Mulberry Magic

Mm, this is nice. Nutty and mildly sweet. I need to give it a longer steep next time, but I like how rich it is. I drank this with dinner, which I don’t usually do, and it went nicely. It also helped me avoid feeling like I NEEDED something sweet after I finished as I usually do. I should have a cup of tea immediately following dinner more often.

Things that advertise they help blood sugar control typically aren’t applicable to type 1 diabetes. But, if it’s a tea clearly I have to try it! And if it might at all help block carb cravings that would be pretty amazing.

I’m not sure why I am so nervous to be trying this tea. I opened up the pouch and it didn’t smell like I expected it to. It might be the nuts or the flavoring that make it a little strange, but it didn’t smell all that delicious. Once steeped, the tea smells like leaves and vanilla cake.

Sipping… oh, this is interesting! It tastes very much like white chocolate. That flavor doesn’t linger for the entire sip, however. It has a very leafy taste that is just as strong as the initial sweetness. It’s not the same kind of leafy flavor from something like an oolong, for example… I can’t really describe it. This is one of the most unique teas I’ve tried. A bit part of me wants to like this tea more since it doesn’t really have anything I don’t like… but the more I sip, the more I realize that this tea isn’t for me.

I used to really not like this tea. I think it was because I normally drank it very oversteeped, as my boyfriend likes to leave his leaves in the steeper/teabag while he drinks teas.

Anyways, I wanted to give this tea a second chance, but this time brewed it up my way.

YUM! Nutty and sweet with a light creamy flavour and a subtle vegetal taste reminiscent of a green tea. I think I am going to get very into this tea – kind of wishing I bought more than 50g! I might try mixing this with my favourite green tea too to get some interesting soft flavour combinations and even more tasty health benefits!

An important thing to note is that the mulberry in the title refers to mulberry leaves, not mulberry fruit (which are very tasty BTW). The leaves form the base of the tea and give it a bit of a vegetale flavour, although it’s not too strong or annoying. The tea is also surprisingly sweet – is that from the vanilla flavouring or the mulbery leaves I wonder? The macademia nuts are a good choice for this tea I think, as they’re more subtle than almond or walnuts and with the vanilla they give the tea a nice rich flavour.

This was one of those, “heeeey, what is this??? Let me try!.. oh waiit. you don’t have stock?” teas.. if that made any sense. I’m always a sucker for new things so when I saw this, with macadamia nuts (which I love). It was a purchase decision. Clearly though, I think when they put up this tea, it sold out way too fast and vanished from shelves for a good few months. I remember on the Davidstea fb fanpage there was one fellow who asked every week if they would restock it…

Eventually though, i forgot about it.. until now. Got 25g to try it out, also seeing that davids noticed the interest and demand for the product and raised the price from like $6.75 to.. $9.. wonderful.

The leaves remind me of grape leaves just more smaller pieces, taste is nutty and vegetal though not at all unpleasant, brew was fairly dark, it was enjoyable – innocent. Pretty easy to drink this one though it doesn’t come across as something memorable. I read somewhere that mulberry tea contains some extract that inhibits the absorption of carbohydrates? Oh noo. (well good for women looking to lose weight perhaps). I need caffeine.. and you take away my carbs that give me engery? nooo.

In all cases, nothing bad about this tea but probably not something I would really crave for constantly. It does come slightly pricey as you have to use more leaf than a standard black per brew.

Well, it’s a “magic” taste. Hahaha… No, seriously, I understand why everyone loves it. It’s impressive in mouth, it taste like nothing else i’ve ever tasted. A GOOD taste.

Thanks Emilie for the swap! My husband and I both had a cup of this last night. I was excited to finally taste mulberry leaves! It was good but not my favorite tea ever. Glad I got to try it but its not going on my shopping list :)

I was fortunate to receive this in a swap with Emily M! I chose the tea on a whim because of the name. I have NO IDEA what mulberries taste like, so I have no basis for comparison to them. I do really like this tea enough to purchase it. There is a richness to it, which may be the macadamia or the mulberry. In any case it’s really nice and tasty. I drake the majority of it iced and lightly sweetened, but it was also really good on it’s own and hot. Thanks Emily M!

I was very afraid when I picked this out of my sampler set, I must admit. It did not smell well and I only imagined it tasting like a thistle or some type of garden weed variant but alas I was proved wrong again, thankfully.

But even so, it is not a tin buy tea. I enjoyed what I had of it, as it was light and went well with my lunch. It tasted a lot better than it looked inside the tiny tin sampler but it just was not enough to wow me. Still, the interesting notes about what Mulberry leaves are credited for makes me interested. We’ll see if I buy more in the future…

This came in the “Around the World” sampler pack that I bought at DAVIDsTEA. This is a pack of 12 teas that come in small tins, and are packaged in a small box with a card that lists the descriptions.

