I was looking forward to trying a SoBe ready-to-drink tea product.  I went with the Honey Green Tea to start.  The label states “all natural” and “0 calories.”  That certainly sounds like a winning combination.  The problem for me from the start with this RTD was the sweetener.  My tongue is immediately hit with this blast of sweetness that just simply does not taste natural to me.  I can detect the green tea in the bottle; which is a nice find.  A hint of honey is also present.  I just can’t get past the sweetener.  I think that’s what this tea comes down to – can you enjoy the sweetener (Erythritol)?  I’ve read a little about Erythritol – it’s natural, etc….It just doesn’t appeal to my sense of sweetness.  The aftertaste wasn’t pleasant and it did not quench my thirst.  Having said that, I did find the product more enjoyable with food.  Drinking it with a healthy lunch, helped to balance out the sweetness.

I give SoBe a ton of credit for coming out with a zero calorie green tea.  I’m sure a lot of consumers will enjoy this product.  I tried the product on multiple days to make sure I wasn’t being overly critical of the sweetener.  If you are trying to watch your calorie intake, and you are used to SoBe or similar products – you might enjoy this green tea.  Did I mention it has Z-E-R-O calories?

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-Just wanted to let everyone know, I’m doing well.  I hope you are enjoying some good tea.  I just had a bottle of Sweet Leaf’s Lemon & Lime (Unsweet Green Tea).  One of my favorite RTDs.  I’ll be back to a normal blogging schedule soon.

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Rishi | Organic Green Needles

It has been a while since I’ve had a pure green tea.  It was a perfect time to get back to the basics.  Rishi’s Organic Green Needles (roasted) is an excellent pure green tea option.  I’ve made several cups now and each cup has been enjoyable.  The green tea flavor really pops in this variety.  Much of the flavor and aroma has to be contributed to the attention to detail with the processing of the tea.  I get a wide range of flavors from this tea.  It’s buttery sweet with a very smooth vegetal flavor.  The aroma of the tea rivals the flavor.  So you get this blast of fresh green tea with every sip.  I often find myself just enjoying the steam rising from the cup before taking a sip.  From my previous blogs, you may know that I’m a huge fan of roasted teas.  This one was actually a lot less roasted than I anticipated.  It’s a very subtle roasting.  You are not going to be overwhelmed with a smoky flavor by this tea.  The subtle roasting is an excellent accent to an already flavorful organic and fair trade certified green tea.  I didn’t find the green tea to be bitter, but the roasted accents are noticeable (as I mentioned they are subtle).  I stuck with a traditional steeping method of 180°F water for a few minutes – great every time.

One compliment I want to give Rishi is their description of their teas.  Those of us that love tea and are always looking for information to expand our tea knowledge really appreciate Rishi’s descriptions.

Rishi describes the tea as : “Green Needles, known as “Lu Zhen,” is the most famous green tea from the Xuan En Yulu Organic Fair Trade Tea Association in Hubei, China. This grade of Organic Green Needles was made in early April of 2009 during the Qing Ming harvest season. Green Needles is noted for its brisk, energizing character and artisanal hand-shaped appearance. Composed of one leaf and a bud, this tea has a superb balance of freshness and brisk bittersweetness. This tea is made by roasting after withering and the final drying temperature is a bit higher than for the steamed type of Green Needle.”

I recommend this tea as an excellent every day green tea.  If you are a new tea drinker and you are ready to experience a true green tea that isn’t overpowering – this is an excellent option.

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Sweet Leaf | Mango

My local grocery store has been well stocked with Sweet Leaf products.  My last Sweet Leaf adventure was with their Mango Green Tea.  As usual, Sweet Leaf did not disappoint my taste buds.  Lately, my first test is to try a ready-to-drink tea regardless of the flavor compliment and see if I can actually taste the tea that is advertised on the bottle (if it’s on the bottle, I want to taste it in the bottle).  In the case of Sweet Leaf’s Mango Green Tea, I could easily detect the green tea in both scent and flavor.  Sweet Leaf put just the right amount of organic cane sugar in the bottle to sweeten the green tea to a level that would appeal to most sweet(er) tea drinkers (26g sugar/120 calories/ per 16 fl oz).  The mango fruit flavor is perfectly balanced in this mix.  I truly expected this product to taste like mango fruit juice.  I was pleasantly surprised.  The mango flavor shines through without being overpowering, and it is well supported by the green tea.  This might now be my number two favorite Sweet Leaf tea (Mint and Honey Green Tea is my favorite).  If you are interested in a deliciously sweet green tea with many organic ingredients – give this a try.  You will not be disappointed by the lush mango flavor and perfectly sweetened green tea.

