I've never heard of chocolate tea before seeing this bottle in a local deli in New York, but since Rob says it's "really good," I  figured it was worth a taste. It actually tastes good, but not much like tea. The chocolate tea is weird because it has the consistency of iced tea, but has a full chocolate flavor. As you would expect, it's sweet  in the way that a chocolate-flavored drink should be. If you see this in a store and you like chocolate, since even though the name sounds weird, it doesn't taste much like tea at all.

It also has an interesting feel-good self-help mantra on the side in case you're feeling motivational when you drink it.

Here's a new weird combination that turns out to be really good. It's bubbly cherry iced tea, called TOT 苏打红茶 suda hong cha (Iced Tea Soda).

On first taste, it's almost like the tea flavor is hidden behind the bubbles, and you feel like you're drinking seltzer water. The tea and cherry flavor is subtle and actually pretty good. I'm not a fan of most bottled iced teas like brisk, but this one is different. It's got a lighter flavor and is not so overpoweringly sweet or artificial tasting as other ones I've tried.

Even weirder than the drink itself is the TOT Iced Tea Soda Commercial (I apologize, that this video might not be available outside China without a proxy). I'm not sure how this sells the drink at all, but here's a recap of the commercial:

It's pronounced T-O-T

Guy: "Why are you going to college all the way in Beijing? You know my test scores aren't high enough to go there with you!"

Four Years Later....

Girl: "Iced Tea Soda, please"

Guy sees her ordering the drink, gets all teary-eyed

Girl sees him, nods slightly

Next thing we know, they're happily ever after, but noone has even drank any of the tea

Obviously, this is marketing at its best. The commercial has nothing to do with TOT or iced tea, or even drinks in general. It suggests that if you buy an iced tea soda at a grocery store, you will find your long lost love. You don't even have to drink it! Unfortunately that didn't happen to me today when I bought mine. Maybe I'll have better luck next time.

Kombucha definitely fits the bill of a strange beverage. Pronounced kom-BOO-cha, it is a sweetened tea that is fermented using a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. The fermenting process carbonates it and gives it a trace amount of alcohol. By the way, this colony of 2 billion organisms is alive and growing inside the drink! A handmade tea from China, this tea is renowned for it's health properties to "restore balance and vitality" to your body.

I picked up a few bottles of G.T.'s Kombucha Synergy, which means that it's a blend of 95% raw Kombucha and 5% fruit Juice to review. This version just tastes a bit better than GT's 100% Kombucha. I'll be reviewing the Trilogy flavor, which is raspberry, lemon, and ginger.

When you  get the bottle, it usually has the colony growing at the bottom, so you have to shake it up to get it mixed throughout. Depending on how 'young' the Kombucha is, there will be more or less of these culture strands, since they grow over time. If it's your first time trying Kombucha, I recommend getting one with not much of the culture. Since it is carbonated, don't shake it too hard because it will explode when opening it. This has happened to me.

The smell is very acidic, a lot like vinegar. It's actually almost overwhelmingly acidic, and that cancels out any other smells of the fruit juice. My first impression is that it tastes just like it smells, but also that it is extremely carbonated and sour. It creates a tingling sensation on my tongue that lasts about 5-10 seconds, and leaves an aftertaste like I just ate a slice of lemon. The raspberrry and lemon are evident in this Trilogy, and I'm guessing the ginger just gives it that extra kick of tanginess.

Some funky stuff floating around on the bottom

After about four or five sips, I'm really feeling the carbonation in my stomach and it's making me burp. The strange part is that it's oddly refreshing and I keep going back for more sips. I got lucky with this bottle because there are barely any noticeable strings of the bacteria colony, even though it looked like there was quite a bit on the bottom before I shook it. I've had other bottles with long strings throughout the bottle that are slimy and it makes the drink a little chunky, which is not something I look for in my beverages generally.

For the sake of science, I drank this whole bottle. The company actually recommends drinking only half at a time.  It was hard to get down so much of it, but I actually almost got used to the sour vinegary flavor by the end. Other than the burps and aftertaste, it left me feeling really energetic and refreshed.  It's hard to say whether it was the drink, or the idea of the drink that made me feel that way though.

The label claims that drinking Kombucha supports digestion, metabolism, immune system, anti-aging, and more. It's probiotic and, like Russian kvas, the alcohol from the fermenting process is so small at 0.5%, it's safe for everyone to drink.

The one thing I can say Kombucha would be good for is to detox once in a while. Maybe if you can find a flavor you like, since there is a large variety, you would like to drink it more often. It's worth it for the health benefits and refreshing feeling.

