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THE BEST SUMMER DRINKS WINES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN DESTINATION LONG ISLAND
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THE CULTURE OF THE EGG CREAM
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taste test
Ready-to-drink iced tea serves up summer refreshment.
Basic Black
When the temperature spikes, it’s hard to beat the cooling power of iced tea. And with the flurry of summertime activities, grab-and-go options are essential. We tasted through a spectrum of flavors and assembled a lineup of favorite bottled black teas. By Penelope Bass
Honest Tea Organic Lemon Tea Honesttea.com
The honesty in Honest Tea refers to the company’s practice of brewing tea that’s been responsibly sourced and handled. The bottled brew tastes clean and fresh, and the lemon tea adds organic lemon juice and cane sugar, resulting in a black tea with a refreshing balance of tart and sweet.
30 imbibemagazine.com ~ july/august 2016
Harney & Sons Organic Black Tea
Moonshine Sweet Tea Original
Mastering the art of subtlety when it comes to flavor blending, the Harney & Sons readyto-drink teas also nail the fresh-brewed taste of homemade iced tea. The organic black tea is mixed with cane sugar and honey, but the sweetness remains barely perceptible, highlighting the tea’s natural flavors rather than obscuring them.
In the world of iced tea, there’s sweetened tea, and then there’s sweet tea. For those in search of the latter, Austin-based Moonshine hits the mark. The original brew strikes the balance just right with strong black tea and bold sweetness ( from cane sugar) without being cloying.
Harney.com
The Tao of Tea Organic Darjeeling Taooftea.com
Blending, brewing and bottling out of their micro tea brewery in Portland, Oregon, since 1997, The Tao of Tea uses only full-leaf teas sans any concentrates or flavorings. The organic Darjeeling is a blend of muscatel and Himalayan black teas brewed to a pale amber color. With a lightly grassy, almost musky floral aroma, the unsweetened tea has a delicate flavor that isn’t bitter or tannic, just clean and refreshing.
Moonshinesweettea.com
Third Street Tea Slightly Sweet Black Tea Drinkthirdstreet.com
Known for their chai blends, Boulder-based tea company Third Street also bottles black and green teas. Perhaps it’s just the proximity to chai spices like cinnamon, ginger and cardamom that gives their black tea a noticeable— albeit pleasing— spice profile. The slightly sweet black tea brewed with cane sugar strikes just the right balance of sweetness.
Tazo Organic Iced Black Tea Tazo.com
Tazo was founded in 1994 by Steven Smith, after he co-founded Stash Teas and prior to his Steven Smith Teamaker line. The company was purchased by Starbucks in 1999, and the teas are now available across the country, but the ingredients remain simple with just black tea, cane sugar and citric acid for freshness. The organic iced black tea is pleasantly strong, with just enough sweetness to balance the earthiness of the brew.