Mir

I don’t really consider this a chai. It technically is a spiced tea, but it’s missing the usual spices you see in a chai, and therefore doesn’t have that distinctive chai flavour. Also, this tea does not use an india black base but a chinese black. So in my mind it’s not actually a chai, but maybe I’m being too narrow minded.

Ignoring the naming, I’ll get on to the tea itself. It tastes mostly of chocolate and tea, with a bit of warmth from the spice. Good, despite being kind of a novelty. I don’t think I’d drink this tea all the time, but it’s very nice on a cold day.

Okay, another DavidsTea rooibos. The last one… for now.

This one has a smoothness and fullness similar to the Creme Brulee, but not quite as full feeling. I guess that’s the ‘creme’ part of the flavour? This one is sweeter and more caramel-y, but I find them quite similar. I like this one more, though. If you’re not much for sweet teas, the Creme Brulee may be a better choice.

I get a really creamy, smooth cup. Not an overwhelming creaminess but something really full seeming. I can almost imagine it’s food and not liquid as I drink it. The tea is not as sweet as one might expect, but it has nice hints of caramel. I haven’t ever actually had creme brulee dessert because I don’t like the texture of custard, but I imagine this makes a decent approximation of it.

It’s not as exciting as it all sounds, though. The flavour is quite mild even though it’s so creamy.

This tea was kind of disappointing. I got it as a gift, and it sounds like it would be a great tea, but on first sniff it smelled strongly of berry bubblegum. Fruity to the max, but in an artificial kind of way. Once steeped, the flavour is very similar to the scent. The bubblegum is slightly toned down, but it’s still not the true berry flavour I would have liked.

I had a friend over who quite liked this tea, and the friend who gifted it to me loved it, too, so I think I’m the only one who’s getting this artificial kind of bubblegum note.

Tried this again. It tasted better, but I wasn’t very impressed. Once again it smelled nice, but it didn’t translate into the taste. At least it wasn’t bitter this time, but it tasted pretty much like regular green, maybe with a bit of sweetness. Not bad, but not exactly taffy flavoured. I may try sugar to bring out the flavour, but I doubt it’ll do much.

Honestly, I think I would have preferred the taffy with a black base. Greens are too… vegetal? Something like that. Just not very suited to overly sweet flavours.

Okay, DavidsTea has me convinced. I do actually like rooibos – with the right flavours.

The smell is purely maple. It is so authentic smelling that I keep wanting to pour my tea on a stack of pancakes.

The flavour of the tea just plain delicious. You get the sweet maple syrup with the woody rooibos to counterbalance it. I feel like I should be walking through a forest during the harvest season as the sap of the maple trees are collected in buckets.

edit: increased the rating by 5 points because I can’t stop drinking this blend!

This surprised me. I don’t really think of myself of a rooibos fan, but I’m starting to think that maybe the stuff I had tried in the past were just poor examples of rooibos. I also think that I enjoy rooibos best with other flavours. On its own I find it too… woodsy.

I actually quite like this blend – I think it’s the peppercorns that give it an unusual spice at the end that you don’t get with most chais. The spice makes it feel energizing without any caffeine. You still get that woody note from the rooibos, but the spice holds up well with it.

This is the tea that made me think I didn’t like orange pekoe. No matter what I do, it always gets super bitter. If I make a full pot of tea instead of a cup and steep it for only about a minute it turns out drinkable, but still not very good. I’ll have it with a lot of milk and sugar if there’s no other options (like when I’m visiting family) but definitely not my tea of choice.

I’m pretty sure I oversteeped this one. It smelled like delicious caramel, but just tasted bitter. Going to take more care next time, and I’ll be back with a rating.

I’ve never had a flavoured oolong so I wasn’t quite sure how to take it. Black? With milk and sugar? I decided to go with milk and sugar because the scent was so creamy and sweet it seemed right.

At first I was disappointed. The tea is so fragrant but when I first tasted it, it was very mild. I continued to drink it, though, and with each sip that buttery flavour everyone is talking about became apparent. I think I’d still brew it a bit longer next time.

Quite a unique experience. Not an every day tea, but definitely something worth trying.

The scent is very chocolate dipped strawberry. It translates well into flavour, becoming a bit milder to let the tea come through. The rose gets lost somewhere amidst it all, but I don’t think it detracts from the tea. Overall, a nice balance in flavours and an enjoyable tea, especially with a bit of sugar and milk… but I’m biased.

I always make chai latte-style, so this was no different. Almost pure 1% milk, just a splash of water to make up for steam loss, and sweetened with a teaspoon of brown sugar (as suggested on the package). Heated for about 10 minutes on medium heat.

The taste was definitely reminiscent of pumpkin pie – the brown sugar really helped make it authentic tasting. It’s not as spicy as most other chai’s, but I think more spice would have overpowered the pumpkin notes and ruined the whole point of having pumpkin chai.

This is my standard go-to bagged tea. Mostly because it’s the only Earl Grey I can buy at the grocery store in boxes of more than 24, but it’s a simple unoffensive tea. Nearly impossible to oversteep, so it’s great for those times when you’re a bit distracted and can’t baby your tea during the brewing process. The tea doesn’t stand on its own very well, but I prefer milk and sugar anyway.