Bear Trap

I have been having serious anxiety issues lately while writing my “coming out as transgender” letter to my family, and this is the only tea that has even remotely calmed my nerves.

The first time I bought it, I didn’t smell it or find out what was in it before buying a tin, all I cared about was the bear aspect. Well it turned out to be my favourite herbal blend!

It truly tastes like a bear hug in a cup. Sweet, tart, great hot or iced, and very “beary”! I love it plain, with one raw sugar cube, or a splash of maple syrup. Toss in some guayusa for an early morning kick too. I went through 100g in 5 days, and got another 200g today after running out of the house after giving my family the letter. Now at almost 1:30am I’m making another cup to help mellow out so I can sleep off this anxiety! I feel like my heart is going to burst from my chest or I’m going to shake right out of my skin!

This is the fifth tea from the ones my cousin picked up for me. I didn’t do my note for the fourth yet.

This tea reminds me of camping, both in the scent & taste. I don’t know if its psychological, because of the name, all the berries. I don’t know. It even smells/tastes like pine.

Ugh this is so delicious & is making me long for camping, late night fires, saunas, berry picking. Too good for words.

I steeped this last night then put it in the fridge for later. Now is later. Obviously.

It definitely needed something sweet, so I added in some wildflower honey. Kind of amazed at the difference it made. It was just like vaguely fruity and mostly tart and now I can taste berries for sure.

But that wasn’t enough…I saw MaddHatter ‘s note about adding lemonade…well I just happen to have some.
That works so well, and takes the tartness I wasn’t liking (thanks hibiscus I should have noticed) and makes it the lemon instead.

I will probably get more of this in the future, sweeten it while it’s still hot, and definitely add just a bit of lemonade again.

When it’s so tart it just doesn’t really feel like you can tell that’s it’s even made up of berries :( But I love anything that has bear in the name so I’m glad it’s easily remedied.

This is Bruno, part of my love of bears. He’s like the pet I don’t have to pay any fee of hundreds of dollars for as he doesn’t eat walls. https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/251468_2016482060693_1503090120_32021876_2781157_n.jpg And I’m sure if he was magically a real bear, he would love this tea too.

Thanks for the sample, Krystaleyn!

Made a pitcher of this last night to chill overnight in the fridge, and it is delicious! I kept a careful eye on the brewing time (I brewed one pot for 4 minutes, then resteeped the leaves for another 5) due to seeing bits of hibiscus in the mix, and added a bit of sugar. The hibiscus is behaving, thank goodness, and it is just a wonderful cup of tea! Just what I’ve been craving for a few days.

Edited to add: Three times now I’ve caught Pekoe (our cat) (and yes, she’s orange) dipping her paw in my glass and licking it clean of tea. So, you know, favorite tea of cats and humans alike! >.>

Another sample from Bonnie. I like this one much better than the chocolate cake from David’s. Nice and sweet with some pleasant tartness (I’m a BIG fan of sour things, Sour Patch Kids are by far my favorite candy). Fresh, juicy berry flavor…I’m sure this would be great iced. Thanks Bonnie!

The first thing you notice about this tea is how incredibly juicy and berryish it smells. YUM!
The second thing you notice is that because of all the berries, it’s pretty heavy and therefore kind of expensive. Especially considering that it’s most delicious iced, because it takes so much more tea to make iced tea.
At any rate, I’ve done this both cold brewed and hot/concentrated/dumped on ice. I got more flavour out of the latter method, and found it much better that way. I added a little bit of sugar as well and it REALLY brought out the berry flavour. It was absolutely delicious and really got me through the day at work. It was so packed with flavour it was like drinking actual JUICE, like berry juice. It’s not often you come across a tea/tisane with that much flavour.
There’s also the fact that on the website, the picture for this tea is a really cute bear. That may have played a key role in me taking a hard look at this tea in the first place…
I will repurchase this when the weather turns warm next year, but until then my bag is finished.

Another sample from Bonnie! I’ve been saving this one to try it iced, it just seemed like one of those teas that would be perfect iced. It’s getting in the 80’s and 90’s already in Texas. I made this yesterday.

MMM I was right! This is great iced! All the berry flavors combine together in this delicious way without none really overpowering the other. I added just a bit of honey and it made it even better. It only seemed appropriate for something titled Bear Trap. I may have to buy this next time I place an order. Now that it’s finally heating up, I get to try all of the teas I love iced. It’s like a whole new world cue Disney music

So, finally getting a tea from the tea crawl and swap that I got from ShayneBear and I think, Bear Trap had to be the first to try. Also, as I’d had a very good and healthy dinner, I thought that a fruity tea might be a nice compliment, and as I’d had two cups of caffeinated tea today already, this seemed like a clear choice.

It’s very fruity and turns a beautiful shade of reddish pink. On its own, I found it a little too tart, despite not having hibiscus in it. I added a small amount of sugar and that brought the tartness in check. I can see how this will be an amazing tea to ice in the summer time…it’s just so juicy, and there is a bit of a calming feeling with it too.

