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“So, am I the only DAVIDsTEA fangirl who rushed off to DT today to look at the new stuff? I even popped online last night to see the new stuff in advance! I ended up trading a brand new perfect mug...” Read full tasting note
“Maybe it’s a good thing I waited to have this twice before writing a note because the first time was too much on the mate flavour, for which I don’t particularly care. I was a little annoyed in the...” Read full tasting note
“This might be a new record, 12 ingredients AND natural and artificial flavouring. It does include black currants though which I adore so I am giving it the old college try. Initially, the aroma is...” Read full tasting note
“Sipdown #27 I bought this tea for my husband because he really loves coffee but is trying to drink more tea instead. I love trying new things, so even though I was pretty sure a tea with coffee...” Read full tasting note
Jungle fever
Want to take a walk on the wild side? Try this intriguingly rich black tea. It’s laced with all kinds of delicious jungle treasures, from dark coffee beans and energizing yerba maté to tart hibiscus, fruity mango and super-healthy açaipowder. Plus there’s the sweet, rich taste of lucuma, a delicious Peruvian fruit known as “Gold of the Incas.” Aside from its ancient healing powers and health benefits, lucuma is also an amazing maple-like sweetener that’s naturallylow in sugar. Sweet.
Ingredients: Black Tea, black currant, mango, barberry, coffee bean, juniper berry, hibiscus, roasted yerba mate, lucuma powder, acerola powder, baobab fruit powder, acai powder, coffee flavor, natural strawberry flavor, natural and artificial plum, sugar cane and cherry flavour.
DavidsTea is a Canadian specialty tea and tea accessory retailer based in Montreal, Quebec. It is the largest Canadian-based specialty tea boutique in the country, with its first store having opened in 2008.
So, am I the only DAVIDsTEA fangirl who rushed off to DT today to look at the new stuff? I even popped online last night to see the new stuff in advance!
I ended up trading a brand new perfect mug in for the Heat Sensitive Nordic Mug. (http://www.davidstea.com/leaf-outline-heat-sensitive-nordic-mug?&TF=D36B1B50DFA0&DEID=) I love the shape and feel of the Nordic Mugs more, and… heat sensitive? OH YES. It still doesn’t replace my trees PM from last fall, but this will do. I wanted to get the animal print one, but they didn’t have it in store yet (http://www.davidstea.com/multicolor-animals-mug?&TF=D36B1B50DFA0&DEID=). For $20, maybe I’ll grab one later on – maybe as a reward for finding a job in ON once I get over there. :D
Anyway, on to the tea? This one reminds me of a fruity coffeeish drink. It’s roasty and warm, but the cherries sweeten it up, and there’s a lingering mate taste. I think this would be a great cup for mornings when I need a kick, but don’t actually want coffee. The nice thing about this is I can drink it plain; coffee I always have to add milk and sugar in order to gulp it down. Tea wins!
Well, I guess this tea has sugar cane it in, so it’s cheating a bit, but it’s still probably better than just dumping in a tbsp of sugar, right?
I’ll hold off on rating it until I try it again as right now I’m just squeeing about everything DT. I should know better, but it’s fun being excited. ;P
ETA: This DID re-steep well!
Maybe it’s a good thing I waited to have this twice before writing a note because the first time was too much on the mate flavour, for which I don’t particularly care. I was a little annoyed in the shop because I asked for 10g since I don’t care for mate and the employee gave me 20g instead, and did that for Mom’s Apple Pie too, but maybe it won’t be so hard to finish after all.
I tried a shorter steeping time this time and it’s more coffee-ish, I can taste a touch of mango, and a vague berry flavour. It’s interesting, alright. Kind of glad I’m not picking up on the juniperberry.
It’s essentially like drinking a fruity cup of coffee.
Yeah, I get fruity coffee too, but I’m happy with that. This may actually be my favourite of the fall blends now that my disappointment with Pumpkin Chai (being too bland) has set in. Strange how that goes! But waiting to rate it makes sense. I’m happy I waited to rate mine too because I was too much of a DAVIDsTEA fangirl to properly rate anything that first day!
Which location was it that did that?
Cavo, I’m kind of happy with it too. Definitely unique! I’m feeling the same about Pumpkin Chai. Too bland is right. Did you always feel that way about it or did you just get sick of it? After 50g, I’m done with it, I think!
Heather, maybe I shouldn’t divulge that information in public? I don’t know. But now that I look at my packages, it was done with 3/4 of the new teas I asked for that day even though I asked for 10g of each. I was too afraid to be a jerk and say, “Um, sorry, but I did say 10g…”
I remember I loved it last year, but that was when I was first getting started with loose tea. :( I think by February I was getting sick of it, but I’m totally craving stronger Pumpkin flavours now.
