Indian Summer

I couldn’t resist. I picked up the new teas earlier today despite telling myself to pipe down on the tea spendage for a while. I tried to make a compromise by asking for only 10g of each (and a couple others, ugh), however, the SA gave me nearly twice as much on all of them, rushed me through the sale, and didn’t give me a receipt. Yeah, she was rather unpleasant and borderline rude. Oh well.

I’m going with this one first because out of the new ones, I liked the smell of the dry tea the best. This is loaded with all sorts of goodies: dried cherries, lemongrass, apples, blackberry leaves, and more, but not that many actual Bai Mu Dan leaves. It’s like Gold Rush in that same sense. And it smells like a juicy, berryish fruit leather.

The scent of the steeped tea is primarily cherries and apples. Oh noes! And I’m smelling… hibiscus.

First sip: watermelon. Like an actual slice of it, not that artificial watermelon that’s not even close to the real thing. A few more sips and the cherry is coming out. Maybe a little bit of apple but it’s subtle. And I’m glad to report that the hibiscus is virtually non-existant.

As this cools down, I can feel the hibiscus more than taste it. You know how it gives you that drying sensation in the mouth? Yeah. But otherwise it’s behaving. I was hoping to get some fig and pumpkin out of this, especially the former. Perhaps it’ll have to take a bit of tweaking.

Got this as a free sample from my last order (which was totally FUBARed, FYI).
The second I saw the name on this, the old Gin Blossoms song “Indian Summer” promptly got stuck in my head. Had to play a little Manson in order to clear it out. I like the Gin Blossoms and all, but there is a time and a place.
Enough complaining. On to the tea.
This is a weird one. Very candy-like, which I normally like, but there is a hint of something in the brewed leaves that I don’t care for. It reminds me of an old Yankee Candle fragrance, Watermelon, that used to give me a headache. Taste isn’t that much better. Very fake-y. I’m beyond disappointed in this one, and yet glad that I didn’t get the fall collection.
Here’s hoping the winter collection is better.
Anyone want the other half of this sample?

Not bad, but not my fave!

The dry smell is very fruity! And this tea is named very well, because you know what? If you were to give an “Indian Summer” a smell, this is it. It’s SO evocative of a warm wind blowing through a golden field at dusk. Oops, my Saskatchewan is showing.

The taste doesn’t quite live up to the smell, but for me the saving grace is that the dominant flavour is watermelon! If I had any Luscious Watermelon left, I would definitely mix the two for a yummy iced tea. I won’t rebuy, but I will have no problem finishing the bag :)

I went to get the fall teas FINALLY today! This one sounds kinda weird. So the SA whipped me up a small sample to try.

I must say, it is better than I thought it would be. Kinda like fruit punch. But there is just too much going on here. I am mostly getting the cherry flavour but everything else makes it a mish-mash (haha). The hibiscus makes it too tart as well.

Too bad, because me and white tea are really good buddies :(

Last tea of the evening! I gotta admit, it was tough not to eat the big dried apple chunks out of the bag. I was hungry, and they looked tasty… but I was strong! Haha :)

This tea smells interestingly melony and fruity, when brewed up. Kind of reminds me of Luscious Watermelon. The flavour though, is difficult to place. Kind of melony… kind of fruity… kind of weak… Definitely can’t taste any white tea here (no surprise, I barely saw any in my bag). I’m getting a bit of a lemony/citrusy twist to this tea as well. Overall… it’s not bad, but it’s really nothing special, I don’t think. Maybe I’ll try the rest iced and a bit stronger.

ETA: I finished off the rest of my cup today, and liked it a bit better as a fruity, melony drink. The re-steep, in less water and for 5+ minutes, also wasn’t too bad. Not a keeper, though.

This is the last tea in the DT fall collection for me to try.

Very, definitely FRUITY, almost smells like kool aid sitting in the cup. I am getting watermelon and carrot, for sure. There is hibiscus in here but it isn’t very tart, which seems like a good move on the part of DT, they were able to make it mild. I am not getting too much of the actual white tea flavor, but this isn’t bad. I might actually prefer it over ice so I will need to try it that way soon. If you like fruit punch you might be really into this.

I liked it better than I thought I would.

Oh man, I am in love with this blend. I really am! I bought some when it first came out, tried it cold steeped, and returned the next day to buy a tin. Yum. Iced, this is juicy and melon-y and guh. I wish it weren’t so expensive, but this is worth it to me. I just want to drink it forever. There is a touch of an artifical tang, but not enough to ruin it. It’s just plain lovely.

