Carrot Cake

What a day for disappointments!!! Today, I am traveling for a few days to visit my brother in the US. I woke up early and when I got to the airport I found out that my flight had been delayed until 5:50pm!!! My connection got ruined, my short trip just got shorter, and worst of all, I am going to have to stay in a hotel in Miami and get up at 3am to catch a plane…. I am not a happy camper… And I am very annoyed at American Airlines for doing nothing to let me know about an entire days worth of delay… Oh well…

So, I spent the day at work and made some of this tea. I was very excited to try this one. I was hoping that I would love it. I did not. It was a sad experience. A days worth of disappointments…

The dry tea leaves smelled like paint thinner. I was very very confused. The more I sniffed, the more I was sure that it smelled very chemical. I was weary to brew it, but I went ahead and prepared it.

The brewed tea was a nice orange color. The scent, sadly, still strongly resembled paint thinner. My office smelled like it had just been painted. Was this tea really drinkable!?! Would I live through ingesting something resembling paint thinner? Time to find out.

Unsweetened it tasted very chemically with an aftertaste of freshly painted office. Sweetened with Splenda it tasted initially of dough and nuts, but quickly transitioned into paint… I gulped it down hanging on to the doughy flavor, but in the end my mouth was invaded by a chemical paint thinner ghost of a flavor. The scent of paint thinner that persisted in the empty cup was so strong that I had to get up and rinse it out. I simply could not sit and work to that smell… I can’t believe I actually drank the entire cup of this…

I think that this negative review is highly influenced by my terrible mood, but I am sure I will never try this again. If anyone is interested in this tea, I will gladly send it out to you!!!

Sometimes you just need cake. And when you don’t have cake, the next best thing is cake-flavored tea. Tonight, I really really needed a slice of moist, tasty cake smothered in cream cheese frosting… and this was pretty much the next best thing. I used up my whole sample from Krystaleyn on one gigantic steep of carrot-cakey goodness. I even broke out the big Starbucks mug!

The reason I needed cake is that I made the incredibly stupid mistake of watching The Body tonight. I’m re-watching Buffy in order and of course the day my kitty dies I happen to be smack-dab in the middle of season 5. Mourning often requires marathoning some of my favorite shows (it’s therapeutic!), and for some reason I decided not to skip the biggest tear-jerker of the show. My reasoning was “I can’t skip any episodes! It won’t be that bad!” Oh, how stupid I was. Much bawling happened, leading to a desire for cake, which I have to say this tea perfectly filled. It’s got the spiced taste you want, and I can actually taste the carrot—plus it’s an oolong base instead of a rooibos, which most carrot cake teas seem to be (and I hate rooibos). I’m not going to give this an actual rating as right now I think it’s the greatest thing on earth, but I’m not entirely objective at the moment. I think I might pick some up when I visit their store as this is definite “comfort tea.”

Sheesh, reading about this tea on here has made me quite wary of it!

The dry tea has a VERY strong odour. I can’t quite place it. I don’t believe it smells like paint thinner, as others have mentioned, but it does smell kind of chemically. I can imagine it to be very strong cakey carrot cake if I try quite hard, but based on the smell alone I probably wouldn’t choose this tea.

Thankfully, steeped this one smells a whole lot better, more like a spice cake with a strong tea base.

The taste, although I’m not sure I would call it “carrot cake”, is actually quite pleasant. I think I can taste the carrot, and definitely the oolong, and if I try hard, I can envision myself eating a piece of carrot spice cake. Not really getting the cream cheese icing though. I also have to say that I’m picky about the carrot cake that I like, and this tastes like a mid-range sort to me – not good enough to be amazing without icing, but not so bad that one needs a large dose of icing for the cake to be palatable.

So this one definitely isn’t as bad for me as for other people. I actually find it somewhat enjoyable, although it’s not tasty enough to be a tea I crave. The take-home message from this tea would definitely be that carrot in tea can work! I just think the spicing isn’t quite right; I’m getting a sense of baked goods, but it’s quite bland. I think someone perhaps needs to attempt a carrot cake chai, with whatever flavouring used in 52teas cheesecake teas (which hopefully I will soon be trying!) for the icing.

With the reviews for this one all over the place, I had to try this for myself. Ninavampi was gracious enough to swap this nearly-full 50 gram bag of Carrot Cake (and others) with me.

First off, I kind of like the strong smell of spices, carrot and cake that I’m getting from the dry leaf. I’d be happy enough just huffing the bag. But this wouldn’t be a legit review if I didn’t brew the tea. 1.5 tsp in 7ish ounces of water. For some reason the water didn’t get hot enough when I boiled it on the stove, so I let it brew just a tad longer.

Brewed, this is a yellowish-orange color. I gave it a quick sip sans rock sugar, and thought it might benefit from a small addition. So I added a few pieces. I can taste the spices and cakey carrot confection, but it’s much more muted than it smelled out of the bag. That’s kind of disappointing. As is cooled, all I could taste was spices and carrot. Probably better enjoyed quickly at a hotter temperature.

