Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka

[lynnlato]

Has anyone tried this yet? If you're unfamiliar, it is a vodka distilled in South Carolina. It is sweet tea flavored and the tea is grown in SC as well. I was in Charleston a few weeks ago and had a drink @ SNOB made w/ Firefly madeira wine flavored vodka.

It's an interesting concoction. You can make a drink mixing equal parts tea vodka w/ spring water and a lemon wedge. It tastes exactly like iced tea. It's not "sweet" though but you can certainly add some simple syrup if you are a sweet tea fan.

At $6 a bottle it's worth giving it a try.

If you've had it, how do you use it? What drinks have you concocted???

[ncyankee101]

I risked $7,25 on a bottle of Burnett's Sweet tea vodka - and amazingly enough, given how godawful most of their stuff is - it is pretty decent. I think it actually has more tea flavor than the Firefly - not necessarly BETTER tea flavor, just a little stronger.

[jhopp217]

How the heck are there this many replies and nobody mentioned making an Arnold Palmer. Equal parts Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka/Any canned or bottled lemonade. it's refreshing, delicious and down right dangerous!

[roro1831]

I did mention it with lemonade, just didn't call it an Arnold Palmer as Arnold Palmer's do not have booze in them. Call it a John Daly and it's ok. lol

[jhopp217]

HAHA! Good ONE!

[tiger2wolf]

I live in NY. I went to the OUTBACK Steakhouse for fathers day and had their Firefly Sweet Tea...it was AWESOME....that will be my drink of choice for the summer.
For those looking for it in Queens, so far I have only been able to find it in the Bay Terrace Shopping Plaza in Bayside.

[lostinnashville]

Oh my is this stuff delicious! Ran to the liquor store this am and am trying it on ice right now with fresh squeezed lemonade and a splash of spring water. It DOES taste just like sweet tea with lemon in this way-no alcohol burn at all. Dangerous indeed. Does anyone know if it is loaded with calories? Frugal MacDoogal liquors in Nashville has Peach Tea, Mint Tea and Lemon Tea varieties, but guys who work there thought those had off-putting "fake" flavors.

[merlinscat]

Lions, and tigers, and Firefly... oh my! Discovered this liquor when my best friend turned 40, and the bar we were at couldn't make a decent magarita. I'm not a huge drinker, I like expensive tequila and MIchelob Light, and that was it until I discovered Firefly! Since I live in SC, I found it at the first red dot store I went to, and the owner said he couldn't keep it in for a while. I like it best with lemonade, but think I will try that Sprite suggestion someone gave. Peace!

[bluiewest1]

It's not a Red Dot Store, that's a Japanese Embassy!

[MJBK]

For those who asked, Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka (the original) is available for purchase as Astor Wines in Manhattan. For those in Brooklyn Michael Towne Wine on Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights has the original, lemon tea, rasberry, peach & mint flavors available. If you would like to try the drink Duke's on 19th and Park sells firefly & lemonade with special $20.00 pitchers on Fridays for happy hour.

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

Something I just found out the other night: Firefly mint flavor mixed with lemonade tastes surprisingly close to Disneyland's version of a mint julep that they serve in New Orleans Square. Of course, now the drink actually has alcohol in it...

[lynnlato]

firefly has a mint flavor???? Interesting. 'Course I could practically be considered a commercial farmer what with all the mint I have growing on the side of my house. :-)

[lynnlato]

Has anyone tried the Jeremiah Weed sweet tea vodka? It's relatively new and, I think, better than the Firefly stuff. It's also 70 proof and has a stronger tea flavor (it's not made with muscadine grapes either).

Better yet, it's slightly cheaper than Firefly.

[amethiste]

I've seen it in the store but I have not tried it.

[roro1831]

I haven't tried it on its own, but had it at a bar in Baltimore mixed with lemonade, it was very good. I've already gone through one bottle of the Firefly at home, went through it in two days since friends loved it as well.
I'll buy a bottle of both and do a side by side comparison.

One of my friends mixed the Firefly with Mike's Hard Lemonade....very very good.

[amethiste]

I saw that Corks in Federal Hill has Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea vodka at the bar. The bartender had not tried Firefly so she was not able to offer a comparison. I was too busy drinking the Cucumber Tom Collins to try.

Roro1831 would you please post your results? Thanks! :-)

[roro1831]

Will do once I recover from having my last wisdom tooth pulled

[ShanaBarry]

I've actually started to notice Jeremiah Weed more and more in New York City. The store i always go to in Chelsea carries the entire line. They have the bourbon liqueur, Sweet Tea, Peach Sweet Tea and the Ready to Serve Sweet Tea and Lemonade. Since the weather is turning, we love having the bourbon in a hot toddy and the vodka is really good in a hard cider. I plan on making both of them for Thanksgiving :) Im trying to find any bars in nyc that carry it, does anyone know any good places?

