DAVIDsTEA

I got a sample packet of this tea from the GCTT and it had enough in it for two cups of tea. It was surprisingly smooth and non-astringent for a Darjeeling while still holding that typical muscatel flavour and a bit of a woodsy undertone. It’s a much less finicky tea than a 1st flush Darjeeling (which I can certainly appreciate) while still being complex enough to be interesting.

This is very unimpressive. I was hoping it could be a substitute for my beloved Butiki Flowery Pineapple Oolong. But where that tea tastes juicy and natural, this one is slightly drying and tastes more like pineapple candy than actual pineapple. I’m very glad to have tried this blend but the search for a quality pineapple oolong goes on. Thanks for the sample EmilyGee!

OMGoodness! wasn’t too sure I was going to enjoy this tea too much because of the high caffeine level, but holy cow I don’t think I’ll ever be able to give it up now! This tea is coming to work in my mug every morning from now on I think, all new teas will have to be tried at home. While the chocolate and raspberry flavors are not quite as defined as I would have expected (that combo is kind of the reason I got it) it’s absolutely amazing, and really I think this tea may have had something to do with my ability to cope with the less than stellar day at work today.
Now I had to double check the ingredients on this one after I took a couple sips because I honestly thought there might be banana in it, which would totally not be good as one of my co-workers is deathly allergic to bananas in any form, but lucky for me there isn’t any, so it got me thinking why on earth am I tasting banana, but after looking at a few other notes it would seem I’m not the only one.

I got this tea in the sweet indulgence set and to be honestly when the little card said it was the best chocolate tea I was expecting something, well chocolate. It took me almost the whole cup to figure out where I had tasted this exact tea before and then it dawned on me, presidents choice mint chocolate tea. It’s literally the exact same tea (but the PC is cheaper) the mint is very overpowering in this, and I’m really not a fan of mint. There was enough in the sample box for 2 cups and this is one that my husband will end up finishing off (I pawn all the teas I’m not a fan of off on him.)

Didn’t I just finish saying that I wanted to drink up as much tea as possible to have less to move? Then why did I just go and buy a little bit of each new spring tea? Yeesh. To be fair, I originally went out to redeem five black pots at Lush to get a free face mask, then get my protein and iron consumption on and grab a steak dinner special. Whilst waiting for my steak, I was browsing my email on my phone and came across the email. So there you have it. Waiting on steak ultimately leads to buying tea.

This, as well as Melon Drop, smelled the most intriguing to me in the store. Although I’m not a huge fan of nectarine, I love yellow peaches so I figured it may be worth a shot. Normally I don’t care for peach teas anyway because they wind up tasting like artificial juice crystals. And this has a little bit of that in the scent, but the fact that this has actual apricot in it ultimately sold me.

Now, in flavour, on the spectrum of genuine and artificial flavours, White Nectarine sits right smack in the middle. I can taste nuances of realistic dried nectarine and peach, but then there is a slight twinge of juice crystals, most likely due to the natural nectarine flavouring in this.

I like it but I don’t love it. It would probably make a tasty cold brew but since money doesn’t go on trees, there is no way I’m doing that with a white tea.

Finally I’ve tried this.

And of course the perfect time to try new teas is when you’re sick (yep I said it) and can’t really taste a whole lot.

It’s fine. There was hardly any white tea, but I like the flavours of the bits that are in it. I could never justify spending white tea prices on a tea that’s mostly heavy fruit bits.

(The quince is actually quite nice in this, though. Very quincey…)

And I added honey.

Thank you, Kittylovestea, for a sample of this :)!

This tea tastes of lemongrass with a hint of spice. It has just the right mixture and I like it :). It’s one of those teas I was thinking about trying but never got around to, and now it’s gone. Booo….

This is the tea I want to gift to someone who doesn’t know tea and who needs a pick me up. With it’s pretty floating jasmine flowers, and it’s bright lemony taste, this tea is for someone special to who you want to share a bit of beauty to the world or if you just want to brighten up your own day because you deserve it.

Books recommended for this tea are: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo by Unknown, J.R.R. Tolkien (Translator), Christopher Tolkien (Editor), The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

Drank this on the weekend while i was sick, actually quite enjoyed this one

Had this tasty little number as a latte today.

Mint is definitely the most prominent flavour, followed by coconut, then chocolate. I recall the chocolate being more noticeable and not even realizing there was coconut when drinking this black, but it’s been a while and I had a cold then. Overall rather cozy. A coconutty (totally a word) After 8 vibe that would probably make an excellent post-dinner tea session if it weren’t for the caffeine (not like that’s stopped me before). Not one I’d restock, but I could see picking up a to-go cup from time to time.

This is the first loose leaf tea I had and basically what started me in tea drinking. Decided to pick some up the other day because jasmine teas have always been my favorite.

Sadly, this is not as good as I remembered. I prefer a stronger jasmine, but this tastes like mostly green tea and a small bit of jasmine. It also got bitter since I left it in my travel mug longer than I was supposed to. It does seem like there are some small dusty bits in tea, which may have contributed to the bitterness and stronger green tea taste. Will not be buying more of this when I finish the bag – I have found much better jasmine green teas both in terms of taste and value.

Another sample from Rowell Strange!

I am not usually one for roasted oolong, I am always willing to give them a second chance. This is a Dan Cong, so it’s an easy roasted oolong to like. So! Without further ado, I slung this into my yixing and got to it!

The first two steeps tasted a bit like the Saskatoon Berry sample that was right next to it. By the third steep, it had completely gone away. The berry flavor simply complimented the roasted stone fruit and honey notes I got from the actual tea. By steep five, most of the natural fruit ha gone and I was left with the toasty flavor of barley or brown rice. The leaves were pretty resilient, there was not bitterness at all, even when I left the tea in the pot for like, 7 minutes longer than I had intended. It tasted good throughout, the texture was thinner than the thick soupy mouthfeel I typically get from greener oolong, but I thoroughly liked spending time with it anyway.

