ExploringTea

This dry tea smells incredible. It’s sweet and very spicy, just like cinnamon hearts!

The tea steeps to a lovely deep orange, and smells just as strong as it did in the bag. Upon first sip, I think “Valentine’s Day. This is a Valentine’s Day tea”. The sweetness hits your tongue first, and I find it very hard to believe that this tea doesn’t have sugar in it. This is easily the sweetest tea I have ever laid my lips on. The spiciness of the cinnamon tickles my tongue and lingers in the back of my mouth for a long time. It is incredibly similar to eating cinnamon hearts, down to every last detail. My friend and I actually joked that this must just be ground-up cinnamon hearts.

This is such a flavourful, powerful tea and I think the natural sweetness from the Rooibos base is perfect. I’m not going to add sugar to this as there’s no need!

This tea is easily my new favourite. It beats all the others by a long shot. It’s very powerful, very bold, beautifully sweet and tastes exactly like cinnamon hearts. Did someone say Valentine’s Day?

One thing’s for sure. This tea smells like a dream come true. If it smelled any more like a chocolate banana cream pie, I’d be tempted to eat the tea leaves. Seriously. The tea is filled with generous chunks of banana, cocoa and white chocolate.

The tea steeps to a dark orange, with an oily layer on top (due to the chocolate, probably). Even steeped it smells great, although it’s more chocolate and less banana at this point. As soon as you take a sip, the chocolate hits your tongue, and the banana lingers in the aftertaste. Thankfully, it’s a candied banana flavour – my favourite.

Milk and sugar make this tea even better. But if you’re adding sugar, I feel that just a sprinkle doesn’t work with this one like it does with other teas. I threw in twice the amount I usually do (which is still only half a teaspoon). The creaminess of the milk turns this tea into a decadent dessert!

This tea is also incredible chilled! I suggest trying it alcoholic if that’s your thing – I could see it being delicious with a splash of Bailey’s.

This tea is decadent. I’m in chocolate banana heaven, and I’m not even that fond of bananas. I suggest steeping this tea for less than the max 7 minutes (as it can get a little bitter), and in my opinion, it’s best with milk & sugar! This isn’t one of my favourite teas, but it definitely does what it set out to do – imitate a chocolate banana cream pie.

This tea smells, in a word, perfect. The mulberries provide a rich, caramel-like scent while the coconuts remind me of pina coladas and tropical vacations. The combination is overwhelming.

Once steeped, the first thing I do is pick out the decadent mulberries. I wish I had something to accurately compare them to. They are easily the yummiest berries I’ve ever eaten, especially when infused with white tea and coconut. They are juicy and bursting with sweetness. Taking a look at the actual tea, it steeps to a beautiful yellow-orange. The scent dwindles down to a warm creme caramel-like fragrance.

At first sip, the tea is very light and coconut dominates the taste. The mulberries add the perfect hint of sugar and come in strong at the end with a honey, caramel, dessert-like sweetness. I really like that these flavours are layered over top of the light white silver needle base. I just so happen to be drinking this tea with my younger brother, who is very new to teas and finds them kind of “plain”. So let’s add some brown sugar. In my opinion, it’s a bit unnecessary. The tea is plenty sweet on its own and adding sugar just makes it sweeter without really enhancing any of the flavours… And even my brother agrees that the sugar isn’t a good addition!

Just a note, this tea is just as wonderful chilled as it is warm. Actually, probably more wonderful!

This tea is one of my favourites! If you love rich, sweet teas, this is it. With this tea, you not only get a flavourful drink, but a little snack as well. Believe me, mulberries will change your life… Looks like I’ll be ordering a tin of this stuff!

I am sold on the dry tea smell. It smells like super sweet blueberry juice – my mouth’s watering already. The black tea is filled with cute little flower petals and dried-up berries. When steeped, the tea smells light but delicious and turns a very dark brown.

The first sip is heavenly. The blueberry is so vivid, and the stevia is a surprisingly nice addition. The tea has a bit of a bitter taste and is not quite as sweet as I would have liked it, but it’s great nonetheless. I find myself savoring the moment the tea hits my tongue, and the aftertaste – but not the in-between part, which is when the bitterness kicks in.

I’m a little iffy about adding milk to a blueberry tea, but I’ll try anyway. Like with the Salted Caramel I blogged about recently, I find that milk takes away the bitterness and makes the flavour more consistent from start to finish. I added just a pinch of brown sugar and found that it really brings out the fruity flavours. Like many teas that came before, this is a tea I prefer with milk and sugar.

