marTEA on Twitter-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.
marTEA
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.
marTEA
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.
marTEA
Sweet Leaf Raspberry Sweet Tea
It’s been a long time since I’ve reviewed a Sweet Leaf product, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been drinking their teas. The Mint & Honey green tea has become one of my favorite sweetened green teas (RTD). Back to this tea… I’m not a major raspberry flavored tea fan; however, I know a lot of you enjoy raspberry flavored iced tea. So, I thought I’d give this raspberry flavored iced tea a try. I knew Sweet Leaf would deliver a quality product. Just a note about Sweet Leaf: If the bottle says “Sweet Tea,” that’s what you’re going to get. If you’re used to watered down unsweetened teas, your mouth is in for a shock. The good news, the sweet stuff in the bottle is pure cane sugar (definitely check the bottle label for calorie counts). I thought the overall flavor was pretty good. It has a serious blast of flavors. The one-two punch of sweet tea and mouth-puckering raspberry flavors will be sure to leave an impression on you. After a couple of drinks, it’s not quite as powerful and the beverage becomes more refreshing. The raspberry flavor blends well with the black tea. The sweet tea and raspberry flavors are equally matched in this brew. It does have a candy flavor aspect to it, but this tea is all about fun. As I mentioned, I’m not a raspberry iced tea drinker, but I did find some enjoyment from this product. If you like sweetened raspberry flavored iced teas, this will be an excellent choice for you.
marTEA
Peach is a great addition to Sweet Leaf’s classic sweet tea. The peach flavor blends well with the sugar cane and black tea flavors. This beverage is very sweet and loaded with enough peach flavoring to make you think they shoved a messy-juicy peach in the bottle. This tea is not for dieters. Sweet Leaf offers flavorful USDA Organic products. They don’t apologize for the 17g of sugar per serving. So, if you are in need of a sweet tea, and you don’t have time to make your own, I recommend looking for “Granny” in your local grocery store.
marTEA
If you want the super sweet flavor of Sweet Tea, but you can’t sacrifice the calories, Sweet Leaf offers a diet variety of their original sweet tea. The only catch is the fact that it is sweetened with Splenda. If you don’t mind Splenda, you’ll be sure to enjoy this bottled tea. The bottle label sports a stamp that says, “surprise! zero calories.” Most of Sweet Leaf’s products are loaded with cane sugar and full of calories. That said, they don’t call themselves Sweet Leaf for nothin’. Sweet teas are Sweet Leaf’s specialty. In fact, that’s what I like about them. I know when I want a good ready-to-drink sweet tea, that Sweet Leaf offers an excellent product. I’m not a huge fan of Splenda, but this isn’t too bad in moderation. It offers the same black tea flavor as their original product, but since it’s loaded with Splenda, you can really taste the difference. Granny must cringe a little when she sees Splenda being dumped into her tea… As with most bottled teas, you should shake them well before drinking and refrigerate them after opening.
marTEA
Last Year, I purchased Sweet Leaf’s Sweet Tea. It was one of the sweetest bottled teas I’ve ever tried. This year I thought I’d give one of their unsweetened teas a shot. I’m glad I did…this was a very flavorful and refreshing choice. The lemon and lime flavors give the black tea enough flavor to make you forget about the sugar buzz. The citrus flavors are well-balanced and they are not overpowering. If you are new to Sweet Leaf, they’ve been around since the late 90s, but over the past few years they’ve really started to gain in popularity. The company is located in Austin, Texas. Their brand is easy to recognize by the signature drawing of “Granny” on the front of every bottle. Recently, I shared an article with marTEA.com readers about an 18 million dollar investment that was made to help the expansion of Sweet Leaf (click here for the article). Back to the tea…if you are interested in trying a bottled iced tea that has no calories and a ton of flavor, Sweet Leaf’s Lemon & Lime will not disappoint you. The bottle label gave me a good laugh with the – “Same Love, No Sugar” label next to Granny’s head.
marTEA
Sweet Leaf has officially won the marTEA.com award for sweetest RTD iced tea. Okay, that’s really not an award. However, this is the sweetest “Sweet Tea” I’ve ever had in a bottled product. You really need to shake the bottle to get all the [sludge] sugar mixed into the tea. You can literally smell the sugar before you taste it. Sweet Leaf Tea Co. is located in Austin, Texas. They obviously know a thing-or-two about sweet tea in Texas. The product is said to contain real cane sugar. Unlike the last Sweet Leaf product I reviewed, this product is not stamped with the “organic” label. All-in-all, it really does taste great. If you can spare about 34g of sugar in your diet, this isn’t a bad choice. I’m not sure this product appeals to people watching their sugar intake. If you like sweet tea and bottled beverages, give this one a try. It’s summertime, so enjoy some sweet tea. Just remember, it’s called “Sweet Tea” for a reason.
marTEA
