SBT: Lime Cola

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – July 2024 Tea #10 – An iced tea

Bonus points for hitting all ten prompts this month!  I have been enjoying this one a few times this month.  One steep session left after this.  It really does taste like cola and lime.  One of my favorite cola varieties I wouldn’t be buying, even if I could find it in stores.  The prices are ridiculous these days.   I remember the day you could buy 3 twelve pack of cans for the price of one now.  yikes. Probably better for the health of everyone anyway, to have soda be so expensive.  But I do like an occasional soda.  I’m drinking the leftovers of my Gram’s 12 pack of root beer this summer. (It will take me way longer than summer.)  But this tea will suffice for soda cravings!

I cold steeped this for about 12 hours in a litre of water. I figured I’d need to dilute it and I was worried that it had over steeped, but it’s actually pretty perfect just the way it is.

The lime and cola flavours are distinct but not over powering. The black base is there in a supportive role. There’s the slightest hint of bitterness and astringency but not in a bad way at all. This is super refreshing and easy to drink.

It tastes like it would be good with a bit of sugar, but I’m drinking it straight and I’m really happy with the way it tastes. I will probably even try resteeping the bag (though I’d be surprised and impressed if I got another good steep out of it.)

I could see drinking this one a lot.

Another one down, and this time no waste! This is my favourite SBT to date, albeit out of only three, and the only one I have managed to finish fully before it started to taste of fridge. As with the others I’ve tried, I brewed the teabag for 3 minutes in boiling water then topped it off with cold water and left it in the fridge. I added four teaspoons of brown sugar, but I don’t think that did much, as the resulting tea was not very sweet. I think if I had added more sugar the syrupy pop taste might have came out more.

As it was, the black tea base was more prominent than the cola and lime. From the strength of the scent from the teabag, I thought it would be stronger, and I personally would have preferred some stronger flavouring, so I think I will cold brew next time I make an SBT, but I know that Frank wanted the focus to mainly be in the tea, with the flavours enhancing it in the background rather than taking over, and so for that I think he’s done a good job. It does make sense really – if you want to taste lime cola and no tea, you buy lime cola. If you want iced tea with a hint of lime cola, this is the one to go for.

The black base is a touch astringent, but nowhere near as bad as it was when I oversteeped the last time, and it has a nice malty note which is interesting with the cola. Both the lime and cola come through together at the end of the sip, and it’s quite an authentic lime cola flavour. The scent is more ‘cola bottles’ but the taste is not as artificial. I managed to finish off the quart of tea in two days, which is saying a lot for someone who rarely drinks iced tea. I wanted to make another quart but the teabag, although kept in an airtight container, went mouldy overnight ):

Sipdown 24/304

I am picky about Cola to begin with, as in very picky. If I ask for Coca Cola and am offered Pepsi, I drink water instead so I was not all that excited about this blend. However, my brother wanted it so it was added to the order. Sipping on it now, it is not as bad as I thought it might be. It definitely is reminiscent of cola but as to be expected it is flat and watered down, two things you never really want in a soda. As for the lime, it provides a bit of freshness to the cup that helps distract the flatness of the cup.

Apologies for the extra brief tasting note. I’m a woman of few words. This is so cola-y that I can practically taste the carbonation. And the lime adds an extra layer of flavor, very zesty.:)

I love this tea – easy to make, and smells delicious. The flavor is pretty light but definitely reminds me of lime cola without the syrupy sweetmess. Because the flavor isn’t strong, it’s really refreshing on a hot or sticky day. I’m tempted to pour a little rum in my next serving. Or a little Kentucky bourbon. :)