[amethiste]

I bought this yesterday and mixed up a special cocktail for myself and some friends. I mixed sweet tea vodka, spring water and simple syrup. It turned out to be good and deadly. I need to buy more. :-)

[yamalam]

I wonder if one could make homemade tea vodka by steeping tea bags in vodka for a week, and then combine it with simple syrup to add sweetness. Hmmm.... I might try this

[JK Grence the Cosmic Jester]

Can't see why not. Taste it every now and again; overextracted black tea can get quite tannic.

[MazDee]

Please let us know if you do that and how it turns out! I tasted the Firefly Sweet Tea just last week while visiting in Oregon (straight) and it was so delicious. Not available where I live so would love to make some.

[kiddsmom]

I have made martini's out of the different flavors! The flavors are Mint,Raspberry,Lemon and Regular. I have sugar rimmed glasses to take off the "edge" of the tea. They are fantastic!

[rhnault]

Does the actual vodka taste sweet or is it just infused like the berry vodkas are? I have seen it and wanted to buy it but was not sure if it was full of added sugar.

[cookiekelly]

The sweet tea vodka is very sweet but yummy. If they make unsweet I would suggest it and then you could add the sweetness you want.

[lynnlato]

I don't find it overly sweet. Oh, and they don't make unsweet - ha! Sweet tea is a Southern staple, unsweet tea is a Northerner thang (it's made in Charleston SC). As a Northerner who has lived in the South for 14 yrs, I still get "the look" sometimes when I order "unsweet tea". Or sometimes they just give me sweet tea anyway, out of habit. :)

[invinotheresverde]

Your cocktails sound cute, but they're definitely not martinis. A martini is made with gin and vermouth only.

Not trying to be a downer. It's just the peeve of lots who post on the Spirits Board. :)

[passionate.allie]

definately it tastes just like good southern tea. it's good with lemon, lemonade, sprite, or straight! lol

[nmurawsk]

I am not a vodka drinker but I LOVE Firefly. So delicious and refreshing on the rocks with some fresh squeezed lemon juice. I have also tried Sweet Caroline's Sweet Tea Vodka and it is not as good (although cheaper). That needs to be mixed with some lemonade or maybe a simple syrup as some others have suggested. Ask your local liquor store to start carrying Firefly!

[Antithesisofpop]

Just bought a bottle last weekend here in Kansas. I can't wait to bust it open and give it a try!

[Antithesisofpop]

Finally gave it a try with some splenda nd some water...sublime.

[tofuturkey118]

my friend from South Carolina brought some back to California. It's REALLY GOOD. The vodka is smooth and sweet, can't describe it any other way than saying it tastes like sweet tea vodka. My friend had it mixed with lemonade, I'm assuming it was good.

[litchick]

I loved this when I tried in Charleston this past fall. Bought a bottle and have been drinking it straight as a digestif in the evenings. Delicious!

[LaLa]

so so good! I like it with lemonade but it is good with lime too.

[yamalam]

The national chain BevMo carries it now, but its popular so run! They have a website too and ship.

www.bevmo.com

Much agreed that this stuff is crazy good, esp with homemade lemonade:)

[trumpetsaz]

I live in NC and the stuff is all the rage now. If you like sweet tea, just mix 50/50 vodka and water and you get a drink that tastes just like sweet tea with a little kick. I don't know where you found it for $6, I got it last night for about $24. We were thinking of mixing the vodka with sweet tea, but we didn't have any at the time. Lemonade might be worth a shot too.

[lynnlato]

$6, way back when I started this thread, was for the original Firefly vodka, not their sweet tea vodka.

[MrIncognito1]

Is there a way to make your own Sweet Tea Vodka? I've made some other infusions and wondered if anyone had any ideas of how to make your own.

[kiddsmom]

I have made Sweet Tea Martini's with mine. For the lemon, mix lemonade and vodka in a shaker, have sugar rimmed glass (colored sugar in yellow is cool) and then add a lemon swirl - same with raspberry but put raspberry in bottom of glass with white sugar rim.

[glowworm]

I have not seen the Firefly tea vodka here in Orlando but I just saw a bottle of ?Absolut? (I think) Sweet Tea Vodka. Has anyone tried that? Is it as good as the Firefly?

[lynnlato]

I did a search for Absolut sweet tea vodka and came up empty. Maybe you were mistaken? I don't know of another sweet tea vodka on the market. Yet. :)

[Flaxen_Vixen]

http://www.jeremiahweed.com/ Another brand of sweet tea vodka...I actually like this better and it's a dollar or two cheaper here in DC.

