Sleigh Ride

Another sip down from the advent calendar!

By aroma, this one smells exactly like Forever Nuts. I’m not actually certain if I’d be able to tell them apart. It’s a warm, cinnamonny, nutty aroma. Absolutely delicious!

The flavour does differentiate the two, however; Sleigh Ride seems to have some tartness which isn’t present in Forever Nuts, but other than that, it’s apple cinnamon pie with a hint of nuttiness. Really quite tasty, but I prefer the lack of tartness in Forever Nuts.

A great tea to have tried, but another one I won’t be missing! (Although now I’m having wicked cravings for Forever Nuts!)

ETA: Second infusion is weakly appley. Not bad. I could have used more tea, I think, so probably a pretty good result all things considering!

I love the little popped rice pieces in the dry tea mix it looks like Lilliputian popcorn.

Sadly that’s where the love stops.

Brewed, this smells like Forever Nuts, but it tastes much tarter. I can’t say that I’m a fan of the tartness in this tea, and as it cools, that aspect becomes increasingly obvious.

Sigh…not good

I eventually gave up on this one and fed it to my drain. On the bright side, I only got 20 grams.

I am not sure why I am just reviewing this now, but anyway, here goes. I can’t really say anything about this tea that others have not said already. It is a cross between Kanpe and Forever Nuts. Nutty, with a little hint of fruity and tartness.
I find that it tastes a little artificial though.

Not going to rate this, because I think what happened was my fault…

The recommended steep time is 5-7 minutes… I may have let it steep for 10 when I meant to steep it for 3 or 4. It was disgusting. Bitter and hibbi all the way. Evil hibbi. I couldn’t finish the cup it was so gross.

So now I have a feeling… even if I steep it right I will taste how I made it the first time. I just can’t handle any hibiscus.

The dry smell was so tempting though… but I think I’ll stick with Forever Nuts.

I don’t even know how to begin describing the scent that this mad array of ingredients gives off. It’s cinnamon spiced fruits and nuts with a roasted quality and, overall, comes across as some kind of candied roast mixture. It smells good, crazy but good. The items in this herbal blend are similar to the Kanpe herbal concoction and Forever Nuts.

Steeped, it smells like Forever Nuts, which reminds me of hot cheros. I am getting a lot of the hibiscus. It seems strange to have something at once be so tart and fruity and yet so nutty, spiced and roasted. It ends on a sweet & sour note in the back of the mouth, and tingly cinnamon and puckering cheeks. The notes in the sip go “zing”, than melting smooth, than “zing” again… is this herbal tea playing “Jingle Bells” on my tongue? Maybe if I drink it differently it will play a different tune?

Crazy, crazy Christmas tea.

Dry Leaf Nose: Intriguing and complex nose. Sweet and fruity.

Liquor: Bright pink and clear liquor with a complex aroma that follows the dry leaf nose.

Flavour: Very complex. Sweet and fruity notes are up front, while savoury roasted notes are also prominent. The beetroot and popped rice combine to ground the blend and add a hint of oven baked, spiced gingerbread.

This was one of my free samples from my DAVIDsTEA order. I looked at the completely bizarre list of ingredients, and said “Ech! We’ll never like this!” but at the same time was uber-curious to give it a whirl. So, I made it for our evening tisane.

Guess what!? It’s completely delicious. It’s very hard to describe – maybe a lightly spicy, slightly… anise-y? cider-y? kinda tart but sweet, popcorn-y? delight. Truly different than anything I’ve tasted…ever!

Bravo, DAVIDsTEA! I’d order this in a heartbeat!

why does steepster go wonky and dead around 3p everyday? i mean, i’m not REALLY complaining, i’m just kinda curious.

i have a Hario gongfu teapot that i’ve really wanted to use so i decided to try it now even though this tea isn’t really gongfu material i don’t think. maybe i’ll get one of those little over the cup strainers and then use the gongfu whenever i want. :)
i smelled the tea, and was like ‘this seems nice, why didn’t i buy more of this one?‘…aaaaand then i tasted it. and it’s a hibiscus tea. and we all know the blah blah about hibiscus teas. so i’ll just spare us all and say it’s pretty. and nice enough. and i won’t buy more. and i’ll give my sister the rest of my sample. with love xox

Funny story. Yesterday I was at work and I walked into the employee room for my break and I saw two DAVIDsTEA cups sitting on a table. I knew exactly who they belonged to because two co-workers of mine love tea and we have tea conversations all the time and confuse all of the other employees who do not really understand the language of tea (ie they get confused when we say words like oolong, rooibos, infuser, steep, etc). Anyways, so I was so curious to see what they were drinking so I grabbed their cups and smelled their tea to see if I could recognize what they had (and I was correct, Glitter and Gold & Forever Nuts). Yeah, I am a crazy person… no shame! So I started to crave Forever Nuts so I went to DAVIDs during my break and asked for that. The employee recomended that I try Sleigh Ride because it is quite similar to Forever Nuts so I did. I really enjoyed this tea. It was sweet and nutty (kind of like myself), and it also reminded me of a warm cup of apple cider. Yum.

Sleigh Ride was a tea I initially bought in fear of it disappearing before spring came. I am so pleased I picked this up and tried it as it comes close to beating Oh Canada as my favourite tea ever.

When I opened the bag, I could only feel memories hit me when I inhaled the scent. It smelled like our house, around Christmas when a fire was going and the wind is howling outside. It smells of blankets wrapped around me, of cartoons playing on TV telling of Santa and other things and the Christmas tree decorated full of crafts my mother has made.

I was so worried this would not be up to par with the smell but is surpassed that and I found myself drinking gulps of it in a very unladylike way. It has a sourness to it that is just right for my tastes and it is warm and inviting and the very essence of winters in the Rocky Mountains.

I am buying a tin of this but I am restraining myself as I do. This is a winter tea and will be treated as such during the year. It will be out at winter or when I desperately need a reminder but never more as this is too special to be spoiled.

OK so i just received this tea today thanks to Davidstea’s this one smelled so good i couldn’t Wait to try it! The smell is intoxicating And its a mix of forever nut with fruit! Which taste amazing!!!!!!

Well, it’s still a bit hot, but it is pretty good so far. It is a little tart from the hibby, but I don’t think as bad as some…I seem to tolerate this as well as I tolerated the hibby in Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait, though I think this one is slightly more tart. I do absolutely love the smell of this one though, as it is so warming with the nuts and cinnamon, and the pooped rice add a more earthy note, though I do wish there was more of that in the blend. I only got about 10g of this because I was concerned about the hibiscus, but I think this might be one I will keep a small supply around for…or I might just get some Forever Nuts since it is similar, without the hibiscus. Dunno. I’m sort of wondering whether this one would be good as a latte (probably soy)…I’m not sure why.

Anyway, I will drink the rest and then go to bed…

I was very wary of this tea, but no more! This is ddelicious! It warming and fruity and delicious. I definitely agree with this tea being a combination of Forever Nuts and Kanpe, but I’m a fan of both of those teas, so it’s all good. I’m glad I have 50 g of this! It’s a bit heavy, so I appreciate the price point of $7 per 50 g.

“Just hear those sleigh bells chingling, ding ting tingling too. It’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you.” Day 11 of the advent calendar. A picture perfect night for caroling and for a sweet herbal tea. Tasting this one I can see how people can compare this to “Forever nuts” flavor wise.

It does taste very similar and looks very similar in the cup. The tart nuances of Sleigh ride however sets it apart from its sweet twin. The toasty popped rice (I will admit I mistook for popcorn)adds a balance to all the fruity flavors and makes it a very satisfying blend at any time of the season. Delicious!

final tea of the evening if a 24 oz pot of this. i’ve been adding a scant tsp of white sugar to each 6oz cup and it’s just… 15 calorie perfection. i have an intense love of apple cider and this satisfies this craving perfectly. i’m generally not a huge fan of hibiscus and i really am aching for a tea like this without the tartness, but i understand my sweet tooth is more pronounced than most peoples.
also, the toasted rice gives this a fullness. it’s like genmaicha but fun fruity and caffeine free!!!!

I actually thought David’s Tea had screwed up again (they had two day 8’s on my calendar), the color threw me, and it smelled almost exactly like I remembered Forever Nuts smelling. Once I brewed it and saw the crazy pink color I came immediately to Steepster to see if it had beetroot in it.

And, it does indeed appear to be Sleigh Ride. It tastes like apple cider, with a strong coconut smell. It is delicious indeed. I still think I taste beet though. I appreciate the color, I just cannot get it out of my head that it contains beets. It is totally psychological, I know I don’t really taste beets. Knowledge sucks sometimes. But this tea does not (even if I taste beets).

ETA: And there is the hibiscus! Now that it is cooling off the hibiscus is becoming dominant. I can see why people aren’t a fan of hibiscus. It really does take center stage. Show off.

I haven’t seen this one in store… is it a new tea?

Merry Christmas! This tea is very delicious! It smells (and looks) a lot like Forever Nuts…but it’s still very good. I’m not crazy for herbal teas, but this was a nice tea after all my festivities today. I got a 50g bag in my stocking. Very nice!

Although I usually only drink black teas, this was a nice change! Very fruity, and very Christmassy! I wouldn’t drink it everyday, but it’s a nice change

Ah Sleigh Ride my old friend. I remember you from last years advent calendar. Like a more intense, fruity, and tart version of forever nuts. On resteep tonight I found it tasted exactly like forever nuts. I will now refer to it as 2 teas in one. Getting a tin soon :)