Birthday Cake

It’s my birthday today! Actually, the time I was born at was about an hour ago…so I’ve been 28 for an hour now, heh.

So I thought I’d dip into this one. I think I have two cups left; may as well drink them today.

I originally was not interested in this one out of DAVIDs’ “cake” teas. Mainly because I was informed that it tasted a bit like Oh Canada, and I truly did not like Oh Canada at all. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that I just plain don’t like maple teas at all. Despite the fact that I like maple syrup (what kind of Canadian would I be if I didn’t like maple syrup?), maple flavoured teas make me feel pretty ill.

Then I heard some conflicting reports about how it tastes. Maybe not so maple after all…? I ended up picked up 10g to decide for myself.

I’m a bit stuffed up, so I cannot comment on the smell of anything much, but it does smell a bit like Oh Canada. It has sprinkles rather than the little maple candies though, which is an improvement.

And…I genuinely don’t know what in sam hell this actually tastes like. I can totally see where people are getting “gentler version of Oh Canada” from, but it doesn’t truly taste like maple. It doesn’t taste like vanilla, either…not really. It’s like the love child of vanilla and maple, really. Kind of creamy, but mostly just sweet. Not overbearingly sweet though (which I think is actually my biggest problem with most maple teas).

It’s really a comfort tea…not one that will blow your mind, but nice to have when you’re down or need something a bit celebratory that also isn’t too fancy or over-the-top.

So happy birthday to me! And to anyone else who has a birthday on the 13th of the most awesome month of the year.

P.S. Although it’s not a good birthday present to find out that your Red Leaf matcha order was apparently “delivered” to MINNEAPOLIS. (It normally takes about 10 business days to deliver here, and it’s been 11, so I finally checked the tracking number. Apparently it was “delivered” last week.) YOO-HOO, USPS, Canada is UP HERE!

Is there nothing I can do, guys? I haven’t had this ever happen before. :( At least it was cheap…

Backlog: I had a cup of this last night, thanks to DaisyChubb!

This is REALLY GOOD. This just may be my favorite rooibos blend yet. It tastes like a cupcake. So yum… This is definitely one I have to order and keep on hand. Love it.

I’m pretty happy with this purchase. Although when I realized I went into DT and came out with 2 rooibos’ I kicked myself in the butt haha. (This one and Jolly Jellybean).

However, I was really not disappointed. On the contrary!

The dry smell is suuuper sweet, like funfetti cake mix YES! I frequent a recipe blog that uses funfetti all the time, so the smell of this tea makes me smile :)
It smells sweet, and looks even sweeter. More sweet.

Brewed! It’s still sweet! Man it’s delicious. Almost creamy from the ice cream bits and there is a strawberry flavour that is reminiscent of a pound cake with fresh cream and strawberries.

All in all, I hate those Safeway/Grocery Store bought cakes, but having a tea that tastes like them is 100% better!

Went out with a girlfriend tonight and I forgot it was SantaCon in San Francisco – where people get dressed up in Santa costumes and get really drunk at a pub crawl. Evidently we were right on the main drag in Polk Street, and needless to say my days of getting wasted are behind me, so I went home early!

So anyway we walked right by David’s Tea and of course I had to go in, I wanted something chocolate-y but without caffeine so they suggested this. It definitely smells a lot like birthday cake but I was not wild about the flavor even though there were sprinkles in it. To me it tasted like maple and honeybush. I did tell them to add some soymilk. Later I realized it has dairy in it too… uck. I should have asked about that!

Anyway I found it to be acceptable but not something I would buy again. I did pick up some more banana oolong while I was there, which is one of my favorite’s from DT so far. There are so many to try though, if I keep going back I might find a new favorite. :)

This wasn’t bad!! it reminds me of Oh Canada in a way. Maple seems to be a strong note here even though I don’t see it in the ingredients. As for the “cake” part, well I get a faint hint of that when the tea is bare… but with milk that part peeks out more, mostly in the aftertaste. Though I am getting more batter than I am cake.
What I find odd is that the batter isn’t present in every sip, nor is it always in the same place. One moment I find it at the beginning… and the next, nothing at all! then it’s in the swallow?!
Anyhow, I’m glad to have tried it.
The tea itself is a bit sickly sweet for my liking. If I didn’t already have a bunch of other rooibos teas that I love in my cupboard I might pick some more up, and it’d likely get a higher rating to. Maybe I should keep some on hand for guests…

Finally got my hands on the cake teas! This is nice, though it doesn’t shout cake to me. It is very sweet (though I don’t have an issue with it being sickly-sweet like some other reviewers), and nicely creamy. I would have guessed it was a vanilla rooibos, and I can also see where others are getting maple. You probably could have told me this was the Oh Canada rooibos and, especially in my present sleepy state, I wouldn’t have questioned it.

