As I mentioned before, we’re all Southerners here at VodkaBuzz. It’s ingrained in our heritage and psyche that sweet tea is the best beverage on the planet next to vodka. We’ve been watching the sweet tea vodka movement pick up steam, and, while we haven’t done many sweet tea vodka reviews, we’ve tried to cover the trend. Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka is the newest kid on the block that we know of, and we’re excited to see if it lives up to our expectations as Southerners and vodka drinkers.
The Shot
I’m no tea aficionado. I love sweet tea, but I can’t rhapsodize about the different tastes of different types of tea at different stages in growth from different parts of the world. I know the taste I like, and I like it with more than a cup of sugar per gallon (well, technically, Splenda nowadays). That said, I like what Deep Eddy is doing with their tea. The syrupy-when-cold mixture has a deep taste of dark tea that’s brought to a brighter, lighter note as the sugary flavors of the clover honey slowly becomes more discernible as my taste buds steep in the drink. The vodka isn’t detectable until the swallow, and even then, it just pops in enough to remind me that I am, in fact, drinking an alcoholic beverage. If you’re sipping Deep Eddy straight, you’re not going to need a chaser. The chaser is built in. When you’re done, there’s just the pleasant aftertaste of tea and a little warmth from the ethanol. With Deep Eddy, it’s not as though you’re drinking a flavored vodka; you’re drinking a sweet tea cocktail. That, I can appreciate.
The Mixed Drink
Now, for some folks that don’t like their sweet tea as sweet as we do in the South, there’s a simple cocktail you can make at most homes if all you bought was a bottle of Deep Eddy. Just add water. I mixed at around 1/3 to 1/2 water with the vodka, and it drank almost exactly like a glass of sweet tea. While the water brought out the vodka flavor a little more, you still need to be careful with Deep Eddy or you’ll forget that you’re still doing better than the ABV of beer and probably better than that of wine. Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka mixed down with water, what Deep Eddy calls The Skinny Dip, is a brilliant cocktail for your summer cookout or relaxing on your back porch.
That’s not all. Some folks like their tea with a little lemon, and simulating this with sweet tea vodka just requires a little bit of Simply Lemonade. Mix about 2 parts Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka with 1 part Simply Lemonade, and let it sit for a few minutes. I like to let it sit so that it warms up a little bit and the flavors can mingle a bit more. Try mixing it at different ratios to dial in on what you like best. Deep Eddy with Simply Lemonade makes for a nice cocktail (it’s the best way to drink sweet tea vodka, as far as I’m concerned), but, as I said before, be careful! It’s easy to drink a lot!
Opinions
Miles said his straight shot of Deep Eddy tasted like he’d expect sweet tea to taste, but with a kick at the end. Mel mixed Deep Eddy with Simply Lemonade, noting that her particular mixture tasted “just like Nestea”. From what I gather, that was exactly how she wanted her cocktail to taste.
In my opinion, Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka is a solid entry in the nascent sweet tea flavored vodka landscape. Deep Eddy is great to sip on and it is as good to mix with as it is to drink straight. Summer is just around the bend, so you definitely want to pick up a bottle to enjoy in your favorite porch swing or rocking chair as the days get longer and more humid (at least where we’re sitting).
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