Southern Boy Teas

Apologies for the extra brief tasting note. I’m a woman of few words. This is so cola-y that I can practically taste the carbonation. And the lime adds an extra layer of flavor, very zesty.:)

Totally forgot that I had iced tea pouches. I made this one today because well you know… Lime Jello. The aroma of the dry leaf kind of reminds me of counter cleaner. But after it’s steeped it mellows out. The flavor is nice. Sweet, juicy, and filled with lime goodness. I enjoy this one but it’s not my favorite.

I cold brewed this one overnight, and it was good the next day – a hint of lemon, but it wasn’t until the day after when I was finishing it off that this really was delicious. At that point it was almost like the lemonade and sweet “pink” flavor had settled in. So far I really like this SBT and the Mango Peach one.

I cold steeped one of these in a gallon of water for about 24 hours and added just a touch of maple syrup. The result is still dark and rich despite the 2 qt water recommendation, and the watermelon flavor doesn’t taste fake at all! The black base has a certain pungency which I think balances out the sweet fruitiness, and there’s a floral/rosey finish as well. This might be my fave SBT thus far. (But then I kinda think that every time I try another one…) :)

Finally I am getting around to logging my teas from this week. Yay! I prepared this as instructed. Boiling water and steep, cool and chill. I have to say this tea surprised me. I was expecting the artificial Watermelon flavor. Guess what?! No fake flavor!!!! yay!! it tastes like watermelon. It very strong. I would recommend watering it down just a tad bit, it doesn’t need sugar at all, but I was curious so I added sugar and it was very nice! these would make amazing popsicles! I will have to try before summer is over!

It smells like a watermelon jolly rancher! And tastes like it too! This is a fun iced tea. It’s not gourmet. It’s not natural-tasting. It’s not elegant. It does however have it’s own sweet charm just like candy does. The base is dark, rich, and slightly bitter. Again it’s not the finest, tastiest base, but it works well with the flavoring and provides a nice mouthful.

All in all, it’s a nice contrast to a lot of the "serious"teas I’ve been drinking lately. It’s funny how each tea has its own personality!

The parameters on this tea (the same as the other SBT’s) yielded a surprisingly weak tea. It was light colored and watery and I didn’t really get any discernible tea flavor. It was that same candy-saccharine note in the iced earl grey that I wasn’t fond of then either.

Couldn’t finish this one, sadly. I’m glad I tried it though.

I love this tea – easy to make, and smells delicious. The flavor is pretty light but definitely reminds me of lime cola without the syrupy sweetmess. Because the flavor isn’t strong, it’s really refreshing on a hot or sticky day. I’m tempted to pour a little rum in my next serving. Or a little Kentucky bourbon. :)

We had this with dinner again tonight. My husband decided to grill hamburgers, and as soon as we started prepping the food our oldest came in and asked if this tea was in the fridge. She said it would be perfect with dinner, and she was right.

When I made this I only used 1/8 a cup of sugar to sweeten two quarts of tea. Last time I used 1/4 a cup, and it was a touch too sweet. This time there was still a lovely watermelon flavor, but I didn’t feel like my teeth were going to fall out of my head.

This is currently my favorite flavored iced tea. Frank did a great job coming up with these blends!

This was a huge hit. I served it with dinner tonight, and everyone loved it. I made the tea early this afternoon, sweetened it with a quarter cup of sugar, and left it in the fridge to cool. When I served it both of my kids told me repeatedly how good it was and that it tasted just like watermelon. It was a nice tea. The taste was all melon. If I really paid attention I could taste the tea itself, but it was better to enjoy the sweet fruitiness. There’s not much left in the pitcher, and I’m sure someone will finish it off soon. So I’ll probably resteep the bag and have another pitcher of watermelon yumminess waiting for my family to enjoy tomorrow. If I’m lucky I might even be able to snag a glass or two myself.

The last of the SBTs currently remaining in my cupboard. I think I left this one until last because I have a bit of an odd relationship with pear. Some varieties of the actual fruit give me a migraine. I needn’t have worried about this, though, because it actually tastes more like pear drops (which I DO like) than pear itself. Rather than being soft and perfumey, it tastes sweet and candy-like. There’s pear there, but it’s much more reminiscent of a pear drop than a pear, if that makes sense.

I gave this the usual treatment — about 3 minutes in boiling water, topped up with cold, and then into the fridge overnight. The black base is perfect, as ever, and as a summer drink it’s very refreshing. I suppose the taste is less “natural” than some of the other SBTs that are based on things found in nature (like Mango Peach, or Watermelon). That doesn’t put me off, though — I’m just glad I can drink it without feeling ill afterwards. Besides, pear drops are nice anyway! Another great SBT!

Well I went up to my parents’ last week and I’m still here, I made this on Sunday for dinner and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I even had to steep the bag a second time after dinner because so much of it was had!