It’s funny; when I take a couple-minute break and come back to my cup, I get BUTTERCREAM ICING at the very top of the very first sip. And then, bam, red rooibos. It’s sweet enough that I can tolerate the rooibos, but it has me wishing this were more honeybush or green rooibos-heavy than red rooibos. Very tasty vanilla rooibos is what I’m coming away with, basically.

Dry Leaf Nose: A light cake aroma with notes of vanilla frosting.

Liquor: Rosy reddish-brown cup, with a light cake aroma and notes of vanilla frosting.

Flavour: Excellent cake flavour! The rooibos shows through well, mixing together with the other ingredients for a perfect sweetness.

This does remind me of Oh Canada….which is my favorite…and dare I say I might like this one even better? In any case it’ll just mean I won’t need to restock on Oh Canada too soon.

The only thing is that this isn’t maple, this is like straight up buttercream. It’s definitely sweeter. But enough comparing the two, they are both sweet, desserty rooibos complete with sprinkles. AND I LOVE THEM.

I hadn’t planned to get this one actually because of people saying it was similar but I’m glad I failed to realized I asked my friend to pick this one up for me. I had to get 50g of it, and after just smelling it in the bag I was okay with this. Definitely cake. And I was totally craving something sweet tonight, so this is perfect.

The cupcake teas were a hit for me, but I’m also a cake fanatic. On the plus side these will keep me from seeking out actual cake on a regular basis. I’m definitely going to give this a try as an iced latte…maybe with some of the cake vodka I have…no idea what else to do with it!

So fundamentally…there is nothing wrong with this tea. But holy crap let’s talk about how sweet it is. My other half had half a sip and said basically ‘so that’s what cake in a blender would taste like." I was able to get through maybe 6 sips before the sugar overload killed me. I’m grateful to indigobloom for the sample to try, though i’m happy to cross this one off my list. If you like vanilla and buttercream…this is a great tea for you! Just not, for me :)

ICED. umm actually a bad idea. i won’t ever ice this again. i even had to re-strain it today cuz there was some strange residue in it. it was an experiment. i’ll drink what i have, but i really won’t ice this again.

i think i’m gonna take the sprinkles out of this tea next time i drink it.

seriously, birthday cake tea with 90% less sprinkles is 100% better. and still smells like cake!

OHHH i got this for my husband but I think im going to Enjoy it hahahaha, This tea i dont see as a cake but more like a caramel cake :) but its GOOOOOOD!!!!!!! :) I this is one in my permanent stock!!

I ventured out to DT earlier today to buy the Mist iced tea jug I saw online, but unfortunately, it was nowhere in sight. I’m going through withdrawal not being able to prepare iced tea here.

But since I was there, I thought I’d grab a couple 10g pouches of stuff for my cold, and this just for fun. I normally don’t care for rooibos or honeybush, but wow, this seriously smells like those maple sandwich cookies. Like the rooibos was marinated in gooey maple icing.

The steeped tea smells like that too, and guess what? The rooibos base is behaving. Not too woody or heavy, and the maple really blends well into it.

I would seriously repurchase this, and that says a lot. I love how my empty mug still smells like maple icing. Yeah, all gone already. Off to make another cup.

This was lovely. I sipped some hot in store and eagerly got a cup to go iced. There is a reason why I had over 5 different vanilla rooibos in my cupboard at one point and this is why. I was searching for the perfect French vanilla rooibos and this certainly delivers. Here’s just hoping the ice cream bits aren’t enough to set off my dairy sickness.

Smooth, creamy, perfect.

Amanda sent me some of this! Thanks so much! I have been wanting to try it for a while!

It smells a little like Birthday Cake, I suppose.

The post-infusion liquor is very murky green-grey-brown and texture-E.

The flavor is sweet from not only the rooibos(s) but the sprinkles and probably even the ice cream bits…which also makes this creamy. It’s not as cake-E per say but moreso reminiscent of the frosting.

Regardless – it’s tasty!

