T42 Iced Tea Review

{Disclaimer:: We have partnered with T42 Iced Tea to bring you this sponsored post and review. While we received compensation for this post, the views and opinions expressed are entirely our own!}

I have always had a love for iced tea.

In fact, before I entered into this wonderful world of parenting I took a serious hiatus from drinking coffee and brewed my own iced tea on a daily basis (we won’t talk about what happened AFTER kids). And still, in the summertime I’m known for my nonstop flow of homemade iced tea and look forward to when I can start brewing tea and enjoying one of my favorite refreshing summer drinks. So when the chance to do a “taste test” to review T42 iced tea opened up I jumped at it. And wouldn’t you know, so did a whole bunch of other wonderful bloggers on our team!  Naturally we decided to do a team taste test and take advantage of the fun idea to (1) try out a yummy new product (2) have fun with it & (3) have an excuse for an afternoon mommy get together. Total win/win.

First, let’s talk about the tea.
Teacrest Corporation has been importing, blending and brewing teas from around the world for over 80 years (WOW). The tea is 100% organic, free of preservatives or GMO’s and all of them are gluten free. So far so good. Here is what we had the opportunity to try:

Let’s get sampling! There were 3 ladies that sampled the tea together. For the sake of not giving away who we were based on our opinions we decided to label ourselves as Mommy A, Mommy B, and Mommy C. We had the pleasure of trying 6 of the T42 flavors overall and here is what we thought:

Sample 1: Raspberry Iced Tea

1. Mommy A: This tea is perfect for the summer! She appreciated how you can taste the black tea and enjoyed how the raspberry was very subtle but nice.
2. Mommy B: Awesome after taste and super light.
3. Mommy C: Really enjoyed how refreshing the first taste was. The tea is sweetened and while this mom doesn’t typically like “sweet” teas it was a nice light and refreshing taste.

General opinion: This tea is a win (and may in fact also be delicious not only as a tea but also mixed as a cocktail)!

Sample 2: Jamaican Ginger Green Tea

1. Mommy A: This mom immediately felt like this tea could be used instead of ginger beer for a cocktail (maybe we all had an afternoon drink in mind)!
2. Mommy B: Personally mommy B wasn’t a huge fan of ginger and felt that you have to really “like” ginger to like this tea. It had a strong ginger taste altogether!
3. Mommy C: This tea is really gingery and almost a little addictive. She kept wanting to go back for more. In addition this tea could be great for new pregnant moms battling stomach queasiness overall.

Final Consensus: This was a really great tea if you enjoyed Ginger. If you don’t generally like ginger it’s better to avoid altogether but if you are a Ginger fan absolutely try this one out!

Sample 3: Moroccan Mint

1. Mommy A: Even though this mom prefers her tea not sweetened she enjoyed the gentle hint of mint to this tea.
2. Mommy B: This tea tasted more like a sweet tea than a basic mint tea. This was a good thing though but a little bit of a surprise!
3. Mommy C: This mom liked how refreshing the tea was but maybe a little less on the sweet side.

Final Consensus: Upon tasting this tea each mom all agreed it is NOT what you would think. Unlike the Ginger tea, the Moroccan mint was very subtle in the mint flavor and instead tasted more like a sweet tea. Very good and very refreshing altogether.

Sample 4: English Breakfast

1. Mommy A: This is a nice light black iced tea. It is very light and not very strong.
2. Mommy B: A very basic tea. Tasted like a black tea with a little bit of sugar.
3. Mommy C: While this mom prefers black tea unsweetened, this was a very nice choice of a sweet but unsweetened tea altogether. If choosing between a sweeter tea in a store this would definitley be a top choice as the sweetener doesn’t taste artificial and the black tea was very refreshing (which is a nice change from a very sweet black tea).

General Opinion: YUM! For a lightly sweetened black iced tea this is a strong winner.

Sample 5: Earl Grey

1. Mommy A: The sweetness in this tea is very similar to the english breakfast in that it’s not over powering. Out of all of the teas this is the favorite of this mom. You can really taste the earl grey and you get a great tea flavor.
2. Mommy B: This is a really good, basic tea
3. Mommy C: This was a little more sweet for this mom’s preference but still better than the average sweetened black tea.

Overall Consensus: Another win! This is a great lightly sweetened black tea that highly out performs what you generally find on the shelves!

Sample 6: Blueberry White Tea

1. Mommy A: Willy Wonka would LOVE this tea. It’s super fun, tasty, and has a hint of magic in it.
2. Mommy B: If you like blueberry, you will love this tea
3. Mommy C: You really can taste the blueberry in this tea. It smells awesome and it tastes like the fruit mixed with the tea. Generally awesome all around.

General Feedback: WOW can you smell the blueberry! After pouring this tea we all could smell and took in the awesome aroma of the blueberry.

I should also mention that after the taste test my husband came home, opened the fridge, saw the leftovers and took a big slug of this one. His opinion: THIS BLUEBERRY TEA IS AMAZING

And of course all we had left to do was take all of the delicious teas and, of course, make a cocktail out of one of them. They were so flavorful and fun we couldn’t help ourselves and boy were we glad we did!

T42 BVTMB Tea Inspired Cocktail Recipe

• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup fresh watermelon juice
• squeeze of lime
• 1 cup Moroccan mint tea (you could also try this with the blueberry white tea)

Directions: Mix up all ingredients and enjoy!

Here’s a bit more about the T42 story:

Founder and President of Teacrest Corporation Maurice Hakim is a second generation tea man. Hakim learned the trade from his father,who first made a name for himself as a young man in Shidzoka, the tea center of Japan, to then become the most prominent tea importer in the USA. Teacrest’s experience in importing, blending, and brewing teas from around the world continues a great tradition that started in 1932. T42 is a ready to drink line of USDA Certified Organic teas currently distributed to gourmet markets, supermarkets and natural food stores by Island Natural in the New York City Metro Area, and by G. Housen in Vermont, Western Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire.  T42 currently retails between $1.59 and $1.99 in supermarkets, gourmet markets and natural food stores.You can also learn more on their Twitter, Facebook, or website.

T42 offers 11 flavors varying from black tea, green tea, and white teas:

1. Lemon Iced Tea
2. Lemon & Honey
3. Blueberry
4. Unsweetened Lemon Iced Tea
5. Jamaican Ginger
6. Pomegranate
7. Earl Grey
8. Moroccan Mint
9. English Breakfast
10. Peach
11. Raspberry

Curious on where you can find this tea locally? Here are some spots!

• Burlington Bagel- Shelburne Rd.
• Four Corners- Pine St.
• Little Garden Market- Charlotte
• Natural Provisions- Williston
• Dealer.com- Burlington
• Stowe Wine and Cheese- Stowe
• Moscow Schoolhouse- Stowe
• Alla Vita- Montpelier
• Bagitos- Montpelier
• Pinkys- Montpelier
• Falls General Store- Northfield
• Central Vermont Medical Center- Berlin
• KC’s Bagel Cafe- Waterbury
• Brattlboro Co-op- Brattlboro
• The Bakery- Rutland
• Rutland Area Food Co-op- Rutland
• Green Pasture Meats- New Haven

Our final recommendation: Total yum! I genuinely stand by this tea and will gladly drink it again! There wasn’t one that we didn’t enjoy and the taste testing was a fun way to try something new. If you ever see T42, pick one up and try it out.