I’ve passed this tea countless times in the kosher section of my grocery store; it’s labeled ‘The Aristocrat of Teas.’ I’ve read many Amazon.com reviews from people who were delighted to reconnect with the Swee-Touch-Nee Tea they so fondly remember from their childhoods growing up in the New York City area.
But sometimes we develop nostalgia for things that, as adults, we realize really weren’t that great. I assumed this was the case with Swee-Touch-Nee. I was kind of wrong.
It’s not the greatest tea, but I appreciate many not-so-great teas, and this one has some characteristics that make it worthwhile. The aroma always appears sweet and vegetal to me. Sometimes I notice a woody quality, and sometimes I detect a tiny bit of sweet spice (whatever that is). It goes down smooth with pleasant astringency, and it seems to pack quite a caffeine punch.
Though Swee-Touch-Nee tea’s medium body holds up fairly well to milk, I find it best enjoyed without. A little sweetener or lemon would be okay.
Swee-Touch-Nee, in case you’re wondering, is a transliteration of the Russian word ‘tsvetochny,’ which means flower. Strangely enough, today my wife asked me, ‘What was that tea you made the other morning that tasted flowery?’ Perhaps her succinct analysis is more accurate than mine.
| Aroma: | Vegetal, sweet, earthy, woody |
|---|---|
| Body: | Medium |
| Flavor: | Smooth, sweet, some astringency |
| Color: | Brownish amber |
Nice review. I’ve been struggling finding my favorite way to prepare my Swee-Touch-Nee. 🙂 Thank you.
I also have been having difficulty finding it at any local markets so I did but it on line from Walmart. It aaa 10 boxes CB in a case. I use it all year round to make iced tea which my husband loves and hot tea for myself.
My Mother’s parents came from a region called Carpatho-Russia and they always drank this tea. Thank you for the “Russian connection” with “tsvetochny”. Now the name makes sense!
Although its not a fine British Isles breakfast or evening tea it *is* a great “standard” tea; one to be enjoyed daily. Certainly better than almost all US mass market teas.
I love it!
Funny my daddy (American born but from a father from Lithuania) always called it old Russian tea
I love it, too! It’s perfect for me.
Love this tea
Hard to say why but not merely nostalgia
This tea makes the BEST sweet tea EVER.
The flowery taste of swee touch nee tea comes from the Assam variety mixed in. This same variety gives Irish breakfast it’s character, although that is a much more robust blend made to stand up to milk
Someone from a north suburb of Chicago gave me a box, but I couldn’t figure out what it meant or where she got it.
Twice a year, for many years, my partner and l brought six tins of Twinings Earl Grey home from the shop on the Strand, until we tasted Republic of Tea ‘Earl Greyer.’ But last year l rediscovered Swee-Touch-Nee at a local Russian specialty shop in Boston. (I still have my grandmother’s Swee Touch Nee ton button.box.) lt is a wonderful tea and as delicious as l remember it being as a child
I been drinking Swee-Touch-Nee tea, since I was a little boy growing up in Brooklyn. Occasionally I try other teas, but always come back to it. It is smooth and very good with lemon. The tin is a collectors item and is featured in a food exhibit at the Jewish Museum in New York. In addition, Swee-Touch-Nee is widely available in many supermarkets in the New York Metropolitan area. For real nostalgia people, I also regularly drink Maxwell House Instant coffee. I think I’m living in the past. Enjoy a cup of Swee-Touch-Nee!!!
Thanks for the interesting review of Swee-Touch-Nee tea. I grew up (50’s and 60’s) in a Jewish neighborhood in Chicago, where the standard tea brands on the shelves were Lipton, Constant Comment (usually) and Swee-Touch-Nee. I never understood, till now, the meaning of the strange name, so thank you! The father (Norman?) of my friend, Barry, used to drink his tea from a tall, clear glass, with a sugar cube between his teeth. Old World, I believe. I thought it was cool. Now that I know about Swee-Touch-Nee tea, I find it a little strange that my mother, who was 100% Russian heritage, and my father, who was 50% Lithuanian, only ever had Lipton tea in the house. Maybe rebellion against her Orthodox background; who knows? Plus, they mostly ever drank coffee, anyhow.
We usually drink Twining’s or Constant Common at our house, but next time my wife goes shopping, I’m putting Swee-Touch-Nee tea on the list, assuming she can find it at any of the local markets here in Wilmington, N.C.
BTW: I, too, received a B.S. in Communications–Radio & TV Production–but from SIU (Southern Illinois University), not Univ. of Texas, Austin.
I have enjoyed Swee Touch Nee tea for more than 50 years. I serve it often to guests and always find them asking me about the name of this tea. My response is always the same……. “It’s New Jersey tea”. I named it New Jersey tea since I cannot buy it in the DC area. My parents used to bring it down to me and I always bought a half dozen boxes when I got to Chinatown in NYC. So, New Jersey tea is my favorite tea even after testing it against nearly one hundred other teas during a year long research project with my students. I am so pleased to learn the origins of this tea and now have some interesting stories to tell my guests when they ask me about my tea. Thank you!!!!!!!!
This tea must be enjoyed in a glass like my Russian grandma did so its beautiful amber color can shine through. No need to bite into a sugar cube before taking a sip, but you might try it for a truly nostalgic experience.
I have been drinking this tea since the 1940’s. I am Polish and our entire family has been making it. I also have a tin which is excellent condition. My son lived in New York for a while and bought me a case for Christmas one year. We have always lived in Michigan and Ohio. Might be interesting to note the word Kapusta means cabbage in Polish. I brew it in my coffee pot. One bag makes a whole pot. Put 2 bags in a large soup pot , don’t heat the water. Makes a big batch of iced tea. It never seems to get an oily shim as som tea will do. It is the best!
I’m a convert to Judaism of 52 years, and whenever my husband and I went to my in-laws for Sunday mid-morning meals of smoked fish (several different kinds) and bagels with a shmear of cream cheese, Mom always served Swee-Touch-Nee and Frank’s Black cherry Wishniak soda. We’d finish it off with an Entemann’s almond coffee cake and more Swee-Touch-Nee. I drank it for many years until it disappeared from my supermarket shelves. I found a slightly worse for wear tea tin at a flea market years ago, still waiting for teabags. I’m having my own break fast of bagel, lox, tomato and cream cheese. It sure would be nice to top it off with a cup of the “Aristocrat of Teas”
Welcome Rachel! I too enjoy swee-touch-nee tea and am a little bit Jewish. My grandparents came from Romania and Belarus (Minsk). My parents were non practicing jews…my pop was agnostic while his pop was atheist (having gone blind) and I was raised as a non practicing but bar mitzvahed boy. My kids are non practicing, born of a shiksa mother. Both went to reform Hebrew school and were bar and bat mizvahed. Neither practice Judaism. My son also married a shiksa. I don’t think his new son will have a religious background. But they will drink the tea.
I was today years old when I discovered the Russia connection to the name!
I cannot understand the occasional negative review. I grew up on this tea, and to me this is what tea should be. Lipton’s is pale and dull. Earl grey is bitter (made for milk I guess). Darjeeling snd constant comment are nice, and herbals for different things-
But for a regular plain tea, this is the one. A little floral, wirh an actual TASTE.