Razzleberry

I had this as a tea slushy in my Zoku tonight as my dessert. YEAH! BABY! Razzleberry, I love you. You are the best flavored iced tea I have ever had.

I had a bit more of this tonight while relaxing with my other half after some much required running around today. We got to sit and watch some Hannibal so that was nice. :) My opinion hasn’t changed much on this…it’s decent but not out of this world and i might as well make other teas cold brewed since i’ve got lots in the house rather than buying these packs :) Still though…maybe an option for when i get my cupboard back down.

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!

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 :)

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!

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.

Haaa, finally an iced tea that I manage to not screw up, even though I tried my hardest. First I forgot that it was steeping in the fridge so it steeped for..I dunno 48 hours? I added sugar, not sweet enough. Added more sugar, barely too sweet. Hopefully on the second steep I can get the sugar right and hopefully remember that it’s in the fridge, though it’ll probably take a few days to get through 2 quarts of the first steep all by myself in the middle of winter. Nice break from hot tea and I just need something cold sometimes that isn’t as boring as water.

So yeah, this is really nice and I like it. Good to be able to try it in it’s original form for once when I love it so much as a Genmaicha.