Southern Boy Teas

Today’s iced tea choice for work. I probably made a mistake with this today, as it’s not actually all that warm. It’s so stuffy in our office usually, I think I’ve just fallen into the habit of assuming I’ll be too hot. I haven’t taken my hoodie off yet, though, so it’s definitely on the cool side.

It doesn’t really matter, though. I don’t have any actual ice, so this is really just chilled tea. It’s convenient, because it means I don’t have to keep getting up and going to the kettle, which is at the other end of the office. It’s while I’m on these jaunts that someone inevitably comes in to reception, and I miss them. Still, it’s monday, I need caffiene, and I don’t care whether it’s hot or cold.

I’m a Lime Jello Salad fan, so this is another of Frank’s SBTs that I was eager to try. The first thing I can say is that I still prefer the green version. I miss the marshmallow in this, and the sweetness that perfectly balanced the tang of the lime. This is definitely limey, though, and it pairs so well with the black base. The smell of this both dry and brewed reminds me of actual Lime Jello, which I suppose is the point. It’s kind of sour and tangy, and it makes me think of summer. The taste is similar, with the Lime Jello peeking out from under the black tea and adding a fruity, zesty tang to each sip.

I forgot my sugar again, so I can’t experiment (when will I learn?), but I think my enjoyment of this would be hightened if it was a little sweeter. It’s lovely and refreshing and palatable as is, but I am looking for just a little more sweetness than it has naturally. While this probably isn’t my personal favourite of the SBTs, it’s certainly another good one. If I’d known it was this easy to make iced tea, I would have been doing it for years. Another excellent creation!

Second iced tea of the year! I also tried this one last year, and really enjoyed it. Again, I think I’ve done slightly better with the brewing this year. I timed more carefully while the bag was in the hot water (three minutes and no more!), but used the same parameters otherwise (topped up to 2 litres with cold water, cooled in fridge for 12 hours overnight). The cotton candy flavour is strong and clear, and delightfully sweet and sugary. It’s as close as a drink can get to the real thing. The base is wonderfully smooth, as ever, and supports the flavouring really well. I think the coolness helps to offset some of the sweetness, too, making this hugely refreshing this warm morning! Lovely, lovely stuff!

These teas are just bloody awesome really, aren’t they? I don’t know why I held off buying some last year. It was plenty hot enough in my old office to merit iced tea, although I suppose I just wasn’t up to the tea tea-buying tricks I’ve developed these days.

Anyway, back to the point. I first tried the normal version of Cotton Candy in last year’s 12 Teas of Christmas sampler. I loved it. Given my success with Neapolitan Ice Cream recently, I decided to try another of the SBTs “converted” from a normal tea. (I’m not sure what it means when you start calling such oddly flavoured teas normal, but I guess it hardly matters at this point. You know what I’m on about.)

This one is another stunner. If anything, the cotton candy flavouring comes out more clearly here than it does in its original counterpart. It’s delicious — sweet, sugary, airy cotton candy goodness. It smells strongly of cotton candy, it tastes strongly of cotton candy. Once again, the black base is detectabe, but it just seems to enhance and support the flavouring rather than mask it in any way.

I have no idea how Frank achieves these extrodinary flavouring feats. What I do know is that, as iced tea goes, these are unbeatable. Yum yum yum is about the most coherent thing I can say about this right now. Please excuse me while I go and drink some more.

First iced tea of the year! I tried this one last year, but I think I left the bag for too long and the base become very prominent and slightly astringent. I did better this year, because the cup I’m drinking at the moment is very smooth, and there’s a delicious berry flavour running over the (relatively subtle) black base. It’s more raspberry than blackberry, I think, and it tastes more like fruit flavoured candies than actual fresh fruit. I’m pretty sure I’m getting that impression because it’s sweet, with no hint of tang or tartness. Real fruit just wouldn’t be that uniformly sweet! Not that I mind — it makes a delicious and refreshing drink on a warm day. I could take the flavouring a little stronger, but that’s a minor complaint. Maybe this time I was a little conservative while trying to avoid bitterness! I brewed this in 1/4 pint of boiling water for three minutes, and then topped up the jug to 2 litres. It then went in the fridge overnight, for about 12 hours. I haven’t yet tried cold brewing one of these, but that’s something to keep in mind for the future. As a first iced tea of the season, though, I can only say I’m looking forward to the months ahead!

