Tag: Black Tea

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Zevia’s Black Tea Lemon

Black Tea Lemon by Zevia
Black Tea / Flavoured
$2.98 for 355ml (12 fl oz, 1 can)

First Impressions

Another canned iced tea drink review, Michelle? Yes, yes it is.

Black Tea Lemon from Zevia comes in a tall, skinny cream coloured can. There’s a cute little lemon wedge illustration on the front and it’s basically adorable. Like with the other Zevia tea products that I’ve reviewed already, this one is also certified for non-GMO, USDA organic, and fair-trade trade. Again, just because a product does not have those logos doesn’t mean that the product is not non-GMO, organic or fair-trade, it just means that they’ve paid money to become certified in all of those things. Okay, now I can get off of my soap box.

Black Tea Lemon consists of: organic brewed black tea, organic natural flavours, citric acid, and organic stevia leaf extract. There’s exactly 0 calories, 0 grams of sugar/carbohydrates, 0 grams of protein, and 0 grams of fat in each 355ml can. There is also 45mg of caffeine per can, which is much less than the amount of caffeine in a standard small size cup of coffee from the chain green and white coffee shop that you may or may not frequent.

Popping open the can, Black Tea Lemon has a nice deep orange colour. There’s a pleasant lemon aroma to it, and I can smell the black tea base as well. It smells quite like what I was expecting with the two flavours mingling together.

First Taste

Black Tea Lemon has a lovely flavour profile – I can taste the lemon, there’s sweetness to it thanks to the stevia, and also the black tea base. Not too strong to over power the lemon, but not too weak as to not be noticeable. There’s a pleasant mouthfeel to it, and I found that it had some malty notes with the black tea base that were a bit earthy. Quite pleasant to the palate though!

My Overall Impression

I liked Zevia’s Black Tea Lemon. It’s a classic flavour combination, so it was quite enjoyable. I would recommend having this one over ice, maybe with a splash of lemonade for more lemon flavour or just a lemon wedge on the side. The only thing that really stops me from giving it a better rating is the cost – it’s not cheap for a single serving sized can and I’m not about to have it regularly despite how tasty it may be and how convenient it is to have it in a can versus making iced tea at home myself. It is nice for a treat though!

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Zevia’s Black Tea Raspberry

Black Tea Raspberry by Zevia
Black Tea / Flavoured
$2.98 for 355ml (12 fl oz, 1 can)

First Impressions

Black Tea Raspberry from Zevia was a bit of an impulse grocery store buy. I’m forever walking down tea/coffee aisles in grocery stores that I’m unfamiliar with because I just need to know what they have that I haven’t tried before – and it’s a bit of a bonus when I can share a product that may be easily found in your local grocery stores as well instead of just shopping online and getting to delivered. Although online shopping seems to be the preferred method these days…

This “no sugar, zero calories” prepared tea drink comes in a tall and skinny pop-tab can. A pretty cream colour with an illustration of a raspberry – very easy to determine the flavour of the contents, that’s for sure! For those who are interested, this product is non-GMO verified, USDA organic and fair trade certified. Now, that isn’t to say that if you purchase a product without these certifications that the ingredients aren’t organic or fair trade or non-GMO – it’s just that Zevia paid money to get those certifications/verification after going through the trouble of getting those ingredients.

Black Tea Raspberry is a nice golden colour. It has a really bright berry/raspberry aroma to it. Unlike some of the other brands of canned tea drinks I’ve shared recently, this is not ‘sparkling’ (carbonated), which is nice. I don’t necessarily enjoy carbonated drinks all the time (although recently I’ve fallen in love with La Croix, but that’s more of an indulgence for work than anything else). Black Tea Raspberry consists of the following ingredients: organic brewed black tea, organic natural flavours, citric acid, organic stevia leaf extract. Per serving, which is the full 355ml can, this drink contains 45mg of caffeine. A small cup of coffee from your local coffee shop will contain more than 100mg of caffeine.

First Taste

Black Tea Raspberry smells great! Very fruity, berry aromas. The flavour is quite nice – it definitely has a slight tartness from the raspberry flavour, as well as fruity sweetness. I found the black tea base to be quite subdued compared to the raspberry flavouring. It just played nicely in the background – I found it to be neither astringent or bitter, there was a mild malty note in it that balanced well against the tart of the raspberry. It’s a very smooth drink though, very easy to sip down the whole can quite quickly! Not a bad thing for a hot day.

My Overall Impression

I liked Zevia’s Black Tea Raspberry. I quite enjoyed the flavour of this prepared canned tea drink. I thought it was easy to drink, nicely flavoured, and the raspberry flavour was well represented. I would definitely recommend pouring this one over ice, perhaps with a wedge of lemon or going half-and-half with some lemonade (yum!). Another way to make it even nicer might be to muddle some fresh raspberries and mint leaves in the bottom of a glass before adding ice and the canned drink. I do wish it was less expensive, but I think it’d be a fine summer time treat for those enjoying their patios and decks at home… by themselves.

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Trudy Ann’s Assam Black Tea

Assam Black Tea by Trudy Ann’s
Black Tea / Straight
$13.99 for 100g

First Impressions

Assam Black Tea was a 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival purchase that I made earlier this month. I love nice strong black teas, and Assam is usually one that fits the bill. Assam Black Tea came in a sealed, resealable kraft pouch in a generous 100g weight.

There’s a strong malty aroma from the dry leaf, it has slightly earthy note to it. Assam Black Tea consists only of organic Assam black tea. Loving the malty aroma from it all though, since it has a nice earthy note to it and it makes it all the more inviting.

Preparation

Trudy Ann’s recommends steeping it in hot water for 5 to 10 minutes. Because Assam Black Tea is a black tea, I opted to steep in 100°C (212°F) water for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Assam Black Tea steeps to a beautiful golden orange. The aroma is mostly earthy. The tea itself has a strong, thicken mouthfeel to it. The flavour has a pleasantly bold mix of malty and earthy, almost some mineral qualities to it. It certainly does pack a bit of a punch to it though, with the strength of the flavours. There’s no bitterness noted with the 5 minute initial steep, I did find a mild astringency at the tail end of each sip.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Assam Black Tea three more times (four steeps total), adding an extra minute for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour was fairly similar to the original steep, but got slightly weaker with each steep – but still flavourful by the third resteep!

My Overall Impression

I loved Trudy Ann’s Assam Black Tea. I really enjoyed the malty and earthy notes in this black tea. I think it was very pleasant plain, but would be pretty good with some cream and sugar as well. It makes for a nice morning tea because it’s so flavourful and is quite bold, so it’d be a nice punch of flavour to wake up to in the morning. I also loved that it resteeped quite well, so you get some more flavour out of the tea leaves.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.