DAVIDsTEA

First time trying a flavoured oolong. I quite enjoyed it, but then again, I’m a freak for vanilla, especialy if it’s high quality. The oolong tea in this one is mild with a relatively low oxidation, and the liquor is very clear. It smells like heaven in a cup. Very low astringency, and mild on the finish. It tastes just how it smells and is all around delicious. My only complaint is that it doesn’t hold up to multiple steeps well; even the second steeping was significantly lacking in flavour, and the third was very weak despite steeping for nearly 10 minutes. Overall a delicious tea though, and the vanilla and oolong are a fabulous pairing!

I love the tart flavour of hibiscus and usually rejoice to see its random presence on the ingredients list but I have to admit that I’m baffled as to why it would be included in a white tea blend. Hibiscus has such a strong flavour that it doesn’t leave much breathing room for the Bai Mu Dan or the white peony. That’s my sole complaint.

Where the “tea-ish-ness” is lacking the delicious juicy fruit factor is not. The fruit medley is reminiscent of sour fruit gummies, or of a SunRipe fruit bar- which often has similar ingredients, but neither are as refreshing as Indian Summer. The hibiscus, when coupled with the cherry and lemongrass, creates a citrine sour cherry endnote that I adore. The apple-carrot combo and watermelon are cooling sweet “breaks” in the tartness. The blend is at its best when cooled or iced. I’m still searching for the pumpkin and fig. I’ll have to check the dry leaves to make sure I’m actually getting any in my steeper. It’s like a fruit scavenger hunt!

So so yummy. I have not had this one in a while. Still a fave. It was a warm day, and this was light and creamy and sweet, and tastes fine cooled down too.

PS This is my new name…if you want the details of why I changed it, message me, but please (for privacy concerns related to the whole reason I changed in the first place) don’t refer to me as my previous name. I have a good reason. If you are not sure who I was, my profile pic is unchanged…but you can message me as well.

I can always count on this tea to pick me up, and cuddle with me to make me feel better.

Acheivement cuddle time tea: UNLOCKED!

Had this again today…really enjoying this one this summer. I actually like it when it is cooled off too. I’m tempted to see how this one is with milk, though I feel like it may ruin it…but I have that curiosity to try.

Went into DAVIDs on Saturday night before a show I was going to downtown, and it was a super warm day here, so I went in aiming to get an iced tea, and the tea that came to mind was Pineapple Oolong. I did not want an herbal, or a green, but possibly a white or oolong, and I was on the fence with black. In the end, the SA mentioned Vanilla Orchid and I was all, I haven’t had that in ages, and I kept sniffing it and the Pineapple Oolong, and decided on the Vanilla Orchid instead, but not too much ice. Oh wow was I ever happy I did! It was soooo yummy. I had forgotten how great this one is. I’m gonna have to get more when I refill my Oolong Supreme along with a few others.

I’ve over-steeped this tea before, so today I let the water cool a few minutes after the auto-shut off feature activated, but I only steeped it for 2 or so minutes, and I actually used a timer to make sure I didn’t get overly distracted, which is why I tend to over-steep green and (lighter) oolongs.

I do still really love the smell of this in the bag, and you can pick up the same smell as taste in the liquor, but it is not as strong. There is a slight floral feel, but it is mostly a decently sweet creamy feel.

I admit I don’t have this as much because I try to have it when I am home and know I have time to get at least two or three steeps out of it. I do have to say that it is incredible how big the leaves get after just one steep. :)

This one is still a keeper, and I will refill when I run out, but I won’t get a huge amount because I don’t drink it as frequently.

Today’s brew was not too successful, and I ended up with a lovely smelling but bitter tasting cuppa. SO SAD…because I know this can be awesome. So, I think that I used too much leaf (the tightness of the balls always tricks me into wanting to use more leaf) and I might have let it steep too long as well…I don’t think my water was too hot as I let it sit for a few minutes after it came to the boil.

I know this tasting was not good do to human error, because I know I had it taste awesome the first time I had it.

I like this a lot!!! I got a sneak peak/sniff of this on Halloween by one of the lovely ladies at Uptown which is closest to my friend’s place, and I was on my way to her party, but needed a cuppa to get me through the night. Anyways, it smelled amazing! The saddest part was that there was no time from the first until now for me to get some. Finally got in tonight after work, in that last half hour before they closed downtown. I got this to go, though I almost got Alpine Punch. Mmmm, Alpine Punch….

The dry leaf smell is like vanilla ice cream, and it is creamy tasting and smelling too. I can pick up the oolong base, but I have to say, at least with this steep, it isn’t overly floral. Under the vanilla, you can taste the base, and it is good. This tea, to me, is like a milk oolong if the milk was vanilla milk.

I will see if I can re-steep my bag tomorrow, if it is still good. I worry that it oversteeped on the way home though, as it did get a bit bitter when I was home and too the bag out, but I added some sugar and hot water and it was fine. I did pick up 10g of this and a few others, so I can play around with steeping on my own time next.

But this one is a winner to me so far.