Come to think of it, it really doesn’t even taste like pumpkin, just sugary spice. :/
I remember being disappointed with Pumpkin Chai at first, because I had had Saigon Chai before that, and it was much less chai than that, but I had it again last year and I liked it for what it was, even if it was a milder chai blend that was not all that pumpkin-y.
Maybe not, but I’d still like to know for my own personal info in case that happens to me.
Yeah, it annoys me when they give me more tea than I ask. Usually they’re quite good about it, and if it’s a heavy tea, they suggest getting extra, 16g instead of 10, but they ask before doing so.
Anyhow, regarding Pumpkin Chai, I think I ended up preferring the Della Terra teas, although their spicing is less chai-like and more pie-like.
Heather, I can always tell you on FB. :)
I’ve basically had the same, more-or-less positive experience up until now too, and extra for heavier teas makes sense, but these fall ones aren’t heavy at all. So that was odd. I’ve also had another employee tell me one time in a slightly snarky tone when I asked for 14-16g (since I didn’t want to sound too picky or bossy) that “Well I’ll try, but that’s going to be hard to do…” Give me a break! You can always pour more back into the tin. It’s not like trying to cut 146g of soap off a huge slab that a customer would specifically request like how I used to do at Lush.
I’ll have to give DTT’s pumpkin ones a go next time I order. Always thought they’d be David’s clones so never bothered.
It was the same with LUSH, they really didn’t want to cut anything less than 100g. For a while they said they couldn’t and I was like, BS you sell this by weight, and this is how much I want. I emailed and they were like, yeah, they can cut you any sized piece you want. Obviously, some are more sample sized, but I would pay for whatever size I wanted to try.
You’re not supposed to have any >100g pre-wrapped soaps on display, but you can definitely custom cut any size. I never had a problem with it. One guy one time wanted like twenty 15g pieces of Rock Star for his daughter’s birthday party for her friends’ treat bags. Many would also ask for, say, 50g pieces of eight different soaps just to try, and I never minded. The thing is, it’s way easier to weigh out, say, 142g, on the nose, of tea, than soap. If you go under, big deal, you can just add more, and vice versa. Doesn’t involve any skill. Soap, OTOH, is trickier since it depends on the density and size of the soap. Go under, and if the customer whines that they want exactly 142g (I’ve had many customers like this too), you have to try again, and again, and again, from the big slab. Luckily I got really good at it and would get really close, and even on the nose, most of the time, but it comes with experience.
But yeah, those employees who claim they couldn’t cut pieces under 100g were obviously just lazy or trying to upsell.
This might be a new record, 12 ingredients AND natural and artificial flavouring. It does include black currants though which I adore so I am giving it the old college try. Initially, the aroma is very pleasing and berry-ish but then I get the bitterness of the coffee bean coming through, combined with the mate which also lends a bitter note.
Steeped for 5 minutes (Whoops!) this has an aroma very similar to the dry tea. Unfortunately I am at work and was called away on rushes so it has cooled half an hour before my first sip. I am a bit leery of the multiplicity of smells and presumably tastes in this one, but I persevere! This is lukewarm at best and tastes like smoky coffee to me. No berry, no anything. Arguably this would be a very mild coffee but I don’t drink coffee. Ever. Gross. The smoke is staying in the back of my throat and trying to choke me. I gave it a second sip but I can’t give it any more. This is disgusting. Yuck.
This is why I don’t tend to go for DT blends too often anymore…meh
I actually just contacted DT to say how disappointing this tea was. That is something I have never done before but this was gross!
thats good lol.. maybe if they hear from enough disapointed fans, they will go back to the way they were.. rather than bring out all these new weird teas all the time, i’d like to see them go back and bring back some of their amazing ‘retired’ blends!
I’ve been drinking DT teas for three years and not a whole lot has changed, though I do see more straight teas disappearing again. There have always been 5 new seasonal teas and a year ago or more they started the tea of the month. Teas have to go sometimes as well, but I wonder how they decide which ones to ditch. There have been a couple that were retired that I adored but most of them were meh for me. I would like to see them step away from the coconut and try a few more simplistic blends to really captivate a flavour rather than assault the senses. I buy my straight teas elsewhere but do still try the odd new blend every once in a while. This one really stood out as a disaster though.
mmm i agree… i liked when they had the from garden to cup series this summer (however, i feel like there were only two or three teas… ) but they were delish, and last year when they focused in on the straight teas for a month and brought out a couple.. one of my faves is the black jasmine pearls.. hopefully they go back to that!
