Strawberries and Cream

I ordered this one because several reviews mention liking it better than Lupicia’s Strawberry & Vanilla, which I adore! So of course I just had to try some. I should have known from past attempts though that whenever a blend is compared favorably to one of my faves, my opinion will be the exact opposite. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I have strange tastebuds when it comes to some teas! Like Tower of London: a lot of people like it more than Paris, but I find it kind of flavorless and flat in comparison.

So, this tea… I wish I wasn’t thinking of Strawberry & Vanilla while I was drinking it, I might have liked it more. S&V isn’t very natural tasting I’ll admit, it’s like strawberry quick milk, but this strawberry doesn’t strike me as being very natural either. It’s like strawberry hard candies! I also don’t get a whole lot of creamy flavor either. I think more cream/vanilla might balance it, but at first sip this just reminds me a lot of strawberry chapstick. Kind of takes me back to being 12!

I do like the green/white blend, it makes this tea very light and airy, but it’s weighed down by the candy-sweetness of the strawberry. However everyone else seems to be really enjoying it, so I can’t help but wonder if maybe mine had a bit more flavoring than others? In any case I’m not a big fan of this blend, though I won’t have any trouble polishing off my ounce—I think it would make a great summer iced tea with some lemon slices!

Soooo i think i need to try this cold brewed. It’s not a BAD tasting tea but i can’t get over how much it tastes like those strawberry shortcake dolls smell. If you were a child of the 80’s you know what i’m talking about. They had this sweet smell about them – strawberry shortcake; lemon meringue etc… well this tea? It tastes like that little red headed dolls smelled like.

Right now i’m mostly sort of weirded out by that…

New tea #4! Another from the try me pack. This smells like a strawberry milkshake to me when I opened the bag, quite sweet and creamy. I steeped for about 2 minutes, and the water temp was either 175 or lower, I’m not sure, my kettle was set to hold at 175 but it hadn’t started up for a while. The steeped smell is like a candy strawberry, sweet and tangy.

As for the taste, this is very light and fresh. I get a nice green tea flavor, and the aftertaste is tangy strawberry, a bit candy like rather than fresh berry, but the tang makes it a more realistic. As it cools, the bit of creaminess is coming out more. I will probably steep at an even lower temperature in the future to try to coax out a bit more cream, but I had lots of creamy teas already today, so I’m ok with the freshness of this one.

Overall, this is a very nice mellow green/white blend with a strawberry tang. It is enjoyable, I prefer this green blend better than the Jasmint by Della Terra, it’s not quite as bitter to me. Maybe the temperature played a factor in the other as well? Anyways, this is light, sweet, and fresh. A very nice spring tea. Not sure if I will re-order, but I will see if that status changes by the time I finish my little bag :P

Sample courtesy of DTT. Thank you muchly, DTT!

I really like this one. The dry leaf is very heavy on the strawberry. Very tart, like strawberry candy, but in a good way. You just know that there’s going to be a ton of flavour once you smell it.

Steeped, it is pleasantly strawberry-ish. The base is there, fresh and green, but it doesn’t get in the way or go unnoticed at all. It’s a nice balance between the two flavours.

Is there creaminess? Not really, but I don’t really care. I just may order this someday. I bet it would make a killer iced tea.

Okay – I noticed on Della Terra site, it referenced a lower water temperature than what said on my package. I contacted them and they confirmed to do as per website instructions – 158 – 167°F

I totally noticed the difference between 175 and 160F steepings. The higher temp has less creamy and more vegetal and bitterness, whereas the 160F is more creamy and not bitter.

Overall, a nice creamy, tangy tea with a great mix of bases – the buttery green with a juicy white tea. I like this a little more than Lupicia’s Strawberry & Vanilla as the flavoring tastes more natural and has a better base, but Lupicia is more forgiving and easier to steep.

Full blog post review on my blog, The Oolong owl http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/03/05/strawberries-cream-from-della-terra-teas-tea-review/

This reminds me of Lupicia’s Strawberry & Vanilla but I like it a lot better. I can taste both the strawberry and cream flavors. It doesn’t have too much of that strawberry chapstick smell to it thankfully.

This time around with a DTT green I made sure to use a really low water temperature and it paid off definitely. All around a sweet and creamy tea. Not sure if it’s something I really like, I got an ounce so I have plenty to try again.

I like this far more than some other steepsters did! Full review tomorrow at 6pm central at http://sororiteasisters.com/but for now here are my snippets:
To be honest, I really am not even focusing on this review right now, this cup is that good! I keep getting sidetracked by the cup, sitting back inhaling in the sweet creamy aromas, enjoying the aroma of the tea leaves caressing my senses with their delicate, but attention grabbing nature. If they made a perfume that smelled like this I wold wear it. People may say I am too old to wear a scent that smells like a carnival, but put me in a pink tutu and parade me around the ring, I am all in with this tea! It reminds me of the fair, or a circus, and all of the sticky sweet smells that go along with it from spun sugar cotton candy, to kids blowing giant bubble gum bubbles, or the smell of funnel cake filling the air. Yet, it is not really all that sweet at all! The flavor of this tea is nothing close to sticky sweet! Its so natural, so pleasing with the grassy buttery tones of the tea, that while I may be taken into this sweet intoxicating world in my imagination, I am not putting that junk into my body! What could be better!?

This tea is just sitting next to me now and I attempt to work on my presentation. The scent coming from it is not very “real” smelling. I’m excited to try it, but I’m so picky about my fruit. I like fresh fruit and that’s it haha – not chocolate fruit, not fake fruit – just fresh and delicious. Hopefully it will come off more as a strawberry dessert made with real strawberries :)

The taste is an improvement from the scent, but there’s something in there that comes off as “artificial”. It’s certainly nice and creamy, especially for a green and white tea, which is quite lovely. I really wish the strawberry flavour was more true to actual strawberries.

I may put my leaves in the fridge to see how well it tastes cold brewed. Update: It’s better cooled, but I’m still not enjoying it enough to repurchase.

Thanks jessiwrites!

Decent, maybe a bit too fruity in a slightly artificial way… Not bad, just not for me I guess.
Kind of tastes like strawberry candy, I don’t want that in my tea!!

Glad I just ordered this as part of the Custom Sampler Pack from DTT (don’t even get me started on how awesome it is that that exists!!! <3 Della Terra)

Eta lowering the rating a bit because… Well just because.

I really enjoy the blend of white and green tea, it really makes for a very nice balanced base to this tea. I also appreciate the lightness of the flavor, I don’t feel like the creaminess is too heavy or the strawberry too sweet. I do find that the flavor is a bit artificial, but not too much to where I can’t drink it. It’s still a nice blend that I will probably quite enjoy on sunny afternoons.

I need to try this with cooler water. I was patient enough to wait till 170F, but I don’t think that was cool enough.

First impressions: Tasty, but where’s the strawberry?

Got this one as a sample in my order. I haven’t delved into green tea much and usually only enjoy it paired with food, but this one might just change my mind. True to its description, it tastes like strawberries and cream. The strawberry is both sweet and tart. It smells divine! The second steep was pretty good too. Delicious!

This is nice, just strawberry enough to be sweet but not overwhelmingly fruity. The scent is nice, and as someone who’s not terribly fond of Green teas in general, this one is an exception to the rule. I got it as a free sample with an order and its the one I reordered.