I thought it was really funny that for this tea, the description on the card starts off with the question: “Why is everybody talking about mulberry leaves?” I don’t know a single person talking about Mulberry leaves. Hahahaha.

Anyway, about the tea…

When I smell it, I get the sensation of a buttery peanut. I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, buttery peanuts do not necessarily smell refreshing, nor do they sound like something I would like to drink.

I was kind of thinking about buttery peanuts on my first sip, and I think it weirded me out a little. However, now that I have had several sips, I think this tea is delicious.

Like I mentioned above, I do not think it is a refreshing cup of tea, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. For example: at the end of a long day, I might have a mint tea to unwind and relax. That is refreshing. At the start of a long day, I might have a strong black tea, which I wouldn’t consider refreshing either, but I still really really like black teas.

The aftertaste almost has a light buttery note and a light peanut note, which is interesting.

I thought people were joking when they said that this tastes like cake batter or cupcakes. How can an infusion from funny-looking leaves + nuts taste like baking?

Then I took a sip of my mom’s to-go cup of this. And I had to eat my words.

It legit tastes like cake batter! How is this possible?? I don’t know and I don’t care, I’m just going to drink up.

The fragrance and name of this tea are a bit misleading. The “Mulberry” refers to the leaves in the tea base. There is macadamia nuts in it that you couldn’t really smell.
When this tea is steeped it tastes like macadamia nuts, which I have only ever had in macadamia nut cookies. So this tea reminds me of drinking a cup of hot cookies! However it’s calorie and sugar free so I can have as much as I want.
The colour of this tea is gross! Full on, an unappetizing shade of swamp green. This deters me from drinking it out of my glass thermos and serving it to friends, but whateves…more for me.

While I could not smell the macadamia nuts, the fruity-sweet scent of the leaves was enough to encourage me to purchase this as my “to-go” tea today. I was tasty over ice and note worthy enough to want to purchase it at a later date.

I got this one for Christmas from my dad! Yaaay dad!! It’s a good one!

He did a good job picking this one. It’s very yummy. I am transported back to my youth again, riding my bike with friends and picking mulberries around our neighbourhood and eating them. Absolutely delicious! I would get this one again without a doubt. Right now I have about 130g, so I’ll be more than good for a while, but yeah, it’s very good. Yummmy :)

Holy Hannah Banana, I just found my cravings/ late night go to tea! Forever. On occasion I can be found smelling this beautiful tea. The appearance of the tea is beautiful as well – I really enjoy the color of the mulberry leaves.

Dry: Curled up dark (bluish?) leaves with little chunks of macadamia nut. Smells like creamy vanilla cake or pudding, yet with a delicious vegetal note at the same time. Again, I often just smell this tea it is so delicious (often when I am on a steep run with another tea, but yet have massive cravings for this tea. This generally results in me having a second large cup on the go with Mulberry Magic, in addition to my tiny cup and tea pot full of the other tea. Can I just say, I feel like I’m cheating on the other tea every time I do this.)
Liquor: Beautifully deep vegetal color that looks creamy almost (or maybe I am just imagining this due to the fact that I know how creamy it is..?) In the mouth- What clouds taste like (before pollution). Its a pillowy creamy vanilla cake/pudding-esqe liquid gold that has a buttery vegetal taste as well. This buttery vegetal taste keeps it so interesting and delicious that you will not ever get sick of the sweet vanilla cream taste. If you put steamed milk in this tea – it reaches another level of creamy vanilla vegetal goodness that should absolutely be experienced by anyone doubting this tea. Also, I get at least two good steeps out of this. Usually three, though three is noticeably weaker. Also, thanks to AliPants, I tried this tea in a bag and it gave it a much better flavour I found. Sweeter. If you want more vegetal, give it some breathing room!

1000% a mainstay in my tea cupboard. I really wish I had added it to my last Davids Tea order as I am getting mildly low and that worries me. Phooey!

Definitely not what I was expecting! “Mulberry Magic” makes me think of fruity, mulled wine far more than it does a nutty-smelling leafy blend. But its similarity in appearance to Toasted Walnut (yum!) and the fact that it’s caffeine-free (!!) compelled me to buy it anyways.

