Pre-Sweetened Teas Showdown!!!

Pre-Sweetened Teas Showdown!!!

Everyone loves a good old-fashioned tea showdown…right? The market for pre-sweetened tea bags is fairly small (or was non-existent when Embrew was first found). So, I tracked down 3 different brands with a little help and set to comparing them. I could have totally done this in my normal written review way, but I wanted to document my first reactions and thoughts in real-time by way of video (And I must say, I would have had a hard time describing some of these teas in words). So, relax, brew some tea, and enjoy!

Check out my thoughts!

Background on the Teas:

Southern Sweet Tea
Brand: Lipton
Website Description: Lipton® family size Southern Sweet iced tea is blended in Virginia and pre-sweetened for a fresh-brewed, real Southern taste. Non-bitter, with woody notes and reddish-amber hue, all senses are engaged for a refreshing experience. Delightfully sweet and uplifting yet 0 calories per 8 fl oz serving, this iced tea is great on its own or served with meals.
Ingredients: Orange Pekoe and Pekoe Cut Black Tea, Sucralose, Pectin
Origin: unknown, but they stated that the tea is made with 100% Rainforest Alliance certified tea bags
Price: $2.99 (ish)

Peppermint Earl Grey
Brand: Embrew
Website Description: Coffee leaf tea tastes like green tea, but without any grassy bitterness.  This bergamot-infused coffee leaf tea is blended with a hint of crisp peppermint and a touch of raw organic cane sugar inside the tea bag for a perfectly balanced, non-jittery caffeinated brew. 
Ingredients: Coffee Leaf Tea, Raw Organic Cane Sugar, Peppermint, Sicilian Bergamot Extract, Cornflower Petals, Natural Vanilla Flavor
Origin: Nicaragua
Price: $15.95

Original Cold Brew Sweet Iced Tea
Brand: Southern Breeze
Website Description: Southern Breeze Cold Brew Sweet Iced Tea is made with real tea leaves in a pre-sweetened bag that you cold-water brew, steep, chill and enjoy—and with no sugar, Sugar! So you can sip and share glass after guilt-free glass. Zero calories, meet heavenly hospitality!
Ingredients: Black Tea, Sucralose
Origin: Unknown. After a lot of searching, I cannot find anything about where they source their teas or how they source it
Price: $3.95

Cinnamon Oolong Chai
Brand: Embrew
Website Description: We put a new twist on chai tea by blending a rich, earthy, dark oolong rather than the traditional black tea base.  We dialed back the sharp chai spices like cardamom, black pepper, and cloves, while adding extra cinnamon (because, why not?), with a final addition of coconut palm sugar which brings perfect balance to the cup.
Ingredients: Oolong Tea, Organic Coconut Palm Sugar, Cinnamon Bark, Ginger Root, Cocoa Nibs, Chicory, Cardamom, Natural Spicy Cinnamon Flavor, Black Peppercorn, and Cloves
Origin: Taiwan
Price: $15.95

Summary of the Video (for all of you busy folks):

These four teas get put to the test through a visual leaf, cold-brew, and hot-brew analysis. The winner of the leaf (by looks of quality) was Embrew’s Peppermint Earl Grey. While all four teas put up a good fight, there was one tea that outshined them all. That was also the Peppermint Earl Grey.

Afterthoughts:

I determined that the market really does not have enough options in order for this to be a fair fight. If someone really loved extremely sweetened tea, the Lipton or Southern Breeze teas are top choices. But if someone loves different varieties of teas and not overwhelming tastes of sweetness, Embrew definitely is the one to go to. I find that Embrew is a tea company that tea lovers can go to if they want different varieties of tea for slightly sweetened tea (as well as for convenience when traveling with tea). I definitely love the traceability that Embrew gives and that there is a clear difference in quality in these teas that I have tried (Please also see my previous review: Embrew | Company & Tea Review).


I hope you enjoyed this video analysis and showdown! I definitely had a good time filming and reacting to these teas, but some of them I definitely did not enjoy tasting as much. What do you think? Do you like your tea sweetened or unsweetened? Let me know in the comments! Happy Brewing!

-Danielle

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