DAVIDsTEA

Simmered this over the stovetop in soymilk, and it was good, but I still don’t get enough pumpkin flavor. It’s kinda boring, but not terrible. I think I’ll stick with ROT pumpkin spice.

I don’t know, guys…

This one doesn’t quite make it for me. Bummer! I was expecting pumpkin pie, and I got more chai than I wanted. I think there’s too much cinnamon, and not enough pumpkin. The pumpkin flavor also reminds me of Della Terra’s chocolate pumpkin pie, but without the chocolate. Truthfully, I think I like Republic of Tea’s pumpkin spice better. I can’t believe I’m saying that! I mean, those are teabags! Ha! But those taste more like pumpkin pie to me. I’ll give this another try with the stovetop method and some brown sugar, and we’ll see how that goes.

Very meh. I’m not loving the flavor of this. I guess I expected more. It has a little bit too much cinnamon flavor for me, and the apple flavor is slightly too sour.

I got this tea as a sample from David’s Tea back in Spring; it sounded quite interesting so I’ve been saving it for a “rainy” day ever since. Course I’m one of those people who has a habit of saving single servings of tea for that “perfect” day and then never actually steeping them but today… today is definitely a good day for this one.

Dry this tea is quite chunky from the hunks of chocolate and small pieces of cinnamon stick. There was a definite scent of chocolate that came as soon as the bag was opened and the coconut was also present, just underneath the hint of cinnamon. There was however a slightly odd high note in the aroma that I couldn’t place, not off-putting but just… odd.

Steeped the liquor is a light brown, a bit on the murky side with all of the debris floating around (bits of cinnamon and the remainder of the dissolved chocolate). Scent-wise the chocolate loses out to the cinnamon and the coconut takes on a bit of a “roasted” scent. Intellectually I know the vanilla is in there too but I have a really hard time picking it out.

I ended up having to steep this one for quite some time to get the full flavor effect, coconut and cinnamon were the first (somewhat) weak flavors that I noticed prior to the extra-long steep. Fast forward a few more minutes and the flavor became much more robust with a nice warm hit of chocolate to mellow out the cinnamon. The coconut helps to round out the flavor profile, but I still have a hard time finding the vanilla in it. The black tea this is based on is also quite nice as it stood up well to the additional flavors and didn’t get overly bitter with the extra-long steep.

Overall, this is quite a nice smooth tea, the flavors are subtle in the end but all the better for it I think. It’s just too bad that David’s Tea is discontinuing this one for now… hopefully it will be back soon.

The coconut is hardly there. There is a creamy sweetness but that may be vanilla. Chocolate is light. The real star here is the cinnamon. It’s so strong as to be unnatural tasting. This was not a tea I was interested in when it came out. I only got some now as a sample. Turns out my intuition was right. It feels so good to finish a packet though.

I really like this tea. It has a unique flavor and every sip tastes a little different than the last. It holds up well to long brewing.

Over the last couple of days, I started drinking my flavored black teas without added sweetener, and I think I started to get used to not having it. I mean, there’s a sweetness to these teas anyway, considering they are flavored. I’ve just always had a sweet tooth, and milk and sugar have always been staples when I drink black tea. I think I’m going to continue this trend, but today, I’m taking a departure, because this tea tastes so delicious with some added brown sugar! ;)

Now that this cup is over, I want to drink something else before we head out to see I, Frankenstein, but my little kitty just got comfortable on my lap. So hard to disturb him! :)

Sugar and spice and everything nice. Just what the doctor ordered after one crazy long day of car shopping yesterday. I hate car shopping, but we were kind of forced into it, by someone doing a hit and run on our car, which was parked in front of our house. Anyway, hoping today will be more restful. I did bring some tea with me yesterday, and totally burnt my mouth trying to sip it…that’s the last time I pour boiling water into my timolino, but after hours of shopping, it was the perfect temperature! So there was a bright side! Happy Saturday!

This tea is particularly delicious with some brown sugar. Just so you know. ;)

Oh, and I have a little rant about DavidsTea’s marketing. Did you guys see the latest, where they say winter’s coming, that the fall teas are going fast, so you better hurry and stock up? For goodness sake, it’s only early October! Geez!

This was the fall tea I was really excited to try, but kind of worried based on less than stellar reviews so far. It smells amazing. Like advertised, it smells like spice cake and the smell is complex. It actually reminded me of those Christmas decoration stores…must be the clove and cinnamon. Honestly, someone should totally make a candle that smells like this tea!

Unfortunately, the taste of this tea does not deliver what the smell promises. It is much more muted. As it cooled, I got more of a custard-like feel/taste, which was probably accentuated by the splash of soy milk I added. So, more like a spiced custard, than a spice cake. Overall, I’m not blown away, but it’s pretty good. I think the flavors are more winter-like though, so I might enjoy it more closer to that season.

I just bought this tea today and i think i’ve already put it at the top of my favourites list. It is so flavourful with just enough sweetness. This just might end up being my number one late night dessert tea, if i run out of pumpkin chai that is. :P

This tea is so amazing!
It is such a shame that this tea is only seasonal. Better stock up i guess!

i understand that this tea is meant to be steeped for longer periods of time, and that everyone says it’s best iced, but i used the steeping instructions of 8 min and drank this hot and it tasted like blood… am i the only one?

