Has anyone else tried this? I really liked it. I opened a sparkling oolong and we finished it over a couple of days. I’d put the sweetness around low demi sec if you’re thinking in Champagne terms, but it’s nowhere near as sweet as soda or nonalcoholic sparkling cider. If my math is right, it’s roughly about a third as sweet as Martinelli’s.
It’s very refreshing, with clean oolong character and some nice floral notes from the magnolia. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I might prefer it with a touch less sweetness, but that’s just personal preference.
It does have some caffeine, probably around a third to a half of what you’d get from coffee. If you’re sensitive to caffeine, it might not be the best evening drink.
It’s not cheap, but looking at the bottle and the presentation, you can tell a lot of effort went into it.
I could see this being great at a party for people who don’t drink, or for those who have had enough already. It also works as a nice palate friendly alternative between glasses of wine when you want something hydrating that won’t overwhelm your taste buds.
Appreciate the first try note. I have to say they interested me for the innovation, but ultimately I just thought the price point was a bit much. Would love to try though so I’ll be on the lookout for distribution.
Do you think you could brew some super high quality tea and soda stream it as a DIY (and control the sweetness)?
Packaging- gorgeous.
Palate/Flavor- it is actually even better and more complex than I expected. Bubbles really make this an incredible liquid.
Sweetness- it’s very sweet (not southern sweet tea), too sweet for what I would want it clocking in at 25g of sugar per bottle or 5g per glass. Didn’t realize how sugary it was or I wouldn’t have bought it. If they can get it down to 1-2 grams per glass it would be a no brainer all day (although retail pricing could be a roadblock).
Bought two cases thinking it could be a daily drinker for both health and an alternative to other options. Will try and brew straight green/black/whole tea to cut the sweetness in half but doing so will destroy the essence and flavor profile that makes it special (and reduce too much of the bubbles).
Short review: Beautiful packaging, great complex flavor profile, too much sugar. If there is a lower dose option in the future would be a buyer at the WB price point.
Hi, everyone! Chiming in on the thread here I so appreciate the thoughts and feedback and am glad the Sparkling Teas are making their way into your glasses!
Sugar was a big focal point for me. I crafted these to be as low as possible because I too am very sensitive to “sweet.”
Especially in the world of “NA” and other sparkling teas, Susurrus is on the low end within its category/comp set at only 5g glass. Most others are around 7-9g/serving and add juices and add flavors/aromas.
Whereas with Susurrus, the aromas and flavors are all inherent to the TEA itself.
In wine, we all know alcohol to be the “body builder”. Since these are inherently 0% abv, a lot of the “stuffing”
comes from the small amount of sugar, which is also important and needed to hold up against the CO2 (10g/L dissolved CO2).
I’m always exploring different tea types to find ways to go even lower on the sugar.
@Siun_O_Connell and @Warren_Taranow are correct in referring to it within a Champagne scale: it lands at the high end of sec or lowest possible end of demi-sec at ~ 33g/L
Price is driven by the quality of the tea and howmuch tea is required since I’m not diluting the product with cheap juices and botanicals.
I also like to remind people that Susurrus is a 1% For The Planet Company so 1% of all sales go to environmental conservationism. So a baby premium in price to support the quality (and quantity) of the tea allows me to give back to the environment, since tea - like wine - is an agricultural product
We opened the oolong the other day and I’d echo a lot of the thoughts shared so far. I really like this as an NA alternative to sparkling- it does a good job maintaining the complexity I want. I dont personally mind the sweetness level, which i am pretty averse to in most wines. We opened the bottle with several friends and they all liked it as well. My wife, who is so averse to sweetness that she wont drink even bone dry Riesling because she still PERCEIVES it as sweet was unbothered by the sugar as well.
We had this at brunch and i thought it was great in that setting. I dont normally want alcohol at brunch so i dont feel like crap all day but i still want something interesting, this was perfect.
I would be curious to try “dryer” versions, as I normally drink tea without sugar as well though! So Ellison if you ever needed taste testers…. Haha
I opened the Golden Tip last night (still a half bottle left for tonight) - super interesting! Will this fool you that you are drinking wine? No, at least not for me, but it sure is a nice switch up for something different, I really liked it. Super fruity and floral, nice bead, I did not find it overly sweet.
I’d love to see a dryer version- held off buying due to sugar level concerns- as a perhaps flawed analogy, the only bottled ice tea on the market i can stomach is tejava due to sweetness
Hey, Mike! Yes, keeping an eye on the forecast because the northeast keeps getting some nasty cold weather - hope you’re staying warm and safe in the blizzard happening right now
I so appreciate the thoughts and feedback and am glad the Sparkling Teas are making their way into your glasses!
