken to calling it “Faith’s special drink”. You know you’ve succeeded when your loved ones name the drink after you.

I may or may not have steeped this one, then forgot about it while trying to wrangle my 1.5-year-old down for her nap. Luckily it’s a rooibos and highly forgiving on the steeping scale…

And I gotta say this is so, so, so much better than Raspberry Nectar! Still rather strong in the citrus department, but at least I’m getting some raspberry flavour in there too. Hot, it’s alright: rooibos-y with strong hits of citrus AND raspberry. Cold, with a dash of sweetener (raw cane sugar) is when it truly shines; tasting almost like Fruitopia rather than the tea it actually is.

I’m tempted to try that Razzmatazz Fizz they mention in the description, but we’ll leave that for another time…