Strawberry Shortcake

Dry, it’s sweet, caramelly, and nutty-smelling. A bit of strawberry, but it’s not too prominent. Steeped, the aroma is sweet and caramelly, with a distinct strawberry note. Well, more like a strawberry song. Delicious.

I was a bit wary of a 5-minute infusion, but have realized that DavidsTea’s blacks tend not to steep up quite as harshly as others, so my standard three minutes isn’t long enough. Turns out 5 minutes was not bad (although perhaps 4 would have eliminated the astringency I’m getting). The base is malty and somewhat astringent, with a lovely caramelly flavour. The strawberry isn’t as prominent as I would have expected. It’s funny though – this combination does actually make me think Strawberry Shortcake! Not my favourite dessert though, but it reminds me of Thinking Day celebrations in Girl Guides.

I’ll have to try again with a bit of a reduced infusion time, as astringency is not my friend, but this one’s pretty decent. Not likely something I’d pick up again, but a perfectly good tea.

This is my third David’s Teasane, oops meant David’s tea.
As I had difficulty to taste the tea base with this brand, I decided to sacrifice the whole generous sample kindly given by Darby for only one cup (4 ts)

I mentioned there was still few tea leaves in this blend so decided to cure this by having an heavy blend.

So, verdict…hummmm ! …can mean yummy , mmmmmmm or meah but really meah. Here you already guessed it’s hummm like meeeaaaaahhhhhh.

To me it’s definitively not a tea, I cannot taste the tea base. I am just drinking a warm tisane.

I get the nuts very distinctly + something which probably can be strawberry
This is sweet ,a nice tisane but the problem is this rating is supposed to be for a tea.

This is probably a fantastic iced beverage

mm So far I am very happy with the Summer collection! I’m a Swamp Water fan, and ready for another season of Luscious Watermelon, so bringing those 2 back was okay by me :)

Knowing the summer collection is being marketed as an iced tea collection, I had to try it hot first! har har, no really, I had to try it hot. See?

http://flic.kr/p/bVUvs3

It’s raining! Cold and damp.

Although, this tea is freaking amazing and I can see how it would be delicious iced! Can’t wait to try it :)
Until it gets nice out, however, this tea is such a sweet treat. The strawberries taste real – like you made shortcake from scratch and sliced up some strawberries with a simple syrup on top real! It really comes out in the front of the sip. There’s a freshness there, almost tart but not quite.. but something akin to a real strawberry. Then there’s some awesome creaminess, and a smooth black tea base. Ah, yum.

This SO smells like a Kellogg’s Nutri Grain bar, it’s not even funny.

Steeped, the strawberry is tarter, and unsurprisingly, the liquor is murky due to the brittle overkill. And brittle overkill, is right. Much too sweet for my tastes.

When this is hot, the strawberry is so tart that it mimics hibiscus. But once this cools off, the hibiscus wannabe dies off and you’re left with a clear strawberry again.

The base is very weak. Granted I steeped this for not quite four minutes. Perhaps this would make a better cold brew? I should save the rest to try that out sometime.

Instead of brittle, this should have a cakey note. I demand strawberry shortcake, not strawberry brittle!

Picked up some of this and Perfect Pear today as a Sunday treat – Happy long weekend to any fellow Nova Scotians!! The smell of this was quite appetizing, though not quite shortcake. Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve never had brittle (other than peanut brittle) and I don’t understand what its place would be in strawberry shortcake.

We steeped this about three minutes, to avoid potential bitterness and also to avoid too much sweetness. This smells like a sweet assault in the dry leaf, even though the sales girl said this is one that isn’t too sweet – I find my opinion on that note tends to differ. Anyway, it smelled lovely when steeped, though still not what I think of as shortcake.

The flavour was quite tasty. There was a great dael of sweetness (more than I would prefer) but I assume that all comes from the brittle. The beau and I both agreed that this might be a bit better with extra TEA under it all, so I think that the next time I will try it with a bit of extra black tea from one of my many samples and see if that lessens the sugar load. There was strawberry flavour, which was great, and if the sugary taste could be diminished, this could be a re-buy. I will need to work with it first, but I hope this can be redeemed a bit more.

This is one of those very rare teas that I would love to try iced – I think the sweetness of the brittle would lend itself to iced tea. Might try it cold brewed if there is enough left after a bit of re-working.

By the way, strawberry shortcake at my house tends to be a homemade biscuit topped with fresh mashed strawberries (a hint of sugar in them if they are too tart) and freshly whipped cream. I want some!!

Amazing. Utterly amazing. Took a mug of this iced to see The Avengers yesterday and I was distracted from the movie several times by the tastiness of it. So good, so creamy, so perfect. I look forward to trying this at home with my own steeping parameters, I still don’t like the “make double strong and then ice” method, but I understand that’s how they have to do it to be able to make iced tea on demand.

