Sometimes Foodie: Enter the G-Dragon - Citrus Tea with a Pop-Idol Tie-In

Nongfu Tea π Citrus Green Tea G-Dragon (Big Bang Promo) - Asian Food Markets

This line of teas has the BEST illustrations on their labels. Seriously, each one looks like it should be printed onto fabric and turned into trendy clothing and throw pillows. I feel in love with their visuals and reviewed their Peach Oolong tea awhile back, and now I'm back again, this time with a BANG. A Big Bang.

While I was walking down the bottled beverage aisle at the Asian Food Markets (although it's weird to type it as "markets" that's their official name. It's on the sign and everything,) and I spotted a few other flavors, along with some familiar faces. Apparently this line of teas had some kind of Big Bang tie-in? They released a commercial a few years ago, and this particular flavor of tea isn't shown, so maybe it's an on-going thing?

Each of the bottles features a member, and they didn't seem to be flavor-exclusive, which is nice for fans that may prefer a particular flavor over the others but still wants to collect them all. Since I already reviewed peach (which was delicious), I wanted to try something new, and I couldn't resist how well this particular flavor matched G-Dragon's green hair. It was begging to be photographed!

So...this tea might be a little old. Even though I just bought it last week, the text (that I can't really read) mentions 2017. We're now halfway through 2018, so this may be not-so-fresh, but it's sugary bottled tea, so I'm not scared.

Once opened, the liquid inside smells really sweet and citrus-y. The aroma is making me think of canned mandarin orange slices, but there is a slightly dry citrus-y aroma that leans a little towards grape fruit, or even blood orange.

I poured some into a glass and took a sip. Like (nearly) all sweetened bottled iced teas around the world, this is sweet. Really sweet. Taste-wise, this is almost like I used the syrupy liquid from canned mandarin orange slices to brew up some green tea. The strongest citrus presence seems to be orange, or mandarin orange, but there might be some variation of lemon mixed in there. It's very hard to tell. This is like, the Ecto-Cooler of bottled fruit teas.

Warp-y-face!

When it comes to iced tea, I prefer things to be a little lighter, and less syrupy, but there is no denying that this stuff is tasty. I look at it more like a concentrated syrup to dilute with water or unsweetened Green tea more than a straight up beverage I would reach for all the time, but I would still totally repurchase this, and it inspires me to try infusing real grapefruit and mandarin into my homemade iced green tea this summer.

If you're a fan of Big Bang, the bottles can be great collectors items, but if you're just looking for a cold, sweet, pick-me-up, this is a very stylish, and enjoyable, line of teas and they're definitely worth trying.