BoDean's Twisted Tea---Sweet Tea With a Mean Kick!
Apr 04 '01
The Bottom Line Twist it if you like!
Now that our clocks have sprung ahead and the warm fingers of spring have begun to caress the late afternoon air, it's time to start thinking about spending more time outside, appreciating nature and enjoying the freedom to finally roam comfortable under the spring and summer suns.
What's the best way to celebrate this newfound seasonal freedom? Sitting out on your porch or on a blanket out in the backyard, soaking in the rays and sipping on something cold and refreshing.
What about those who don't like beer? There are a million non-beer bottled drinks about there, take for example BoDean's Twisted Tea:
The Story of Twisted Tea
The box on a six-pack is filled with text, mostly the convoluted story of this drink's origin. Based upon an original Southern recipe by a man named Bo, this Twisted Tea was developed as a direct response to the proliferation of the "evil" Long Island Tea, that bastard child of real Southern brewed iced tea. Bo felt that the smoothness and beauty of sweet tea was being misrepresented, and so he set out to make a beverage that spoke to real virtue of alcohol and tea. Just like the folks in those old Pace Picante ads, Bo set off to show those New Yorkers what real Southern drinking was about...
The irony is this faux Southern song and dance is that BoDean's is produced is two places; Cincinnati, OH and LeHigh, PA. Once again, don't believe the hype.
Tasting Notes
Like its origins, the production of BoDean's is pretty hush-hush. The Kentucky Recipe drink is based upon a malt beverage foundation with what I believe to be natural flavors(the grainy aftertaste screams citric acid), with a tame 5% alcohol kick to it, substantially less than its Long Island arch nemesis.
When poured from the bottle, BoDean's give off the faint scent of tea accented with notes of lemon and cheap whiskey, a nose which is highly indicative of the beverage's flavor. The first thing that one notices upon the first sip is the slight bitterness of the tea, unexpected because of the almost dogmatic sweetness of good Southern iced tea. The taste faintly resembles real iced tea, but the bitter flavor and the faint presence of a lemony sourness offset most of the tea base's influence. To that point, I would even say that BoDean's resembles the dregs of tea soaked in whiskey, and that's not a pretty picture!
Another fact that struck me immediately was the surprising alcohol burn of this beverage, shocking because of the meager 5% kick and the tea's proud claim that this was a smooth drink...in fact it resembles Long Island Ice Tea more than the luxurious Southern sweet tea that I've come to love.
For those familiar with the Jack Daniel's line of coolers, this drink is strongly reminiscent of a watered down Tennessee Tea.
Serving Notes
Because of the harshness of its alcohol flavor and the graininess of the aftertaste, I highly recommend that if you insist on buying BoDean's that you at least chill it extremely well before serving. This will moderate some of the less pleasant flavors while smoothing out some of the alcohol-related rough patches in the tea.
As for food, it could be served with any meal that would be complemented by a citrus element. In my experience, chicken, seafood and spicy pasta sauces all do well when couple with lemon.
Pricing & Availability
Last week was the first time that I had ever seen this beverage, it being a brand new product as far as I can tell. I've scoured the Internet and called some friends in the beverage industry, and BoDean's is more obscure than my frequent allusions to the Mabinogion. As the alternative drink industry is currently experiencing a boom, I would expect to see BoDean's in your local liquor store within the next 3-6 months, assuming of course that it's still being produced at that time...
The Final Verdict
My final judgement on this drink is a caveat: This is neither an alcoholic beverage nor a tea. What it is seems to be a combination of the worst elements of those two drinks, with the burn of booze and the bitterness of old tea. You're better off brewing your own iced tea and supplementing it with a capful of whatever's handy.
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Epinions.com ID:
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Member: Christian Conti
Location: Washington, DC
Reviews written: 636
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