Overall I don’t hate it, but I’m not in love with it either. It’s just alright. I usually enjoy carrot cake on the few occasions that I have it, but it’s not a dessert I generally choose. I have a feeling it might take some playing around with before I can say I really enjoy this one. Nonetheless, I’m glad I have some to try and play with. :)

Backlogged – had this yesterday while home sick with Yet Another Migraine From Hell.

Carrot Cake is one of my favorite varieties of cake. OK, look, I’ve yet to meet a cake I didn’t like. ;)

I love the medley of this – allspice with a hint of carrot, and a hint of cream cheese/buttercream flavor. Because it’s oolong, I would be very careful about steeping and the temp of the water. I kept it at 192 degrees and steeped for exactly 6 minutes; I like a stronger tea. Bottom line, this is a new fave.

Most of the David’s teas I’ve tried are dessert-based, and so far, they’re spot on. Grateful again to the tea friend that shared!

I guess it depends on your recipe—this one tastes like cake, for sure, enough carrot to get the intent. But the coconut gives it a tropical loop-de-loop I didn’t expect. My growing-up carrot cakes were more autumnal, spicy.

All the same, it’s a pretty tasty pastry treat. (Try to say that five times fast :) Little milk OK but not necessary.

Received this one from ShayneBear at the tea meet yesterday!

It’s a nice, sweetly spiced black tea. I don’t think it necessarily tastes like carrot cake, but I do really like it. I might be needing to purchase more Persian Apple for my BFF, and if I do I hope there’s still some of this one available.

1 tsp in 8 oz water, etc.

Sip down day #3/tea#2

I haven’t met an oolong that I like yet. Blasphemy I know. But carrot cake is one of myfav baked treats. My local tea house, which is owned by two sisters make and sell TUE very best carrot cake EVER!

The dry notes smell like carrots, cream cheese and spices. Once steeped it smells a little earthy.
This tea is very light in colour and taste. I tastes a mostly earthy taste with a tpuch of sweetness similar to cream cheese icing.
This is decent, it will stay in my cupboard and hopefully my next cup tastes more like delicious carrot cake.

Now I want some real carrot cake :(

Sooo I finally got around to trying this today!
And sadly it is not for me (I took it off my shopping list haha)

There are a few things as to why it’s not good for me though, and it might mean that it’s a good tea for you!
First of all, it was a “to go” tea, but it didn’t taste burnt or bitter so , meh who knows!
Second, it does taste like carrot cake.

BUT

Not the kind of carrot cake I like. haha. I’m a bit picky when it comes to my carrot cake. It has to have pineapple for yummy moistness, and most importantly, cream cheese icing. Without the cream cheese, it’s just like a spice cake to me, which is the hugest “meh” taste to me – for whatever reason.

So on that note, it tastes like carrot cake. But not MY carrot cake. Aren’t I special haha! Blame my grandma for instilling C-Cake tradition in me n_-

Why does this tea have such awful/mixed reviews?! I expected to click into this page to find this rated 85+ and to my shock and awe scrolled through a mixed bag of terrible and sub par reviews.

Well, let me just say, you should not at all judge this tea based on the low score. Nope, not at all! I was thrilled to get this in the mail today after wanting to try it for a while but having it not make the cut the last few DavidsTea orders of mine. It does not in the tiniest, smallest, slightest bit smell at all like any sort of paint or paint thinner (trust me, I work at The Home Depot, so I really would know!) Instead it smells like warm carrot cake, or (if you have ever had them) carrot cake bars.

The tea itself looks gorgeous and is a colorful orange mix that just begs to be steeped. The flavors are a yummy mix of cream cheese frosting and just out of the oven spongy carrot cake goodness. The lingering taste reminds me of a holiday spice cake, or almost of a fair/festival funnel cake or fried dough. I was worried with their being apples that the apple flavor would come across in the tea and over power the carrot and cake flavors, but that wasn’t the case at all.

So, I don’t know why this tea has all sorts of funky reviews, it’s phenomenal and I immediately dedicated a large tin to it as I am certain it is going to be one of my staple teas. Maybe DavidsTea altered the blend or something since all these reviews. Who knows. But I for one say give it a try! I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!

Thanks to Jenn for sending me a sample of this, especially since I’d been thinking about buying it.

When I first opened the bag I got a whiff of something similar to the smell of paint drying. Not really a good sign.

I brewed this in an infuser basket for about 3 minutes with 180 F water. It is vaguely carrot-y and fruit-y but nothing very cake like is leaping out at me. I added some Vanilla soymilk and this has made it more like a dessert tea. Still the weird smell which is putting me off a bit.