Bonus Kombucha video: Tina Fey does a great job of explaining it:

Sweet tea vodka may not be strange to some people, but in the northern United States, "sweet tea" was unheard of until recently when it began to be sold at fast food restaurants. Sweet Tea is a traditional drink in the southern US, basically consisting of iced tea and sugar. Firefly has infused this classic drink into a vodka using the only tea grown in America. As they say, "This ain't your Grandma's sweet tea."

On a trip to Georgia my first taste of sweet tea vodka was Jeremiah Weed. I had only recently tried sweet tea for the first time, and I was eager to see what sweet tea vodka was all about. It's incredibly sweet as you would expect, which cuts most of the kick that vodka usually had. Based on a friend's suggestion I tried sweet tea vodka and lemonade, for an alcoholic version of an Arnold Palmer, sometimes called a John Daly. Throw in some ice, and it's an excellent and simple cocktail.

When I was at the liquor store next time I saw Firefly for sale and decided to try a new flavor. I chose to buy the peach, and it was a good choice. It smells just like the best peach iced tea. Its sweet but it's still vodka, at 35% alcohol. It''s a little thick to drink by itself, but over ice or mixed with some lemonade it would be great. It's also delicious mixed with orange juice for a new twist on a fuzzy navel.

I first tried Yerba Mate (pronounced mah-tay) on a trip to Uruguay, where it is everywhere and is an integral part of local culture. It is very closely tied to national identity, with the bag of yerba mate saying "El mate de mi pais," the mate of my country.  People of all ages carry around gourds and a  bombilla, along with a thermos of hot water. It is the national drink of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, but is drunk throughout South America. Due to something in it (not caffeine), it gives you a really good boost of energy.

I was taught by Uruguayan friends the proper way to prepare and drink mate. Mate refers to both the herb, yerba mate, as well as the entire drinking setup including gourd and bombilla. The bombilla is a metal straw with a straining mechanism at the bottom. The gourd is nearly filled with the yerba, which is a generous amount. This way, it can last all day without having to refill. The straw is placed in and hot water is poured in the gourd about halfway. Since the gourd is already filled with yerba, it's a small amount of water that is drunk in one sip through the straw. The gourd is sipped dry and refilled after every sip. This way the water stays hot, they tell  me. The yerba is pushed to the side and top to keep it fresh, but if the drink starts to get weak, new yerba from the top is moved to the bottom where the water is.

If you want to know how to drink yerba mate, just look at the locals

The dry yerba maté herb smells similar to green tea, but a bit more earthy. Using the bombilla, on the first sip I got a lot of leafy bits coming through.  On the second sip there were less, as the mate got more packed down.  The subsequent sips have less and less leaves, I think because I drank all the ones that were small enough to pass through already!

Despite the scalding of the hot water and metal straw if you're not used to it, the drink is actually very refreshing. It tastes like a very strong green tea and leaves a cool sensation in your mouth as an aftertaste. It can range from sweet to bitter, varying slightly with each sip and depending on how recently the gourd has been packed. Not to mention, it does give you a good boost of energy. My Uruguayan friends insisted that it doesn't have caffeine, just something similar. Must be a special yerba mate caffeiene - works for me.

Even though my tongue was painfully burned the first time I tried it, I actually liked it. If you've been drinking it for a long time, I'm told, you can widthstand hotter and hotter water. I had no warning though, and got the hottest variety on first sip. It actually does taste better with hotter water, and you can control the heat by where you pour the water. You can achieve maximum heat by pouring directly on the straw, which will stay hot for quite a while and heat the water while you drink.

How to prepare yerba mate if you don't have a gourd

I liked it, but really didn't think I would drink it enough to justify buying the traditional drinking gourd. I brought home a huge bag (standard size, since people usually drink so much and you fill the gourd completely every time) of Canarias yerba mate, which is a common brand made in Brazil. Having a 1 KG bag, I experimented with other ways of drinking the yerba mate. It's nearly impossible to drink like regular loose-leaf tea unless you filter it somehow because the leaf pieces are so small you will end up drinking them all. I have a tea thermos with built-in filter that I got in China so I decided to give it a try. It strained out the leaves just fine, but I learned quickly that there is a reason for the traditional way of drinking mate: it gets bitter very fast if left to steep for more than a minute.

If you're ever in the southern cone of South America, especially in Uruguay or Argentina, I really recommend trying yerba mate. The locals will share it with friends, drinking out of the same straw, so don't be shy. It's a great part of the culture that you shouldn't miss.

*First and third images under Creative Commons License. All other images property of NewAtlasBev.com

Here is everything you need to get started drinking yerba mate in the traditional way: