Strawberry Ginger

I had this one yesterday after returning from the weekend market in my city. It had unexpectedly warmed up (oh March/April in Tasmania, so unpredictable!), so the boyfriend and I decided iced tea was the way to go. I did his Pink Flamingo in the steeper, so I made mine in a cocktail shaker (so easy, the best lazy iced tea option – just chuck everything in, water, ice tea sweetner etc, shake to mix and leave to steep for the required time then pour!). It was pretty warm yesterday, so I ended up having almost three different steeps in one brew!

I poured my first one after 5 minutes. The flavour in the first steep was a bit mild, almost like a gentle green. I could taste the tartness, as well as a bit of sweetness (not sure if it was the strawberry or the agave I added…). The colour was a mild pink, almost a salmon pink. I topped up the glass at 8 and 12 minutes with the remainder of the shaker contents. The colour and flavour became increasingly strong, the tartness and sweetness were more pronounced and the tea became tastier. I enjoyed all the flavour levels, but think the stronger one was best.

Overall opinion? Tasty as an iced tea (will have to try hot), especially when left (or forgotten!) to steep. Not as good as Pink Flamingo, and while I enjoyed it I don’t think I’d order some (not worth the international shipping), though I’d probably grab a cup or two if I lived closer to a DT!

This is actually one of my favorite herbals so I’m surprised that it has such mixed reviews. But I’ve come to the conclusion that I like hibiscus and I like ginger, so I think that is why I feel this is such a winning combination.

NEWSFLASH though. The reason I am reviewing this now is because I have a new favorite tea hobby. I’m trying to cut out calories from alcohol/sugary drinks. And I have a lot of gin/tonic around because I was really into them over the summer. So my new fav thing to do is to use the steeper to brew an herbal (I’ve tried Kanpe, Pink Flamingo, Goji Pop, and this one so far), place some gin and ice in a cup, pour the hot tea over the gin/ice, and then top it up with tonic. DELISH! Such a great drink and not as sugary as anything else that I would have flavoured.

Now to this tea. I love the ginger, I love the smell, and I love it hot or iced. Hot especially though, it has a sweet ginger flavour that I feel makes ginger tea better.

This didn’t work for me at all. It’s certainly interesting- I like interesting mixes. But this one…. The aromas don’t mingle well, to my nose. I taste bitterness but smell sweetness. Perhaps strawberry and ginger are too odd a pairing for me.

Today I’m trying Strawberry Ginger. I use a larger cup (12oz instead of 8) so I also use a bit more tea than recommended. (2 1/4 tsp instead of 1 1/2 tsp)
I made the tea twice, the 1st time I added no sweetener. I found it tart and rather understated. It smelled good, like a sun-warmed field of strawberries, but I didn’t find that the flavour delivered on that promise.
I then tried it with 2tsp of splenda. I thought it was marginally better… the tartness was gone, but I still found it lacking – I couldn’t discern a gingery flavour to this tea at all, sweetened or not, and I’m one of those individuals who LOVES ginger.
All in all, it’s not a nasty tea, I’d certainly drink it, but it wasn’t good enough that I’d spend the $ to buy it again.

Not bad, considering I don’t like ginger all that much. However, something falls flat. Also, STOP PUTTING HIBISCUS IN TEA. Augh it’s gross.

Oh Strawberry Ginger…such an appealing, alluring, enticing name. Sadly, utterly disappointed by this tea. I’m so sorry David’s Tea – I have loved all your beautiful tea concoctions thus far, but I have met a pitiful exception.

For me this, tea was undrinkable. I tried, I really did, I promise. After the first several sips, I thought, maybe I could salvage the buy and make a nice salad dressing with some red wine vinegar, but i barely made it halfway through my tumbler.

There is a very distinct scent when it is brewed that is not so strong when dry. I was initially drawn to the tea because the tea-barista said that it had a stronger ginger infusion than any of the other flavours, and I LOVE ginger. However, what I tasted in this brewed disaster resembled nothing remotely close to ginger. I don’t know how to say this nicely or without coming across as a tea-snob…it tasted like fruity scented cleaning disinfectant. :o(

Maybe it was the batch I got, not sure. (I brewed a small sample and took it to the store to ask if it was normal, and they seemed to think so). Maybe it is the artificial flavouring that is incompatible with my chemical sensitive palate. (The scent really had an adverse affect on me physically, gave me a headache and made me nauseated.)

This tea is not for me. Based on the other reviews, it may be for you. I would go into a store on a day when it is TOTD and give it a try and decide for yourself.

I initially gave this tea a zero rating, but upped it because I think this tea was well intentioned. It is a great concept, but meh execution. Also, I was able to exchange my tin for something more palatable. Thank you DT!

I would be interested in a natural version in this tea, if they make one. Until then, I will give DT’s White Strawberry a try and infuse it with some fresh ginger, to satisfy my curiosity.