This stuff is okay but I’m not totally crazy about it…

Thanks to Bonnie on giving this to me in a swap. It seems like everyone, this tea does not smell good right off the bat. I can not put my finger on what it smells like, but its not carrot Cake.
It tastes like raw carrots and apple with agave nectar. Yup, thats what I get…

This is a cool tea! It actually tastes like cake. I can taste that rich, savoury sweetness you get in a good carrot cake. I’m really glad this one wasn’t a disappointment after going for a whole tin of it on a whim! It’s sweet but nicely earthy so not overbearing. The apple and carrot get along very harmoniously here, and the coconut is nice and sweetly toasty.

I meant to make some carrot cake muffins tonight but I’m not feeling up to it, so this is a nice stand-in. And when I make the muffins, hopefully tomorrow, I’m definitely going to try infusing the recipe’s coconut oil with this!

I don’t understand all the hate for this tea! This was tea of the month when I first discovered David’s, and it makes me wish it was fall again. I loooooove it. I can’t even describe how it tastes, it just tastes like amazing carrot cake and cream cheese icing.

I got a bit excited and ordered a whole tin of this one.

Sometimes, you take a risk and it pays off. Sometimes it doesn’t. Like this time.

Unfortunately, Carrot Cake is not for me. I wanted to like it. The description sounded so perfect. Oolong! Apples! Coconut! Carrots! What’s not to love?

But there’s a smell to this that I find very off-putting. Maybe it’s the mysterious “flavouring.” It’s artificial and unpleasant, and makes every sip a task to not inhale as I drink. Gives me a headache actually.

Anyway, I’ve since put the tin out in the common area for others to partake in, and there have been several people who have approached me to say how much they love it. Maybe I’m just crazy.

And maybe I’ll think twice next time before impulse-buying tea online…

My first oolong! I liked this tea! I don’t think it’s fully “carrot cake” but the taste is nice to me. It was a really light tea in color and flavor, but I enjoyed my cup! I will agree that the dry smell doesn’t smell like carrot cake at all, I can’t even really place the smell. But all in all, I liked the tea! I’m actually not really a carrot cake fan at all, haha, but I think that’s why I like the tea because I find the flavor extremely light and subtle. Nice! ….Any oolong recommendations would be appreciated!! (Online or davids since thats the only tea shop nearby!)

Edit: bumping this rating up because I think I’m starting to love this tea!

I was really excited about this tea because the recipe sounded totally delicious. As a dessert and oolong lover, I was dying to try it – to the extent that I shamelessly asked my friend in Canada to buy that for me as a b-day gift! :P Thanks Chris!!!

Sadly, this tea is a HUGE disappointment. I hate to say this, but it is just awful. Before I tried it (but after Chris had already bought it), I was shocked by the massive reviews by displeased Steepsterites :0 I thought, it couldn’t be that bad, could it? Yet it IS really bad, and much worse than I have expected! Like many others, I am put off by the strong, unnatural “carrot cake” aroma. At first the smell wasn’t that strong so I could drink the tea… which tasted mainly of coconut and perhaps a bit of carrot. It did reminded me of carrot cake but definitely not a very tasty one because it lacked creaminess. Now the tea has cooled, and the synthetic carrot cake smell has become sickening enough to pollute the air in my room. It gives me a headache and makes the whole room stink! God, what should I do with the rest of the 100g tin?? X_X

I’ve had this in my cupboard for a while and I have merrily carted it from work to home and this weekend to Camp Bernard! Yes this tea has been to Scout Camp!! And I must say I was SO happy to have it with me! It fought off the cold, and slowed down the progression of the cold I have now.

The kids agreed that the tea smelled like carrot cake with frosting and one even went so far as to try and trade me his hot chocolate for my tea at “mug up” – Sorry kid, this tea is for big kids.

Mmmm carrots, Mmmm apples, Mmmm delish! You won’t want to share either.

I just don’t understand. This tea of the month was the first that I was excited for. The first that made me want the summer days to go by just a bit faster. I really, REALLY wanted to get my hands on this tea!

October rolls around and I run into DT to pick me up some Carrot Cake. I grab the canister and take a big whiff, only to be completely turned around. WHAT is that unidentifiable smell? Why is it so potent? Shouldn’t this smell like carrot cake or spices? I decide to buy 25g anyway, just because I had been waiting so long and still had the higest of hopes.

Nope. Shouldn’t have done it. It tastes just as odd and unidentifiable and un-carrot cake as it smells. I’ve tried it twice to no avail. And I agree with Nurvilya, it gives me a headache. Overall, it’s just a disappointing lost cause.

I was really hoping to love this one. I made a travel mug to take with me to my WW meeting last night. And the great thing about all these teas is that having them has reduced my craving for sweets. And they are 0 points if I put nothing in them. So since I like Carrot Cake I was hoping I would love this but no such luck. There is an odd smell to it. I can’t even describe it but it hits my nose and messes with the taste. It is an ok tea. I will try this one again. I put almond milk in it so I will try it plain and see if that changes anything. Maybe I will try baking with it.