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Sweet Leaf | Pomegranate Green Tea

Hopefully by now you’ve tried something that is flavored using Pomegranate.  If you haven’t, you can start with a beverage such as Sweet Leaf’s Pomegranate Green Tea.  Sweet Leaf has been on the tea scene for over ten years and their product line is steadily evolving.  Their distribution growth has been the topic of many tea related news stories.  I’ve had mixed reviews of various pomegranate flavored teas, but Sweet Leaf knows how to make tea – S-W-E-E-T.  There’s no holding back on the sweetness.  The pomegranate green tea is USDA certified organic.  This beverage does have a slight fruity tartness to it, but the organic cane sugar helps to balance the flavor.  At times, I pickup an almost sweet/tart apple flavor from the green tea.  I do appreciate that I can tell I’m drinking green tea with each drink.  One of my complaints about many fruit flavored RTDs is the fact that you can’t taste the tea.  That’s not the case with Sweet Leaf’s product.  Clearly the sweet fruit flavor of the pomegranate is the focal point of the beverage, but the green tea makes for a good base.  With most organic bottled teas, you need to give this one a good shake before drinking to get all the ingredients mixed up.  There are about 28g of sugars and 120 calories per 16 fl oz.

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Fuze | Black/Green Acai

Black tea and green tea mixed in the same bottle – I like the concept.  I wasn’t sure how it was going to taste, but I assumed Fuze would make it tasty based on my past experiences with Fuze products.  Keep in mind, this is also Acai flavored…

It literally took me three drinks to figure out what I was tasting.  One thing I can say for sure about this beverage, you’re not going to be bored drinking it.  The first drink is just a super sweet berry blast (grape-like).  I’m talking big-time sweetness in every drink of this beverage.  I was really stretching to taste any tea in this mix.  The big tea flavor just wasn’t present.  I’m getting a light black tea flavor, but I can’t find the green tea.  The sweet berry flavor (Acai Apple flavor) just totally dominates this beverage.  You have to be in the mood for a sweet drink when you grab this bottle. There are more than 30g of sugar in each bottle (Crystalline Fructose).  The bottle label  boasts 133mg of Polyphenols, 225mcg Folic Acid, 138mg Vitamin C, 17 IU Vitamin E, 37mg Vitamin B Complex (for the label readers).  For me, this is a fun ready-to-drink beverage.  It has an enjoyable smooth berry flavor with soothing sweet notes, but the tea flavor was really missed by this consumer.

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Salada | Soothing Mint

If you are a long-time tea drinker, you’ve probably seen Salada Tea on your local grocery store shelf.  Today I’m drinking one of Salada’s new green teas called Soothing Mint.  The ingredients: Green Tea, Spearmint, Natural Spearmint Flavor, Peppermint, and Lemongrass. Combined, the ingredients create a very flavorful cup of tea.  Obviously you need to enjoy mint flavored beverages to appreciate this product.  Soothing Mint easily exceeded my expectations.

The minty flavors mixed with lemongrass create a very smooth and refreshing flavor.  I would like to taste more of the green tea, but I don’t think it’s necessary to make this a popular hot or iced tea option.  The fact is it has an appealing flavor.  Salada’s tea is very finely cut in a standard tea bag.  There’s nothing over-the-top about their products.  Salada aims to please based on a consistent, flavorful, and affordable product.

In the end, I found the tea to be delicious when it was iced.  Moroccan-style mint tea is one of my favorite iced teas.  With Salada’s Soothing Mint I can create an iced tea that has many of the same properties I enjoy about Moroccan-style mint tea.  As a hot tea, I would have liked more green tea flavors to be present.

Enjoy Salada Tea

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Tavalon | Jasmine Dream

Many years ago, I tried my first green tea that was jasmine flavored, and I quickly realized what a powerful complement jasmine was to green tea.  To me, jasmine has a balance (sweet and flavorful without being too fragrant) to it that makes it appealing to those of us that don’t always enjoy floral flavored beverages.  Some floral and fruit flavors can simply dominate the flavors of the tea rather than complement the tea.  Having said that, this is totally my opinion and many people still think jasmine is too flowery for a cup of tea – as always, the consumer is the final judge.  If you don’t like jasmine, don’t buy jasmine infused teas.

Tavalon’s Jasmine Dream unfortunately didn’t have the balance I was expecting.  Since it was called “Jasmine Dream,” I was anticipating more jasmine flavor.  However, the lack of jasmine power was not my main problem with this tea.  The green tea used in Jasmine Dream, for my taste preferences, was too smokey.  A rough, smokey, and slightly bitter flavored green tea mixed with jasmine just didn’t appeal to me.  I made several cups of this tea trying to get the most out of it.  It’s very important that the tea be steeped in water that is 180°F for about three minutes.  In the end, I needed more jasmine in the mix.  I enjoy smokey flavored green teas, but it didn’t fit with this mix.

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