Tina S.

This is the first time I’ve had a vanilla tea that wasn’t a black. The oolong tea makes it a more buttery experience, with the vanilla being less strong but definitely unique here. After my first steep there was no scent of vanilla left in the leaves so I didn’t try a second steep. Looking at the reviews here of second steeps I’m glad I didn’t since I’d have been disappointed.

I tried adding a dash of sugar halfway through the cup which mellowed the vanilla a bit, bringing out more of the oolong flavour. A strange experience since sugar usually masks the tea flavours, but it did make for a nice remainder of the cup.

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Bought 10 grams of this one. And regretted about 8 grams of it at first sip. It is the one and only time I’ve actually spat out a tea, which is sad since I do enjoy lychee. This one though just seems to taste fake and . . . not soapy but a similar taste tingle on my tongue.

Never ever touching this one again, no matter how much someone tells me it isn’t that bad.

I seem to be on a white kick this morning. This one still isn’t my favourite. I bought it more for the cute mini-tin than a love of the tea. My first experience with it was iced in store and I didn’t get pomegranite from it at all. I actually didn’t like it at all. See? Totally bought it for the tin.

Am glad I did, though, since it’s growing on me. By far this one is better hot, and handled delicately. I can taste the pom this way, although I don’t get any tea flavour. Perhaps though, that was the point and why silver needles were used instead of peony or something else.

Still not my favourite white tea, but no longer one I’ll avoid, either.

I never would have tried this tea on my own, but the manager at David’s insisted. Now, on my third bag of it, I’m still so very glad she did. I’m a sucker for blueberries and this tea handles them so delicately and deliciously. I’ve had it hot and iced, and both ways are simply lovely. It is one of those teas though that if your water is too hot, you’re doomed to a bad cup. I learned that lesson the hard way.

This is a favourite tea of mine, especially in the summer. Dry the leaves smell good enough to eat, and I agree with the other reviewer that said they want to carry it around to smell all the time!

Brewed it loses some of the scent. And hot, yeah it isn’t the best hot. I find it slightly bitter and not overly cherry. But if you pour it over ice? Suddenly this tea becomes the most amazing iced tea I’ve had since they discontinued Through the Grapevine. I find it perfect with just a hint of agave in it, but drinking it black on ice is still lovely.

If you didn’t like this one first time around, I beg you to try it on ice. It really does make it an entirely new tea. (Which is something I’m finding of a lot of whites from David’s, actually.)

Colour me shocked. I avoided this one for so long because of the chamomile, it really isn’t my favourite tea. But what ruined this one for me was the fennel. It was too strong and overpowered everything else to the point where I seriously started wondering if the orange was all used during steeping, since that was all I smelled as it brewed.

I wonder what it’ll be like if I can pick the fennel out. Hmm.

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Another in store sample, and one that I think I’m going to have to give another shot based on the reviews here I just read. It tasted like lukewarm slightly lemongrassed water to me, which is so very not delicious. I was surprised when I heard it had been added to the permanent collection because it really was so . . . lacking.

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This is one tea I LOVE. Why it isn’t in my own cupboard I have no idea, I’ll blame temporary insanity and memory loss everytime I’m in the store. My mom, smart woman, does have this at home however, so anytime I’m visiting I end up stealing her leaves and devouring as much of this as I can drink. I’m a sucker for a good peach, and this is exactly that. The oolong adds to the delightfulness rather than overpowering it. Iced or hot, this is an amazing tea that always brings a smile to my face.

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Tried this one as a cup in-store, sweetened with agave. I definitely wasn’t disappointed. The chai flavour is unique in this one to any chais I have tried before. It isn’t my favourite chai, but I did love how the oolong blended with the spices, making it a more mellow cup than most chais are. I suspect this one is a perfect ‘cottage on a rainy day’ tea!

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Tried this one in store as a tea of the day a while back. I definitely tasted the banana, and for once it wasn’t a gross fake banana flavour, which I really appreciated. It was also the best of the banana teas that David’s brought out in 2011, which is saying a lot since there were, well, a LOT of them! Maybe it was just the sample I got, but I found the tea itself to be missing, though. There was very little if anything other than banana flavoured water to me. For that reason I don’t think I’ll be adding it to my collection, but I’ll try it in store again one day and see if it can convince me otherwise.

According to the copy from David’s, this tea should change my life. I don’t really see that happening, although maybe that’s because I was drinking a breakfast tea at ten at night. That really shouldn’t affect life changing powers, should it?

I found this one to be a pretty standard black breakfast tea. Nothing stood out to me, and I don’t see myself reaching for it regularly. I did end up adding milk and sugar to it for me to truly enjoy the cup, something I haven’t had to do with many of the blacks I’ve tried lately from David’s. Guess this one really wasn’t the best blend for me. I was really hoping it’d change my life, too. Darn it!