Sipdown! I’ve almost finished logging my teas, just some assorted samples and then the main shelves but I think most of those should be in already. I’m going to go ahead and add everything (even single serving David’s Tea samples) to my cupboard so I can keep track of numbers better. I’m hoping this will help me buy less and use up what I have. Anyway to the actual tea…

I don’t think I like this as much as the last time I had it, I may have made it a little too sweet though. I also brewed it hot and I think it would be better cold. I think I’ll have some rooibos instead…

Forgot to finish this last night!
This was from the summer collection, kind of forgot I had it! It’s pretty tasty but with teas like this (and Tropicalia) I can’t really see myself buying them again because of the prince. I may consider getting it to blend into something else, but by itself it’s not worth it.
Anyway, besides the price it tastes delicious! Super fruity, a bit of orange in with the mango and a hint of pineapple taste.

It boggles my mind how different this tastes at home versus at work. The microwave at work, combined with some half & half, makes this taste like delicious toffee tea, while the variable temperature kettle at home, with some soy milk, makes this a lame black and white tea mixture. Too many variables, I guess. Is it the water? The choice of milk? The way the water is heated? The steep time? (I confess I steep this longer at work…too much distraction!) I don’t know!

Made this at home with my variable temperature kettle and perfect mug, and it’s not as good as when I microwaved it at work! Weird! Now it just tastes like a less exciting black and white. What happened to the toffee goodness? Guess I’ll just have to enjoy this one solely at work. Pretty silly.

I had a little too much fun at DavidsTea today. Picked up small amounts of all the fall teas, except the pistachio one (not a fan of mulberry leaves), and a few other teas I’ve been meaning to try. After picking up a half ounce of this tea, the sales guy persuaded me to try secret weapon, so I got some of that too. He was pretty awesome though…he gave me a free “sample” of chocolate rocket. I say that because it was a lot bigger than a sample! Must have had some random pre-packaged stuff to give away, or maybe I was just lucky! I ended up with quite the haul, and I still have three orders from other companies on their way! Oops! ;)

Anyway, I decided to try this one out first, and it did not disappoint! I really wasn’t sure what to expect, because there was all this talk about it tasting like chocolate, even though it’s not flavored that way. Surprisingly, this tea did not taste like chocolate to me, but rather, like toffee! And that is AOK with me! Yum! I also liked how the white tea lightens up what could be a heavy cup. I had it with a little sugar and a dash of milk and it was a perfect dessert tea. Definitely a winner!

I just learned the best feature of my new cheap porcelain teapot – unlike the tetsubin, I can just shove the whole works into the fridge without any worries!

This afternoon I pulled out what was left of the huge pot of this I made last night, and I can happily say I like it just as much – if not better! Yes, the chamomile is definitely present, but it’s easily ignored, and I still taste guilt-free spumoni that’s even more ice-cream-like now that it’s chilled. I am still very, very happy with this purchase!

And I’m making up a mixed bag of teas for a co-worker who’d like to try some loose leaf. He’s one of my husband’s friends (they nerd-out together to Sci-Fi movies I don’t want to see), and a coffee drinker, but likes TAZO Passion and Celestial Seasonings Peppermint. His wife is also going to have baby #3 in a couple weeks. Anyone want to peek in my cupboard and give me some suggestions of what to include?

I really had no idea what to expect from this one, but I was so curious I decided to chance it. I’m glad I did, because it smells – and tastes! – like spumoni! Pistachio ice cream that leaves me thinking about hints of chocolate and bright cherry… num!

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please comment if you can see and tell me where you found it (ex: tea page, dashboard, my tealog, etc).

Well, it’s official. Steepster is eating notes.

I don’t rate teas without writing a note for them. It’s just not the way I do things. I opened up what appeared to be a brand new sample of Big Apple, thinking I’d like to try something new. Then I log into Steepster and see that I had already given it a rating. Weird. I don’t remember ever having this before…

But I searched through all the notes for my name knowing I must have written one. Yet after 7 pages of notes, my name is nowhere to be found. I double-checked all 7 pages to no avail. I also keep a Word doc on my computer of all my Steepster ratings. I searched that doc and sure enough, there was a rating for Big Apple. So I have definitely had this tea before. Which means I have definitely written a note about it before. Yet there’s no note on Steepster. Sigh.

This is horrible. I don’t back up my notes. My ratings, yes. My notes, no. This just sucks. What else is missing? I tried to take an inventory, but of the random selection of teas I searched, up came notes right away. So I guess I have no idea what’s going on. I suppose it is possible that I wrote a note and didn’t post it, but there’s no such note saved in my Word doc backlog where I keep such things. This is totally bizarre. But enough is enough. You didn’t come here to read my whining.

ON TO THE TEA!

These leaves are very old. Like maybe as much as 2 or 3 years old. Even though the unopened sample package was intact, I can tell these leaves have aged. Although the aroma of the dry leaf is still pretty amazing. It smells like pure juicy apples.

This is a white green blend and the flavor of the base is mostly an aged green. I can taste a bit of the juicy apples, but mostly it’s like trying to remember the way a tea tasted a day ago. You can kind of remember but it’s clouded and not distinct.

I suppose I’ll leave the rating unchanged since it’s my fault that I let this sit in my cupboard for so long. It’s definitely not bad. It’s just not “all that it can be.” A nice apple tea though. Apple doesn’t always come across well in teas but it does here, even despite the age. I can definitely enjoy what little is left of this (it was a small sample). If only I could uncover the mystery of the missing tea note…Ooh, that sounds like a Nancy Drew novel!

EDIT: Whoa, what the Hell? You know when you post a note and a clip of it appears at the top of the page after you hit submit? Well, up popped my old note! I clicked “Read Full Note” and it took me to the full note! Then I came back to the Big Apple tea page and searched through all the notes. Sure enough, I could find my old note but not the new one I just wrote & posted! AHHH!!! Steepster!!!! FIX THIS!!