I think this tea would make a great iced drink – with sugar, hold the milk. It’s fruity enough to take the place of a juice, but is missing just a bit of oomph that can be found in brown sugar.

This tea is going to be way up there on my list of fruity teas. It’s not tart like very many others I’ve tried, and the fact that it has a black base lets you play around with adding milk – which is almost always a good call. Warm, it makes a great autumn/winter tea, and I think it would make an extraordinary iced tea in the summer!

Note: I made this tea again – steeped for the full length but at a lower temperature, and the initial slight bitterness I experienced was nonexistent. I didn’t lose any of the delicious blueberry flavour either! Problem solved!

This tea smells very rich. The sweet English toffee is hands down the dominant smell, but there is also a darker, earthier scent. The tea looks like a standard black, with tiny bits of coconut and toffee thrown in.

The tea steeps to a dark orange-brown, and the smell tones down. I can still smell hints of toffee, but there’s also an odd burnt smell. The taste is surprisingly plain given the strong scent. A touch of caramel, but that’s essentially all I can taste. I wish the sea salt was more pronounced! The aftertaste is a touch bitter, so I wouldn’t suggest steeping this for the full 7 minutes (4-5 would probably be more appropriate).

I’ve found that sometimes milk can transform teas, so let’s try this out… The milk definitely helps the taste. The caramel becomes creamy and the bitterness disappears. Even though this tea is already sweet, a touch of brown sugar does wonders. The caramel flavour becomes more prominent and I feel like I can finally enjoy the smooth, easy aftertaste. But I still don’t taste any sea salt!

This tea really got my hopes up. Salted caramel is among my favourite things in the world, but this tea didn’t live up to my expectations. The caramel taste was prominent, but I couldn’t taste any salt. If you do attempt this tea, remember to add a bit of milk and sugar and to not steep for the max time!

This is the second David’s Tea caramel-type tea I’ve blogged about and unfortunately, neither were big hits. I’m still searching for a beautiful caramel tea, so please let me know if you find one!

The dry tea smells incredibly strong – a very heavily spiced black, with equally heavy sweet scents. I bought this tea pre-bagged in a set and I’m so glad I did. The individual tea bags are little fabric pouches that are one part convenient and three parts adorable.

The steeped tea has a very light, almost chamomile-like scent. The tea steeps to a light, brownish orange.

From the first sip, Sweet Love is incredible. I can taste a little spice which gives way to the liquorice root’s sweetness, and then the spice comes back and lingers. It’s really unlike any other tea I’ve tried, it’s incredible how long I can taste the spice after sipping. A little milk brings out the sweetness even more, and I feel like I’m drinking a fancy 300 calorie drink and not a good-for-you tea.

Adding sugar is in my opinion unnecessary, but I’ll try it anyway… And unnecessary is right. I find that the sugar distracts from the lovely sweetness that’s already there.

This tea might become a new favourite. A black tea with a natural sweetness and a lingering spice, served best with milk! Seeing as I only started with two teabags of it, it looks like I’ll have to order more!

Well hello there. This might just be the best smelling tea in the world. Smells exactly like you’d think it would – loads of natural strawberry with hints of roses and chocolate. I spy a couple of chocolate chips and rose petals in the mix, but it looks like a pretty standard black tea at first glance.

Steeped, this tea smells the way the ideal Valentine’s day should smell: heavy on chocolate and roses. A lighter scent than the dry tea, but still spectacular. I’m considering hanging tea bags full of this stuff in my room, seriously. But I digress, my first sip is earthy and a little bitter (maybe I oversteeped?). The aftertaste is subtly sweet and chocolaty. I’ve become a sucker for milk in my blacks, so let’s try that out… I think this is the first time milk didn’t do too well in a black – I don’t suggest it with this one. Once I added the milk, the tea seemed to lose its sweetness and I was just left with a woody taste. But a bit of sugar seems to bring the strawberry back to the forefront, so not all is lost.

This tea smells incredible. Like I mentioned, maybe the best smelling tea I’ve ever tried. It tastes pretty lovely straight, but seems to lose its appeal with milk. It’s a little sweet naturally so I’d suggest you be careful when adding sweetener to it! Overall, a pretty good tea. Just maybe don’t steep it for the full five minutes.

This tea smells heavenly. The combination of spices makes me want to cuddle up by a fire and perhaps toast the mini marshmallows in this blend. There’s a little bit of an odd alcohol-like scent amid the spices, but it’s not overwhelming.