Made this up last night, and I’ve been drinking it most of the day today in my too-hot reception area. It’s not even that warm outside, so I have no idea why the temparature gets up so much in here, but anyway.

I agree with Lala on this one. The intial smell is really like sour raspberry candies. Every time I get pick and mix, I go for some of those. The scent also reminded me a little bit of 52 Teas Raspberry Cream, which I loved, so it was almost bound to be a winner with me.

I brewed this according to the packet instructions. 2 cups of boiling water, and then topped up with cold to make just under 2 litres. I put it in the fridge overnight, and then decanted it into a bottle to bring to work this morning. I’d like to try cold brewing one of these at some point, but I went with both speed and tried and tested last night as it seemed the simplest thing to do!

To taste, this is much as I thought it would be. I get raspberry mainly, in both the scent and the initial flavour. There’s a slight tartness coming from somewhere, but it’s not overpowering. You can also taste the black tea, which has a slightly bitter bite to it. I suppose I was expecting that, given that it’s CTC, but it works quite well with the raspberry flavouring (which is quite sweet) in any case. I totally forgot to bring sugar with me, but I might have tried adding a bit to one of my cups if I’d remembered. There’s no harm done, though, because this is a perfectly palatable tea in its own right. I can’t really taste any blackberry, but that’s my only complaint, and a minor one at that.

I’ve got a few of the other flavours stashed away in my cupboard, so I’m looking forward to trying those now. I’ve appreciated being able to have my black tea cold today, though. Cold-brewed fruit and herbals weren’t quite doing it somehow, and I found myself feeling sleepy at around 3.00pm last week. Not so today! Clearly this is great stuff!

I received my packaged with all of my iced teas. I have a feeling that they’re going to go fast…. I thought I ruined this one because I oversteeped it by one minute and six seconds but it actually turned out ok. It starts with a strong black tea base and turns into a berry sweetness. It’s not overpowering in sweetness but it is just the right amount. It’s delicious and quite refreshing.

Ok, so I was impressed with SBT: Razzleberry, so I ordered the other flavours to try. The plan was to brew this one up last night, then let chill in the fridge and enjoy today. All went as planned with a few detours. I boiled the water and measured it out then poured it into the pitcher. Then I ripped open the package. But when I ripped open the package, I accidentally also ripped open the tea bag inside. I panicked and just threw the whole ripped tea bag into a strainer and then into the pitcher. But the tea bag was all crumpled up in the strainer and the water wasn’t high enough to cover all the tea in the strainer. So I fished out the strainer and just put the ripped tea bag into the water. By then I don’t know how long the tea kinda steeped for. So I steeped it for 3 more minutes. Then I tried to fish out the ripped tea bag without dumping out the tea contents, but as you guessed, that didn’t work. So then I strained the tea into a different container. Had to wash out a bunch of tea out of the iced tea pitcher. Pour the tea back into the pitcher. Then added cold water and put into the fridge. So needless to say, I did not have high hopes due to my performance on this tea.

But it turned out awesome! You can taste the black tea base, but there is a strong cotton candy flavour on top of the black tea. Without sugar, it was a dull cotton candy flavour, but still good. I am not a super sweet tea type of person so I thought it was ok that way. But just for iced tea authenticity I added some white sugar. With the sugar it is way more cotton candy type flavour. Not exactly what pink cotton candy tastes like, but it tastes very similar to other cotton candy flavoured things (candy, gum, drinks, etc.) that I have had before.

I kept what was left of the broken tea bag, and will be re-steeping.

Steeped in 16 oz boiling water for 3-ish minutes, added 2 quarts cold water.

Edit: Made a resteep. It steeped well but not as good as the first time – just not as strong. I resteeped in 16 oz boiling water but added only 1 quart cold water this time.

Hmm… I just figured out that I’ve been misspelling sherbet my whole life…I thought it was sherbert? I try to learn something new everyday…I think this qualifies :)

I managed to try the second steeping of this and it was quite tasty.

“What happened to the first steeping?” you ask, well…

… I was making this in the perfectly sized glass pitcher that my family has had for years. In retrospect I should have made the hot tea in my teapot, but I was using it to make a different tea, and I wanted to get it brewing so I could get to bed.