I got samples of the rest of the summer teas when I ordered Tropicalia and Luscious Watermelon (though I already have a bag of Swampwater but who wouldn’t accept more) and this one had intrigued me so I am finally trying it. Yesterday I had no time for tea, we went to this animal rehabilitation center called Noah’s Ark, which is well known for a tiger, lion, and bear that live together. They were all kind of relaxing on their own but it was still amusing because the bear had the best napping position. We stopped at this state farmers market (which is MASSIVE) on the way and bought the animals a big watermelon, some blackberries, and also brought some marshmallows for the bears and the lady at the visitors center was so amazed. I can’t figure out if it was because the blackberries were so big and gorgeous or because we brought donations, which makes me sad if most people come there with nothing (it’s free to visit).

I would have fought animals for those blackberries though. At least I got some peaches that are AMAZING but I was sad that I missed strawberry season I guess. Not that it matters, I have a few berries growing outside but I really was in the mood for them! But I had this sample with me today so I decided to try it out iced.

When I opened the bag, it really smelled like granola bars. I steeped it hot for about 3 or 4 minutes since 5-7 sounds a bit too much, then I put it in the fridge for later.

I love the strawberry flavor but the brittle to me just doesn’t make me think shortcake. I still get granola bar. It’s a bit caramel tasting but for the most part just isn’t coming off as creamy to me. And I’m glad I stopped steeping it when I did because the brittle definitely sweetens the tea up. In any case, it’s still tasty once I can get beyond the granola similarities, and it’s quite good iced. I wasn’t expecting much since it seemed like an odd choice for a cold tea.

Now I can’t decide if I should try the other half of the sample hot or cold brew it.

Mmm, strawberry shortcake tea! I took one sip plain and immediately knew the flavor would be enhanced with skim milk and Truvia, so I added some. It truly tastes like pound cake laden with strawberries and cream.

My mouth actually felt coated like when you eat heavy whipping cream. That coated mouthfeel overwhelms the strawberry and cake flavor, which is a little sad. I wish the strawberry was more bright and acidic like fresh strawberries.

Still, this is a yummy cup of tea. And who else can say they had strawberry shortcake for breakfast this morning? ;) Thanks for the sample, Kittenna!!

Dry Leaf Nose: Strawberries and cream.

Liquor: Dark brown/classic black tea.

Flavour: Strawberries and whipped cream with a cake-like background. Very appealing and remarkably like a strawberry shortcake in character of flavour.

This was just ok for me. I really liked the strawberry taste and the brittle was good. I was kinda suprised though when it was a little bitter. I didn’t think that I had oversteeped it or anything but I guess maybe 5 minutes was a little too long.

I will give this another chance and steep for less time and see how that goes. Otherwise, I certinaly won’t be re-stocking my 25g sample bag.

Smells like strawberry cereal. Tastes a bit sour and astringent. Over brewed? Welly sample is gone now but in general I liked it okay. I had to add some sugar and milk to enjoy it though. Really tired. Might need more caffeine. Blaargh. Or chocolate. :)

I’m a nut for anything strawberry, so of course I’d opt for a strawberry tea. The “shortcake” part of this tea is just a bonus. This does taste like strawberry cake, and I love that the strawberry flavor tastes more real than artificial. (Not that I’m anti-artificial strawberry or anything.) I steeped for five minutes and was able to reinfuse – always a bonus. This is a new cupboard staple! Oh, and it’s already sweet enough on its own, no additional sugar or sweetener required – always a good sign.

Now that the weather is really changing from summer to fall, I’ve decided that it’s about time I open up this package. I grabbed some of this tea when it was out this summer and have been saving it ever since. I typically do not like fruit in black teas, but this isn’t just a strawberry tea, but a strawberry shortcake tea!
I was really surprised to see huge chunks of strawberries and brittle pieces. I certainly didn’t need to fish around in the bag to pick up any of the fun pieces. The scent isn’t too terribly sweet or fruity. It’s rather smooth and tame, actually. The black tea is more present now than in the dry leaf scent.

Sipping… it’s funny. I can taste all of the different components of the tea. Tart strawberry, a light black tea and sweet brittle. Each ingredient has its own moment to shine.. and by the end of the sip they all come together to make a flavor that wants to be strawberry shortcake. I have to say that it’s not like strawberry shortcake to me. I am not all that disappointed because I wasn’t expecting this tea to taste exactly like the dessert. The flavor is nice, just not anything that I would like to keep drinking. It’s sweet and tastes like strawberries & brittle — nothing really grabs me, though.

Dry, this smells like strawberry drumsticks (like, the ice cream kind of drumstick). It brought back vivid memories of when I was a kid going to visit my dad’s Seattle apartment, eating drumsticks and watching Star Wars or Star Trek OS with my brother. The brewed tea kind of smells like that too, but with more of a strawberry-tea smell.

