Davidson's Organics

Found this after I purchased some cacao husks from another source. I went through the bag very quickly. Great chocolate taste without the calories from hot chocolate. I bet it would be pretty good with a little sweetener.

I drink this one quite a bit and enjoy it when I do. My massive Amazon purchase was a bit of a mistake because it turns out this tea is so light that what I thought was a reasonable 250g is actually 300 cups. This is nice for people who dislike red rooibos but want a caffeine-free option.

It has a natural sweetness and some slight dried herb mineral notes.

I am completely sure I’ve reviewed this before multiple times and now I can’t find an entry for it when I search. hmmmm

I drink this quite a bit because I’m a big fan of spearmint in general and especially in the evening when I have a craving for sweet things. This isn’t quite as sweet as the Traditional Medicinals organic spearmint I often drink but it is cheaper (bulk on Amazon) and still a great herbal to keep around.

My daughter is quitting apple cider as it makes her tummy hurt. So we are looking for a warm replacement. On first sip she is instantly a fan. I too think that this is a lovely sipper. It is sweet and creamy without the sugary side effects.

Herbal TTB! This was standard, but not bad! It’s a pretty smooth rooibos. I have plenty of choices so far as plain rooibos goes in my cabinet already though!

This was the other unmarked tea from my coworker’s de-cupboarding. The paper wrapper of the teabags was simply white with a green leafy pattern that said “Davidson’s Organics” on one side, and the other side just had some verbage about the benefits of organic ingredients. There was no tea name or ingredients list. Several of my coworkers asked me what it was and I was like, “Until I brew it, your guess is as good as mine.” I was brave enough to take it home and uncover the mystery.

Ripping open the bag, I immediately could see and smell the orange tumeric powder. There were only two teas I could find from Davidson’s that has turmeric and the other looked like a pretty chunky tea, so I had a feeling this was their Tulsi Turmeric Ginger. But I needed to use up just a little bit of milk I had lingering in a carton, and after adding milk, while I could taste the tumeric and ginger and some other lovely spices that tasted great as a latte, I couldn’t taste any tulsi, and decided I needed to do another experiment to be sure.

So I pilfered the rest of the teabags and brewed it up today plain with no additions. Ding ding ding! I definitely taste the tulsi, which has such a fresh flavor bordering on citrusy/minty/peppery that goes great with the spices. It isn’t aggressive in its spiciness either, despite having turmeric and ginger… I get a bit of pepperiness at the back of my throat but not a burning sensation. Also a better blend of warming cinnamon and cardamon notes. It’s really nice! I like it, so I’ll probably just finish off the rest of the teabags instead of returning them to the breakroom with the tea name revealed, heh. I will probably make my last remaining cup as a latte again, it tastes very nice with a touch of sweet vanilla almond milk.

This is another box that was donated to the MN Tea Society.

Dry aroma: Nice. Not as strong as I was hoping, but I like that it isn’t overly metallic like some are. Most likely due to using the real oil.

Flavor: Good citrus notes. Needs longer than 3 minutes, though. I’m just not finding this quite strong enough. And sadly, I can’t add the bag back in because I broke it open and added it to muffins as an experiment. It’s just meh. If I had nothing else available to drink, I would drink it.

Why is it that companies persist in naming teas with ingredients that aren’t really there? Perhaps they actually used natural Bing Cherry flavor and natural almond flavor, but I dislike the lack of transparency. I am tempted to give it a taste even though almonds give me headaches… It smells decent… Actually smells like Bing Cherries with a hint of almonds.

My husband says: It is good.

Generally, when it comes to teas and tisanes, I avoid tea bags. But when they’re sent to you for free, you don’t complain. They’ve always been kind to me. Recently, they sent donations for our MN Tea Society to review. We have one left to go before we’ve tried all 8 boxes. Truly, it was a kind donation.

Dry Bag: Lots of rooibos dust on the inner part of the packet. Kind of kicks you in the face with spice
Wet Leaf: Well… not quite leaf, but close. It’s a pleasant aroma. Slightly spicy.
Flavor: Light. It’s good, but nothing quite like one would expect after smelling the dry leaf.
5-7 Minutes is not quite enough. At about 15 mins now, and the flavors are finally getting to the point that it’s not just ‘rooibos with spices flavored water’.

While tea bags get a bad wrap from many angles, mostly understandable, there are companies who do their best to make bagged tea better. Davidson’s is one of them. I like their unique blends. This one is really soothing. I think I might have a chest cold. I really need more rest. The mint is the strongest but doesn’t completely over power the rest of the flavors.