I added a couple packets of what I guess would be the generic version of Equal because anything I like I know my family and my brother’s highly irritating girlfriend does not like. This of course made it WAY too sweet for me but of course everyone else loved it. I couldn’t even taste watermelon because of it. But I know for some taste buds, specifically my brother, who wasn’t sure at first that he wanted any until I had him smell the dry bag, it must have worked because he didn’t complain.

It smells amazing though, so I will be ordering another one within a few minutes that I can enjoy on my own. And it sounds like actual sugar is the way to go but I can’t go around doing that to the ice princess girlfriend. (Sorry I AM STILL MAD AT HER she was incredibly rude to me she didn’t even say goodbye leaving, and my mom says I’m the one that doesn’t try to be nice. PFFFFFFT.)

Made a 1/2 gallon of this following the directions and added my normal amount of sugar, and finished the last bit off yesterday night.

I don’t know why I didn’t write a note on this earlier – I liked it well enough. I played the ‘guess what this smells like’ game with the boyfriend and he rather quickly pinpointed the lime note (not that it’s really hard to with this). He didn’t get the jello and I don’t know that it’s something you can smell so much as notice in the texture – this iced tea tastes thicker somehow, like the jello liquid was infused into the tea itself.

I love lime in my iced tea – it’s quite preferable to lemon to me. I tried a Persian lime iced tea earlier in the summer and between the two I do like that one a bit more, because it tastes a bit more natural. Still, the convenience of a ready made bag of good (not CTC) tea has been a wonderful luxury, so I’m rating this up there with the other SBT’s. I think I’ll try the Pear one next…

This will be a longer note than I usually write because there are several things I want to go over. First, I am really surprised by this tea. I had tried a few other SBTs and found them lacking in the flavour department, for me. Then, when I had lost all hope, along came this one. I brewed it two days ago and it was still in the fridge, untouched. This morning, I took some to work in a travel mug. I wasn’t getting as much flavour as I wanted so I added a tsp of sugar to my 14 oz travel mug. It is like I’m drinking a different tea, you guys. It is bursting with flavour. The interesting part that I want to bring up is the fact that at home I’m sweetening with agave, NEVER with refined white sugar. Could the choice of sweetener make this much difference??

Also, there is a woman here at work I occasionally give sips of my tea to try. She is used to drinking only straight Chinese black tea because her grandfather drinks that and ever since she was a little girl she shared her grandfather’s tea. I gave her this and she didn’t like it. Yet she loved a subdued in flavour “cheeky lychee”. I have come to the realization she would have loved all the other SBTs that fell short for me, simply because she relishes the subtle flavour, the “finish” more than the blast your mouth stuff.

The moral? These steepster ratings are so subjective.

As for this tea, dude, it is so freaking watermelony delicious I’m in danger of running into the open arms of white sugar!

The July TeaLog Catchup !

I looked up this tea, anticipating reading others’ reviews to see what people thought of it, and it wasn’t even in the Steepster database yet!! No!! I do not want to be the first one to review this tea! But I am. =) So be it.

I brought one of each of Frank’s SBT’s iced tea blends to try as a gift to my mom and dad, who both like iced tea, but also for myself. That is, I’m leaving them at my parents’ house but they cannot drinking them unless it’s during when I’m staying there, which is close to half of each month so it’s not that bad.

I also brought a Teavana 64oz pitcher off of Amazon to go with them because my parents do not have a pitcher that has a lid. The lid is orange, my mom’s favorite color, and the SBT iced teas made 64oz, both of which are why I picked this pitcher. I would not normally buy Teavana stuff as a rule. Turns out, the lid doesn’t fit very snugly and the pitcher holds 8oz less than stated when filled to the absolute brim. =p But it is a good size to fit into their always crowded fridge.

Now on to the tea. I ended up easily getting two approx 56oz pitchers from the single bag. The first one steeped the recommended 3 minutes and the second left to stew for probably around 15. Both were lightly sweetened.

My mom really loved the tea. She was amazed at SBT’s selection period. She commented that she could taste the tea then the lime then the cola as she swallowed. I was surprised at how specific she was in her “tasting notes”, given that she rarely drinks more than bagged grocery store teas.

My thoughts were exactly the opposite. I tasted more cola than tea and the lime as an aftertaste.

My dad was less than enthused by the oddly flavored tea combo, though he did try it at least, but I suspect he will enjoy the more normal fruity blends.

Rating: 65. Smack dab in the middle of my nice range. Mostly because I’m not the biggest coke drinking. I do like lime coke. But coke isn’t something I can drink all day long. Iced tea should be.