As I poured the cold water into the jug, I heard a crick ping crack! I couldn’t see anything, but from the sound, it was evident that the structural integrity of the jug had been compromised. I finally decided to gently lift the jug to try and inspect it over the kitchen sink.

yeah…it didn’t make it.

As I started lifting the jug a sudden flood of tea surged forth, leaving the entire bottom piece of the jug on the counter, and me holding the sides of the jug while the tea gushed out all over the counter and onto the kitchen floor. Quite the mess, but at least it didn’t have sugar – that would have been shticky. I’m sad that I didn’t get the chance to try the first steep, but I must say, the kitchen smells glorious!

I must admit that I’m not really a sherbet kind of girl, but when 52teas had their sale I decided to give this one a go. The fruity citrus creamy taste is beautiful together with the flavor of the black tea. I think I’m going to have to go searching for another proper-sized jug so I can make more of these iced teas over the summer.

The weather hasn’t been cooperating with me. I made this a few days ago and I set it in my fridge to cool for the next morning. But these past few mornings have been a little cool which have enticed me to have hot tea instead(thus the delay in consuming this tea). By time the sun comes out, it’s usually nearing my caffeine consumption cut-off time, and I just want to resteep the hot tea that I had been drinking.

Today is another cool-ish morning but I decided to just put a sweater on and go for it. I guarantee that I would appreciate the refreshing nature of this iced tea much more if it were a little warmer out. The black base is what I can taste the most with this tea, but the berry taste is definitely present in a complimentary way. It’s nice that it tastes like actual berries, rather than the chemical imitation. I saved the teabag, because it looks to have quite a bit of oomph left, but since I’ve been waiting so long to drink this first batch, I’m not sure how long the teabag will keep. Will it go bad? Will it make me sick? hmm…should I venture to play a little game of teabag roulette?

I enjoy iced tea, but I’m a little new to all the various methods of brewing, so I particularly appreciate the brewing instructions included on the packaging for this tea. I haven’t made iced tea for years (I think I was a teenager when I last made iced tea), and when I did, it was always did it the same way:
-Brew a strong tea in teapot (I used a loose leaf vanilla tea from Mauritius)
-strain tea into jug while still hot
-add ridiculous amounts of sugar
-Chill in fridge
- Squeeze a lemon slice or two into it
-Enjoy with a smile as if to say “look, I still have all my teeth even though I’m basically drinking sugar with a little bit of tea in it”

So I’m still a little odd with my iced tea. With hot tea, usually enjoy it black, and I rarely add anything to any of them. But when it comes to iced tea I have to force myself to drink it without any sweeteners. What’s that about? I figured if there was a way to get me to enjoy iced teas without the added sweeteners 52teas would be the perfect option to get me started. So far, it’s not bad but I think it’s going to take some time to kick the sugar habit. It’s that first sip that makes me think…something is missing. But it’s better for me to miss the sugar now than for me to miss my teeth later :D

Oh look at that, now the sun’s coming out!

When I tore into the package – I tore right through the filter bag, so into the French Press it goes.

The tea itself looks pretty boring, just small brown leaf pieces. But it smells, well, like rainbow sherbet. There’s no pretense of ‘real fruit flavors’ here but it wouldn’t be rainbow sherbet if there were.

I brewed it at 200F for 3 min in about .75L.

The cold aroma is muted fruit, but it tastes great. There’s the orange, lime and raspberry with cream and some sweetness. It’s a little like adding melted sherbet like a syrup to iced tea but in a good way.

If this is any indication to what 52teas has in store, I can’t wait for the next one.

I really feel like lime right now. Not sure why, but lime just sounds so good. I also want to do something that is minimal effort so I don’t have to keep washing out my tea paraphernalia to brew another cup of something. Plus, it’s finally summer weather!! Iced tea sounds like just the thing!

This tea bag was purchased last year, but I don’t think that’s affected its quality or strength since it’s been sealed in the original, airtight packaging. The dry leaves smell really lime-y! Ooooh, I can’t wait!

I certainly have gotten better at making iced tea since my first time with SBT’s Cotton Candy. This was super easy! Why don’t I make iced tea more often? For whatever reason, I bought 7 of the 8 flavors released last year and then didn’t make half of them! Silly me. But the time has finally come for Lime Jello!!

