Are New Pure Leaf Artisan Teas Twice as Good as Regular Pure Leaf Teas?

Pure Leaf is getting fancy, y’all. These bougie bottles are labeled as “Artisan Inspired Teas” and they cost about twice as much as regular Pure Leaf iced tea. It’s a big swing from Pure Leaf; let’s see if they live up to that promise.

If I sound extra knowledgeable in this piece, there’s a simple reason: I had help! My girlfriend knows more about tea than I know about anything. She was kind enough to give me her qualified tasting notes on these; in return, I will be using my paycheck from this article to take her to a nice dinner. This is how you achieve relationship harmony.

Sweet Hibiscus Herbal

Pure Leaf Artisan Inspired Sweet Hibiscus Herbal Iced Tea

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Pros: This balances the natural bitter flavor of hibiscus without leaning too sweet, no small task for the best of teas. This was my favorite of the lineup as a tea novice, and my girlfriend co-signed this being better than it has any right to be.

Cons: It doesn’t taste like traditional iced tea—and for good reason. Herbal tea isn’t actually “tea,” per se; it’s herbs treated like tea leaves. If it makes more sense in your brain to think of this as a hibiscus juice, more power to you.

Credit: Liv Averett / Pure Leaf

Rating:

8.5/10

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Sweet Jasmine Green

Pure Leaf Artisan Inspired Sweet Jasmine Green Iced Tea

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Pros: There is no aftertaste to this tea whatsoever. Normally, that’d be a bad thing, but considering how uninteresting the flavor is (more on that in a second), this is actually a positive.

Cons: This would need to clear a high bar to get a thumbs up from my household of green tea fanatics, and let me tell you: It fumbled. This is missing the distinct jasmine aroma and taste. It just comes off as a generic green tea. There’s a non-specific floral note at the end, but nothing that would qualify it as jasmine specifically. Per the expert, this is a perfunctory green tea—it has no right claiming the word “artisan” in any way.

Credit: Liv Averett / Pure Leaf

Rating:

4/10

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Unsweet Darjeeling

Pure Leaf Artisan Inspired Unsweet Darjeeling Black Iced Tea

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Pros: The aroma of this unsweetened black tea is excellent. It is much better than the flavor, unfortunately.

Cons: While this iced tea has a very strong flavor, it’s all tannins. It’s bitter beyond belief; nothing about this is well-rounded. This tea was oversteeped and overprocessed.

Credit: Liv Averett / Pure Leaf

Rating:

5.5/10

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Sweet Assam Black

Pure Leaf Artisan Inspired Sweet Assam Black Iced Tea

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Pros: The sweetness in this “sweet” tea is at a perfect level—not so much sugar that my teeth  are vibrating, but enough that the Southern-bred sweet tea diehards in my life wouldn’t turn it down. The aftertaste is also much more “tea” than the straight sugar aftertaste you get from a standard Pure Leaf sweet tea. This is a good take on your standard sweet tea. If your interest in tea doesn’t go beyond “sweet or unsweet,” this is definitely the bottle you want to pick up.

Cons: Even a good take on something generic still leaves a lot to be desired.

Credit: Liv Averett / Pure Leaf

Rating:

6.5/10

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