Honeybush makes me think of fall with its flavors of wood, autumn leaves, and slight honey sweetness. It is excellent hot, especially in the fall and winter, and a great base for blending and flavoring. Today I drank it iced, which added to the experience in some ways with a crisp chill that, paired with the other flavors, reminds me of the air just before the first snowstorm of the year. Very refreshing during a particularly warm and humid summer!

This one is very mehh. It’s very cherry, but in a kind of cough syrupy way.

It’s okay. I’ve had better. But this one is a bit more my style than the rooibos chai.

Another bagged herbal from Tiffany – thank you! Don’t love this one, really. Just tastes like hot ginger water with some turmeric or something. Not for me; I’d rather just eat some ginger honestly.

So I basically never drink bagged tea anymore unless I am having a chai latte or a London fog. However, Tiffany sent me some free samples from Davidson’s that she got, and I’m helping review them. This one is just okay. I think I’ve had better rooibos and better chai before, though it’s not bad. Probably not something I would like in a latte as much as other chai if I’m being honest.

Thank you to Davidson’s for donating tea to the MN Tea Society. It comes in good time too because everyone else has been sick and so now with all the anxiety and depression I’ve been dealing with the past few weeks, I’ve caught it too.

The aroma is very nice. Calming. Full of licorice root notes and ayurvedic herbal notes.
The flavoring is nice. Spicy and healing.

My dad got me this one. It makes for an amazing chai latte with a bit of creamer and brown sugar. I have made multiple french presses worth of it in one day and unlike some other teas, this one is just as good on the third brew as the first.

From the Sips by autumn box.

Last one from the autumn box! This smelled very sweet and candylike dry, reminiscent of Harney’s Hot Cinnamon Spice. I do find it much mellower steeped up though – the cinnamon is still the main flavor, and it is a bit candylike, but it’s not overly sweet and it doesn’t hit you over the head. I’m wishing for more apple (which always seems to be the case with similar teas), I only get a hint of it in the background. But I will say, the base is quite nice and flavorful, very smooth and equal parts malty/bready and earthy, with a finish that almost makes me think of a second flush Darjeeling.

So really it’s more of a cinnamon black tea, but both the cinnamon and the black tea are nice and well-balanced, so can’t complain ha ha. :)

Sipdown! (48 | 300)

Another Sips by tea.

To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled to see this one, because I don’t generally love creamy Earl Grey teas. But this is really lovely. I have another version from JusTea where the cream is so rich and custardy, and I love that one. This one is the total opposite – the cream is so light and fluffy, it reminds me of a vanilla-flavored chantilly cream. Overall this tea is so soft, the base is smooth and somewhat light but still tastes like tea, the citrusy bergamot is present but not too strong, and then that airy vanilla cream just floats on top like a tasty cloud.

Would consider ordering this one… Am I becoming an Earl Grey Cream person?! O.o

The first time I had this, it tasted like weak red hots steeped in water. This time I went with an aggressive ratio.

Now it tastes like strong red hots in water. Really not my vibe so I poured it out. I will stick to other options.

Why would you have two teas named almost the same thing? Between constantly getting Herbal Seasons and Herbal Christmas mixed up already, I really didn’t need a separate Organic Christmas. This is why I write tasting notes; I’d mix it up too often.
(So I have it written somewhere, Organic Christmas is weaker mulling spices on black tea, Herbal Christmas is mulling spices on rooibos and just basically tastes like straight-up cinnamon, and Herbal Seasons is the mulling spices on a hibiscus base that’s my favorite holiday tea.)

This is a weird tea and I’m not sure what to make of it. I’ve already described it as a lot like the herbal Christmas though milder, but I don’t get really any tea flavor at all. It’s cinnamon, and somewhat strong in the spice front. The finish is all hot water. I wouldn’t have guessed black tea from this at all. It’s not… bad? But it’s not great.

sipsby bagged advent, day 10

I know we haven’t been at it long, but this is easily the worst tea I’ve had this advent season, and it’s not even close.

I get no cranberry, no orange at all – just hot water that once whispered to some chamomile. I tried, but I couldn’t finish it.

sipsby bagged advent, day 2

I really like this tea. I like the mixture of spearmint and orange. It’s a nice change from mint tea. Really good with honey. I bet this tea would be good iced. Unfortunately I only have one tea bag. I would definitely buy more.

Really good herbal tea. I love the intense cherry and almond flavor. Can taste the chamomile and rooibos. I only have one tea bag but I would get again. I bet it would be amazing iced.