This is the second tea I am trying from the Fall Collection.
The title is more fitting to where I live.
I was blown away upon opening this package. The scent is incredible! Like some kind of candy… it took me a while to place what it reminded me of until I got it..
Fruit Roll Up!! It is a spot on Fruit Roll Up tea! Such a delicious memory for me. Brewed up it smells a little bit like pez.
Upon drinking it I still get the fruitrollup, but much more subdued. I imagine sugar would kick this thing right out there.
I had such a crappy week and the happy scent of this alone really helps. Drinking it doesn’t give me the same effect but I would probably buy more just to sniff it.

This tea smells AMAZING, but the taste is so much more subdued, considering there’s a whole produce department in this tea. It seems incredibly mild for something with so much in it. I do get cherries and apples and watermelon and sort of a fruit punch vibe, but it is so light and mild, like, you really have to close your eyes, take a sip, try to block out everything else, and really pay attention to what your buds are telling you. And even then, it is like slightly fruit essences hot water. I think I may increase the leafage/fruitage a bit on a later steep, because I am struggling to catch the flavour here. I am wondering how this will be iced. I suspect it will be juicier and possibly more flavourful, though I was hoping this tea would be like Big Apple in that it is equally amazing hot or iced (since I feel some teas are better hot and others are better iced, and some are good either way).

I’m a little disappointed, but I’m gonna have to rate it lower tan I would have liked to…maybe a stronger brew will bring up the rating.

I love the tart flavour of hibiscus and usually rejoice to see its random presence on the ingredients list but I have to admit that I’m baffled as to why it would be included in a white tea blend. Hibiscus has such a strong flavour that it doesn’t leave much breathing room for the Bai Mu Dan or the white peony. That’s my sole complaint.

Where the “tea-ish-ness” is lacking the delicious juicy fruit factor is not. The fruit medley is reminiscent of sour fruit gummies, or of a SunRipe fruit bar- which often has similar ingredients, but neither are as refreshing as Indian Summer. The hibiscus, when coupled with the cherry and lemongrass, creates a citrine sour cherry endnote that I adore. The apple-carrot combo and watermelon are cooling sweet “breaks” in the tartness. The blend is at its best when cooled or iced. I’m still searching for the pumpkin and fig. I’ll have to check the dry leaves to make sure I’m actually getting any in my steeper. It’s like a fruit scavenger hunt!

I was so surprised to open up this pouch and find all of these large pieces of dried fruit! Beautiful! I know this tea is called Indian Summer, but dried fruits seem appropriate for fall and the approaching winter. I couldn’t really find much actual tea, but was completely content with these little fruit pieces. The scent of the tea after water has been added is mostly of cherries. It reminds me a little bit of black cherry flavored candies, almost on the verge of being cough syrup.

Sipping.. it is surprisingly lighter than I expected. I find that most of DavidsTeas’ teas are stronger to the nose most of the time. This blend is much more mellow. It starts out a bit like sweet black cherry and becomes more tart. I’m glad that the tartness is somewhat subtle, but I wish that the other fruity flavors could be drawn out. I can’t really identify all of the fruits by taste. It’s more like a fruit cocktail (minus the tooth-aching sweetness) in that all of the fruits are joined in a syrupy cup — cherry, apple, plum, carrot?! The mixture definitely keeps the cup interesting and playful. I couldn’t decide on a tea this evening, but this one was perfect. Light & tangy fruits before bed! Thanks Invader Zim!

You know, this is much tastier than I expected. I didn’t think it could possibly be enjoyable with everything that’s going on in here. Pumpkin&cherries&figs&watermelon plus various leaves and petals. Oh dear. Seemed to me as if they were trying to decide between several different themes to go with while blending and then someone said “screw it, let’s dump ALLTHEFLAVOURS in!!”

When I tasted it though, it was lightly fruity and pleasant. Hum. A nice surprise! I don’t really taste many individual flavours but they do, somehow, seem to work. Not something I’d buy for myself, but I’m so glad I got to try it!

So I think I might have a job! Yay! I have to call back and let her know that I want it but yay! I’ll be a receptionist at a vet clinic and then move to tech when I enter a vet tech program. They didn’t have room for an assistant at my level (which is a lot of large animal, but not companion animal experience). I’ve been college (and graduated) once and I said I didn’t want to go back but I think I’ll really like it!

Anyway, on to the tea! I cold brewed this, which may have been a mistake with the hibiscus but I won’t know until I try it hot. New tool for cold brewing! I’m using one of DAVIDsTEAs plastic bombillas. I usually cold brew in a glass travel mug, which has a strainer but it sucks. So, now I can use the bombilla and not have to transfer the tea over. Pretty cool! I’m also looking forward to using it with mate, but I think I still want their ceramic gourd. I just feel like I would probably wind up killing any natural gourd I had.