The package instructions say steep this for 4-6 minutes. Well I went with four, and I think that was still too long. There were hints of lemon here, but it was overpowered by the astringency of the black tea. It wasn’t a horrid cup, but it definitely wasn’t the lemon black I expected. Before I rate this one I’m going to try it again with a shorter steep time. There is still hope for this one.

I don’t mind how it tastes when I plug my nose, but oh man the fishy. I expect a goldfish to jump out at me!

Don’t think I’ll be rating this one since I can’t get past the fishness. I do sense ginger but . . . yeah. This one isn’t for me.

Another lovely green here. I liked the creaminess it holds, and didn’t find it overly planty. My only critique is that with such a low steeping temperature needed, my cup is cold before I finish it. I’m a slow sipper and this one lends itself to that, except I don’t really like cold straight green tea. :( If it wasn’t for that, I would have given this a higher rating.

I’m not sure what to say that hasn’t already been said by others. It’s a pretty standard lemon flavour, if a tad weaker than I’ve found in some others. Inoffensive and mild, this is one that I like but don’t love.

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Pear teas are the elusive flavour for me. I’ve yet to find one that captured what a pear means to me. And this one? Failed. Miserably. I was happy to have gotten it in a warehouse clearance and only paid 1.50 for the bag, because I was giving it away less than an hour after I brewed it. I didn’t get green tea or pear, instead I got a mouthful of . . . I don’t even know, but I do know I didn’t like it. Definitely won’t be buying this one again.

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Lime Gelato, you were one of my first summer teas with Davids, and still are one of my favourites. Hot or cold, you are not too strong, not too mild. This summer I’m definitely going to try mixing in some of you brewed and turned into an ice with some french vanilla ice cream. I think that will be utter paradise.

Maybe I got some of a bad batch but this one tasted horrid to me. I got a taste that was almost burnt. Thinking maybe I’d burnt the leaves despite what I was pretty sure was the right temperature water I tried again with a lower temperature. And got the burnt taste even more. I tried adding some sugar to see what notes that would bring and it did change the flavour to more of a nutty and less of a burn, but it still wasn’t one I enjoyed. Having had this right after Dragonwell, which I adored, probably didn’t do this tea any favours.

Sorry Sencha Ashikubo, but with this experience combined with your price point, I won’t be adding you to my cupboard.

Mmmm I liked this one! This is what I expected of a straight green when I started drinking them (using bags, which omg were horrid). Slightly earthy, not grassy, and full of flavour without tasting like I’m drinking the water I boiled my greens in.

I can see why some people experience a buttery or a nutty note, I suspect that those are what I was experiencing as well, but I was just too happy to be sipping a straight green that I enjoyed to put more thought into the why!

This is not a tea for me to drink while at the computer apparently, since my cat won’t leave me alone and is consistently trying to get onto the desk!

I’m honestly at a loss with this one for a description. Or a decision if I like it or not. I want to like it. I love the smell of it dry, and even brewed it smells lovely. But as I sip it, there’s something there that turns me off, and turns my stomach. I’ve been trying to figure out what it is, and I’m thinking it’s the stevia. I’ve had bad reactions to it before and more and more I’m thinking I’ll have to avoid the teas that have it. Which is sad since Davids seems to be using it more and more. (Hint, if you’re reading this DT, please please stop this trend!)

My mouth is also having an aftertaste of the fennel slightly. Which strangely I’m not minding. So yes, I’m confused!

Ugh. I knew this one wasn’t going to be for me but I tried it anyway. I love black licorice. Just apparently not in a cup.

I enjoyed this one. I liked the blend of the teas, and did find it astringent, which I’m discovering I really like in my blacks for my morning pick-me-up. As the cup cooled it changed flavour slightly and gave me similar hints to what I enjoy in Red Rose. The Kenyan from Davids will still be my black looseleaf, but I can see me grabbing some of this as well for times when I want to play with blends. Am curious what it will do if I add some milk, now, as well.

I am super curious why this one is mostly referred to as a lavender tea, when to me it is completely coconut. Since I’m not a coconut fan, I was dearly hoping for it to be more of a lavender and honeybush blend.

Out of fairness for the tea I’m not going to rate it. I’m sure it’s a lovely cup, just . . . I couldn’t do more than three sips.

Finally a chai that doesn’t make me sit back and go, “this is nice, but it isn’t the chai flavours I love”. This one has the notes that make me happy, with it being a sweeter chai and therefore one I don’t have to milk for me to enjoy. It has a similar flavour to Chai Spice from the Tea Haus, but also has another note to it, I suspect that coming from the mate. I enjoyed this one, drinking it black, which is something I don’t normally end up doing for my teas. Definitely one I’ll consider re-stocking!