Peach Mango Refreshers from Twinings

It's always fun to discover a new type of tea from Twinings, and these "Refreshers" caught my eye at the grocery store this week.

They were a little pricier than regular tea bags—$6.99 for a box of just five packets, about the size of cocoa packets—but I had to try them. Peach Mango sounded like a fun flavor, and Twinings is a brand of tea I've always enjoyed.

Until now. I am sorry to say that this tea was a big disappointment. I made it with twelve ounces of cold water as directed, but the result was a weak beverage that tasted like it came from a watered-down version of flavored-water packets I sometimes buy. Also, the peach bits remained hard and didn't much taste like peaches. When I transferred this tea to a stainless steel tumbler later on, the bits were always an unpleasant surprise coming through the straw. Also: This tea had a weird aftertaste. Coming in at a decent 60 calories per serving, the drink ingredients include "Cane Sugar, Citric Acid, Dried Peach Pieces [Ascorbic Acid & Citric Acid to Protect Colour], Natural Peach and Mango Flavours with other Natural Flavours, Natural Flavour, Honeybush Extract, Xanthan Gum." Is honeybush the only "herbal tea" in this drink? No matter. I wouldn't buy these again, and I'm predicting they won't be on the shelves for long. It's clearly time for me to go make a pitcher of real tea!