I can’t believe I hadn’t tried this until today! Based on the smell my expectations weren’t very high, but this tea proved me wrong. I loved the mellow ginger. Not at all overpowering.I had this a little sweetened and it was delicious. If only it weren’t caffeinated-otherwise the warm, spicy flavour would be perfect for the evening. Has just enough of a kick to be interesting but not so much it needs to be drowned in sweetener.

I realised I was getting low on my DavidsTea Cream of Earl Grey. If I want to compare it to Murchie’s Earl Grey Cream, I’d better do it soon!

Dry: Visually the DT Earl Grey looks nicer as there are a lot of pretty blue cornflowers sprinkled throughout. It smells really pleasant with the bergamot and vanilla. Alternatively, M’s Earl Grey has yellowish cornflowers mixed with the tea leaves. It smells really good as well – perhaps it has a bit more bergamot? DT’s smells “creamier” but judging by smell alone I don’t know that I could pick one over the other.

Steeped for 3 ½ minutes: I… really shouldn’t have done this the day AFTER I really burned my tongue. But, here we go!
The M’s has a nice cream flavour with lots of bergamot, but it still tastes bitter. I really like Murchie’s black/green blends, but for some reason I keep finding their blacks too strong for my taste – it just gives me a bitter aftertaste. Did I get a bad batch? It’s too strong to drink without cream at least. The DT’s blend doesn’t have that problem. It tastes creamier and milder. If the Murchie’s blend didn’t have that bitter aftertaste, it might even have more flavour than DT’s, but as it is I have to go with DT’s.

With Cream: Murchie’s taste far less bitter without the cream in it. I even notice a bit of sweetness. No complaints here! With DT’s, it’s almost like the cream has washed out some of the flavours – it’s not nearly as good with the cream. I’ve had it with milk before and that was very good though.

Verdict: If I’m drinking it black, or with 2% milk, DavidsTea wins. If I’m adding cream, or making a latte, then Murchies all the way!

So I’m in the kitchen baking muffins, and I decide now would be a great time to brew this sample from my last David’s Tea order. Warm kitchen, warm tea.. my apartment is so cozy!
I steeped this a little longer than 7 or 8 minutes but the flavors are still wonderful and not at all bitter. I took a few first unsure sips and I suppose it was too hot at that point because it didn’t taste like much. But cooled down just a tad… it’s fantastic!
This tea has a really nice key limey goodness and the perfect amount of tangy flavor. Not too sweet or sour.
It’s too bad I only have a sample on hand because I would love some more! I put the rest of the leaves in some water in the fridge and plan on drinking it tomorrow cold. I have high hopes for it though, because it’s absolutely delicious hot.

I like the Ginger in this Tea its nice and spicy and the Orange zest is a nice touch too, this to me is quite a perfect Ginger Pu’erh other than making one from scratch at home. I have many times made this myself with Pu’erh and fresh ginger tea that’s the way I like to use Ginger and I’m fond also of adding Orange zest/peel to some teas, if I needed this tea and did not feel like making it myself this one would be the one I would want. You can really feel that good burn from the Ginger(because it’s tore up with shreds and not just chunks and slices,imo) and the orange zest is a great touch the Orange spice mellows the Ginger bite some giving it a really nice balance in flavor. The Pu’erh seems decent its earthy but clean and seems to have a thick black liquid but I think the Ginger and Orange zest take away from some of the Pu’erh’s flavor(meaning I can’t pick out many other flavor notes in the Pu’erh itself for all the other flavors), the Pu’erh could be a little better in this one. It is a great tea overall.
P’s I forgot to mention the aroma it pretty much just smells like Ginger.
Photos here :)
http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/2012/11/organic-puerh-ginger-by-davidstea.html

My third Dragonwell batch (or fourth, if I count my Mighty Leaf baggy). Steeped the same way as my A&D cup, it’s already smells more vegetative and roasted than the others.

First steep: I’m picking up a hint of astringency. My mouth is puckering ever so slightly leaving a dry sensation- that’s different! The buttery moistness that I experienced from Dragonwell in the past is still vaguely there but it’s not as prevalent as I would like it to be. If I do some funny things with my mouth the nuttiness really comes out though. I want to say “walnuts” but that isn’t quite right. Second steep and it remains dry and nutty but with an added melting mellowness. So much better.

The tea exhibits basic Dragonwell characteristics yet still tastes and feels so dramatically different from the other cups of Dragonwell I’ve tried! Am I imagining it? I was sad at first to see that it wasn’t as buttery as the others but I think the dry nutty flavour is growing on me.

So this has just lovely ingredients..a smorgasbord of them!

I’m not crazy about the smell it reminds me of Chai Amazonia(Am I losing it??)not as strong but a subdued familiarity.

It’s actually a stormy night..dark early…raining and cold that snaps your bones.
Perfect for trying this tea.

After brewed smells completely different.
Cinnamon OH sweet Cinnamon you sly sexy devil!
It smells sweet and velvety with vanilla bleeding through.

I CANNOT WAIT TO DRINK YOU!

As for taste,
It is smooth,velvety sweet with cinnamon and a chocolate base.
It is a very light tea.