[lynnlato]

Shhh, I like it better too. But I live in the Carolinas. :-)

[mamasquirrel]

Find it. Drink it. This is just wonderful stuff. It's made it to Memphis, so we had to break it out with a friend a few nights ago. I would recommend serving it on the rocks with mint simple syrup and a twist of lemon. That was a wonderful concoction. Just be aware - this is a really smooth drink, and you'll drink more than you realize if you're not careful. I can't wait for the muscadine to get here!

[avad]

I had a shot last week and I could barely taste alcohol. Stuff is dangerously good.

[lynnlato]

FYI, the muscadine isn't nearly as good as the sweet tea. It tastes like a bottle of cheap booze and is nothing special, IMHO.

I agree, the sweet tea vodka is good just as you described w/ maybe a splash of water.

[Lfrank14]

Where in Memphis did you find this?? I've been looking for a while and would love to get some for the weekend

[Nocturnalbill]

To my knowledge, the Muscadine may have been discontinued, as it was not available at their distillery outside Charleston when we went last summer. They are coming out with a few liquors soon, but these will only be available in SC for the first little bit.

[Nocturnalbill]

In point of fact, I may have misread, and you may be simply referring to the regular sweet tea style. Please disregard.

[urbancowgirl]

Hi! Just wondering if anyone has noticed this in stores in/around NYC? I was expecting it to arrive around the first of August as per the Imbiber article, but even the distributor (Phoenix Beverages) doesn't seem to know what I'm talking about. I'm not as desperate for it as I sound, but DANG if I don't want some right now!

[cllong06]

Same here! I'm dying to get some of this stuff and live in NYC. If anyone's seen it around, please let me know where you've found it! Thanks :)

[Jaime32]

Do you know where to buy the sweet tea vodka in NYC? I see on Firefly's website that they distribute up here. I just got back from Charleston and need some!

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Is it churlish of me to think "why not just make up a big ol' pitcher of sweet tea with lemon (and, if you're like me, and I know I am, some spearmint leaves) and put some vodka in it?"?

Which does sound like a great idea, don't get me wrong.

[starvey88]

your can find it at discovery wines 10 AVE A 10009 THEY HAVE IT FOR 20 FOR A 750LM

[emsmiley]

I recently went to Charleston and dined at 82 Queen. They make a delicious Sweet Tea Mojito with the Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka. Amazing!

[baldiboys]

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! This stuff is awesome...Just came back from Charleston and i brought back three bottles. this stuff mixed with REALLY good lemonade is GREAT!!!!!!

[kcfields]

I agree! I live in Greenville, SC. We mix it with a lemonade we get from the grocery store in the dairy section where juice is sold. The lemonade is called Simply Lemonade - it's not bad for a commercial lemonade. This mixed with the sweet tea vodka and plenty of ice is very refreshing!

[lynnlato]

FYI, apparently the $6 price tag was a limited promotional price... I just went back for more and it was $20 bucks for 750ml. But the Firefly madiera wine flavored vodka is only $6 bucks. Cheers!

[jspear]

sounds great, get it up north and I'll try it.

[lynnlato]

Yea, that's the trouble. I'm in PA for the holiday wknd and I had to bring up a few bottles for family. Hopefully, it will make it's way up to ya soon!

[chazzerking]

I went to the Firefly website, and I'm confused. There isn't any Madeira flavored liste but there is Muscadine wine flavored listed. That would be more in keeping with their Southern theme. I'll have to order some and try out a few ideas that I have for the Tea flavored.

[lynnlato]

You're correct, chazzerking. I made a faux pas. I meant muscadine, not madeira. Oops!

[karmalaw]

I haven't had the tea vodka.. but I have hand a really delectable nice tea liqueur made in Argentina (by a distillery in Rosario called El Nono Don).. they make small batch liqueurs that are quite tasty.. including Dulce de Leche (caramel), Rosa Mosqueta (a wild rose that grows in the Andes mountains), and more.

http://www.elnonodon.com.ar/inicioing...

[dandandan]

lol! i thought you actually came up with a science fiction infused vodka.
alas, i haven't tried this. but if i do, i'm definitely making a cocktail in honor of the firefly series.

[jeanmarieok]

interesting. I'll look for it at the liquor store. I'm a big fan of lemon vodka and sweet iced tea - so this would be right up my alley.

[mhanna43]

It is very good. Only around SC or close areas right now.

http://www.fireflyvodka.com/history.htm

the sweet tea vodka is great on the rocks. Taste like sweet tea with lemon