SBT: Mango Peach

This first time I made this, I was multitasking and messed up. It was ok, but not great, and all my fault. The second time it must have been good because two people drank almost the whole gallon within a few hours of its being made.

This morning I really paid attention. I measured my boiling water carefully, but I steeped it three times instead of two. I added water and ice. I had added one cup of sugar while it was hot, and added enough water to bring it up to a full gallon of tea.

This is delicious! I am getting more mango than peach, which is what I was hoping for!

An aside: I am a little weepy as I write this – partly for joy, partly a little sad. Miss Arcluckle, our little pullet, never laid an egg. I checked her hips faithfully and they never spread enough for laying. She became HUGE – twice the size of my other hens. Then three days ago, she crowed! “She” took over guardianship of the flock, and assumed all rooster duties because…well, she is a he. Which means we had to get rid of him because you can not have a rooster in city limits. It is very difficult to place a rooster and most are just given away, but it is hard to know what happens to them. (Sometimes dinner) However, a breeder needed some fresh genetic material for his flock for next year, and he wants him! So Mr, Arcluckle is going to a lover, instead of Coq au Vin!

Am I really the first to have tried this? Really???

(Also, sorry if I broke the picture – I cannot seem to add images to steepster for the life of me!)

Anyway, I couldn’t resist the buy 10, save $1 per package deal on the SBTs, especially after how amazing the rainbow sherbet tea was when iced. They all sound so very good that I had to just blindly reach in the package and pick one out rather than agonize over a decision. This was first pick, so I steeped it up according to Frank’s directions and it was ready to go instantly.

Note: I sweetened this less than my typical amount for a 1/2 gallon (3 tbsp. vs. 4) and this was definitely a good choice – there is a lot of natural sweetness from the fruit. When it was first made I felt like the peach stood out more in terms of flavor, but now that its sat a day in the fridge I get more mango. The black tea in this base is balanced perfectly with whichever fruit is strongest, though. Just strong enough so that you know you’re drinking tea, but also smooth and willing to share the spotlight.

This ones a winner! I’m excited to see which one I’ll pick next!

So far I’m disappointed in 52teas. They’re ok, but they’re just not great. This one is just ok too. Thebase was strong and the flavoring was mild It just didn’t impress me.

This has been my iced tea of choice the last couple of days. Straight off, I agree with JoonSusanna about this. When I drank it yesterday, I mostly got a delicately peachy, maybe slightly apricotty taste. Today, after it spent last night in the fridge, I’m tasting more mango. Either way, it tastes great!

The flavouring here seems more delicate and natural than some of the other SBTs. Not that any of them are overly fake or synthetic tasting, but Rainbow Sherbet does not exist in nature. This one tastes exaclty like fresh, ripe, juicy fruit. Like I actually added squeezed juice was to the tea, which (of course) I didn’t.

I brewed this in the normal way — nearly 3 minutes in 2 cups of boiling water, then topped up to just under 2 litres with cold water. I’ve not had a dud yet, so I guess that really is the best way to do it. The tea base here is a little more noticable than usual, maybe because the flavouring is more subtle. That’s by no means a bad thing, though, as it’s delicious in itself.

Another winner, and another I’ll definitely repurchase this summer!

Made this one as per instructions. Steeped for 3 minutes in approx. 2 cups boiling water, then filled up the pitcher with cold water and refrigerated over night.

On first sip, it tastes like a strong but flat black tea with peach flavour. I added about 2 TBSP of white sugar. I felt the sugar made it sweeter but it also made the peach flavour less. The peach is what I taste at the beginning of the sip, and I taste mango at then end of the sip. In the middle, there is a bit of mingling of those flavours with the black tea.

Overall, not my favourite SBT but it is still good. It is better with sweetener added. I think it seems to be getting better the longer it sits.

Edit: Resteeped using same directions as above. I actually think this one is better on the resteep. The black base is very light, but I am getting more peach and mango flavour. The peach is more dominate than the mango. It tastes light and creamy.

Backlog:

With most of the SBT Iced Tea pouches from 52Teas, I’ve been first cold brewing the pouch, then stashing the pouch in a covered container in the fridge, and then resteeping the pouch in boiling water so that I can get a full gallon out of the pouch. This worked out for me very well, and I got a very flavorful gallon of tea from each of the teas that they offered this summer (exception: Pink Lemonade tea, this one just … didn’t work for me as a cold-brew. The flavor was too muddled. I hot brewed it instead, and I loved it so much that I didn’t mind that I was only getting a half gallon out of the pouch … it was worth it to me because that flavor is a total WINNER!)

but I digress!

This was the first of the new teas introduced this year from SBT that I tried. (Yeah, I’m really behind. I know. And I will get caught up even though Sil has cursed me not to. ha!)

This was delicious. Fruity and juicy tasting. Not my favorite SBT tea, but I was certainly happy to drink it and I enjoyed every glass of it. The mango and peach notes were a bit “united” … they weren’t really distinct on their own. But it was a tasty glass of refreshing iced tea.

I steeped a hair over 2 minutes (the instructions said 2-3 and I was afraid it would be bitter), and it ended up a bit weaker than I would have liked. The fruity flavor did not seem distinctly mango and/or peach, but just had an overall frutiness about it. It might just be that my taste buds aren’t sensitive enough to different flavors. Anyway, it was my first SBT and I’m waiting to finish up this pitcher to try another!

I’m steeping this one hot… ripping open the teabag to take a teaspoon out. I feel bad ruining these iced teas! I was hoping for a stronger flavor in this one, though maybe not as strong as the gross grape from the other day! I barely get any hint of either peach or mango. The base tea is always decent for being a CTC. Not too strong or weak. The second steep was bitter due to my oversteeping. I wish I had more to say with this one! I don’t know, it seems like the SBTs can’t be as creative as the hot teas, since they are just flavoring.
Steep #1 // 1 tsp // few min after boiling // 50 second steep
Steep #2 // half mug // just boiled // few minutes

I’ve had this both iced and hot now. Iced, it’s just a regular ol’ black iced tea. Not bad, but nothing special. Even with a bit of sugar.
Hot, it was a bit better. I could actually taste peach!! Yeah!
Very mild peach, but it was there. Overall it was pleasant but I’m docking it a bunch of points because I was really looking forward to peach/mango and it’s barely there at all.
Too bad I haven’t got enough left to make kombucha.

I got distracted and steeped for almost 4 minutes! Don’t do that! It makes the first note a little bitter. BUT I still get the mango and the peach from it. It’s not an overly strong flavor additive, in fact, I could go for it being a little stronger, but it’s still great because it didn’t overwhelm or greatly distract from the base at all- rather it’s like I brewed good black iced tea and then let peaches and mangos infuse in. So this steep was 4 min in 1 quart of boiling water, and added enough ice to make two quarts, no sugar. I wish I had grabbed some more last time I ordered, but it was my very first SBT so I didn’t go overboard (for once!)

Unfortunately I can’t try again because apparently my fridge only makes enough ice to be 1 quart. Cold steeping the rest!