SBT: Razzleberry

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!

Oi, can I just drink one tea without spilling it all over myself? Obviously not.

Work is crazy you guys, is it the weekend yet? Nothing like filing a sexual harassment case to keep the stress down. not. Shout out to all the brave workers out there who aren’t afraid to stand up for their rights, and the rights of others! :D

Razzleberry! This is a great SBT!
It reminds me a bit of Black & Blue, which I really started craving after Liberteas shared hers with me in a swap. This one is a good substitute that I might keep in stock! The blend is sweet and full of flavour all on its own – I’m drinking a mix of the hot brewed tea and the coldbrewed. The flavour reminds me of rockets, or sweet hearts, without the tooth aching sweetness or chalkiness lol. I keep coldbrewing the same bag multiple times after the first hot brew – the bag has a lot of lasting power!

I also love how brewing with the instructions on the bag makes the perfect cup of tea! Usually recommended steep times are way off the mark (in my opinion) but this one is perfect and ILIKETHAT a lot!!!

This review was all over the place, but that’s how I feel today. SO there.

Okay when I got to the page for this…Razzle Dazzle from Chicago got stuck in my head.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YW3MIixEps4

Raspberries and blackberries are my favorite berries so I love this tea. It tastes like ripe, crushed berries were poured through my tea before I drank it…if only I had the berries. Nothing artificial about the flavors, just the taste of summer berries.

I got some awesome blackberries a couple weeks ago but I was donating them to some bears so I only got to eat one. I love saying that because it sounds absolutely ridiculous and actually I have no idea what animals got to eat them..but I hope it was the bears. If I had some of them to go with this tea, I would be in fruit heaven right now.

I added a bit of agave to the first cup just to see if it made any difference, but I liked it more just the way it was. It tastes more like candy if it’s sweetened though, which may be a positive depending on your tastes.

I love love love the black tea base in these bags so much. Even though this is only the third one I’ve tried so far (I have all the rest of the flavored ones so far, I just ordered radioactiviTEA though), it really is perfect. It goes with every flavor beautifully in a delicious balance.

Yum! I cold-brewed this one, and I am loving these teas cold-brewed. The flavor is so wonderful! The black tea is smoother, not at all bitter, just good and strong and very pleasant. Very little astringency. And the flavors come through so well, this tastes primarily of blackberry at the start, but at the finish the raspberry starts to really emerge, and in the aftertaste, I just taste fresh, ripe raspberry. Juicy and delicious and so refreshing!

I just received my order from 52teas today, and I was so excited to try this one! I made it according to the package instructions. To the first 2 quart pitcher I added three tablespoons of sugar. To the resteep pitcher, which I made right away, I added (gulp) one cup of sugar cuz that’s how hubby rolls! LOL! So that pitcher is for him and for the kids!

The tea is beautifully clear, a nice amber/orange/red color. It looks so refreshing in the glass pitcher. It smells fruity and good, and the tea is not covered up by the flavoring.

When I started leaving sugar out of my hot tea, I never dreamed I could leave it out or cut way back on it in my iced tea. Growing up on super sweet tea (Mom added THREE cups of sugar per gallon of iced tea!), how can you get used to less sugar?

This tea is so good with so little sugar, I don’t even miss the extra sugar. It would probably be fine and dandy with no sugar at all. It is hard to express how grateful I am to have something that tastes this good, is good for me, and has little sugar and almost no calories, yet is natural.

I think there is more SBT in my future. Don’t run out yet, Frank!

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…

Backlogging iced tea from the weekend…..

I am loving these new iced teas offered by 52teas! Nicely done, Frank! The berry notes in this are at a perfect level for a very refreshing pitcher of iced tea. I love the tea base. There is just the perfect amount of Darjeeling to make it bright and I am sure that adds to the refreshing quality of the tea. So happy that I have some more en route to me in the mail!

Usual iced tea method.

Man, and to think we almost didn’t order this one.

I’m drinking the second steeping of this Razzleberry, which we let go for about 3:45 (being a second steeping and all), and it… is… great.

I’m going to have some sort of Quantum Leap moment tomorrow, when I get around to trying the first steeping, but until then I won’t really be able to compare the two. The berry on this one is nice, a fruity sweetness playing with the tea without overpowering it. It doesn’t taste artificial or overhanded, which is great.

Another well done SBT. I might have to get another order of this stuff in on Tuesday after I get paid :)

Made this iced, per package directions, + 3 tbsp. sugar.

I got this for my boyfriend, as I don’t really like raspberry. I keep trying to entice him with flavored teas but he is just not biting. I shouldn’t be too surprised, though – he likes plain anything (ice cream, cheesecake, etc) over fun flavors.

I gave this a shot but it wasn’t to my tastes. He gave it a shot and it wasn’t to his either. But really, we are outliers and our opinions shouldn’t have any weight on the rating of this tea, so I’m not going to give it a number. It was quite raspberry so if that’s your thing, you should go for it!

I will say that the base was great, the perfect strength and balance of flavoring. And steeping instructions were perfect…. definitely follow them for the best iced tea, just sweeten to taste and you’re golden. Luckily I still have the rainbow sherbet iced tea to try – I have a feeling that I will be pretty happy with that one. :)

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!

Ahhh, Southern Boy Teas. I was hesitant at first to order this because it sounded like a lot of tea to make at once, but since I ordered a Grab Bag, I decided to go ahead and order this, too. And so began my journey…

This is supposed to make 2 quarts, and I didn’t have any 2 quart pitchers, so I asked the boyfriend what he had – and he brought over a very large (and very nice) Jack Daniel’s pitcher. Problem was, after measuring it, it was just shy of 2 quarts (it was 1 1/2 – d’oh). So we began the long process of figuring out how we could get 2 quarts of tea across multiple vessels. It seemed like too much trouble, so we decided to split the teabag in half and make one quart’s worth… and then save the other half for another time.

So instead, we made 1 quart of tea. And.. it’s not bad. The flavor is definitely not bitter, but I’m not getting a lot of berry taste either. I’m wondering if since the pitcher is open, it’s dulling the flavor. It’s hard to tell. I really wish I had a better quality pitcher that was closed, but we make due with what we have. In retrospect, I wish this was made in 2 – 1 quart pouches. It would have been easier to split up, and it would allow people to make 2 quarts if they wanted to.

I’m going to rebrew this another way and reevaluate my rating a little bit later, but for now, I’ll keep it at this.

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 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.

My daughter made both the Sherbert and Razzleberry Iced Teas and shared them with me. I absolutely love them both! They are probably my favorite for iced tea so far. The flavor is excellent and natural tasting ( not artificial at all) The base tea is perfect as well! Both these teas are very refreshing especially during this heat wave we are having!
I will definitely buy more of these iced teas and actually want to try a few others after tasting these,