The tea steeps to a cloudy orange-brown, and the smell dwindles down to a light cinnamon scent. Sipping the tea, I taste cinnamon first, with a touch of sugar – the marshmallow or brittle, I assume. Although the tea is slightly creamy as is, I decided to try it out with some milk… And it’s incredible. A perfect, toasty winter blend for a cold night. The tea is sweet enough as is, and I find that adding sugar or honey changes the taste too much for my liking.

This tea has officially found a place among my favourites. Looks like I’ll have to buy a tin of this tomorrow! If you want a winter tea, something to look forward to on a snowy morning, this would be it. It’s the perfect blend of cinnamon, brittle and adorable marshmallows!

I’ve been drinking this tea since day one, so it’s a shame I didn’t get around to writing about it earlier. Now that I’m at the end of my tin, I think it’s time to talk.

This is a very, very fruity tea from David’s Tea. Dry, it smells amazing. Very strong lemon and orange scents with a hint of something very different – my guess is the eucalyptus. As the tea’s steeping, it goes from a light, lovely pink to a deeper, richer almost-red pink (hence the name). Steeped, it smells incredible: a very light, sweet citrus scent. It’s important to mention that the leaves and grass in this tea are very pesky. Without a very fine infuser, you’ll end up with bits of green floating around your mug.

This tea is pretty delicious! A great replacement for a summer juice, since it tastes very much like a light, unsweetened lemonade. After taking a sip, the zest stays on the back of my tongue, a little sour. It’s a very flavourful tea, and I usually steep it for the maximum suggested time to get everything I can out of those dried fruits! I definitely prefer this tea with a little sugar or honey though. It becomes a little less sour, while still maintaining its strong citrus taste.

If citrus is your thing, then this tea is great. More specifically, if lemon is your thing. Personally, the sour notes in this tea are a little much for me, so I don’t think I’ll be refilling my tea tin anytime soon.

I’m in heaven. The dry tea has a very, very sweet scent that reminds me of summer. It actually smells a lot like watermelon gummies! But similar to Perfect Pear, once steeped the scent becomes very light. It steeps to a pale yellow, but little pieces sneak through my infuser and end up in my cup.

This tea is yummy! A little sweet, a little tart, and definitely chock-full of melon. Personally, I prefer stronger tasting teas. I added a bit of sugar to see what would happen, and unfortunately it didn’t really work out. The tea gets far too sweet, and I find the sugar distracts from the flavours in the tea.

When iced, this tea is amazing! A light and delicious replacement for an iced tea or iced lemonade.

Overall, this tea is pretty good although not quite as strong as I’d hoped, given its incredible dry tea scent. If you want a very light tea, give this a shot. I find that it rates very closely to Perfect Pear. Light and a little tart, appropriate for a hot summer’s day.

This is hands down my favourite summer tea.

This tea is as close as you can get to pina colada. The smell is bang on, with heavy pineapple and coconut scents. Chock full of dried fruit, the dry tea is fairly chunky in consistency.

The tea steeps to a lovely light yet bright yellow, but the smell decreases in intensity. As far as taste goes, it’s spot on. It’s like a light pina colada: sweet enough without being overpowering. Once I’ve finished the cup, the taste of coconut remains. And although it’s delicious hot, it’s incredible cold…

I don’t have any rum in the house right now, but if I did I would definitely throw some into the iced tea. This tea would definitely make a great base for a cold, alcoholic pina colada. Maybe throw in some coconut milk to give it that creamy texture? Perfection.

As my little intro note says, this is my favourite summer tea from David’s Tea. It’s a real, true pineapple/coconut flavour, no silly substitutes. It’s great hot, it’s great cold, and I’m sure it would be best alcoholic. But that’s just my opinion… Now excuse me while I tan in my backyard with this delicious tea in hand.

The dry tea smells exactly the way I hoped it would… Rich and sweet, like the perfect pear. The dry mix is chunky and heavy, so you don’t really get much bang for your buck with this tea. Twenty grams only gave me 2 – 3 cups worth.

The steeped tea has a very, very weak pear smell. The tea steeps to a lovely light yellow, but little bits and pieces sneak through even the finest infuser and end up at the bottom of my cup.

At first sip, the tea is tart. But with a few more sips, I’m able to hone in on the aftertaste – a lingering, true apple pear combination. I’m not really tasting nor smelling the vanilla beans that are included in the ingredients. The tea is fruity but sharp, true to the description… And a touch of sugar makes a world of difference. The tartness tones down, and it lets me focus on the part I like most – the fruity taste!

