SBT: Cucumber Melon

I was hoping to get more cucumber notes, but it tastes just like the watermelon SBT. Can’t complain too much. :)

Cold steeped in a gallon of h2o in fridge for two days.

This was a good iced tea today, it’s a refreshing taste… Light but definitely tastes like the name. Not something I’d crave though, but nice enough.

I was looking forward to trying this one, because I enjoyed 52 Teas Cucumber Mango Shou Mei a lot last summer. That definitely made me consider cucumber teas more seriously than I would have otherwise — it seems an odd flavour for tea, initially, and I was a little surprised to find it worked so well.

So, anyway. This got the usual SBT treatment (3 minutes in boiling water, topped up to two liters with cold water, and into the fridge overnight). The main flavour is watermelon — slightly candied, like those watermelon haribo sweets. There’s also a delicate note of cucumber, though, which comes over quite well in the aftertaste. The melon definitely has the edge here, but it would be unfair to say that the cucumber doesn’t also have its chance to shine.

This one isn’t an overly sweet choice, and it’s very light and refreshing to drink. The melon and cucumber and both very clean, delicate flavours, so it’s a very nice tea for a hot summer day. Today is supposed to get up to 29 later in the day, so it’ll definitely come into its own if that happens. This one goes on the repurchase list for sure!

Made this one as per package instructions with about 2tsp added white sugar.

I was a bit apprehensive about this one as the dry tea did not do much for my nose. It smelled like the SBT Watermelon but kind of “off”.

The brewed tea is nothing like what I was imagining from the smell. There is a very light candied watermelon flavour but there is surprisingly a smooth cucumber flavour. Very much like cucumber water. The melon and cucumber flavours mingle nicely together. Not overly sweet, but I am happy I did add some white sugar to this tea.

The black tea base has a moderately bold flavour. It almost overshadows the melon cucumber flavour, but not completely.

This one is much better than I though it would be which is a very nice surprise.

Edit: re-steeped for 3 minutes with white sugar added. It brewed up really light. I only added 1 L instead of the usual 2 of cold water to the concentrate. It is drinkable but not as enjoyable as the first steep. I have noticed the last few SBT that I have had, new flavours and re-blends just haven’t been holding up to the re-steepability as previous. Not sure if it is just me?

Backlog:

In reading back over my review of this tea (found here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/30/cucumber-melon-flavored-iced-tea-from-southern-boy-teas/ ) I noticed there that I mention to Frank that he should consider adding green teas to his SBT line, and what do you know? That’s his next project! I don’t know if my suggestion had anything to do with that. But, I’m glad that he is going to add green teas to the line, as well as other tea types.

I really liked the green tea version of the Cucumber Melon better than this black tea version. I like this alright, but the black tea notes seem to mask some of the subtler notes of cucumber and melon a bit more than I’d like.

It’s a tasty tea, but, not quite as cucumber-y or melon-y as I wanted it to be.

This would be a perfect tea for the dog days of summer! It’s light and cooling, with a refreshing amount of cucumber and the sweetness of honeydew.

I’m finding this more subtle than some of the other flavors, but it holds it’s own against the base without being overwhelmed. I don’t know if I could pick out the cucumber without knowing it was there first, though.