Tag: honey

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Oishi Green Tea with Honey and Lemon

The Oishi Green Tea with Honey 🍯 and Lemon 🍋 is a particularly sweet ice tea from Thailand that you’ll find in Asia-shops all over the world. On the label it says “Japanese Green Tea with Honey Lemon – Oishi Green Tea Brand”.
I guess with ‘Japanese’ it means the green tea recipe used, because it’s not made in Japan, but by the Oishi Group PCL in Thailand.
It seems that the word “oishii” means “tasty” in Japanese – and I’m sure that’s what they want to make people come to their mind when they see it!

  • green tea based
  • very sweet
  • very honey-y

Color
A very light yellowish, this ice tea’s color is bright and clear. It looks like a camomile tea and does not hint at the extreme sweetness that follows.

Taste
The honey is the first thing I feel on my tongue. It immediately sticks to my lips, but because it is honey, instead of sugar, this is less annoying.
You want to take another sip, but it just keeps sticking…

Because it’s green tea based, it tastes even a bit refreshing and doesn’t have any bitterness at all. It’s what gives it all its unique sweetness, but as it doesn’t contain black tea to balance out the flavor, that sweetness can be a bit too much.
And the added lemon is quite decent, so as not to make it bitter (thankfully). It enhances the flavor nicely, but doesn’t impact the extreme sweetness from the honey.

All said and done, this is one of those ice teas I really like to drink once in a while and it makes for a great little change to my usual black tea based lemon ice teas. But because it’s so very sweet and sticks to the lips, I can’t really drink too much of it at once and also not every day.

Availability
I have seen this ice tea mostly at Asia-shops and Asian restaurants (this particular bottle I bought at a sushi-stall). I assume you can find it in specialty shops in many countries all over the world. Unfortunately it is usually not the cheapest, I’ve seen it mostly priced somewhere around 3.50 CHF or US $ per 0.5L bottle.

+ nice honey-y sweetness
+ refreshing green tea taste
– almost too sweet
– high price per bottle

Overall Rating: 7/10

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Arizona Original Green Tea

An American classic (and popular all over the world): The Arizona Original Green Tea with Honey. As its name says, this is also a green-tea based ice tea, but its taste is quite soft and delicate for a green tea. It lacks a ‘minty’ flavor and instead you feel the mild sweetness of the honey.

  • fresh
  • light
  • honey-flavor
  • delicate, only slightly sticky sweetness

Color
It has a very light, very clear yellow (with maybe just a slight hint of green). The ingredients are processed and so it stays clear and there isn’t much that can settle in the bottle over time.

Taste
Even though it is a big-brand, mass-produced ice tea, the acidity of the additives and artificial flavorings is bearable. Only on the edges of the tongue you can feel a slight bitterness. (Or if you drink too much of it, it still can stick a bit in your mouth.)
The honey in the Arizona Original Green Tea makes it really sweet, without giving it a too sugary taste. I really notice the honey all over my throat and it is a joy compared to artificial sweeteners. Maybe that is the reason that this is one ice tea that you can drink quite well even if it is not ice-cold.

Availability
This specific Arizona ice tea, the Original Green Tea, is the one most widely available around the world of the Arizona ice teas – but not everywhere at the original price of 99 US cents for a can. Instead, you’ll find only 0.5L bottles, priced upwards of 2 Euros.
Some other varieties of Arizona ice tea are also easily available, but most of the very large Arizona range is very hard to find outside of the US. Especially the black tea based ice tea types I have never seen in Europe (even though they’re my favourite ones).

+ fresh and very light
+ nice sweetness (from the honey)
+ easily drinkable
– slight bitterness at the edges
– high price outside of the US

Overall Rating: 8/10