image via honesttea.com

I am a big fan of tea.  Hot or cold, it does not matter.  I do not drink traditional southern sweet tea so the Honest Tea brand is one I enjoy a lot.  Their teas and ades are organic, slightly sweet and refreshing.  Over the last few weeks I decide to try a few flavors and here are my thoughts.

The (not too) Sweet Tea is what I want in a regular iced tea.  I actually like the flavor of tea and do not want it covered up with sugar.  This variety is slightly sweet with a moderate tea flavor… totally my sweet tea speed.

I am not big on flavored teas either.  Mainly because of the artificial way they usually taste.  The Honest Tea Peach White Tea is actually very good.  It, too, is slightly sweet with a moderate tea flavor but the peach flavor is prominent and pleasing.   Peach purée, not artificial peach flavor, makes this variety taste great.  Peach tea is a very summery drink and I liked this one a lot!

My favorite way to drink tea is with lemonade aka an Arnold Palmer.  To have a really good half & half you need equal parts of both tea and lemonade.  Sounds logical but try ordering it in a restaurant that is unsure of what you want! Honest Tea strikes a great balance in with their Half & Half Organic Tea with Lemonade. This variety is subtle…a little sweet, a little tangy…but very refreshing.  This was my second favorite of the six drinks I tried.

Transitioning from teas to ades, the Pomegranate Blue Ade was nice.  I have to admit, this drink was good, but not my favorite.  The label says pomegranate and blue(berry) but there is a strong grape flavor and then I read the ingredients, there is grape in it.  I like grape juice but this one has far too much grape in it to be simply called Pomegranate Blue.  I consider this it to be a good juice blend, that’s all.  Nothing exciting about it.  It’s slightly sweet like the rest but the flavor does not live up to the name.

I love orange and I love mango so I knew I would enjoy the Orange Mango Ade.  This drink is a fabulous alternative to orange juice.  It has mangosteen in it and I love the combination of the three flavors.  They go well together.

I saved what I expected to be the best for last.  I love tart flavors and enjoy paring tart flavors together so I was eager to try the Cranberry Lemonade Ade.  The Cranberry Lemonade Ade is my favorite drink of the six I tried.  It’s actually not really sweet to me.  The flavor is subtle but I loved it!  Lemon and cranberry go together well so I needless to say, I was sad when I finished this bottle.

I am excited to give one lucky reader a chance to win a some Honest Tea to try for themselves.  The contest is simple!  Send an email to info@popgoesthecity.com with I WANT HONEST TEA in the subject line and tell me your favorite type of tea (white tea, sweet tea, half & half…whatever).  Yep, it’s that simple!  Be sure to include your name in the email and please send only one entry per person.

This giveaway is open to anyone in the US and entries must be received by 11:59pm cst Sunday, August 26th.   Winners will be selected and notified via email on Monday, August 27th.

If you are eager to run out to get your hands on some Honest Tea, head to the nearest Whole Foods or Kroger in the metroplex.  Those are the two places I always find it.