When iced (with sugar), the tea reminds me of Vitamin Water, oddly enough. Light and refreshing, mildly sweet. Additionally, I can finally taste the vanilla! Mission accomplished.

I have to be honest and say that this tea probably won’t be a repeat buy. It’s definitely best when served iced with sugar, but it still doesn’t compete with some of the other iced varieties I’ve tried. It’s a touch too tart for my liking, like a mixture of pear with granny smith apples.

This tea smells like autumn. The combination of pumpkin, cinnamon and caramel resemble a pumpkin pie so closely that I’m getting a little nostalgic… Is it Halloween yet? This tea has adorable little orange-coloured candies floating among the tea leaves. I can’t help but smile, it just makes me so happy.

The tea steeps to a beautiful orange-brown, and the smell is still just as prominent. And drinking it? Amazing. I taste the spices first – cinnamon, cloves and everything else that makes both chai and pumpkin spice delicious. It’s pretty light for a chai, not as spicy as others I’ve encountered. Then, the taste of pumpkin lingers on your tongue. Even though there are candies in the tea, the taste is by no means fake. The pumpkin taste is as real as pumpkin can get; I’m impressed.

As per David’s Tea’s orders, I’ll try this with a bit of sugar and milk… Oh wow, this is even better! I added just a little milk and a touch of sugar, but the effect is extraordinary. Now, I really feel like I’m eating a pumpkin pie.

This tea is up there among my favourites. When I bought it, I was told that it was a seasonal tea, but creeping around on their website – I see that it’s not! I guess they changed their minds, and I am oh so glad they did. If you want a tea that’s a lot of pumpkin and a touch of chai, this is it. Pumpkin Chai seems like an appropriate tea to drink before heading out to a costume party. It’ll almost make you believe it’s Halloween.

This is another autumn tea from David’s Tea. The dry tea smells amazing. You can smell the orange peel, but it’s not a purely fruity smell, probably because of the Saigon cinnamon. Once steeped, the first thing I do, before even touching my drink, is pick out the mulberries from the steeped tea. Unconventional, maybe. But they are so delicious that throwing them out would be a sin. I had never tasted mulberries before picking them out of this tea, and now I’m hooked. They aren’t tart like a lot of other berries, and they soak up the tea so they’re just about bursting with flavour.

But I digress, the tea is now steeped. It still smells just as sweet, and is a very dark, but clear brown. Unfortunately, I find it to be lacking a little in flavour. After taking a sip, I taste a bit of orange and mulberry on the back of my tongue, and hints of mulberry and cinnamon definitely linger. Regardless, it isn’t as full a flavour as I had hoped, and I couldn’t taste caramel at all.

I’m trying to decrease my use of sugar and honey in tea, but I’ll sweeten this a little. It makes a bit of a difference, the tea tastes a little fuller now. I can actually taste the cinnamon before I’ve swallowed the tea, but the aftertaste isn’t ideal. The mulberries are already naturally sweet and I find that the sugar makes it all a little overpowering.

I’m not sure if I’ll buy this tea again. As far as scent goes, it’s definitely at the top of my list. And the mulberries are a huge plus. But the tea is lacking taste without sweetener, and gets overpowered with sweetener. Unfortunate, since I really do love mulberries.

As far as smells go, this tea is a winner. The dry tea smells so rich and chocolaty; it’s perfect. This tea has everything from cocoa to roasted carob to white chocolate. And of course, what would a cake tea be without sprinkles? There are loads of white candy sprinkles!

I’ve noticed that this tea has an oily residue on the surface. If you let it cool down for too long, the residue becomes even more prominent. Regardless, the tea smells great. Smelling the steeped tea honestly has me convinced that I’m about to indulge in a delicious hot chocolate. This would be great in the winter!

Maybe it’s because I was hoping for a hot chocolate taste, or maybe because I love rich chocolates, but this tea is a little weak for my liking. The smell has you expecting an explosion of chocolate, but I’m tasting more of a watered-down chocolate. That aside, it definitely does remind me of chocolate cake batter. But unfortunately, this tea is more woody and bitter than the other two cake teas.

The tea is plenty creamy without milk, but I’ll add some just to see what happens… And what a great decision that was! The milk makes the tea creamier, brings out some of the chocolate and in my opinion, makes it taste more like the hot chocolate I was hoping for.

So although this tea has a rich smell that promises a deep, chocolate taste, it ends up tasting a bit watered-down. Milk improves the situation a bit, but I still think this is my least favourite of the three cake teas from David’s Tea.

