Review: Bols Sweet Tea Liqueur
Don’t have any sweet tea vodka on hand (that’s odd, because there are nearly a dozen brands of the stuff on the market now)? Now you can easily fake your own, thanks to Bols Sweet Tea Liqueur.
Bols Sweet Tea Liqueur, as the name would imply, is the essence of tea boiled down into a viscous, 48-proof syrup. It’s authentic in color (caramel is added to brown it out), and the nose is pungent: Strong, like tea that’s been seeping for a full day, and sweetened to within an inch of its life. On the palate, overwhelming sweet, and oddly chalky, more like instant Lipton’s than freshly brewed tea. The tea flavor is there, but it comes across as artificial (Bols doesn’t say whether it’s natural or not), and the overwhelmingly sweet finish is cloying.
In a world of gorgeous sweet tea vodkas, this isn’t just depressing — it’s lazy.
48 proof.
C / $11
Bols Sweet Tea Liqueur
$11
I’ve tasted a few Bols liqueurs against its competitors, and Bols has always fared poorly. It’s a shame. Good price, attractive bottle, but disappointing product.