The Good: Caffeinated, Robust flavor, No aftertaste, Wonderfully peachy with sugar!
The Bad: Individually wrapped, Scent is a little unappealing, Not a strong peach flavor.
The Basics: With a weak recommend, I find Stash's Peach Black tea to be delicious only with the addition of a little sugar.
Stash Peach Black was only the second tea I had tried by Stash when I first had it. I figured the Peach Black was a good choice for me because I have traditionally liked peach-flavored teas. Unfortunately, it was more of a razor decision for the Stash Peach Black; this is a good tea, but it does fall closer to the "average" range than the extraordinary. In other words, it's good, but it's not great.
Basics
Peach Black is a tea from Stash. It is a tea that has caffeine and it is a very strong black tea. Peach Black comes in Stash's standard individually-wrapped tea bags, means that each tea bag has a wax papery envelope it is sealed in for freshness. Each tea bag has a five-inch string with a little paper tab at the end, which is quite a bit more waste than I like from a tea bag. When I make pots of tea, I tend to use two bags and making a steeping pot of Peach Black reminds me of why I like the easy environmentalism of Celestial Seasonings' stringless bags. A box of Peach Black comes with 20 individually-wrapped tea bags.
Peach Black is marketed as a peach-flavored tea and it reaches that potential only with the addition of sugar. But when it does rise up to have the full flavor, it truly is peach flavored and delicious. On its own, though, the Peach Black is less wonderful than I would have liked, though it has a strong black tea taste.
Ease Of Preparation
Peach Black is a black tea, which means preparation is as easy as boiling a pot of water! Peach Black, as the directions clearly state, require water that is boiling. A single tea bag will make the standard 8 oz. coffee mug worth of tea, though reusing the tea bags yields a mug full which is about 5/8 strength. It was only when reusing the teabag I found the tea to have an aftertaste and if one is a teabag miser, the dry and sour aftertaste may be enough to discourage one from using these bags for a second mug or pot.
To prepare Peach Black, simply boil up some water, and pour it over the tea bags in a cup, mug or steeping pot. This tea is recommended to take three to five minutes to steep and with boiling water, the tea was ready at the four minute mark and letting it steep longer does not truly change the results. Letting the tea steep more than five minutes does not net any additional flavor, nor does it denature the flavor of the tea. However, after brewing for five minutes, trying to reuse the teabag is likely to net the consumer a very weak second cup or pot.
Taste
Peach Black is a tea that is hampered instantly by its aroma. The Stash Peach Black has an unfortunately rich scent that is dominated by the scent of the tea, as opposed to the peach flavorings. The result is a tea that smells more like rotting or burned peaches than it does like inviting peach cobbler or something equally delicious. It is never a good sign when one's first reaction to a tea's scent is to plug one's nose before drinking it!
Stash's Peach Black has a strong taste, though, which is rich, bold and affirmatively black. The tea has very earthy flavor which is cut as it flows over the tongue with a slight sour taste that is recognizable as the citrus from the peach flavoring. Unfortunately, the peach flavor is deeply sublimated to the tea flavor when the tea is hot and on its own, making it a tougher sell than other teas which focus more on the peach flavoring and let the tea leaves take a more mild influence.
With a teaspoon of sugar, Stash Peach Black releases its full potential. With just a little sugar, the tea comes alive with a true and delicious fruity taste which is clear to those who enjoy peaches as the flavor of peaches. The tea's scent is even cut with the addition of sugar; I'm not sure how that works, but it does. With sugar, the Peach Black is wonderful in every way I can evaluate; it tastes like what it claims and is a delicious, eye-opening black tea.
Nutrition
That Stash’s Peach Black tastes like black tea more than peach is no surprise, as the only ingredients are blended black tea and peach flavor. Peach Black tea is all natural, Kosher, and contains both caffeine and soy. There is not a ton of caffeine (the box does not say how much there actually is in this, but it does seem like it is sufficient to keep one awake, especially when drunk late at night).
Were it not for the sugar I add whenever I make Peach Black, this tea would be devoid of any nutritional value. It contains no calories, fat, sodium, carbohydrates or protein.
Storage/Clean-up
Stash's Peach Black is a fairly dark black tea. As a result, cleanup is rather simple, save on fabrics. The mugs and steeping pot easily rinse out. This tea will stain if it is left on fabrics, so simply do not let the tea cups or mugs linger on light colored materials that might stain!
Peach Black is easy to clean up after - the tea bags may be disposed in the garbage, or composted if you have a good garden and/or compost pile. One of the nice things about this tea - like most - is that so long as it is kept cool and dry, it can last for a long time and it is easy to clean up. However, like all Stash teas, there is extra waste from the strings, paper tabs and individual wrappings around each bag.
Overall
Peach Black is a good tea, but because lately I've tried to avoid adding unnecessary sugar to my teas, it is a tougher sell than I would have liked. This is a tea which pretty much requires the sugar in order to become the delicious beverage one might actually want to drink as opposed to the gross steaming mugs that initially caused me to cringe. But with the sugar it is so good that it may be recommended.
For other Stash tea reviews of mine, please check out:
Double Bergamot Earl Gray
Chai Spice Decaf
Coconut Mango Oolong
5/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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