Firefly’s Sweet Tea Vodka was a pioneer in the tea-flavored vodka space. The South Carolina-based company has since expanded with multiple varieties (peach, mint, lemon, low-cal)… and now there’s this: Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon.

This category already exists (Jeremiah Weed has a stellar one), so the company has competition. Firefly’s version blend’s Buffalo Trace whiskey with real sweet tea (no vodka in this one, apparently), but bottles it at a mere 60 proof instead of 70, like regular Firefly. The result is, frankly, on the weak side, and a bit out of balance. The tea could be stronger, the Bourbon could be punchier, the combo a little more interesting. Instead, I get a kind of sugary wood character that doesn’t really taste like either of these great flavors. But I think the very heavy sugar finish is what undoes it the most.

Still, not an unpalatable quaff, and the nose is actually pretty spot-on, heavy with tea notes and a touch of Bourbon’s vanilla and wood character. It’s just too bad it doesn’t follow-through perhaps the way it could when it actually comes time to drink it.

60 proof.

B+ / $18 

Cocktail ideas from Firefly…

The Sweet Shot
1 part Firefly Sweet Tea Flavored Bourbon
½ part Firefly Raspberry Sweet Tea Flavored Vodka

Shake with ice and strain into a shot glass

Igniter Martini
In a shaker with ice mix:
2 parts Firefly Sweet Tea Flavored Bourbon
1/2 part cinnamon schnapps
Splash of cherry juice

Pour into chilled martini glass, sprinkle with cinnamon, add cherry garnish

Firefly Sunrise
Fill a tall rocks glass with ice. Add:
1 part Firefly Sweet Tea Flavored Bourbon
½ part triple sec
Splash or orange juice
Splash of cranberry juice

Add orange wedge and a cherry garnish

Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon

$18

8.5

Rating

8.5/10

Related Stories:

Review: Firefly Sweet Tea Flavored Vodka Review: Firefly Mint Tea Vodka Review: Jeremiah Weed Country Peach Sweet Tea Vodka and Sweet Tea Bourbon Review: Firefly Skinny Tea Flavored Vodka