I’m not generally much of a fruit tea/tisane drinker, usually because of the hibiscus that so many blends have, but I generally tolerate them better iced. There are a few I can handle hot though. I’m not sure where in my repertoire of teas this one fits into…I’d say it is maybe not my favourite as a hot tea…not that it is bad as a hot tea, because it isn’t, but I think I prefer less tart fruit teas/tisanes hot, like Forever Nuts. I could see having a pitcher of this in my fridge in the summer though, with maybe extra fruit in it too…like frozen berries in place of ice. I dunno. I like it, but I think it will fit in my tea life as an iced tea.

The smell of this brewed tisane is not at all appetizing to me; it a tangy, acidic faint berry smell. The flavour is very thin and dilute. Too tart berry taste. Tastes a lot like a few bagged berry teas that I’ve had in the past.

As the tea cools, I can taste the flavours underneath the tartness near the end of the sip. There is a full berry melon-y mix of tastes
I’m not sure if there is an ingredient in this which is making it tart but maybe I should infuse closer to the 4 minute mark next time.

This was one of my first DavidsTea teas. I had it in store, iced last summer quite a few times and enjoyed the berry flavours (but mostly the iced part, I have to admit – it was hot last August in Toronto!). Like others, I have found this one can be a bit tart, so I add agave/honey generously to bring out the berry sweetness.

I’ve tried it hot too, but it wasn’t as special hot. If you’re wondering what its like hot and want to try, don’t bother!

I do like this, and will order a bit more later in the year for summer again. Its a good iced tea standard.

Nom. This is exactly what I wanted tonight. It’s one of the best fruity teas I’ve ever had. Lots of fresh raspberry flavor with a slightly sour lemony background flavor.

SIPDOWN!

Made some iced tea out of this the other day. I must have oversteeped it because it was VERY flavorful, almost too much so. I had ‘sipped down’ the last of my Xanadu the other day as well, also iced, and preferred it. I think Xanadu was discontinued or was only a summer tea or whatever, but it was sweeter and more raspberry/cherry, which I liked.

I know this is supposed to be about Bear Trap though. It was a bit sour. I don’t LOVE blackberries so maybe that was what happened with my taste buds on this one. I dumped it down the drain. I don’t think that has so much to do with the quality of this tea, just my own personal preference. It’s very tasty, just not the taste I was hoping for!!

Mmm… One of my favourite fruit teas from David’s. At one point, we had this one, Berry Up and Xanadu at the same time. Now Xanada is gone and this is almost gone too…A nice treat, very juicy and fragrant. As with most berry teas, I have trouble distinguishing one berry over another, but I get a bit of tartness – Maybe the blackberry? Yum!

Very very flavourful!
A perfect iced tea flavour. Berries and berries!

Got it for my $1 tea today. The berry taste is juicy and tart, which I will admit is not my favorite taste, but for people into fruit teas – this one is excellent.

As a personal note, it’s too sour for me, I should have added a bit of sweetener maybe? I’ve had a bad history with herbal fruit teas, though, which have all been sour and bleh since I can remember, so I’m reminded of those unfortunately. Pretty sure that’s just by psychological taste buds though, don’t let that stop you from trying it!

Edit: I don’t know why, but I really want to use this as a base for a bbq sauce for chicken. There. I said it.

This is an interesting blend. It’s very pretty and colourful dry and steeps a dark red/pink colour. The smell is nice, but there is something I’m not fond of in there – not sure what it is. The taste is much less overwhelming than the smell. I was expecting something akin to Mamma Mia (agh) with such a strong smell. But it seems almost watered down. Not offensive, not awesome. Another one to cross off the list.

Overall a nice blend. I’l finish my 10 g sample, but won’t purchase again.

I’ve been on an iced tea kick with this continued heat. Fruity, tart iced teas are so refreshing, and this one is no different. It does take a lot more to make an iced tea, and I’ve already used up the entire 50g bag. I offered some to a friend with dinner last night, explaining it was caffeine free. She was not entirely convinced it would be any good, but after a few sips, she went on to have two more glasses!

To me, this is a perfectly balanced fruity tea. I tried it hot, and didn’t care for it much, because it seemed like drinking hot juice. Iced, and with a touch of sweetener, this is amazing. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more!

I FINALLY tried this one. I’ve had it in my cupboard for a while now.

It is quite good. I enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t have much, so what I made was a light, fruity tea and it was delicious.

Oh sweet fruity goodness. I like this one because you can taste the fruit in it. And it tastes like real fruit not the artificial flavored fruit.

I bought this for the kids at work – What an expensive treat this one was! $6.50 just to make a JUG!

We did unintentionally over steep this one, but a little extra kick of apple doesn’t harm. And I was impressed when one of the kids mentioned: “This would taste better with fresh squeezed lemonade instead of the agave.”

On the whole the kids that were willing to try this tea, truly did enjoy it, but if I were to get this tea again for them, I would just add the lemonade and tell them it is “Berry Lemonade” instead – might get me more kids willing to drink it.

I am happy that when I said: “Sell me something that smells like bubble gum” the gal behind the counter gave me this one to smell!

I have had this iced and sweetened. And liked it. But tonight I’m drinking it hot with a generous squeeze of honey and OH MY GOD. It’s like liquid candy.