Della Terra Teas

Another one from the traveling tea box.

Noms! when hot… super noms. All smooth and creamy and white chocolate notes… with a hint of coconut that works really well here.
Cold, ehhhh. Still good, but not wow good. More standard what I kinda hoped for(not wanting to set expectations too up there!) but on the high end of that.
No sugar or anything added and I found it quite sweet on its own. Possibly too much so for those who prefer unsweet tea.
So points for hot goodness. A few points off for uber sugary-ness.

It’s alright, but not a favorite for me. Not something I would repurchase. It has an earthiness to it, where I would have preferred a lightness. I think the base doesn’t quite work with the jasmine, but I’m a little particular about jasmine teas, so maybe I’m just being finicky.

There is NOTHING I hate about this tea. I want it every single day for the rest of my life. But it is a dessert tea, so if you hate those, you might not like this tea as much as I do. But this tea is heaven. Everything about it is A+++. And when you brew it, it SPARKLES. You heard me, SPARKLES. It is such a gorgeous tea and smells so divine like it came from a place of magical unicorns. The blueberry flavor along with the cinnamon some how give a delicious maple syrup taste? I’m not sure how to really explain myself, but it taste like a blueberry crumb cake. I really hope Della Terra Teas comes back with this blend. It’s too good to be discontinued forever.

I’m finishing this today from an old try me pack. I used to love Earl Gray, but I think I overdid it in my university days and got sick of it. But this tea seems to be bringing me back around. While it is unmistakably Earl Gray in its floral taste, it isn’t overwhelming. I technically over leafed because it wasn’t enough to leave for a future cup, so I dumped it in and just didn’t steep it for quite as long on the first steep. Regardless there was no bitterness. I enjoyed the creaminess and even looked down at the contents to see if I had absent mindedly put some milk in there…nope! Although I still don’t naturally gravitate towards Earl Gray anymore as a rule, I venture to say that this is the best Earl Gray I’ve tried. Nummy!

Generally speaking, green and black teas do not mix well.
Add rose in there and I am pretty good at seeing into the future of my taste buds experiences…
I still tried this though… no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

Not my kind of tea so I shall not rate it

Someone gave this to me but I can’t remember who…
The flavor is nice and so is the aroma, but it is not a very smooth tea which I would like for something that has a blueberry taste to it. The dessert flavor is alive in this tea and I am hoping to learn how to do so myself with tea. I enjoy this but couldn’t finish the pot because it just wasn’t good enough.

Here’s hoping TTB

Here’s hoping I can read next time :/
I didn’t see it said chocolate and I really hate chocolate. It tastes just like chocolate ice cream, which I’m sure is appealing to someone lol

Brewed a few cups of this tea this morning to drink a I ate my pancake made in a rice cooker :)

The orange is stronger than I would like. The second steeping was much better but a bit dry.

Trying to finish this tea up so I cold brewed it. Tasty! Brown sugar pineapple delight. Yum. Should have cold brewed this one a long time ago. Hopefully when they come back, this tea will still be around.

This was a gift from Plunkybug nearly a year ago – I can’t believe it’s been that long! I can smell the caramel; it’s definitely sweet. It doesn’t really have much flavor, maybe because it is older. There is a strange, out-of-place flavor in each sip as well, almost soapy or perfumy, but it’s not off-putting. It just reminds me of a hotel lobby or home goods store. Like linen fresh. It’s a bit drying too. I won’t be steeping this a second time since my last note said the second steep was somewhat flavorless.

Thank you to Amariel for sharing some of this tea with me! She sent me this along with several other teas in our swap a couple of months ago. I love anything caramel so I’m excited to try this one.

I’m still learning to appreciate oolong teas. They certainly have that distinguishable aroma that I can usually pick up on pretty quickly. I don’t, however, smell the oolong here. Instead, this smells like butter cookies to me, much like Harney & Sons Vanilla Comoro. Alongside the tea in the dry mix, there are what look like twisted yellow flower petals, some thick twigs, and a couple of caramel cubes.

The steeped tea leaves do have somewhat of an earthy smell now and I can see that the caramel cube has melted away. The liquid smells of caramel and butter cookies. Very nice. I really like the flavor of this one too. I added honey to sweeten, but I may try this next time with a sugar syrup instead so I can taste the flavors of the tea a little better. As it cools, I can taste the caramel even more.