Mmmmm, this tea is pure lime goodness! I added sweetener and that’s when it really came alive. Lime and black tea were just made for each other! Waaaay better than lemon and black tea. ;)

Looks like Frank hasn’t re-released this one yet. I hope he does! This is a GREAT tea, especially for only $3!!! This tea really doesn’t get enough credit. It’s super lime-y (and not in an artificial way), amazingly tastes just like jello in liquid tea form, and is simply super delicious! Thanks for making this Frank, now bring it back!!!

So happy that Frank restocked this. I love iced tea and cold brews, and of course all tea in general. And I love how easy it is to use pre-bagged iced tea blends!

I brewed for 3 minutes in 2 cups water, then added cold water, as per the directions on the package. But I think next time I will brew for a bit longer.

This dry tea smells almost like those sour raspberry hard candies – the ones that are shaped like raspberries. Mmmmm! The brewed iced tea flavour still tastes like raspberry candy, with a slight hint of tartness (pleasant tartness, not too sour tartness). But you can also taste the black tea. I love it when iced tea tastes like this. You get the black tea flavour, but there is also a fruity/candy flavour overtop of it, and it is not just juice-like. However, I do like the teas that taste like juice, I just reserve those for cold brewing. (I find there is a difference between cold brewing and iced tea, and some teas are better one way than the other). I added a bit of white sugar and it just enhanced the raspberry candy flavour.

Anyway, super happy with this iced tea. I even went and ordered more before it goes out of stock, and ordered some of the other flavours as well!

I kept the tea bag and am going to try a re-steep and see what happens.

Edit: This made an excellent resteep. I steeped for 5 minutes. Tastes exactly like the first steep. I already got rid of the tea bag before I tried the second steep, but I wish I didn’t because I think it may have made a third steep…

Prepared this one basically to the instructions on the bag.
It smelt like sherbet, but it also smelt highly of.black tea…. Erg
It definitely did taste like delicious rainbow sherbet, but tasted way to strongly of black tea for my liking. With several teaspoons of rock sugar I was able to kill the black tea taste enough to thoroughly enjoy the creamy rainbow sherbet goodness.

A crazed Lime Jello Salad green fan, I’ve been curious to see how this one compares. That day has finally come.

I had a hunch it wouldn’t be as good seeing that there is no marshmallow in this. But the base is a success. It works very well with the lime. Gives it a little more edge. But I still prefer the green tea + marshmallow combination. It’s dreamy times.

Not my favourite SBT (it’s Rainbow Sherbet for me) but I’d say this comes in second.

I made this yesterday afternoon as a treat for my kids (and myself). They each inhaled a glass when they got home from school and then continued drinking it through dinner. It is definitely a big hit around here.

I was able to sneak a glass for myself, and the sweet spun sugar taste is really delicious. It immediately made me think of picnics, birthday parties and waking on the boardwalk in Ocean City. Happy thoughts with a happy tea!

So my kids have decided that we need Cotton Candy, Bubblegum, and Watermelon SBT on hand always. I have a few other teas to add to that list, so it looks like we’ll be planning an order with Frank sooner rather than later.

Today was unseasonably warm. I took my son to the park, and I was wearing a short sleeved shirt and no jacket. In December! Anyway, when we got home I wanted something cold to drink. I had made this earlier in the day, (iced tea has become my replacement for Diet Coke) so I poured myself a glass and YUM. The cotton candy flavor is great. I did sweeten the tea with a touch of sugar to bring the flavor out more. Both of my kids tried it, and they loved it. This is a tea I would love to serve at a summer cookout. For now though I will be happy drinking a glass while I watch the lights on my Christmas tree twinkle.

I was given an Adagio Teas Ingenuitea iced tea maker a while ago and both me and my husband are off work today and felt like brewing up a batch of iced tea. A few months ago I placed an order with 52 tea’s and was excited to try this tea as I had never had banana flavoured tea before (and still haven’t). With my need for iced tea and my husbands love for banana’s it was easy to decide to brew this tea and use my Adagio Teas Ingenuitea gadget for the first time.

As I opened the little packet to expose the large prepared teabag I took in a strong smell of banana’s, it smelt almost milkshake like. The last time I had beer flavoured anything it was for my husbands birthday (5th November) last month when I bought some banana beer as a novelty. Funnily enough I can member saying that smelled like banana milkshake too, which means it also smells like the loose tea for this.