I love this when I have a cold/cough – it’s got the ginger in it to make it chug-worthy when you’re sick, but also the really nice flavour to give it a little pep in it’s step

Herbal teas aren’t always my favourite – I usually find them too bland or “grassy”. I was enticed to smell this in the store and bought a samples worth – strawberries and ginger are two of my favourite things, but again, herbal = skeptical.

I LOVE this tea! It is bright and flavourful – the strawberries are definitely the dominant (delicious!) flavour, but the ginger is there as well – bringing just a little heat and “zing” to the party. Also a favourite of my 10 yr old!

What the hell is up with David’s Tea and hibiscus? Like rooibos, it seems to want to ruin any fruit teas that I’m mildly interested in.

It smells like it could be better, as it needs more strawberry and ginger than hibiscus, there is barely any strawberry flavor in this, and the ginger is there once you go through the hibiscus tart after taste.

Unlike rooibos, I am more indifferent to hibiscus, as it is not disguisting, but it seems to be overpowering potentially delicious blends, and it is becoming more commonplace in my recent David’s Tea blend purchases.

The description of this made me extremely curious to try this out, since I’m always on the hunt for fruity, caffeine-free teas. A friend of mine told me that this one was delightful, so I ordered 100g and had high hopes.

The smell of the dry leaves is of ginger, with fruity background, not too much of strawberry. If it brewed up the way it smelled, I would be very pleased. The colour of this when steeped is a very pretty raspberry colour. The brewed tea has a funny aroma to it, that I identify with “artificial watermelon candy” (like watermelon Jolly Ranchers, which for the record, I detest!).

On the first sip I got a shock to my tastebuds because it is extremely tart! I should have expected this since this tea is rosehip and hibiscus based, and the tartness combined with the lemon myrtle gives this tea a very citrus-y feel. I think most of the shock was that I was expecting a sweet, strawberry taste and got the polar opposite. I don’t taste any spiciness from the ginger at all.

I added a touch of agave syrup to the tea to take the tart edge off, and although it did bring out the ginger more in the flavour profile, I can’t say that I enjoy this tea. There’s a funny aftertaste that I can’t quite put my finger on and I can’t stomach the idea of polishing off 100g of this.

I think if I’m in the mood for a strawberry tea, I’ll stick to Blazing Strawberries from David’s Tea.

I like this one. A lot of people aren’t fans of it, and I think maybe I might like it a lot because its my first strawberry tea and I have nothing to compare it to!. The scent is extremely strong when you steep it and really fills the room…. but the ginger isn’t so overwhelming that it ruins the light taste of strawberry… I like this one both iced, and hot.

I thought I would like this one. I love adding ginger to my strawberry rhubarb pies, and I thought, “Sounds yummy…”

It’s not. I couldn’t put my finger on what it was that was so off about the smell and the taste until another taster brought it to light. This tea really does taste like dirty strawberries—field strawberries. Though, to me, it tastes like the entire dirty plant, twigs, leaves, and the sad little berries that are no longer fresh.

The flavour is very unnatural and artificial to me. It’s not the worst and I’ll finish off the 50g I purchased on faith alone. But I would never buy this again. It’s just not yummy.

Another favourite from Spring 2012. A good balance of sweet & spicy. Very nice iced, but also palatable when served hot. Count me in among its fans.

No.. not again.

This sweet smelling tea has the perfect balance of sourness.

Tangy with a touch of ginger. There might be a subtle after hint of strawberry but not much. I didn’t enjoy this much until I added a touch of agave nectar to sweeten it up. I’ll probably drink the whole bag over time, but I’m not sure that I’ll buy more.

In some ways I wish I had let it steep a little longer, but in some ways, I’m glad I didn’t. The strawberry is lovely as always, and the ginger adds a little extra kick to it which I really like too. But I think I have to agree with some of the others here. I think they need to take a break from the hibiscus. It is good but I find it to be overpowering in some blends, and it leaves a weird after taste.
I bet this one would be very nice without the hibiscus. I almost wonder how hard it would be to take out the hibiscus to try it.
Anyway, I think I may have to try this one iced as well ‘cause I’m sure it’ll taste good.

Oh my goodness….so delicious and lovely.

Was so scared to try it but it turns out this is a beautifully balanced tea.

On the outside this tea scared me. Ginger and hibiscus are not my friends. I had to try it though, couldn’t resist the temptation of a new tea.
Hot: It tastes very gingery. I was not a huge fan.
Cold: With agave to balance out the ginger and hibiscus this tea was AMAZING iced!!!! It was sweet and tasted of strawberries but also had a hint of a ginger taste. I would definitely recommend this iced over hot.

Of all the spring collection, this was the tea I thought I was going to pass on. Couldn’t have been more wrong. To me this is Goji Pop without the slight sickly-sweetness of that blend. I don’t taste much ginger, but the strawberry is pleasantly fruity without being too sweet, and there’s an afterkick of hibiscus (which I like). I imagine it’d be legendary iced or made into a tea-popsicle.