I prefer my cinnamon kicking me in the face (HARVEST APPLE SPICE ohmagerd! from Tea Forte)

It’s weird but I’m not sure how I feel about it It’s definitely lovely there’s no denying that but I think it is in need of a longer steep.

I believe there is more richness that I am missing out on!

A re-review of this tea

I used to think this was the best green tea ever; now after having some tea from Verdant the bar has been truly raised and my opinion changed. Gyokuro Yamishiro is buttery and vegetal, but not nearly as Mrs. Li’s Shi Feng Dragonwell. Unlike Mrs. Li’s tea, this tea is unfortunately very temperamental , needing the lowest temperature on my kettle (160F) and even then you need to be very careful of the measurement of the leaf and steeping time, lest you get a bitter cup. I do not like greens that are prone to bitterness, and unfortunately because Gyokuro Yamishiro is broken leaves (not whole), that is the case.

Do I still enjoy this tea? Yes, when brewed carefully. Is it the best green tea I’ve ever had? Nope. Is it worth the price? Not in my opinion. For a few dollars more I’d rather buy stuff from Verdant, even with the wait time and exchange rate. For that reason the only “premium” tea from DAVIDs I’m interested in is Butterfly Jasmine. That tea is a work of art.

I JUST received my lovely care package from Katgolik and will have to say THANK YOU! This is the first tea I’m going to try from the package.

And….Its really good! Sort of minty, which I wasn’t expecting, as well as the chocolate. The chocolate is the kind that I like, not chunks but almost in the tea leaves instead which is nice. I will buy more of this, definatly. :)

After seeing DaisyChubb’s review of the latte, I made a mental note to check that out. And it was good! Sooo good. On a cold afternoon, I got this while my friends got Starbucks drinks. Usually I’d be ridiculously jealous, drinking the slightly lower cal option while trying to sniff the yummy Starbucks eggnog latte, but I was as happy as a clam. This tastes mostly like marshmallow to me.. just a big cup of milky marshmallow. Yummmmm. Not sure if it’d be as good, non-latte, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt!

So I went to David’s Tea this morning hoping to try Sleigh Ride cause I hear its good if you like Forever Nuts by David’s Tea also. However they didn’t have it in store yet cause it is part of their winter collection that doesn’t come out till later this week. So the lady that served me brought over a few similar ones that she thought I might like to try, and she highly recommended “Mamma Mia”. It was absolutely disgusting. It has a tart lemony flavour to start and an after taste of like tart berry lemon tree bark. What was even more gross was when the tea cooled down and I decided to give it another chance and ended up gagging.
Do Not Try This

After a surprising number of cups my twenty gram sample is almost entirely gone and I am left with a slightly higher opinion than when I started. I am not one to add sugar or milk to my tea but 1/8 teaspoon of sugar really knocks out the sense of bitterness and astringency that this cup can develop when you are not looking. The black tea flavour is relatively familiar and puts me in mind of my fathers beloved bagged teas. More muscat would make a huge improvement but this is a cheap(ish) second flush so I guess I might be asking a bit much of this one. When I am drinking it I don’t feel the need to restock but when I am just thinking about it I can’t decide for sure. I think what I really want to do is get 100 grams of Wild Yunnan Black as I was hoping I get some for Christmas but I didn’t. Alas. :)

Tried this one with the beau a few days back and forgot to log a note – I remember being pleasantly surprised with the quality initially but finding it become bitter as time went on despite careful steeping. The falvour and aroma were rich and earthy, but the finicky nature of the tea didn’t endear itself to me. Will try again with the rest of our sample later on, at the moment I wouldn’t feel the need to restock it. I could certainly live without it, there was nothing remarkable going on.

I was in my local mall and naturally, I couldn’t resist the pull of David’s Tea, especially not when I knew they had new teas in. The smell of this tea absolutely blew me away. Sweet, almondy, delicious – someone else compared it to amaretto – a fair comparison, I would say. Unfortunately for me, the taste didn’t quite live up to the smell. It was still very yummy with a slight marzipan flavour, but it’s possible that it smelled TOO good.

I’ve been waiting for this tea all year. I picked up a cup last year, but they ran out of regular supply before I had decided on buying a few ounces.

The strongest chocolate flavour I’ve ever found used in a tea (their other chocolate teas don’t seem quite as strong), although it and the spices COULD be stronger, but the smell is delicious and what I get in the taste is lovely too. Very reminiscent of the two-bite brownies.

My mother tried to make off with my cup.

I am a huge fan of carrot cake. The mixture of spice, carrot and cream cheese makes my mouth very happy! So when I saw the Carrot Cake tea, I didn’t think I should even chance it, as it would have to be purely amazing to make me go back for more. The smell of the dry leaves didn’t excite me terribly, but I decided to take a chance, and bought some.
Tonight I had a huge craving for my fave cake and remembered I had this tea in the cupboard. So great time to try it, right? I brewed some up and took a sniff. Not a huge fan of the smell, but it wasn’t gross. Next was the taste test. One sip was enough to tell me this wasn’t going to kill my craving for Carrot cake. The tea was alright, tasted better the cooler it got. I don’t love it, but I don’t hate it.