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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Arbor Teas Loose Leaf Black Tea 'Organic Thai Iced Tea'

Tea Information:
Tea: Organic Thai Iced Tea
Type: Black Tea
Packaging: Loose Leaf
Company: Arbor Teas
Purchase: Here
Description:

Finally, Thai Iced Tea with NO artificial flavors or colors!

Thai Tea (also known as Thai Iced Tea) is a popular iced drink hailing from Thailand, commonly found in Thai restaurants across the US. Our Organic and Fair Trade Certified Thai Iced Tea is a traditional blend of strong black tea, vanilla bean, cardamom and anise. It can be enjoyed hot or cold with a twist of lime as a self drinker (without milk). Or it can be brewed to create a traditional, restaurant-style Thai Iced Tea when combined with ice, milk and sugar!

To recreate a restaurant-style Thai Iced Tea, we recommend steeping a double strength cup of tea. Then sweeten the hot brew with sugar, and serve over ice. Glasses of Thai Iced Tea are usually topped with dairy, such as sweetened condensed milk, whole milk, half and half, or coconut milk (this last one, of course, is not actually dairy). The final addition of dairy usually rests on top of the ice cubes creating a beautiful layered effect in the glass!

For illustrated step-by-step instructions, check out our guide How to Make Thai Iced Tea. Please note: our Thai Iced Tea will not turn orange when dairy is added, but will appear a natural light brown color.

NO artificial colors or flavors! Did you know that the deep orange color of Thai Iced Tea served in restaurants is usually attributed to artificial coloring? Well, no longer! We’ve developed an organic tea blend that includes no artificial colors or flavors. As a result, when dairy is added to this iced tea it will not turn orange, but a beautiful, natural light brown!


Ingredients: organic black tea, organic vanilla bean, organic cardamom, and organic anise seeds

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Water: 8oz at 212°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: approximately 3 and a half minutes
Served: Cold

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: cardamom, spice
Steeped Tea Smell: bakey black tea
Additives: 2 tsp sugar, ice, 4 tbl sweetened condensed milk
Flavor: heavily spiced black tea
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet, astringent
Liquor: nearly opaque dark brown to a cloudy light brown

Delicious! Very much like the many thai teas I have had while dining out. I zipped through this sample in the hot weather and was sad to find I had no more *sniff*

I tried the next batch hot and cold, both were good
(4 tsp 500ml at 212°F - 3 minutes, 2 cups 1 tsp sugar each, 4 tbl milk each 2 hot and 2 cold)

I even did a resteep, and it worked out fine

Note: breville had lots of grit in cups / teapot - suggest using tsac method

Rating: 4/4 leaves

Leaf system:
1=Bleh! not again if it were free
2=Acceptable, if it were free or there were limited other tea options
3=I might purchase this tea from time to time, or select it while out
4=A staple in our cupboard from now on, I will purchase and keep purchasing














I received this product for free in return for writing a review. All my reviews are as unbiased as possible, whether I buy or receive free product. I accept no other compensation other than free product.

1 comment:

Alex Zorach said...

This sounds like the kind of blend I would like. I also really appreciate the fact that they've refrained from artificial flavorings or even natural extracts. Some thai iced tea has a rather artificial coconut flavor.

Do you like coconut? Have you ever tried using coconut milk to brew up a Thai iced tea?