It started off as an excellent cup of tea, amazing strawberry taste and sweet and slightly cake-y. But there’s this bitterness/astringency that seems to build up the more I drink it. The good far outweighs the bad though… I still think this is awesome. There’s so much strawberry taste but at the same time it doesn’t feel like a “fruity” tea. I can’t wait to try it iced… I will definitely cold-brew it and hope that the bitterness/astringency is gone!

Tea is juicy with a definite creaminess. I really like that I can taste the actual tea in this one which compliments the strawberry quite nicely. The aftertaste is very strawberry shortcake-like. I have detected some astringency on subsequent first infusions, I am going to try using less dry leaf next time (1 David’s tea scoop for ~400 ml of water).

On the second infusion the strawberry flavour is slightly muted but the creaminess is still present. The flavour of the black tea is able to come out more on this one.

Third infusion was noticeably weaker in flavour. This tea would not likely do well after the third infusion.

I was served this as the tea of the day on ice. It was very delicious- the creaminess is still there and it is quite juicy and sweet.

I cold-brewed this tea using 1 heaping David’s Tea scoop for ~400ml of water for ~10 hours. The flavour blooms into a taste which reminds me of a chocolate covered strawberry; the robust taste of the black tea balancing nicely with the strawberry flavour. A little bit of the tartness of the strawberry is present on the finish but not to the point where it is unpleasant

I got a sample of this in an order a couple of months ago, and thought today, with the roofers in a work, replacing the roof, and a forest worth of printing for the Board for my work to do, that shortcake was the way to go (the low-cal form of course).

The smell, dry and wet, its quite strong, very strawberry cheese/shortcakey. The taste is nice, a nice creamy strawberryness. My timolino-ful is a bit bitter, but I think that may have been a last minute, rush out the door steeping error on my part.

So quite tasty, will steep the remainder and ice tonight with a smidge of agave to see how it goes cold.

Another sample that came with my David’s Tea shipment. I appreciate the opportunity to try it, but I don’t think I’ll buy it — it was fairly ordinary sweetish, kinda fruity, but it did not proclaim either strawberries or shortcake to me.

Okay, I had this one tonight and maybe it was just a bad brew cause I was nowhere near as wowed as the other reviews I’ve seen. Going to try it again before I rank it to give it a fair shake.

The smell of this dry is easily one of my favorite things – I easily get strawberry shortcake. If I had to give this a rating on smell alone it would be 100. I hope it tastes as good as it smells.

Steep notes – 2 tsp. leaf, 8 oz. water, a large splash of whole milk and the below parameters.

I had this earlier in the week but never got around to logging it. But my steep time was longer and I think that really made it too astringent. Also, maybe it was my tastebuds but at the time I didn’t get a lot of strawberry, either. I hope I can fix that!

Once steeped, the smell turns fresher – if that makes sense. It smells like I pulled cake right out of the oven! The strawberry is there, too! Taste-wise, this definitely has a hint of sweetness to it – sugary sweetness rather than berry sweetness. There is a cake note and the milk makes it extra creamy. I’m still not really getting as much strawberry flavor, though. Maybe it shines best in a cold brew? I made some up to brew overnight in the fridge so we’ll see.

Still, it is quite good- and if that strawberry can be a little bit more prominent, then it is a definite reorder for me!

I forgot I had a sample of this tea from a DavidsTea order!

Taking it easy today. The other day I got my 3rd stripe on my white belt in brazilian jiu jitsu. Yesterday I rolled and got a buggered thumb and a cut lip. I got an advanced class tonight and probably going to get more damaged similar to last week as blue belts pick me off doing crazy moves on me.

With that said, a nice strawberry tea? yum!

DRY: Very sweet strawberry smell that is also nutty. I ate one of the brittle pieces and it was chewy, weird! Lots of brittle pieces and strawberry chunks. (wonder if they load samples to be a perfect spread of tea?)

STEEPED: Strawberry and black tea smell. Hmmm.. now I recall I did get my nosed winged in last night too. Uggg, I’m an injury magnet.

TASTE: Black tea base with a slight tart strawberry (like as if the strawberry wasn’t fully ripe tart). Quite sweet. I couldn’t pick out the nuttyness.
Sweetened, the strawberry comes out more. However, sweetening this tea seemed overkill as it is already sweet. No bitterness or astringency.

WHO’D LIKE THIS TEA: A black tea drinker that likes sweet teas – it’s already sweet! Also a pretty good black base that isn’t ultra robust, so someone wanting to try a black tea could give this one a go.

COMMENTS: really good but I wish I didn’t sweeten the last of my pot as it was just too sweet for me! I added sweetener before I tasted it. I wish I got creamy and nutty notes from the name strawberry shortcake, all I got was strong tarty yet sweet strawberry.

Overall, not bad, probably would be good iced (the focus of the summer collection).