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Some people hate hibiscus in their tea; I get it, it’s sour and fruity and kind of one note. Besides, it is one ingredient that brews up flavorful and colorful no matter what, so it’s added in every fruit blend under the sun. I don’t have a vendetta against hibiscus, I think it’s pretty good. That said, this tea is only okay for me. I can taste the stevia and would have rather this been uber-tart than to have added sweetener, even if it’s a natural sweetener. I choose to get this tea over another flavor because hibiscus punch is caffeine free, so it has that going for it, and it is still pink and fruity and cool. This tea is just about what you expect, but be sure you like your tea sweet.

*my review is for the midnight green perfect mug, ceramic, not clear glass

I’ll admit that I’m only a few brews in with this mug, but so far it is pretty perfect. I got a dark green ceramic version of this at a Davids Tea store having a sale on teaware. Now that I have a job with an office and a desk, I am going to be using this baby to brew up my worktime tea.

It feels well made to me, though I tend to only hand wash things since I don’t have a dishwasher, so my lifestyle might be a bit gentler on the mug than others. The mesh basket is amazing, heavy duty, large enough for proper unfurling and brewing of leaves, but fine enough that absolutely no bits get through into the tea.

The cover is nice to keep the water warm while it brews and it fits snugly on top of everything. It is handy to have it as a coaster for the basket when the leaves are done brewing, but my one complaint is that a pretty decent puddle will form under the basket as it slowly drains whatever moisture was left after it was removed. The drippings are contained on the coaster-top, but you have to be careful with clean up or you’ll spill the puddle out of the coaster and all over your desk. I know there’s not really a good way to fix this beyond me being more patient when I drain my tea, but it should be noted.

Overall, I am excited with my new purchase, looks stylish but highly functional. I had my eye on this for a while and am feeling no regrets.

Juicy and pink and fruity. This is still very sweet, despite the inclusion of tart things like rose hips and rhubarb. It brews up a rich pink and is low caffeine (green tea level). Nothing too outstanding on this flavor, sweet, fruity, refreshing. My money’s on it being better iced than hot, it makes it feel more decadent and dessert-like.

I have come to love red rooibos for the all the caffeine free blends it enables. This is a rooibos blend with orange blossoms and currants. There is a tour of sour currant and medicine-like rooibos, but mainly the natural orange flavor comes through the most. It is a little too tart to be an orange creamsicle flavor, but there is definitely a vanilla presence in among the orange. Sweet without sugar, this would be extra special with some milk or as a dessert late. Simple, comforting, caffeine free.

After a stressful job interview, I stopped by David’s Tea for some herbal soothers. On tap today was Redberry Tonic and I filled up my iced mug. Definitely red in color, and very sweet with fruit flavors. There is tartness in the mild hibiscus and less mild rosehip flavors, but mainly this is strong flavors of apple, lemongrass, and what I guess is the buckthorn berry flavoring. Once again, this is sweet without any sugar. It was a satisfying flavor to drink iced, and a nice replacement for juice or soda. Warm, I bet this tea will hit the spot if you’re feeling tired or sick, the vitamin C and fresh fruit punch healing you at the core.

This was my pick for tea of the day at my local Davids Teas: tart with deep berry tones in a caffeine-free blend. The dark fruit notes are strong enough to compete with the medicine-like flavors of red rooibos. It is even more amazing as a tea pop, which brings out the zing of sour berry. If I made this myself I would steep it longer than recommended to get more of the tart currant flavors. Plenty fruity and sweet without sugar, it is a nice alternative to sweeter berries like blueberry or strawberry. I would be worried if it would taste too medicine-like when brewed hot, but I’ll have to order some and try it. Cold, the tartness of the currant works in its favor.

This tea matches its name: green rooibos and fruit. The light green rooibos has quiet tones of honey and grass, but is mainly a carrier for the bold fruit flavors. Mango, peach and papaya make this flavor juicy and tropical, though I will say it would be hard for me to tell this apart from mango fruit punch. As with most David’s Teas, this blend is very sweet and strongly flavored. I will say that this was very tasty iced, and would be a nice caffeine-free alternative to fruity green tea blends this summer. Simple, sweet, green and fruity.

This was my pick today at David’s Teas, Cranberry Pear. To be honest I probably wouldn’t have been able to pick this tea’s name out of a list from its taste alone. It is sweet and fruity in a tangy, natural way, the particular sweetness of the apple pieces being the most forward. The pear is there, but mingles so well with the apple is get a little muddled. Although I think the pear is to thank for the gentle, almost-cream finish to this flavor. I was surprised to learn this was a black tea blend, because the color is yellow and the flavor very sweet and juicy. It is marked as low caffeine so the black tea but be at a low percentage. The cranberries are a bit of a mystery. I imagine cranberries as the super tart part of my thanksgiving or the punch in the mouth of cranberry juice. In this blend, I wouldn’t have even noticed there were cranberries, however knowing they are there, I imagine that the tart depth to the fruit come from the cranberries. If that’s the case, I’m glad they are in the mix. David’s Teas tend to be a bit sweet for my tastes, and this tastes more like fruit and less like candy. Having a touch of black tea in the mix adds other notes to the fruity herbals and makes for a better balance.

A tasty new flavor for me to try out for David’s Tea Summer specials. Long Life Oolong. I’m a sucker for any peach or apricot teas, so oolongs tend to be up my alley. I’m drinking this one iced, and as with most David’s Teas it is very fruity and very sweet, even without any sweetener. I don’t quite pick out what tea flavors make this an oolong, there’s only a little mineral earthiness. But there is a lot of peach and a lot of juicy fruit flavors that make this a very refreshing iced pick-me-up. It’s not a very dark tea, brewed up a pale yellow-green, but lacking the hay or grassy flavors that would come with a green tea. Overall, mild and easy and peachy.

The David’s Tea store today was crazy busy or else I would have lingered and smelled a bunch of flavors, but today I was on a mission: try a tea that wasn’t a brewed flavor of the day. More than once the staff at this David’s Tea have been drinking Coconut Oolong as they work and have suggested I try it. So today was the day; I got this flavor brewed fresh and hot at double steepage and poured over ice.

Perhaps I’m just a noob but I don’t quite understand why some oolongs are so much lighter and greener than others, both in leaf and in brew color. This one was very green, and brewed up a pale yellow green. I’m not usually a huge fan of tropical flavors but the coconut in this added mostly butter cream flavors and toasted, nutty notes along with the rich mineral taste of the oolong, and even some vegetal, floral notes on the aftertaste. I can see why this is a favorite with David’s Tea employees. I enjoyed this flavor quite a bit and was glad to get a tea from David’s that wasn’t all rainbow pompoms and sugar-flavors. I’ll have to venture away from their flashy, popular blends and give more of their core teas a try, because this was delicious. Well-balanced but attention-grabbing; creamy, nutty, complex.