BriarWorks International Sweet Tea

This ain't the way my mama used to make it. My mama never put vanilla in her sweet tea. Who does that? There is a very slight resemblance to a tea flavor, but it's hard to pick out due to the vanilla from the Black Cav. I may even be imagining it. Beats me. The Virginias make a showing with hay and a touch of citrus and I think the tea-like flavor is from the Orientals. It's hard to be sure of much here because of that damn vanilla. I hope you have better luck with this one than I did. Maybe it requires a more refined palette than my old worn out one.

Mild to medium in body. Taste is medium. Vanilla is mild to medium. Burns very well.

BriarWorks International - Sweet Tea.

I posted on the sibling of this yesterday, Unsweet Tea. I wasn't exactly a fan, decent enough tobacco flavours but the topping of tea spoiled it. I like sugar in my tea, so last night curiosity got the better: would it taste as bad should it be sweetened? Enter Sweet Tea!

Comparing the two is similar to comparing tea with sugar to tea without. The difference? One's sweeter!

Like Unsweet Tea there isn't much black Cavendish. Okay, this contains a bit more than UST, but still not much. The blend mainly comprises light and medium browns. The flavour reflects this: lots of Orientals and Virginia, with only a speck of Cavendish. The sweetness improves the flavour, no end. The tea doesn't seem as potent as it does in UST, the sweetness placates any astringency or stale-notes, making it a much more palatable smoke. Another amelioration compared to its sibling is bite: I don't get any. It burns cooler, and also slower.

Nicotine: medium. Room-note: quite pleasant.

Sweet Tea? Surprisingly, quite an enjoyable smoke. Three stars:

Recommended.

Working my way through the Briarworks offerings finds me at Sweet Tea. Even though it is said to be an aromatic blend, I would say that it is not in the genre of overly flavored as most aromatic blends tend to lean toward. I found this blend to made of good quality leaf, the cut ranges from chunky to shreds to flake. The condition of the blend was at a good moisture content to smoke. Flavor was slightly sweet and a spice essence from the Oriental leaf. I detected no other flavoring other than the leaf itself. As far as tasting like sweet tea, not do much, but the effect on my mouth was the same sensation I receive from drinking a good quality Oriental tea. Just guessing but maybe this is the reason for the name. I rate this at a 3 for flavor and a 4 for the C&D quality tobacco. Have smoked this for the last two days and have enjoyed it! Will be a repeat buyer. Like the Mason jar, saved me from having to jar it up myself. One suggestion if you purchase, pour contents out and fluff and mix, it will make for a better smoke.

Not gonna lie, there are hundreds of brands I've yet to smoke and this one caught my eye only because of the included mason jar. For the price, it seemed a no brainer, but historically whenever a product comes in slick packaging it is either incredibly high end or is a cheap product masquerading as something more. I fear it is the later this time.

The jar looks great, but the aroma was flat and boring. I suppose I could imagine the smell of some black tea here, if it were still dry and in the tea bag. It felt like cheap cigarette tobacco with it's very thin ribbon cut. It took a large wad of the stuff to pack a fairly tight bowl, which burned quite hot and didn't taste like much beyond cardboard. It ended up being a bit stronger than it ought to be, but for the wrong reasons (by being bitter).

I'll keep the free jar which will ultimately house a better product, yet will oddly serve as a reminder to not buy another BriarWorks product.

Recently moved to the south, so how could I resist buying a blend named "Sweet Tea" and sold in a mason jar? I'm a sucker for good marketing so I went all in.

Opened the jar and immediately noticed a sweet, sugary fragrance. I did not get the vanilla note some have mentioned. The tobacco is cut pretty fine, I think you could roll a cigarette with this easily. The moisture content is on the dry side and combined with the fine cut, this lights and burns easily. Almost too easily. A little breeze or puffing on it while I ride around on the lawn mower and it becomes hot. You must sip on this tobacco, it could bite if provoked. However, the nature off this tobacco is like some of the other C&D blends I have sampled. The tobacco seems a little fine cut, a little dry, a little rough around the edges, but it is full of flavor.

This tobacco is sweet with an herbal quality contributed by the orientals. As I smoke it, I realize that sweet tea is actually a decent description of the flavor. When I blow it through my nose, it reminds me of a fine cigarette. It has interesting flavors and a sweet tobacco aroma, but this wants to smoke hot and I have to pull back on the reigns every time I enjoy a bowl which I find to be a nuisance. Upon relight, it has an acrid unpleasant flavor. Also, I find that it leaves a harshness on the throat. No other reviewers have noted this so it may be my body chemistry, but it is enough to deter me from enjoying this.

The mason jar does not work well to pack this tobacco and I do recommend dumping it into another vessel and fluffing it up. Getting air to the blend does seem to be mellowing it out a bit. I haven't made it all the way through two ounces of this. I only want to have this about once a week. It doesn't have an every day kind of flavor and the effect it has on my throat is unpleasant. We will see if this improves over time. I find that after I enjoy a bowl of this, I think that I could have purchased three or four ounces of something that I really enjoy instead.

Ok, I've had to give this one time. When I first got it, all I could say was "interesting". I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It has a bright and grassy VA note, but the orientals do give it a tea flavor. I choose iced tea as my beverage to accompany my pipes almost always. I sweeten mine with stevia to watch the calories, so that may have some impact on the review. I did not get a "Southern Sweet Tea" flavor, but more of a slightly astringent New England iced tea. I mixed my jar with Lane BCA, let it marry for a couple of months and now I find it as a nice pace changer for occasional smoking. Try it, it may work for you. The tobacco itself is very high quality, blended by the folks at C&D.

Jar note: smells strongly of caramel, maybe vanilla. Don't pick up sweet tea at all. Taste is very mild and is actually slightly reminiscent of sweet tea. It's not overly sweet, probably even say under-sweetened, not overly moist, and not goopy. I suppose there is enough flavor here to enjoy, but again, it is *very* mild. Some people might appreciate that aspect, though. I probably wouldn't order it again.

Jar note of sugary hay. The tobacco ribbon cut is tan and light brown with a smattering of dark brown. Tobacco is dry but soft. No prep needed. Burns moderately with few relights. The strength is mild to medium and nic is mild. Flavoring is medium, with notes of sugar. Taste is Mild to Medium and inconsistent, with notes of dry herbal spice, hay, mildly spicy, a mild sweet grass background note, and a mild peppery retro. Virginias is leading with Orientals and Cavendish supporting. Room note is pleasant to tolerable, and aftertaste is meh.