In my college days, I drank a few cocktails, and my favorite mixed drink of choice was a Fuzzy Navel (not virgin ones, though).  Sipping on this delicious green tea blend brings back some of those memories, although I have to admit that they are also somewhat fuzzy.

This is seriously yummy.  I’m not exactly sure why the ingredients list freeze-dried pineapple in this blend (as the drink is composed of orange juice and Peach Schnapps).  And to be honest, after looking at the dry leaf, I don’t really see anything in there that looks like freeze-dried pineapple (incidentally, freeze-dried pineapple is one of my favorite snacks… mmm-mmm!), so I don’t know if this is just a label typo, or if there really is tiny bits of dried pineapple in this blend.

I don’t really taste pineapple either.  What I taste is orange and peach flavors, plus the fresh, buttery sweetness from the Chinese Sencha tea.  The green tea is the prominent flavor, and it has a light creaminess to it that unites with the tangy sweetness of orange and the luscious sweetness of the peach to make one of the more delicious cups of flavored green tea that I’ve had in a long time!  And… that’s saying something, because I’ve had quite a bit of green tea deliciousness!

Here’s what 52Teas had to say about their inspiration behind this blend:

According to Wikipedia:

The fuzzy navel was one of the first drinks to arise in the new popularity of cocktails and mixed drinks in the 1980s. It was created by Doug Schuster in Dublin, Ohio who was working for National Distillers at the time. National Distillers owned the right to distribute a new product from DeKuyper called Peachtree Schnapps. Doug was tasked with creating new drinks containing the Schnapps. He found that it tasted best when mixed with orange juice. He christened it the “Fuzzy Navel” after the marketing department came up with the slogan, “You can taste the fuzz”.

A competing claim has its origination in Omaha Nebraska at the Wagon Tongue Bar. It was mixed by Jack Sherman, who worked for Phillips & Sons Liquor, who gave it the name “fuzzy navel”.

This fashion was described by New York Times critic William Grimes as “a kind of cult, rallying points for young drinkers in search of fun and not too picky about taste”.

“Fuzzy” in the name refers to the peach, and “navel” to the orange.

I guess that’s better than a drink named after a hairy bellybutton.

This has a nice sweetness to it, so it really doesn’t need anything else added, although a little pinch of sugar might help brighten the orange and peach tones a bit.  At the time of this writing, I see that this blend has sold out.  But don’t despair!  Frank from 52Teas is a very nice guy, and if you ask him, he just might re-blend it.  Especially since warm weather is approaching and I suspect this one’s going to make an exceptional iced tea!