So I get a lot of cherry and apple when I sip this. Maybe a hint of watermelon. Not a whole lot of white tea, but as others have said there doesn’t seem to be much in the mix. I’m almost considering using some plain white peony and blending bits of this in so I get some more actual tea flavor. It’s alright, a little tart on its own. I think if I cold brew again I might try some agave.

What a perplexing tea! The ingredients list looks like someone’s grocery list rather than a tea, which led me to even more confusion when I was getting it. It does smell lovely dry, although even there there was something . . . not off but it wasn’t calling to me either.

I steeped it at home and sipped hot and while I can safely say I didn’t dislike it, I also feel confident saying I didn’t love it either. I also have no idea how to describe its flavour other than sweet and complex. I finished my cup but it wasn’t memorable other than my confusion as to what exactly I was tasting. Even after two cups I still can’t figure out if I can safely say I like it. So odd. Not rating it because I honestly can’t give it a number, but its somewhere between 60 and 75.

This is good, but I feel like I’ve had it before, or something very similar… maybe I’m thinking of Cherry Blossom? But with a little watermelon thrown in. I like it a lot actually, and I think it would be great iced. It’s definitely very fruity and juicy. I don’t know about the lemongrass though. It has a beautiful clear peachy colour in my new glass mug (I got the Davids one with the branches, it’s so pretty!). I find that flavoured white teas do best with either a very long or very short steep depending on the tea, so I tried a 6 minute steep for this one and it came out pretty good. Maybe I’ll try 7 minutes next time.
During the entire time I’ve been drinking this tea, I’ve had “Indian Summer” by Beat Happening stuck in my head. I love that song, plus it mentions cherries and apple blossoms! So it’s kind of perfect for this tea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7KNRC8SSAw

Alright, second sample from Davids Tea. I love the smell of this one dry and wet. It smells like some kind of candy and I am finding myself fighting to keep from eating it. The sad part about this is that I am not too much of a fan of the taste of this tea. I like the notes of apples and the hint of blueberry. The thing I do not like is that the blueberry and apple taste’s are fighting to hard for the top spot. I might try steeping it for less time later just to make sure it tastes fine.

I am quite confused as to why this tea is in the FALL collection.
First of all, it is title Indian SUMMER, not Indian FALL. Also, the taste of this tea reminds in no way, of fall.
I’m not saying I don’t like this tea, because do, but to me it doesn’t fit with this collection.
Anyway,

Taste- very fruity, watermelon, apples.

Dry leaf nose- ^

I don’t really taste any white tea. I mostly just taste apple.
I am not super impressed with this tea, nor will I be buying again. I am just a bit confused as to why this tea made it into the fall collection. I would have much preferred maybe Mom’s Apple Pie to be apart of the collection rather than this one.

Please excuse my rambling.
So, in conclusion, this tea tastes fine, but not outstanding. Also it tastes very fruit punchy and this tea does make a great iced tea. But is just a bit out of season. I would have liked it better if it were in the SUMMER collection :)

This is interesting, I’m pretty sure it’s an incredible disservice to white tea because it looks and tastes more like a tisane.

It’s very fruity, very tart since most of the fruits in here are tart…oh and there’s hibiscus.

I kind of like it. Not enough that I regret not getting some myself, but I like it enough that by the time it’s actually summer I’d love to have this iced.

Thanks, Cavocorax!

Courtney sent me a large sample of this to try out, and I am actually surprised that I like it as much as I do. I don’t normally care for cherry-flavored anything, I find that it tastes too much like cough syrup. And even fresh cherries, not my favorite. So I was a bit hesitant about this one, especially after reading Courtney’s review about how she didn’t like the cherry in it.

For me, it’s the lemongrass that seems out of place. I normally really enjoy lemongrass, but it’s giving this tea a bit of a sharpness that I am not loving. I am really enjoying my first cup, though, and I am planning to toss the leaves in a jar overnight for a cold brew. Yum!

I was intrigued by the mix of ingredients in this tea. The brewed liquid has a smell that reminds me of vegetable root chips that I purchase, on occasion, from my local supermarket.

From the sip, I can really taste the melon-y watermelon on the finish. It’s a mildly artificial taste. The beginning of the sip is hard to distinguish. It feels like the different flavours are too crowded. I feel like I may be able to detect the carrot but, again, it would only be the most prominent of several flavours on the uptake.

As the tea cools, I think that I can feel the carrot taste creeping into the watermelon taste on the finish of the sip. Maybe a little bit of the blackberry on the after-taste, as well. There’s some sweetness coming through. I can taste a sort of bluntness which I believe is the pumpkin.

I was worried about the presence of the lemongrass and hibiscus (which I am normally sensitive to), but those flavour seems to be well blended in the mix. I do not feel that all the flavours in this tea are well matched. I would prefer something with a more defined taste. Also, I am not really able to detect the white tea in this blend.