Not something I would chose for myself, which is exactly how I like it. Surprises are good! And I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this tea. Thanks Ros!

Oh my, will I ever get tired of iced tea?

Had some of this to get me through my exam this morning. The white tea is surprisingly noticeable and is complemented nicely by a light peach flavour. Sweet enough to drink without adding anything but isn’t overpowering. I had a small sample of this hot yesterday in store as well and it’s equally as pleasant. Will be enjoying a lot more of this in the near future, but I doubt I’ll stock up.

This is my go-to decadent morning tea. It is on sale right now, and I have had to restrain myself from overstocking, reminded that I have too much of some former “go-tos.” It is not so much that I am fickle as that I am new to loose leaf tea… so many wonders to discover. :) Plus I now have to limit my caffeine to about one cup per day (re steeping doesn’t count, though, right?), which heightens the importance of the morning choice…

I never regret Santa’s Secret. With a little cream, it is like a peppermint vanilla cup of hot chocolate, but better because it’s tea! Highly recommend for lovers of flavored blacks.

This has been sitting in my cupboard for ages, a packet with two cups left, that I haven’t tried in so long, I’d completely forgotten what it tasted like. Clearly it couldn’t have been too horrible, since I had 25g and drank most of it, but I really had no recollection. I’ve been avoiding it for a while and the ingredients list made me think I’d probably hate it.

But tonight, I figured I might as well try it out again and see about getting it out of my cupboard.

Opening the packet, I was greeted by the smell of cinnamon soap and dismay. Yup, fairly sure I was going to hate it.

And the the first sip was bizarrely all juicy pineapple. And then subsequent sips have been tart, sweet, papaya and cinnamon. Somehow it works. In spite it hibiscus being at the top of the ingredient list, smelling like soap, having old coconut in it and containing stevia. This is actually really nice.

I’m now a little sad that it’ll be gone forever soon, though not heartbroken or anything. But I’m glad I finally got around to trying this (again).

In my everyday tea-drinking, I am learning that you can play with how the outcome of your steeped tea will taste. The key word is to adjust the measurement and steeping time depending on how you want your tea: pale or strong, tastier or creamier, hot or cold…. I was excited to try this tea the first time I had this. But turned out I didn’t steeped it long enough and didn’t put enough leaves to get the taste I was expecting… In short, I was disappointed. But being a person who don’t give up easily (aside from the fact that I don’t want to just throw it away-waste of money), I tried it again… This time I added more leaves and steeped it longer (experimenting is free). My verdict is it tasted better than the first time and the smell is stronger ( chocolate, hmm). Just finished the bag of 25 grams but no plans of stocking because I think I can live without it…. So far, the Red Velvet Cake is still the best black tea for me…. Happy drinking, tea-lovers!

I broke into this month’s tea budget and went to check out the spring collection at davidstea. I picked up 25g of the nectarine one without trying it because it smelled so good (and I will probably break my no-caffeine rule with this yummy smelling tea lol) and I got a to-go cup of this for tonight because it’s herbal and smelled very tasty too. I can’t say how long it steeped, maybe 4-5 mins.

This tea is pretty good! It reminds me of my beloved honeydew melon from the spring collect a few years ago sans rooibos and caffeine. Yum! Not picking out specific fruit flavors tonight as I’m not paying enough attention, but it’s tasty enough and non caffeineated that I will probably pick up more of this. Happy this is in the collection!

Of the entire David’s Tea spring collection this is by far the one I was most hesitant about. The description didn’t grab me, the smell didn’t grab me, and yet it seemed silly to buy every one except this one instead of just buying the box set.

The smell, I find, is very reminiscent of wine, which may well be a selling feature for people (just not me). Initially the sip is very berry heavy (I don’t know what elderberries taste like, but it reminds me of blueberries) and there’s something almost grape-like which furthers the comparison to wine. The further into the cup I get the more the floral notes come out. The aftertaste is like you’ve just eaten a violet; I can almost feel the soft fuzz of petals. I do find this heavier than other white/green tea blends I’ve had. I suspect it would be rather lovely iced for a summer party (maybe with a little something added as a kind of make-shift sangria). While I doubt I’ll be investing anymore in this particular blend, I’m sure this will have plenty of moments to shine.

This tea smells so good but tastes so artificial. The cream element of this combined with the base is just weirdly thick and sticks to your tongue and it’s just not pleasant. It really does smell awesome though. Perhaps as a latte this might be better??

Well just picked up the entire spring collection plus the tea of the month. Willpower officially none existent.

This is the first one I’ve tried out of the spring collection. Dry mix is very sticky and clumped together. It smells delicious though, and tastes like it smells. Flavours are all mixed together at first, predominantly melon but not a specific kind, then the kiwi, and finally a strong taste of honeydew. Will most certainly be trying this iced in the next few days, but so far so good.

A flavorful tea which was a birthday present from friends who have no clue as to what loose leaf tea is. I am not sure how they picked out this perfect fruit infusion tea but I am glad it is here! I love this tea for the fullness of flavor in it and look forward to it warming up and becoming a staple in one of my iced teas collections.

Books recommended for this tea are:
Tis by Frank McCourt, Always Running by Luis J Rodriguez, Chobits series by CLAMP

Sample from Zach S. Thank you!

This is SOOO good! It’s an amazing dessert tea! It tastes like nuts, cinnamon, brown sugar, and something fruity. I’m going to have to buy some of this. It kind of reminds me of apple crisp topping. Seriously, this is delicious! I think I’ve found a new favorite. Thanks again Zach!