Luzianne Cold Brew Black Tea Bags, Family Size, Unsweetened, 22 Count Box, Specially Blended For Cold Brew In Water, Clear & Refreshing Home Brewed Southern Iced Tea

First off, you must know that I am a recovering Pepsi addict.I am trying to get away from all the sodas with high fructose corn syrups.I still love carbonated drinks, and am allergic to aspartame, so my substitutions have been very limited.There are so many great flavored drinks out there, but the manufacturers seem to want to load them with aspartame or even splenda. I prefer stevia, but good luck getting that for less than $1 a drink! (Crystal Light is really missing the boat with a whole lot of women by using aspartame in the majority of theirgreat-sounding flavors - I'd buy it all the time if they were stevia.)Anyway, I really have not been a huge fan of regular iced tea. I've tried several brands, and the only otherone I really like is the Bigelow Red Raspberry herbal tea. The rest of my family drinks a lot of iced tea, but Ijust never really liked the black tea they drink. I've tried many brands, but most are just not appealing to me.I do like Luzianne, having lived in Texas for many years and it is very popular there, but Hubby never buys it!Since he is the main tea drinker, it is not something I demand my way on! ; )So, thought I would give this one a try. I'd heard plenty of good things about green tea, but never had it before.I'd had sips of gas station bottles of green tea with all kinds of other flavorings in them, but regular, plain green tea was still a mystery to me. The cold brew was a big attraction to me, because I am partially disabled, and have limited access to the kitchen/stove area. However, I can fill a pitcher with water from the upstairs sink, and have a small fridge upstairs.This tea was VERY good! I was not sure what to expect, so I am not judging it against other green teas. It's my first plain green tea. I loved the way I could use two tea bags to make a full quart of tea. I guess you could use just one if you like it weaker, or could let it sit overnight. I sip liquid all day long, so waiting a long time isn't on my agenda either! Ha!The taste is light and refreshing. There's no funky aftertaste or fuzzy-tongue from this one.I've tried it with and without sweetener, and actually prefer it right from the pitcher with nothing added.Now, it is all a matter of taste, so i cannot give you a blanket 'you'll love it', because everyone's taster/palate is different. However, I can honestly say that I can see this replacing my pepsi entirely! I don't drink much pepsi during the summer anyway, since it gets syrupy, but still didn't like the tea my husband made either. Plain water gives me ferocious heartburn for some reason, so I need a flavor of some sort in my drinks. (Most of the little tubes of flavored drink mixes for water bottles use aspartame. What a shame!)We have already gone through the first box pretty fast, with only two tea bags left!My son loves it better than the black tea too, and we knock out between a half gallon to a gallon a daybetween us, and it isn't even summer yet!If I had one criticism, it would be how the tea is packaged.What you see is what you get - the tea bags are sitting directly inside the box, which is then wrapped in cellophane. Once that cellophane wrapper is broken, there is no way to keep the tea fresh, except putting it in your own baggie or jar. There is no wax liner or any other liner in the box to fold back over the tea. I bought a snap-seal wide-mouth container Snapware 1022 32-Ounce Square-Grip Canister] to keep them nice and fresh, and just empty out the boxes as soon as we get them, and tuck them into the container. Very easy.The tea bags are large, and on a long string with a tag at the end. We just put them in our pitcher withthe tags hanging over the edge, and put it in the fridge to brew. So easy!Meanwhile, I have already ordered more, and will try to find it locally as well.Luzianne, you have done a wonderful job with this tea!As long as the quality stays the same, I'll be a very happy repeat customer!Update April 20, 2013:We can't find this tea locally, so we are glad Amazon carries it. This continues to be the drink of choice for me. I also bought an infuser and want to try it with some fruit flavors as well, although I have not yet tried it - been pretty happy with the original flavor of this tea. I will definitely try out lemons, limes and other fruits this summer.

Better than Lipton!

the best ice tea

This is the best cold brew tea!

Maybe it's just me, but this tea is a bit light/weak for my taste. I had to add another tea bag to get a stronger and better flavor. I drink green tea all the time and none of them are as light as this. It's a good thing you get a generous amount in this box since I have to use more than suggested.Sometimes, I also add other flavored tea to the mix because this green tea is a bit less flavorful than I'm used to. My husband doesn't like it at all and won't drink it. I don't mind because I get it all to myself; I just wish it packed more of a punch. Besides that, it's very easy to make and is a great alternative to sodas.

I always wondered why my brewed iced green tea never tasted like the green tea from the restaurant or from a bottle. I wanted to drink it for the health benefits and stop drinking so many carbonated drinks... Well, my answer was based in time and temperature and the quantity I needed for a whole pitcher, plus a few other factors... I started buying several different brands, but I never did make a nicely brewed iced green tea that satisfied me, until now.... Cold brew! I don't even have to think about it.My daughter swears *only* Luzianne teas when she makes her (simple syrup based) sweet tea, but I had never tried it before this purchase. I normally used PG Tips, which makes a wonderful hot tea, but not so much for iced tea... This cold brew turned out perfect the very first time I tried it. Now I put it out on the porch, one big tea bag in filtered water in a sealed glass carafe and by break time it is ready... Add a little stevia and lemon slices... So fresh every day... better than bottled.Bonus... I've cut out all cola products from my life and saved $$ in the process.

I never understood the efficacy of using cold brew tea bags until someone left a couple at my house and I used them by happenstance. I couldn't believe how much easier they were than using conventional tea bags, boiling the water and making a concentrate. I just fill my pitcher with water, put in a couple of the cold brew tea bags and place the pitcher in the fridge to chill and within an hour, it is done, no muss, no fuss. PS: I tried the other brand available on Amazon, this one has a better taste, although both were good.

I love using thus to make gallon pitchers of unsweetened tea. I then add 4 tube packets of real lemon drink mix and I have a whole gallon of healthy no sugar added iced tea. The real lemon is the only alternative, no junk, and the Luzerne tea is an economical alternative to the the liston cold brew. My family goes through iced tea in the summer like crazy, this way I have no worries.