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Liquor Review: Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka

Published on November 30th, 2008 in Liquors of the Month, Vodka by Hunter

Every once in a while, I come across something really interesting on the shelf at the liquor store. I was actually shopping for a dirt-cheap vodka to review, but I ran across Firefly Sweet Tea vodka. I had heard about it long ago from a poster on our forum, but this was my first time actually seeing the stuff locally. I am not at all a tea drinker, but even for $22 for a fifth, I had to give this stuff a try. It was just too different to leave there on the shelf.

Firefly Sweet Tea vodka is created on Wadmalaw Island in a small distillery about thirty miles South of Charleston, SC. It was created by SC locals Jim Irvin and Scott Newitt and uses real sugar and tea. The tea used to make Firefly Sweet Tea vodka is the only tea grown in the United States, which happens to be harvested less than five miles from the distillery. We tried another handmade vodka in Tito’s, and we were pretty impressed, so hopes were very high for this spirit.

Drinking Firefly Sweet Tea vodka on ice isn’t all that spectacular. The spirit tastes a lot like tea up front. It’s very sweet and a little bitter at the same time. The flavor of the vodka rears it’s ugly head in the finish though. There is a little kick there with a slight bit of burn. It doesn’t seem like the vodka they add their tea and sugar to is anything special. I’m sure it would burn a good bit on it’s own. The finish is dry, and you would swear you just took a sip of tea, as that flavor lingers on the tongue. I wouldn’t call Firefly Sweet Tea on teh rocks gross or anything, but it just seems a little raw and unrefined. Some people may find it a little too sweet. The first sip seems to be the best taste. Each subsequent sip seems to tates a little more dirty. There’s just something that isn’t quite right about it.

Creating mixed drinks with Firefly Sweet Tea vodka is really a mixologist’s dream. If you enjoy being a mad scientist about your drink-making, look no further for an awesome ingredient. The creation we used for our taste test was about half Firefly Sweet Tea vodka and half Coke with a little lime juice. It tastes magnificent! It tastes like what I would envision a Long Island iced tea should be. Wade says it tastes a lot like Arizona Tea (which I hear is a rather tasty tea you can purchase at your local supermarket). Since I don’t drink much tea, I can’t vouch for that, but I will say the drink is very yummy! The guy behind the counter at our local liquor store suggested mixing it about half and half with lemonade. We were too lazy to acquire lemonade to try the drink, but I would image it could come out nicely if you enjoy sweet drinks. I think that would definitely qualify as a pinky-out drink. I will also note here, that with a little bit of water added to Firefly Sweet Tea vodka, it tastes damn near exactly like sweet tea. That’s just crazy to me! This spirit is definitely a winner when it comes to mixing.

After throwing back a few drinks with Firefly Sweet Tea, I was surprised by the little buzz I felt. I wasn’t sure the 70-proof would be enough to do much. I felt rather calm, and my vizion was even blurring slightly. That made for some interesting video game playing while sitting alone and half-naked on my couch. I had a very relaxing evening alone with a very minimal amount of tears. I’ll credit Firefly with helping. Unfortunately, the aforementioned buzz didn’t last very long. That exciting little buzz left me as quickly as it came, and I was never able to find it again. Since Firefly Sweet Tea vodka is loaded with sugar, I crashed pretty hard after a few hours. I felt like I could sleep for years. This would not be a great beverage to get you through the night without help. I would definitely recommend mixing in other things that are less sweet if you want to stay out for more than a few hours.

I didn’t feel any hangover at all the next day, which surprised me a bit. I normally expect sugary concoctions to give me a headache the following morning. Firefly Sweet Tea vodka was surprisingly gentle. I suppose if I had fought really hard to get a drunk, pounding maybe ten shots worth, I might have felt something the next morning, but the crash from the sugar high hit me too quickly for that to happen. I’m going to give this stuff a good hangover rating though since I really felt quite awesome the next morning. Maybe the sugar is at fault here, but there was entirely too much stickiness around the house after a night drinking this stuff. Be very careful where you make your pours. All in all, I wouldn’t call Firefly Sweet Tea vodka a great beverage, but drinking it is a very unique experience. If you like sweet tea at all, you owe it to yourself to give this spirit a try. You can make some tasty drinks with it, and the people at Firefly get a big thumbs up for creativity.

Sipability – 5.0

November 08 Mixability – 8.0