Yum! The dry tea smells so sweet. Close your eyes and you’d be convinced you were about to bite into a delicious birthday cake, complete with tons of vanilla icing. This one, just like the Ice Cream Cake, has sprinkles in it. It’s important to note that this tea is extremely fine. The first time I made it I used my pincer, which let out about half my tea. Needless to say, straining the tea afterwards wasn’t the most pleasant experience.

Just as I’m about to take a sip, I notice the nice, light smell of vanilla. Maybe even maple? This one, although it has sprinkles and ice cream bits just like the Ice Cream Cake, doesn’t have a layer of residue on the top of the tea. The tea tastes great; I feel like there are hints of maple and caramel. I was expecting more icing, but I’m tasting a lot of cake batter. Definitely not a bad thing since birthday cake batter is always delicious. This tea is creamy as well, but not as sweet as the Ice Cream Cake.

After my great experience with adding milk to Ice Cream Cake, I know I need to try this one with milk too… And again, it’s a nice touch. The tea’s creamier, which goes well with the taste of cake batter. Unfortunately, I think I might have added too much milk as it’s distracting from some of the flavours I initially noted and enjoyed.

This tea smells like a birthday cake and tastes like a birthday cake with maple syrup poured over it. I’ve had some bad experiences with rooibos in the past, but this has definitely changed my opinion of it!

Something about the way this dry tea smells throws me off a little. It’s sweet, but there’s a hint of something that almost smells like alcohol. I’m not entirely certain what it’s from, it might be the stevia. But I have to say, the dry tea looks like an ice cream cake, complete with sprinkles and all.

Once steeped, the smell dies down to a light, sweet vanilla scent. Although I think the sprinkles and freeze-dried ice cream are an innovative addition, they leave a residue on the surface of the tea. Not a big deal to me, but it might turn some people off.

This tea really does taste like liquid ice cream. Obviously not as sweet, but the major flavours are all there. I would compare it most closely to Neapolitan ice cream! The tea is very creamy, as promised. And although I never drink milk in my tea, I’ll add some to see what the effect is. It seems appropriate, given that it’s an ice cream tea… Note: I am lactose intolerant, so I am taking a huge risk here.

Oh my. With milk, this tea is even better, phenomenal even. Creamier, but still just as sweet. I feel like I just took a big bite out of a delicious dessert. Awesome.

Although the dry smell and the way the steeped tea looks are unwelcome surprises, the taste is creamy, rich and just sweet enough for my taste buds. With milk, it’s a goldmine of deliciousness.

Yet again, I’ve found myself sniffing teas. This one’s amazing. A heavy dose of coconut and a touch of raspberry make for a smooth scent that really does make me feel like I’m on an island: just as David’s Tea promised.

Without sweetener, this tea is a tad bitter. I steeped it for the max time: 6 minutes, so I’ll probably just steep for 4 minutes next time. The raspberry is dominated by the other ingredients, so much so that I can barely tell it’s there. But the coconut still finds its way out. It’s as good as coconut gets: smooth, strong, lingering on your tongue… But since I’m finding the tea a little bitter, I’ll add honey. Although it’s sweeter, I feel like the honey actually distracts from the coconut, which is a shame.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this tea. I love coconut, so that’s probably a huge reason why. Next time, I’ll be sure to cut my steeping time. And I’ll be sure to try this iced, I’ve heard it’s delicious!

This is slightly nerve-wracking. My first tasting note. I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing… Well, I don’t. But I decided to start with something I know and love, Glitter & Gold.

I spent a couple of minutes sniffing this tea as the water was about to boil, simply because it smells so incredibly lovely. The mix of vanilla and cinnamon make me wish this was a perfume I could splash on for a night out. Seriously, to die for. And then once it’s all steeped and done, it’s so pretty I feel bad drinking it! David’s Tea is right. It looks like a gorgeous starry night. Well either that, or a really cool lava lamp.

Okay, but now the important part: taste! I’ve been taking myself off of sweeteners, slowly but surely. So first, without honey, then with. Without, it’s a very light tea. It has sugar crystals and the sweetness is barely there, but lingers on my tongue after I’ve sipped. I really like the taste of cinnamon, but it’s very light with this tea – something that even cinnamon haters might enjoy. I’ll try tricking my mom into drinking this. I won’t tell her there’s cinnamon it in (she hates that cinnamon can be overpowering). Honestly, I like this just fine without honey. But let’s add a drop for kicks… There’s not much of a difference to be honest. The tea is naturally sweet so it doesn’t really need any honey. Hooray!

I love this tea. The combination of glitter, vanilla scent, light cinnamon taste and a touch of sugar do it for me.