Similar to Toasted Walnut, the dry leaf as well as the steeped tea smell sweet and nutty. I also find the taste similar (if I recall correctly), although of course the distinct flavour of green tea is missing, so it just tastes like sweet nutty leaves. Which I like! I’m not getting “cake batter” or “vanilla cupcake” any of the other comparisons that have been made, but given that I don’t hugely care for either, I’m not disappointed. Looking forward to doing a direct comparison between the two teas just for curiousity’s sake :)

ETA: Steeped a second cup today, and accidently left the teaball in for waaaay too long (8+ min for sure). Was worried that it might have oversteeped… but I tasted it and it’s still amazing, just a bit weaker than yesterday (surprise surprise). Upping the rating because this is one downside of toasted walnut – too long of a steep results in icky bitterness! Perhaps they will both find a home in my cupboard…

Ok, so I had to go downtown to run a few errands before heading to a friend’s birthday party, and I decided I was gonna grab a cuppa for the long bus ride. Additionally, I knew that there was something happening in store today based on some Facebook messages. While I there I decided to see the teas of the day, and was a little disappointed that they were both herbal…Cherry Potion and Mulberry Magic. I don’t hate herbals, but I hate hibiscus and licorice and they tend to be in a lot of blends, so I tend to shy away from them. Still, I wasn’t too surprised since these two have been mentioned lately and the site has special features to them. Anyway, I did a sniff test to see if one smelled better than the other, so as I could drink the one that smelled best last. In this case, it was the Mulberry Magic that smelled the best, and boy it smelled good! It tasted great too!

I couldn’t put my finger on it what it was, until the SA mentioned it had macadamia nuts. Well, I must be a nut fiend, as I have been favouring Toasted Walnut and a few with almonds in them like Chocolate Rocket and Secret Weapon. The nuttiness was sooo comforting and warming, and despite not really knowing what mulberries tasted like, I really agreed with the whole taste. Mind you, this was all in the little sample cup.

The SA said it would help curb hunger/cravings, etc, and since I had a long us ride ahead, I thought it might be a good idea to try this (instead of a $1 straight tea), but as it was going to be a longish night, I actually did want a tea with caffeine, so I thought about mixing it with another one. We looked at a few possibilities, and I probably should have stuck with something simple like the Vanilla Oolong, or a white tea…but I opted to up the nut and fruit and mix it with Toasted Walnut.

Was it a success, you might ask? Well, yes and no. Let me say that it was a very complex taste, that I’m not sure my taste buds could handle. This doesn’t mean it was bad in any way. I think that the flavours are so similar in both, in a way, they married so well they became indistinguishable from each other. I think that hot, I picked up more of the Toasted Walnut and as it cooled I got more of the Mulberry Magic. As I like both teas, the blend tasted great, but it was a hard taste to peg. As I said, I probably should have paired it with a much simpler tasting tea for the added pep.

Lucky for me, they were giving away little tins of Mulberry Magic and Cherry Potion, so I have me a little sample to try again, here at home. I will see how that goes, but I may very well add this to my regular stash. I don’t really have any herbal tea except chamomile, so it would be nice to find a tea or two I can have later at night and not worry if the caffeine will be a problem or not. I am still tempted to try mixing it with another tea, for those times I do want that little boost.

But so far, me likey!

EDIT: Ok ok, so I just realized that Cherry Potion is a white tea! With the hibiscus in it though, it could have FOOLED ME. It’s an herbal with the mask of a white!

Hmmm. Brewed this nice and strong and tried it unadulterated. The SMELL is overwhelmingly like some kind of boiled vegetable, which, while not unpleasant, but hard to get past when I’m in mind of drinking tea. I love the buttery smoothness of it, but not sure I’m ready to get past the sheer vegetable flavour of it. I might try blending it with other teas, or with a hit of sweetener/milk to alter the flavour. I have maybe another cup or twos worth left, so will try again. It’s certainly edible, just not sure I would buy it again.

Edit: My second try was MUCH more successful. I believe the problem was the first time, that I used too much tea, and had had too much overly sweet/fruity things on my palette. It’s still very odd, but I am tasting the nuttiness now and am craving moooore.

Edit 2: OMG this is becoming one of my favorite teas. Sadly it’s really pricey for an herbal, $9 for 50g, especially since the flavour is only really strong on the first steeping.

This one is really nutty and sweet. However I find I don’t enjoy it as much without sweetener, so it falls a little short for me since I am looking for an amazing evening tea that I can drink straight.

So I brought one of my best friends to the store today between classes (her first time), and ended up spending WAY to much money. But let’s look on the bright side: I’m completely stocked up and not allowing myself to walk into DavidsTea until, at least, March. Well, minus stopping in to say goodbye to the manager who is shifting stores out of the province. Sigh Shout out: Banff will think you’re awesome!!!
Now down to business. This tea is one of my absolute favourites, and completely tastes like a warm macadamia nut cookie. The leaves are so tightly wound that they unfurl into glorious flavour. MMMMMmmmm. I’m drinking it as a latte right now, but I love it both ways… the macadamia nut cookie taste is much stronger when you leave out the milk. But after busting my butt in class all day, I just want to relax with something cozy. Now on to studying for my midterm on Friday!