Teas' Tea Review

With summer right around the corner, I am always looking for a new way to add flavor and variety to my drinks for my friends and family. My children have always been opposed to drinking water or tea since it does not "taste good." In other words, they don't like water or tea since it is not loaded with sugar. 

 

I was recently given an opportunity to try Teas' Tea Half and Half. I received a peach flavor and a lemon flavor. It was a quick and easy test for my family. Poor the tea into small cups for everyone to sample and hide the bottles so they did not know what they were drinking.

The lemon variety had a light sweet taste that was very appealing. It was not too sweet, and I could taste the tea and the lemon. The peach variety was also light and sweet, but was even lighter than the lemon flavor. My husband liked the lemon flavor the best and everyone else liked the light flavor of the peach.

Teas' Tea Half & Half is brewed using the finest green tea leaves and slightly sweetened with only 50 calories per serving. half&HALF comes in 5 delicious flavors - green tea & lemon, green tea & green apple (which came in second place at the North American Tea Championships 2012), green tea & peach, green tea & coconut, green tea & grape. You can find he Half & Half beverage at specialty grocery stores, select Whole Foods, Wegmans and online at www.amazon.com and www.teastea.com. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

SodaStream Review

I recently received a Soadstream Fountain Jet from SodaStream USA and was like a kid in a candy store. I did not know where to start. Which flavor soda should I make first? Tough decision, but I figured that since I had a young child at my feet I would try one of their natural products.


Setting up the machine was very easy. I had to insert the CO2 canister and the actual unit was ready to use. I made sure that I washed the reusable bottle that came with the unit with soap and water to remove and unknown residues from packaging, and then I was ready to go.

Using the SodaSteam was super easy! Attaching the reusable bottle was a little awkward the first time just because I had never done it before, but it got much easier as I made more drinks.

When making your drinks, you need to realize that you are only adding carbonation to water. You do not add the flavoring until the water has carbonation. This will keep the unit from getting clogged and malfunctioning.

When adding the syrup to the water, there is a standard measurement, but you can adjust the level of flavor to your specific taste. Be very careful adding the flavor to the carbonated water. If you pour it in fast you will have a big mess to clean up (trust me, I tried).

I have tried several of the flavors so far, but I am on the hunt for new ones too. I really enjoyed the natural's flavors. There are unique flavors like black currant pear and apple mango. The naturals also contain real sugar. The standard flavors and diet varieties all contain some artificial sweetener in them. Since I could adjust the syrup to my taste, they were not too sweet and very refreshing.

I found that I did need to purchase a couple of spare carbonating bottles. One is just not enough. I purchased a twin pack at a local store and filled them with plain water. To make it easier, I stored them in the refrigerator until I was ready to make a drink. By doing this, the beverages were already cold when I made them and they did not require ice right away.

Overall the SodaStream is a great product. They are fun to have around and very easy to use.  
This is a  great gift idea for anyone that you know. Think about the possibilities.


Disclaimer: I received a product for free to facilitate my review. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way.