Alpine Punch

Today I hosted a couple of my close friends for a tea tasting event. We tried all of the winter collection, and some of the new permanent teas from DAVIDsTEA.

This was by far the winner of the afternoon, with three out of four choosing it as the tin-worthy tea. (I prefered Snow Bunny to this, but, heck, I can get more than one tin!)

First impressions – The yummiest smell possible. I could just bring Alpine Punch around with me, sniffing it periodically during the day. Amaretto all the way. And, surprise surprise, it smelled just as awesome once steeped!

Flavor – Oh. Goodness. Gracious. Wonderful. Warm and rich and complexe and just slightly sweet. I love it. I’m just confused as to how this wonderful tea that smells like almonds and tastes like almonds doesn’t even include almonds in its description. Let’s review the DT description:

‘’We like to think it’s with a fortifying brew like this spiced rooibos ( don’t even taste it ), with apple ( nope ), cinnamon ( nu huh ), and ginger ( wha? ).’’

ALMOND.

Loveability – heck ya. This one is a keeper.

my review of this tea is two pronged, personal and professional.

1) personally, i tend to be very picky when it comes to rooiboos. the smell from this herbal was great, but it didn’t follow through on taste for me. this struck me as odd because coconut tends to be such a robust flavour like in david’s teas coco lemon thai…. however, not in this case.

i will add another piece of relevant information at this point. my bag of alpine punch was a sample sent from montreal. this is where the professional aspect of my review kicks in.

2) the description of this tea on steepster is at odds with the packaging from head office. the list of ingredients on my bag of tea reads as such: rooiboos, COCONUT CHIPS (COCONUT, COCONUT FAT, SUGAR)apple, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, rose blossoms, almonds, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOURING.

i like david’s teas. they’re canadian and they come up with very creative blends, regardless of whether they’re to my taste. however, due diligence in terms of ingredients listing is VERY IMPORTANT. i have come to understand that david’s teas is one of canada’s fastest growing companies which means that diligence across the board (ingredients especially!!!) becomes even more important.

david’s teas has formulated some of my favourite teas, but in my opinion this was a very big ball to drop.

I actually prefer this one on the second steep. If I knew more about tea, I might be able to explain why, but sadly, I do not.

On my second visit to the Prince George location of David’s Tea, I had requested suggestions of new teas for the season, which I have not yet tried.

Again, normally, I wouldn’t be interested in a rooibos blend, especially if it is mainly rooibos; but, it’s scent had enticed me. The leaves give off a ridiculously coconutty aroma, with hints of sweet spices.

Unfortunately, it is still predominately rooibos, as it is a rooibos blend, so upon steeping, the leaves are very red, and the cloudy liquor’s aroma is very rooibos. To be safe, I added half a teaspoon of rock sugar.

The flavor is surprising, as I had expected to taste rooibos. The spices and ginger are very present and very delicious, as is the coconut. There is a certain pale grounding to the flavor, which the rock sugar has sweetened to be less distracting.

I was extremely surprised, as I had not expected this to be as good as it is. The spices give it an appropriate kick, but the blend overall really works to take you to a very alpine place.

Mmmm this tea is delicious! Smells like sweet almonds with a touch of cinnamon. Initially, you taste the rose blossoms, and almonds with coconut. When you swallow you taste ginger,apple, and pepper. Then the after taste goes back to almonds. The rooibos goes lovely with the almonds. Mmmm a great blend of flavours!

I re-steeped this one. The second cup had less almond flavour but more cinnamon and ginger. Was still really good!

I like the fact that even though I steeped it for quite a while, the rooibos didn’t turn woody-tasting. I tried a few sips unadulterated, and while ok, it didn’t knock my socks off. I added 1 tsp of cane sugar, and it helped bring out a few of the flavours and some sweetness. Verdict – very drinkable, but not something I would go out of my way to drink.

I had some left over that I drank cold a few hours later. What a difference. I much prefer this one cold (ironic, as they market it as a tea to help you stay warm) as it had a nice, clean taste to it. Very refreshing and not marzipan tasting.

Really good! I had it to-go one weekend and went back to buy 100 grams of it!

Very Yummm

I always forget how much I love Alpine Punch until I drink it. It is so flavourful, it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. I’m not much of a cinnamon person, but there is just enough to create this wonderful taste. I will keep this tea in my cupboard for as long as DAVIDs tea has it in stock. It is perfect for those Canadian winters or dreary rainfalls, like today.

wow what can i say about this damn delicious tea. the ingredients are intense and the flavour is just unreal such a earthy fruit wooden taste i cant explain. when you drink it you feel calmed and relaxed right away which is great for me cause im always up tight. davids tea really has some of the best teas i have ever had and this is just another amazing tea all around a definite drink for fruit lovers who want to mellow out

So good and warm :-)

Oh the warmth!

Such a great winter tea, really great for keeping warm for the winter months, I’d have to describe it as robust. Scent is warm and amazing.

Is also great on the second steep.

I got this one as a sample and tried it iced first.
Very buttery, and not tart. Very pleasant as an iced fruit punch.

Wow I really like this tea, I think I’ll be drinking this tea more (I usually drink Snow Bunny as my night time tea but… black tea isn’t the best before bed).

I decide to get this tea reading all the good review but I usually don’t like red rooibos I was really surprise to like it I think it is also because this one doesn’t have the weird after taste most red rooibos have.

The color is a beautiful and rich amber and the taste is really nice. Not to sweet and perfect without adding any sweetener to it!
I don’t know why but i was thinking this tea would be more spicy but I think the flavors mix well together.

And like everyone else said, it smell like Amaretto but I don’t think it taste amaretto that much I don’t really taste the almond flavor.. Maybe it’s just me, maybe the next cup will be different.

Smells a-mazing. But, for some reason the taste reminds me of Blistex lip balm, the kind that comes in the pale pink jar…which is odd.

Apline punch was my moning treat for the last time!
I like the taste but it’s like Amarretto.. no fun to drink in the morning!!

I’ll give an other steep on a cold night when I need a dessert after a big meal!

I was quite pleasantly surprised! I typically stay away from teas with either apple or ginger, but went ahead and tried it anyway. Alpine Punch is going to be my go to drink after snowmobiling or when it is too cold to brave the outdoors!

This is probably my favourite tea from David’s. At first when i smell it i get hints of apple and almond. Second, the coconut takes over. I love apple and coconut together so this worked perfectly. The rooibos prevents it from being overly sweet, but it still has dessert qualities. I love this and would suggest it to anyone.

I really don’t want to rate this low, because it isn’t my cup of tea in the first place. I really hate coconut, it’s not something I enjoy eating ever. However, the smell of this tea was absolutely amazing and I couldn’t get away from how good it smelled. I could just barely smell a hint of coconut, and I figured the taste would be the same.

I really wish it was, since it tasted exceptional, and I probably could drink it (grudgingly). The coconut really overpowered the drink for me, although I will likely be giving it a second try in the future.

If you don’t like coconut, and figure this tea could taste good I would recommend avoiding it. However, if you do, it does have a very sweet and unique flavour.

I am definetely not in a rush to ever have this one again!..I couldn’t even finish the cup the first time! To me it tasted like warm fruit punch and that was a big turn off for me…I got it for Christmas in the Winter Collection and now am stuck with 25g of it…