Friday, August 22, 2014

Arizona Oak Brewed Teas- Sugar In 'Unsweetened' Tea?

Dalek says 'You are Inferior'
The folks over at Arizona provided a generous helping of their three new bottled 'Oak Brewed' teas. They are testing these teas in the NY metro area and will then be rolling them out across the country within the year. There are three teas to choose from: 'Unsweetened' (I added the quotes, more on that later), Lightly Sweet, and Lemon. The teas have American Oak chips added to the brewing process. They are not brewed in oak barrels, although the wine aging process was the inspiration for the teas. I can't say that I've ever had a tea aged in oak before, and I'm not sure if this will be the beginning of a new trend.

Since I had such a large shipment of tea, I recruited a few tea tasters to provide feedback. This was helpful since I don't usually drink sweetened bottled teas and I'm not the target audience. I've compiled the feedback from the tasters and myself, and this is what we found:

For all three teas, there is a strange woody/earthy 'oaky' flavor that is added to the black tea. Tasters didn't define it specifically as the oak, but we couldn't figure out what else it could be.

The highest marks went to the lemon tea, although to me it tasted the most like a regular bottled tea. It had a strong lemon flavor but was not bitingly acidic. It actually gave the tea a pleasant brightness. The 'oak' flavor is present but not as apparent. The sweetened tea was too sweet for those like myself that don't normally drink bottled teas, but those that do drink it found it to be fine. The sweetness was less cloying than the 'lightly sweet' tea. I don't usually drink sweet teas, but if I was travelling and looking for something to drink I may choose the lemon version of this. Assuming a true unsweetened tea is not available.

The 'lightly sweet' tea was not enjoyed by those of us that do not appreciate sweet tea. But those that usually drink sweetened tea thought it was pleasant. I actually didn't mind the oak flavor in this tea, perhaps because it toned down the sweetness. But some of the tasters thought this tea had a strange aftertaste.

The unsweetened tea had a very unpleasant acidic taste. It's really all I could focus on when I tried it. The funny thing is that even though this is labeled as an unsweetened tea, there are three sweeteners in the ingredients! Honey, sugar, and maple sugar are included. I usually prefer unsweetened teas in every circumstance, but when comparing these three teas, I actually thought it was the least successful. It didn't taste enough like black tea, and it was strangely bland yet too acidic without tasting like actual citrus. There is also a slightly sweet taste that our tasters found off-putting. If you are expecting an unsweetened tea, the hint of sweetness is not appreciated. Everyone thought this tea was also too weak, without much boldness that other unsweetened teas have. The tasters would only choose this tea if no other options were available at the store.

So the tasters didn't love the unsweetened tea, but there is a larger issue to highlight. As I mentioned before, there is sugar added to the unsweetened tea. Am I the only person appalled by this? Sure, it says on the label that the sweetener 'adds a dietary insignificant amount of sugar', but when I asked the Arizona rep about those that have sugar restrictions they replied 'only a person's doctor or nutritionist can tell them if this beverage is safe for them to drink'. If a consumer is looking for an unsweetened tea, and it says 'unsweetened' on the label, shouldn't that mean there is no sugar in the bottle? It also leads me to believe Arizona doesn't stand behind the taste of their tea since they need to add sweeteners to alter the taste.

My assumption is that pure tea drinkers like myself are not the target audience for this drink. If anyone has seen or tried these teas, what did you think? Also, what do you think of the 'unsweetened' tea that has added sugar?

Monday, August 4, 2014

Bosphorous Flowers Tea


 Don't you just love mystery tea gifts? A few weeks ago I was gifted a bag simply labeled 'Bosphorus Flowers Tea'. This tea was purchased in Istanbul at the Istanbul Spice Market. The tea is named after the Bosphorus, which is a strait found in Istanbul. Intrigued yet? I certainly was.

note the little tea thieving hand
I did a good bit of searching and didn't learn too much about the flowers specifically from the Bosphorus area. I also couldn't find any other floral teas being sold with the same name. I've had Turkish tea before which is a very strong black tea brew, but I haven't had a flowery Turkish tea. There are flowers native to Turkey, but I wasn't sure if any of them were actually used to make tea. So I figured I'd just stop geeking out about it, taste the tea enjoy the flavors.
little sneaky fingers made it into the shot

The dry mixture was sweet, floral, and tangy. Reminded me of a hibiscus blend I've tried before. The pretty red-hued tea tasted of hibiscus, rose, vanilla and tart berry (similar to cranberry). It was a little sweet and very tart and astringent. A little bit goes a long way. I couldn't tell if there were any actual tea leaves in the mix, since other flavors were so strong. This isn't a tea I'd usually drink, but I figured it would be nice iced. So, I iced up a batch and it was quite juicy and refreshing. With a little bit of honey it proved to be a nice summer drink. I had my two little ones watching as I brewed this, so naturally I let them taste.
the little tea thief is not subtle with his intentions


My kids enjoyed the tea both iced and hot after I added the touch of honey. The little hand you see reaching for tea in the photos is my eager 4 year old son. He just couldn't wait to steal a sip.

This is a nice summertime icy sip. I love trying teas from all over the world and I'm happy to have had this Bosphorus tea experience! Have you ever tried a similar tea before?