It is miserably hot (not as hot as last summer, just frustrating since I thought I escaped to Pennsylvania to miss the terrible heat, 101 is still too hot!!) blazing sunshine, and the air quality is like breathing in a cloud of funk. When I saw the description of DAVIDsTea Bamboozled as ‘a light and refreshing drink for summer’ you can guess that I was all over it. I need something to revitalize my spirit after making the mistake of going outside for more than five minutes. I got a sample of this tea (my first experience with the very popular in tea circles, DAVIDsTEA) from a friend on Steepster so I went into this a little blind. Here was my thought process: ‘ooh a tea called Bamboozled, I bet that is going to be exciting, and probably loaded with caffeine!’ Looks at the leaves ‘ok, so it is an herbal tea, but what is that…wait, I know those leaves, this is bamboo!! AWESOME!!!’ What can I say, Amanda Panda loves Bamboo.
With a blend of Bamboo leaves, Pineapple, Peach, Apple, Rose Buds, and Peony Petals, the best way to describe the dry leaves is beautiful. This is one of the prettiest herbal teas I have seen in a while. The aroma is heady and tropical, very sweet, and just a touch green from the bamboo. The green of the bamboo is not vegetal but more grass like with just a hint of (and I mean a tiny, tiny hint) of citrus. The aroma is very refreshing!
Once brewed the aroma is still very sweet and tropical, but loses some of the headiness and gains a bit of a tangy quality. At this point you can smell more of the fruits, especially the peach, and even a hint of the floral. The scent is now more of a refreshing garden than a tropical paradise, which is a delightful transition. The bamboo leaves, once brewed, gain a slightly spicy aroma which is wonderful, it is very evocative of spice bush.
And now on to the drinking! The liquid is beautiful, a pale amber, honestly I was expecting a bit of green from the leaves, but this late summer sunshine color is fine too. Also because it means summer is almost over!!! Anyway, the first thing I notice is the citrus taste, not what I was expecting because it is not the acidic taste of pineapple, but actual lemon (but without the acid burn.) Have you ever been really thirsty and drank water with lemon in it expecting it to be sour but instead found it to be pleasantly sweet? That is what this tea is like, unexpected sweetness. I feel I am not explaining this correctly, it is not sweet from the fruit or from sugar, but almost like my taste buds are confused. I know that sounds kinda odd, but it is delicious! After the initial citrus sweetness you can taste the tropical loveliness of the pineapples and the sunshine flavor of the peaches. There are slight notes of floral as well which add to the tangy quality of the tea.
This tea is delicious and really does refresh my slightly melted spirit. It is like drinking a little bit of summer with out the bad qualities of the season.