Second Steep
6 ounces water + 170 degrees + 3 minutes, 30 seconds

I’m tasting more of the honey than the tea’s caramel flavor. I haven’t really tasted the oolong in either cup but I’m okay with that. This second cup is good.

Thanks again to Amariel for sending this my way!

I have had this sample for so long, I’ve forgotten who sent it to me in a swap. I’m sorry, whomever you are, and thank you for sharing! I’m pretty sure this was just thrown in, not something I requested but something the person thought I would like…

Anyway, I steeped it up this morning after breakfast.

The loose leaf didn’t smell like much, but the brew smelled SWEET. Like rock candy and maple syrup, with a slightly woody, rooibos-like aroma from, I’m guessing, the base? I didn’t look at the ingredients.

I tried it first without sugar, but it was clearly in need of some, so I added a scoop. I’m guessing the sweet flavor that comes across as maple syrup might be intended to be a caramel flavor, from the cola. There’s no cherry flavor really to speak of, but that’s all right with me, because the flavoring in cherry cola is waaay artificial and not very pleasant to me. There is definitely a baked good flavor there; if I’d had to name this tea, I’d have probably come up with Maple Coffee Cake or something. A little cinnamon wouldn’t go amiss, to seal the deal in the baked-good-flavor department. I’m quite enjoying this! (As I think about it, this may be the very first Della Terra tea I’ve tried… I could be wrong, though.) Anyway, I’d rate it higher, because I really do like it, but it’s missing a flavor element that it probably should have. Thanks again to whoever sent me this! I will have to perhaps make a Della Terra order in the future, if their other flavors are comparable in overall effect.

Sipdown!

Many thanks to VariaTEA for giving me a sample of this to try. It’s been in my cupboard for a while, but I’m trying to do a sipdown spree, so this was perfect.

I have to admit that the flavour of the tea – fairly standard rooibos – doesn’t live up to the beautifully citrusy, creamy smell of both the dried tea and the liquor.

Considering that Della Terra’s sort of in limbo right now (will they come back? They say they will but signs don’t look good to me), I highly doubt I’ll ever get a chance to restock this. Ah well.

Backlog from last night.

I know I’ve had this tea at least once before (thanks, VariaTEA, for the sample) but didn’t log it.

The dry leaf smells really creamy and citrusy, and so does the brewed tea, but it doesn’t actually taste creamy. I get a bit of citrus and a lot of rooibos. While that’s not bad, per se, it didn’t quite live up to the picture I had in my head.

This is the last of my untried Della Terra samples, I do believe. I think the only unopened Della I have now is a full bag of Anti V-Day treat, which I’ll probably dig out next. I really ought to make some progress on my older 52 Teas, though. They should really be next by rights! I used 1.5 tsp of leaf for this cup (my work mug is quite big…) and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a medium golden-brown, and a little oily from the melted chocolate chips. It smells wonderfully of caramel.

To taste, it’s pretty good in the way of most Della Terra “cake” blends. They’re certainly fabulous dessert teas, without a doubt! This one reminds me quite a lot of Red Velvet Delight, which was chocolatier, but which shares the same cake batter notes and broad overall flavour.

This blend tastes mostly of caramel and toffee, with a hint of chocolate. There are both white and milk chocolate chips in this blend, which add a deliciously creamy overtone. It would make a pretty good sauce for sticky toffee pudding, if only it were thicker…The distinctive “cake” flavour shared by many Della Terra teas is also kicking around in the background, although it’s not as prominent here as it sometimes can be. This one is all about the caramel! Sweet, smooth, delicious caramel, with a light coating of milk chocolate. It’s pretty amazing to drink, and the rooibos barely makes itself known. Win-win! I’ll be a little sad when this one’s gone.

Used 1 tsp of leaf today, and a slightly longer brew time (approx. 3 minutes). The raspberry is still great, if a little candy-like, but sadly no white chocolate. There were definitely a couple of chips with the dry leaf, though, and the oily surface scrim to prove it. Perhaps it’s more of a textural thing than a flavour with this one. I’m still enjoying the raspberry, either way, but it falls a little short of my (maybe grandiose) expectations without the white chocolate. Still, can’t win them all!