This is so good when it’s cold. I put my SBTs in a bottle to bring to work a litre at a time, leaving the second litre in the fridge at home for the next day. I drank half of yesterday’s bottle in the morning while it was cold, and absolutely loved it. I forgot to put the other half in the fridge while I went for lunch, though, and came back to a warm-ish glass that wasn’t so fabulous. Somehow, this tea seems to lose some of its flavour when it gets warm. I guess the clue’s in the name given that it’s iced tea, though. Anyway, today I’m making an effort to be less forgetful so I can log this successfully.

Cold, this tastes beautifully of cola with a twist of lime. It’s cola rather than coke — the kind of flavour you’d expect if you bought own brand rather tha coca cola or pepsi, or whatever. Like cola bottles, really, I suppose. The lime tatses remarkably fresh and zingy, almost like I’d squeezed it in myself. On a hot day (and today is warming up quickly), this is just the thing. Better for me than actual cola, but just as tasty. All that, combined with the fact that it’s tea make it a winner in my book! This is great stuff — I definitely feel a repurchase coming on.

I’m really raining on everyone’s parade lately aren’t I? Cover your eyes if you don’t want to read this. I don’t know what cotton candy everyone is eating but I must have been eating a different kind. This tea is not cotton candy for me. Even with a generous amount of agave I’m getting a strong base with something sweet at the back. I’d say it’s a cotton candy finish. I expected stronger cotton candy flavour and less base flavour. It smelled like strong black tea after brewing so was worried before I even tasted it.

The bag ripped when I opened the foil pouch but it was not a big deal, I just dumped it in my DAVIDs steeper and continued as per directions. It was interesting to see the base. The tea is very fine though. Like ground coffee. More like bagged tea than loose leaf tea. I meant to drink it without sugar but it really tasted like nothing to me so it was either suffer, dump it, or sweeten. I chose the latter. We’re going to the Jazz Streetfest and am taking this so I really didn’t want to leave the house with something not enjoyable.

Sadly I think this will be my last SBT adventure. I still have the watermelon one but if tastes like the other four I’ve tried, well, I won’t be in a hurry to brew it. They’re just too subdued for me in the flavour department, that’s all.

I only bought one each of this one and Rainbow Sherbet, but I may get more of this one. I am DEFINITELY getting more Earl Grey Iced, or are we supposed to call it “Sorry, Captain”? And pink lemonade, more pink lemonade flavor!

I made a gallon this morning and I am watching the level of the dispenser drop rapidly and steadily. Hubby is working in the chicken pen (which they don’t stay in, they free range but you still have to do some maintenance) and it is HOT and sticky. He said he likes this one better than Rainbow Sherbet, which he did like, just not as much as this one, and I think Pink Lemonade flavor is still his favorite of this year’s batch.

If I bought these one at a time, I wouldn’t feel so free to make them so often, but when you buy ten at a time it really comes into line with the price of soda, which isn’t good for you and makes your teeth feel icky. Buying ten at a time, they come down to 1.99 per gallon of really delicious tea. (Autocorrect just changed delicious to devious. Frank? Is there something you’d like to tell us? >grin<) That is cheaper than soda unless you happen to hit a big sale. And more enjoyable. And healthier.

Thank you, Frank! It is so easy to make, and you really put a lot of thought and care into your blends. We appreciate it!

We just finished a gallon of this one today. I always make a gallon at a time and it often disappears in just 24 hours. I have the Pottery Barn drink dispenser that looks like a vintage cocktail shaker and the small sized one (1.9 gallons) fits nicely on the top shelf in my fridge. It makes it super easy and convenient to keep filling up your tea glass!

This is nice, and doesn’t taste like tea with strawberry flavor. It actually tastes like tea with a hint of strawberry sherbet. I am sure the other flavors are there, too, but I noticed the strawberry most because it seemed to linger on the back of the sip. Very nice.

Prepped according to package directions, with my usual amount of sweetener (4 tbsp. to a 1/2 gallon) added.

So I’ve just started to like watermelon, after 20+ years of not being able to taste it. Normally I’d put the idea of anything watermelon out of my head, but when I was trying to get to 10 iced teas so I could get the discount I figured this would be as good as any to try.

And it’s not bad. I should have expected it to have the watermelon candy taste instead of fresh watermelon since those are two different things. But when I sniffed the dry bag I knew I was getting candy over fruit.

Eh – not bad. Reminds me of the watermelon flavored bubble gum that I tried so hard to like as a kid, so kind of fakey tasting. It was still refreshing though. And since it was the only thing I drank during my 12 hour shift, and it kept me hydrated, it gets decent marks from me.

The Southern Boy iced teas line is just making my summer, you guys.

this was a gift from the awesome CHAroma… and i can’t even tell you what it tasted like!

this last january my wife and i were dismayed when a steady drip of water started through the ceiling in the living room. the last three weeks have been comprised of my wife and son clambering up and down scaffolding making the necessary repairs (while i stayed below in a cast).

this tea kept them going on a black asphalt roof last weekend when it was crazy hot. they both loved it. thanks frank!