Iced teas from Moby and Kelly Tisdale’s Teany salon on the Lower East Side debut in bottle form next month at Dean & DeLuca. How do the $2 teas taste? Three connoisseurs—Brits Nicky Perry of Tea & Sympathy and caterer Serena Bass, plus Tim Herman of the Plaza hotel—read the Teany leaves.

Vanilla Berry Hibiscus
HERMAN: There’s a nice balance between sweetness and flavor.
BASS: It says apple and pineapple, but I taste strawberries and raspberries.
PERRY: I don’t think it tastes like tea. It looks like a Cosmopolitan.

Tea With Lemon
PERRY: Not strong enough, tea-wise.
BASS: But it’s spot-on for the Americans.
HERMAN: You could never put ice in this—it’ll get more watered down. PERRY: Americans are obsessed with their ice. Cold! Cold! Cold! Everything cold!

Peach Berry Green Tea
BASS: There’s green tea in it? They could be lying.
HERMAN: This would go great with vodka.
PERRY: Or Pimm’s.
BASS: Healthy and pure. I’m not getting a head rush from drinking it.

Herbal Citrus Cooler
PERRY: It’s got lots of bits in it—sediment. Like a fine wine.
HERMAN: Like it has tannin in it. It would be better colder.
PERRY: It tastes like . . .
BASS: Swedish Fish? The kind that stick to your teeth?
PERRY: That’s the one.

Related:

• Archive: “Intelligencer Features”
• Articles by Sarah Bernard
• Table of Contents: May 24, 2004 issue of New York | Subscribe!