The antioxidants and vitamin C got me
I am branching out on my local ready-to-drink cocktail search - because I've basically seen it all at my small town grocery stores. Last week I found a goodie at Trader Joe's which just happens to be in the same parking lot as Walmart so sucked it up and went to Walmart as well. I don't love going in there but they do have a different selection and I felt fully rewarded for my effort when I saw this cute bottle!
Way up on the top shelf there were three of these sexy matte black bottles from Owl's Brew, a brand that is totally new to me. I selected this one, a Citrus Sweet Tea mixer. The bottle boosts it is "crafted with botanicals & tea" and "rich in antioxidants + vitamin C." And because I'm a savvy cocktail shopper now, I looked at the ingredients to see if the "sweet tea" was going to be the yucky artificial kind.
Good news girls! No fake sugar here. It is sweetened with organic agave and that is all I needed to know to bring this little beauty home with me.
Photo by Alyssa Lynne Photography
After whipping up a quick cocktail at home I honestly can't believe I found this at Walmart but I'm so happy I did. The ingredients are much more high brow than I would expect at Walmart - organic tea, organic agave - but at a Walmart price. It is a steal at $6!
I was definitely expecting this to be a sweeter cocktail - more on that in the next section - but I was pleasantly surprised by this tea cocktail. It is more citrus than sweet. It has a very mild flavor overall. It is a lot like sipping a fancy iced tea from Whole Foods - but with booze!
In terms of flavor, this cocktail mix doesn't have a strong kick at all. It is more of a light, pleasant, citrus-y tea taste which is a nice break from other super flavorful cocktails we've tried. Maybe it is because I'm soooo over winter, but I can really picture sipping this tea cocktail on my front porch with a book this summer.
One shaker = not sweet at all // Five shakers = your teeth may curl
If last weeks suuuuper sweet cocktail was not your jam, this one might be! It is not sweet despite the sweet tea in the name.
When I saw "sweet tea" on the label my Midwest roots came out and I was picturing a true southern style sweet tea. You know the kind, a little tea with your sugar? :) But that is not what this is ladies. This is a much more refined tea with lots of fresh citrus flavor and just enough sweet to balance out the tart.
One shaker = does this have booze? Five shakers = Four Lokos
This is just a mixer so you can decide how boozy you want to go. For the review I mixed it according to the directions on the bottle (2 parts mixer with 1 part vodka) and it was pretty booze. I was surprised how much this cocktail grew on me as I sipped it and I think part of that was because I started to get a nice fuzz from this cocktail. My favorite!
The bottle suggests trying the mix with gin, tequila or bourbon as well. I think next time I'll mix mine up with tequila and I'll report back on the difference.
Would I buy these again?
Probably - for this flavor. Definitely - for the Owl's Brew line!
I really like the Owl's Brew Citrus Sweet Tea mixer but they have so many others I want to try that I would be torn. I have my eye on the Strawberry Manhattan and the Wicked Margarita next. How amazing do those sound?!?!
PLUS Owl's Brew also has a brand new canned cocktail line of boozy teas that I'm DYING to try. There are three flavors and they come in a multi-pack due in stores this month. I haven't seen them in a store yet but as soon as I find them, we'll be trying those too!
To find out where you can pick up Owl's Brew near you visit their website here - btw, you CAN pick these up at Whole Foods and several other fancy grocery store chains. *wink wink*
Have you tried this drink? What did you think? I'd love to hear from you in the comments section. The more opinions the better! Let's "drink together" and share our cocktail stories.