I agree with you both. Ever since DT has become so much more popular (good for them!!) I feel like they keep changing to retain more new people to the tea world by creating blends you’d never think would exist. I understand from a marketing stand point that it obviously makes sense to do that but I think they should also focus on the consumers who have been there since day one and who loved their blends that did not have so many artificial flavouring in. I agree, I hope they bring back more “retired” blends. We will have to keep an eye out for that on they’re web specials too!
thats true.. there are quite a few that i only tried once or twice because of the time when i got into tea… there’s some i never even did get to try that sound amazing!!
Sipdown #27
I bought this tea for my husband because he really loves coffee but is trying to drink more tea instead. I love trying new things, so even though I was pretty sure a tea with coffee beans in it would be disgusting to me, my husband kindly obliged to share with me.
Let me just say that this 25 grams went really fast! Unless my husband has been drinking it without my knowledge, which I doubt, then this bag is almost finished. I think we only got about 5 cups out of the whole 25g bag! That doesn’t seem like much…
Anyway, on to the tea itself. This tea has a lot of stuff in it: black tea, roasted yerba mate, coffee bean, black currant, barberry, juniper berry, hibiscus, and a bunch of powders and flavorings. That may contribute to its higher weight and thus not as much bang for your buck. The dry leaf aroma is berries with a hint of coffee bean. The brewed tea aroma has morphed into something berry-like and tea-like with an unusual aroma hanging behind the berry. I’m guessing that’s the coffee.
First sip sans additions…hmm, this really just tastes like a berry black tea with a hint of coffee bean. It doesn’t taste like actual brewed coffee, just coffee bean, which mostly is apparent in the aftertaste. You know, I’m not getting much in the way of yerba mate here, roasted or otherwise. The main flavor is a delicious berry concoction! I added a little bit of Truvia, and that helped to amp up the berry sweetness. This is surprisingly drinkable and yummy! I can’t see myself craving this flavor often, but it’s not bad at all.
Something about this tea just seems so…jumbled. Like they stuck whatever they could find in here and packaged it up. :/ I’m getting a lot of sweetness from the berries and very little coffee.
The aftertaste is musky – reminds me a bit of an old basement. I can’t really tell what this tea is trying to be – is it trying to be fruity, or is it trying to be a coffee substitute? Both? Really?
I think I’ll be able to do the rest of the cup, but I don’t know if I’m really going to want more afterwards.
Edit: There’s a huge gross lump of black stuff at the bottom of my cup. Ergh.
I think it’s trying to be both, and it’s so odd. I have a 25g bag that I will enjoy (when I’m in the mood for it), but never worry about replacing!
Definitely not a repurchase for me either, no wonder it was discontinued.
David’s description of the tea sounds sort of jumbled too!
I tried this once in the store, I personally called it the hot mess.
This is making my tongue go numb. Bleh.
Also, it tastes like coffee and berries. If I want coffee, I’ll just go make myself a cup!
Into the swap box this goes!
I agree. I have never quite gotten the appeal of coffee beans in tea.
I’m not sure I’ve ever actually tried coffee-flavored tea, but the idea doesn’t appeal to me at all…
The Creme Brûlée from Bayswater is really coffee-like, but with no coffee flavourings or beans. It’s actually really good.
Whoa! I’m really surprised that this tea got such a low rating! I was given a sample of Cocoberry from a friend of mine as it was one that she really enjoyed from DAVIDs Fall Collection. As someone who used to drink a lot of flavored coffees, I knew this would be a tea I would really enjoy.
I could taste and smell coffee and a hint of fruitiness…although I wasn’t sure if it was something like a cherry, strawberry or raspberry. It actually vaguely reminded me of a raspberry truffle flavored coffee I had tried in the past. When I went to check the ingredients of this tea on the DAVIDs website, I couldn’t believe how many things went into making this tea…although I noticed that there WERE cherry and strawberry flavors in it (along will a bazillion other things).
Being a lover of this tea, I’m now caught in a potential conundrum – do I place a DAVIDs order before Friday to get a bag of Cocoberry, or do I wait until Friday hoping that they’ve come out with their Winter Collection? On the other hand, being a tea newbie, I could be wrong and the Fall Collection’s teas may be year-round teas, but I’ve heard otherwise. I just feel that I need EVERY tea…I feel that I’ve quickly turned into an addict.
If you really like this one, I’d put in an order for it sooner rather than later. Once the Winter Collection comes out, it’ll only be stocked as long as they have any left. Once it’s out then it’s out until at least next fall (and that’s if they decide to bring it back – they might not).
Do they mark down the previous seasons collections when a new collection comes out? I noticed that there are web specials with a good percent off of large amounts, but I’m not sure why those teas are reduced…are they discontinued?
