Kittenna

299 Followers / 289 Following

Kittenna drank Cherry Cola (organic) by DAVIDsTEA

This came out of my “try this already!” box. And since everything else I had set to brew up tonight (aside from re-steeps) was an unflavoured tea, I felt like a bit of flavouring… although this wouldn’t have been my first choice given the negative reviews of it I’ve seen.

To start with, the aroma from the dry tea is a bit offputting. I would agree that the aroma is reminiscent of cola in a… chemically sort of way. But, I don’t like cola (and especially not cherry cola) to begin with, so who knows, maybe it smells normal to all those pop lovers! Brewed up it smells pretty similar, though not as bad as I was expecting.

The flavour, though, is where it massively crashes and burns. There is just something WRONG with the initial taste. It’s quite strong, and chemically, and truly terrible. Bleeeech. I’ve had seriously oversteeped greens that are more palatable than this!! I’m finding that the aftertaste isn’t completely terrible; it does remind me of coke, but unfortunately, I’m not willing to drink another terrible sip in order to achieve the aftertaste. I was contemplating trying this one with sweetener, but I think that would be a waste of sugar.

My advice? Avoid this tea at all costs unless you have an affinity for drinking chemicals. I’ve complained about flavouring oils and chemical flavours before, but no tea I’ve tried has been quite this bad (ok, other than the vomit-flavoured Pina Colada from Adagio. I would drink this over that.)

Down the drain this goes! Perhaps I’ll run up and grab a Persimmon Tree or Whispering Pines sample that I have yet to try, since I’m still craving something flavoured.

2012-10-26 02:13:03 -0400

Boiling

4 min 0 sec

I Like This

19 likes

6 comments

People who liked this

Comments

Eisenherz 2012-10-26 12:16:36 -0400

I asked a staff member at my local DT if she knew of anyone who liked this tea, and the answer came really quick: “no!” :P
Whatever strange flavouring they used, it should be banned forever!

Babble 2012-10-26 13:51:26 -0400

LOL. I am also not a fan, and I love cherry cola :(

canadianadia 2012-10-26 17:08:29 -0400

I love flavored teas and Cherry Cola, but I agree, this tea does not taste good

Babble 2012-10-26 17:13:10 -0400

Thankfully the Root Beer tea that DT makes is actually much better, and does not have an Stevia, thank goodness!

Helena 2012-10-27 17:21:22 -0400

try some black cherry matcha with cola matcha from Red Leaf Tea it’s great (I recommend Cold with ice) you won’t miss pop after that :D

Babble 2012-10-27 17:29:29 -0400

I have both and still need to try it. Been to bust reviewing other new matcha flavors.

Profile

Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.