One of my last few Della Terra blends, which I’ve been hoarding for far too long! These were actually the last few blends that I purchased, so I’ve done a pretty good job of using them up in order. I’m finding that I’m drinking more white and green tea as the weather continues to warm up, and as a white/green blend this one perfectly fits that trend. I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 2.5 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees.

The resulting liquor is a medium yellow-green, and the scent is sweet and enticing. The flavour is mostly raspberry, as far as I can discern. It’s a candy-like, sweet, very slightly tart raspberry. A little artificial, but not terribly so. I can’t really taste any white chocolate, which is a disappointment, but it’s possible that I just need to adjust my parameters a little. I have enough leaf left to experiment with my next couple of cups. The base was also a little more prominent that I would have liked. The green tea was okay – fairly unobtrusive – but the white tea tasted dusty and quite drying. I liked the raspberry, though, so it’s not a huge problem. Adjusting my parameters may help with this as well.

This one reminds me quite a lot of 52 Teas Hindbaersnitter Shou Mei. The raspberry flavouring is similar, as far as I can recall it. I like my raspberry teas (even if nothing will ever replace 52 Teas Raspberry Cream in my heart), and this one is enjoyable and pleasant for the most part. Hopefully I can improve on my brewing for my next cup!

Another of my last few Della Terra blends, this time slightly more recent (Feb 2014, I believe). This was was also stored unopened, so it’s kept really well. I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 2.5 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The liquor is a medium yellow-green, and smells delightfully of strawberries!

To taste, this is pretty nice. The strawberry flavour is front and centre, but it’s quite candy-like and not entirely natural-tasting. The cream flavouring adds a wonderful silky smoothness, and the whole thing tastes pretty much like one of those strawberry Campino sweets I used to have when I was young. The green tea base is smooth and fairly unobtrusive, although it’s possible to detect little flashes of grassiness at times, especially as the cup cools. They don’t work super well with the strawberry/cream dynamic, but thankfully they’re not too distracting.

I can see why this one was released as a Valentine’s blend. It’s sweet and delicious, and it tastes lovely to boot. The little hearts on the label are a cute touch. I’ll not have any trouble finishing off my sample pouch. It’s pretty perfect for summer!

This is one of the last Della Terra blends I have left over from my Autumn 2013 order – kind of old now, but it’s been unopened so it’s come to no harm. The dry leaf smells intensely sweet and fruity, and I’m reminded of tropical fruit cordial. I’m not really acquainted with persimmons, but this to me seems like a cross between mango and pineapple. Not quite what I was expecting, but juicy, fruity and enticing all the same. I used 1.5 tsp of leaf for this cup (my first cup with 1 tsp turned out a little weak). No additions.

To taste, this one is pretty much as it’s scent suggests. It’s very sweet, and has a fairly generic, juicy “tropical fruit” flavour. I’d say mango and pineapple if pressed, in a rather candy-like, artificial sort of way. I’m not really sure that it’s persimmon, but my limited acquaintance might be at fault there. It’s refreshing and very juicy-tasting, though, so it’s hard to pick faults. The rooibos doesn’t make much of an impression on the overall flavour, either, so that’s another point in its favour.

This one’s easy enough to drink, and I can imagine it making a good cold brew. It’s not especially distinctive in the way I’d hoped it would be, but it’s pleasant nonetheless. A tropical treat!

’Here’s Hoping’ Teabox Round #4 – Tea #4

Ah! I had another Formosa oolong near the same time as another. Whoops. Two teaspoons are a little too much for the flavor. A little too astringent. (The other Formosa was great that way though!) The peach flavor was definitely there, though there didn’t seem to be any actual peach pieces I can see. The peach flavor isn’t the most artificial… but I’ve tasted the lowest of the low of peach flavors. haha. The Formosa and the peach is a nice combination. This one might be great iced.

Backlog

Another offering from Della Terra that I think may hit the mark. It wasn’t anything I found that I would need to research to find a substitute. I think if the citrus flavor would have been stronger and the floral not so prominent it would have been better. It is ok and very drinkable, just not what I was hoping for.

Backlog

This wasn’t my favorite of Della Terra’s offerings. It just seemed to be a bit weak. The peach flavor was there but it was light. It smells like peach jam tho. I wish that flavor translated more into the flavor.