For the web special teas, some are being discontinued and some are just being featured. It might be best to check with someone who has been drinking tea a bit longer than I have (I’ve been drinking less than a year so haven’t actually watched a full rotation of the seasonal teas), but usually they just keep selling the seasonal teas at their regular price until they run out, from what I’ve observed (if that’s what you mean by mark down). Some seasonal teas are expected to come back because they’re insanely popular (like Pumpkin Chai) – but others don’t come back (basically, they were limited edition). This was the first year Cocoberry was sold, so no idea whether or not it’ll return.
Usually they repackage the leftover tea in 2/$5 bags full of 25g. That’s super cheap, but it depends what the store has leftover. I’m hoping to grab some Friday when I buy the new teas, but it might not be done yet. Sometimes they’ll mark down the specialty tins in store too. If it’s still on the tea wall, they keep still selling it at regular price, even if it’s from a previous season. :(
And I don’t know how often teas come back. :( But maybe they’ll put it as a web special if it wasn’t popular enough and they’re overstocked .
Also, I really enjoyed this one too! Glad not alone.
You might like Chocolate Rocket too.
I actually really hope it wasn’t popular enough so they consider making it a web special. I’d love to be able to get it before it’s gone, especially for a cheaper price.
I actually have a sample size of Chocolate Rocket, but haven’t gotten around to trying it yet. After your comment, I’m making it next on my list!
Personally, I LOVE Mate teas (as a lifesaver at work because of the high energy and also just for the flavour of the mate itself). The two that I keep stocked from David’s are Main Squeeze and Chocolate Rocket :) Cavocorax is probably right in guessing you’ll love Chocolate Rocket too – it has the same sorta “coffee but not really coffee” thing going on because it uses roasted mate and various things like almonds and chicory, and then has the really nice raspberry flavour to it too. I think it’s also David’s “most populat” Mate blend, too.
I am not a coffee fan, but I was very curious about this mate. It actually isn’t too bad. The berries are kind of a nice touch. However, I don’t like coffee so I probably wouldn’t drink this. I just bought enough for 2 cups, which I am glad about. Maybe I will give the rest to my friend who drinks coffee and try to convert her to tea! Mhwahahaha
This was such a weird tea. I’m calling it a sipdown because I drank one last cup, and gave the remaining cup to a coworker. I always feel a little bad giving her my rejects, but she enjoys getting free tea, nonetheless. She sometimes enjoys the ones I don’t, so I guess it’s a win-win situation, and she’s always free to re-home or toss them if she doesn’t.
I think I’m entering a new phase of my tea addiction. I used to want to try them all, but now I’m getting quite particular and just want to have the best ones around to enjoy. Well, we’ll see how long that lasts!
I’m currently trying to figure out my top 30 teas. I’ll still sample things and rotate some teas in and out, but I’d rather have a few rally good teas than lots and lots of teas I’m not crazy about.
30 sounds like a good number…not too much, but enough variety that you aren’t drinking the same thing every day. :)
Great Canadian Travelling Tea Box
For the record, I really hate fruit-flavored coffee (but love coffee).
This is so weird. The taste unsweetened to me was just gross – it was almost coffee mixed with (flavored but not terribly sweetened) cough syrup and then a smokey hint of mate. Sweetened, it loses most of the coffee and mate taste and there’s an edge of the berry that tastes like it shouldn’t be there. Slightly lemony almost raspberry-ish. I can see someone that really likes raspberry or other berry flavored coffee drinks to really like this one, but I’m not a fan.
We suck so much for rushing over to grab the new stuff haha.
Glad to see reviews of the new fall stuff so quick! I don’t live near a David’s Tea!
Lol! I did the same thing! :-)
This one smells SO good, I just really wish it didn’t have coffee beans in it. Oh well. :)
Wow this sounds good! I’m wary of the coffee though lol
Youre definitely not alone lol i ran off to there after my appointment today, only picked up sugar and spice and my beloved pumpkin chai, and some redberry tonic, i’m waiting for the TOTM :) then I’ll go back lol, oh and I splurged on the leaf Nordic, i love the shape too!
MissLena, the staff in my local store were testing out the tea of the month. They said it’s fantastic. :) My fingers are crossed!
Eeee! I want to try it!
I am gonna try this one in the morning before work. I only got 12g or so of the 3 new ones and I tried the others tonight, but wanted to wait on this one. It looks like it has so much good stuff in it.
What! Heat sensitive leaf cup? How did I miss that?!!! So jealous. What colors do the leaves change to?
They turn reddish-orange and yellow. Its not as nice as the forest print they had last year but I like it.