Brewed and left to chill for a few hours while my ice in the freezer becomes solid, it’s been difficult to leave the mixture in the fridge without sneaking a taste. I remain a good girl though and have left it well alone..until now. Serving time. :D

The iced tea is brown in colour, monkey coloured some may say, and it still maintains the amazing banana smell. It’s a sweet yet creamy banana smell, very candy like.

The flavour is more subtle, while I can taste banana I can also taste a rather malty yet cocoa nibbish. The balance is about right for me, it’s not too sweet nor too earthy and the banana lingers in the after taste quite nicely. Such a nice novelty :)

I would buy this again as it’s perfect for the occasional hot spells we get here in the UK (if we’re lucky) but at the same time I’m quite happy with a few others I have in for loose tea at the moment. Great job 52 Teas, yummy work. :)

I’ve been making iced tea for our housemate lately, and Monkey Fart is currently in the pitcher. Tonight I had some with dinner (beef brisket and a big salad) and I have to say, yum! This tastes like a banana, and reminds me a little bit of hard candy. Pretty tasty, and this is housemate approved (but I didn’t tell him it was called Monkey Fart, it’s a secret).

This will be my first SBT and I must say I am very excited, both at the prospect of tasting a new tea and for receiving this one’s supposed radio active ultra caffeine effects. Yesterday I worked a long shift and not long after I got home I got called in and asked to work today (my day off)…lets just say that I am far from being amused by all of these hours. At least now you can understand why I need a good caffeine boost.

The SBT range arrive in very large tea bags as they are for making a jug of iced tea but as I am at work today and have no jug handy I have had to cut open the bag and use a very generous 1 and half spoons full of tea to make enough for one pint of tea. Not how this is meant to be used but I believe I have a fairly accurate example infront of me. Made with boiled water for 3 minutes and poured over ice and left for a few minutes to cool.

Colour wise this is as you would expect of an assam, dark reddy brown (like autumn leaves at the end of the season).

Smell wise this is strongly earthy.

Now for the long awaited and needed taste. Boy that’s strong but in such a lovely way, it’s not just your standard assam at all. This has a lot of strength without any bitterness or sharpness to it and as an iced tea this is perfect. There is a slight sweetness blended with an earthy boost and malty finish.

About half way down my cup and all of a sudden BA BOOOOOOOOOOM!!! The caffeine has exploded into my system and is making me type a the speed of light (or so it feels). The last time I felt like this was when I had a few expresso’s (many years ago) with my husband and we walked down the street laughing and acting drunk from the buzz (when I say years ago it truly was, thinking back I was 15 so almost 10 years ago).
What a lovely memory to think back on :)

Well I usually don’t go so off topic….lets bring myself back to reality takes deep breath right there we are. I guess this truly is radioactive.

If you like your iced tea strong and unflavoured then you will love this one. I think this is now my favourite unflavoured iced tea :)

Thanks 52teas for sending a lovely sample of this! So yeah, it was kind of chilly for an iced tea… But Rainbow Sherbet? I’d drink it in a blizzard, it’s that good. The flavors are so tangy. I’m getting more lime than anything. But I’m not complaining :] This is the best iced tea I’ve had in a loooong time. I will definitely be ordering more!!

Last SBT I have to try. As usual, I cold steeped this, and this tea is oh so thirst-quenching. Heavier on the tea base, but the base is exquisite. Ultra smooth, a lots of depth. The raspberry, on the other hand, is on the weaker side, but I’m actually happy because it is a little on the artificial. It lends a nice touch of sweetness to the tea, and while it’s not in-your-face raspberry, you get the picture when you drink it. It’s sweetened raspberries if you think about it.

It’s quite good. Not my favourite SBT, but better than, say, Neapolitan Ice Cream, in my opinion.

I actually sipped this one down a couple months ago. By far my favourite SBT. Like actual melted rainbow ice cream in a jug. This was also the last 52teas blend I owned, and it’s going to stay that way.

Oh, how I love this stuff. Truly like rainbow sherbet minus the calories. In fact, I like it even better because sometimes I just feel like experiencing the flavour of rainbow sherbet/ice cream but don’t want the actual sugar and milk and what not. So this is perfect.

Mmm, rainbow sherbet. I have a few bags so I thought it was time to treat myself to one of them. I’ve yet to try it with milk to see what it would do to the flavour.