This tea is really cute to look at with those colourful sprinkles.
It smells really sweet, a little apprehensive about it being too sweet.
Colour: reddish brown
Taste: sweet but not too sweet. I get a liitle bit of cake flavour, but also butterscotch/vanilla. I guess it tastes a little like icing.
I certainly wouldn’t drink this every night, but nice to have something sweet when I really feel like having dessert.
This is certainly a more calorie-wise choice than real cake!

I think my obsession with DAVIDsTEA has begun. I got this in an amazing swap from elizabeth229 and was so excited I could barely keep myself from ripping it open and brewing a cup in a splendid frenzy. Umm…DELICIOUS. I get a bit of the rooibos taste but not an overpowering amount, which I’m so glad about. A perfect touch of sweetness with the vanilla and a creaminess that makes it taste like frosting. This is so spot on like cake I can barely handle it.

I cannot WAIT for tax returns (I’m sure you’re all also planning your tea purchases with tax returns) so I can place my first DAVIDs order.

I am trying to concentrate on catching up with posts on here… but I’m having trouble because the amazing smell of birthday cake is sooooo distracting! I can’t believe how delicious this one smells! I really had low expectations for it, but the aroma is intoxicating. Sweet and mapley vanilla, perhaps? VERY sweet. So sweet that just sniffing this makes my tastebuds think they’ve had dessert. Gah. Pleasepleaseplease let this taste as good as it smells, because then I’ll have another wonderful go-to dessert rooibos for those nights (or days) when I want something disgustingly sweet, not just hinting at it. Steep faster, delicious-smelling tea! (Side note: I’m moderately concerned that I may have steeped this one too hot – in my excitement to get it going, I grabbed my cup out of the microwave with boiling water in it, and plunged my filter basket in, which caused it to go all fizzy and bubbly and boiling. I probably should have given in 30s or so…)

Review pending the stupid tea cooling down! ARGH!

Ok! Finally get to try it! It’s not bad; the initial part of the sip is kind of strong (probably my fault – I was not skimpy on the dry tisane!) and rooibos-y, but the aftertaste is sweet vanilla-y maple. I have to agree with everyone else that it’s kind of sickly sweet… but I’m kind of in the mood for it right now. I’m definitely not getting ‘birthday cake’… but I don’t like birthday cake anyhow, so that’s not exactly an issue.

Overall not a bad rooibos, but not good enough to bump Alpine Punch or other tasty ones. It’s just a bit one-note for me, and I want more than that. But the sample will definitely get finished in the evenings as a yummy dessert tea!

I was sceptical at first as my first run-ins with honeybush were not good (a long time ago). Also, rooibos can be so woody. But.. I went for it

Dry: Pretty little sprinkles, smells of maple syrup. And baked goods. Yummy. I also smell the honeybush.. oh jeez..

Liquor: Deep reddish toasted color. Smells of maple sticky cake. So cake-y delicious. There is a hint of honeybush in there but it’s tolerable. It tastes like I am biting into a maple sticky cake. HOLY cow. I was not expecting this to be so good but my goodness. Honestly. How did they make a maple cake into this tea? It even has the browned bits taste you get from the bottom of a pan… all caramel flavoured with a toasted note at the end.

I do not regret my decision at all. Possibly only regret the fact that I just found another permanent (while its offered) tea. Now I am going to go drink my entire tea pot in under 10 minutes. I know it. Also.. I really don’t just automatically give high ratings I swear.. I just pick really good teas (all thanks to you Steepsterites!)

EDIT: Dropping the rating.. second steep is not very memorable. I threw it in the fridge and it was good.. creamy, but not astounding.

After trying this one at home with milk and sugar added, I think I know why it isn’t a favourite of mine. Self-confession time, I’m the type of person who begrudgingly eats all the cake first to make the world happy while I’d be happier with just a plate of icing. I eat it separate so that nasty cake stuff doesn’t pollute the best sweet sugary part. This tea makes me have to have them combined, and honestly my inner five year old sits back and doesn’t wanna. Sorry birthday cake tea, I think I’ll go back to faking a love of cake to cover an addiction to icing.

So you have the mother of all cake cravings. Like so bad that you’re tempted to pour syrup over toast in a paltry attempt to fashion your own (this is not worth it. Trust me.)

In times like these, I turn to this tea. This is the “cakeyest” blend I’ve had so far. It swiftly kicks the rooibos flavor aside, leaving it to whimper faintly in the corner. I like to use a generous amount of leaf and add milk for a creamy cake batter feel. It’s so sweet and decadent that it’s not an everyday tea, but perfect for when the craving hits.

Cake addicts rejoice. There is a cure.