DAVIDsTEA

Sad Sipdown (148/155)!

This is what I chose to christen my new Adeline Horse mug with and I don’t regret the choice because this tasted like sticky, sweet caramel popcorn with coconut and fruit and just a whole mess of deliciousness – but I do still feel a little conflicted.

Like I said with my first cup; I didn’t want to love this one! But sadly I really, really do; it’s a fantastic late night herbal option and has some crazy delicious caramel flavour to it. Problem? Well, it’s super crazy heavy and therefore really not so cost effective. I bought 24g to mess around with, and that was enough for exactly two cups! I feel like it’d be a crime to spend $15 for four cups of tea. I just can’t justify that.

But I want MORE. Maybe I’ll just have to rely on my crazy tea twin VariaTEA who is sitting pretty with 250g of this one…

Damnit. Why is this so good!?

Damnit.

Turns out I like this one a lot more than I wanted to. Ugh.

I made it for my breakfast tea today because I actually, for once, woke up in time to make tea for breakfast and not be rushed drinking it. It’s sorta weird when that happens, not going to lie; I’m so used to waking up just minutes before I need to start getting ready for work.

It’s really, really good! It’s pretty much smooth toffee/caramel with hints of coconut and a kind of pineapple juice sweetness to it and the whole thing comes together in a way that perfectly emulates sticky, “smack your lips chewing” caramel popcorn to a tee. And, now I want to go pick up more of it because it’s really good. Downside? It’s sorta like Spiced Fig in that it’s a very heavy blend with huge pieces of stuff in it…

So, not really cost effective overall. Blah. Now I have to decide whether I really want this one. Boo to that.

One of my favorites — sadly just finished my bag and it appears that this was a seasonal item.

Another tea I haven’t had in ages. However, I recently reorganized the shelf with all of my rooibos tea tins and as part of that I brought a bunch of more neglected blends to the front for quick access. This was a nice evening cuppa. At first it read mostly just as sweet, but as it started to cool down that more distinct and almost vanillin-tasting spun sugar note really started to come through in such a comforting, nostalgic sorta way.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Steeped this one up a few nights ago because I was just craving something simple and sweet. Big check on both accounts. I love that the sweetness is so airy and light – definitely mirrors cotton candy in that way. I did taste the hazelnut brittle on the tail end of the sip which was interesting since I normally can’t pick up on the hazelnut in this blend.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Needed something a little sweet as an afternoon pick-me-up today, and this was the first thing I saw in the office kitchen while looking for that next cuppa. Honestly, though it was sweet, this was less sugary than I remembered it tasting. Definitely nostalgic, with that airy spun sugar quality that you would want out of a cotton candy inspired tea.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Hot cuppa! It’s been a while since I last had this tea and I just had the strongest and most unexpected craving for it. Mostly tasted like sweet and nutty rooibos, but you could really taste the cotton candy in the exhale after a sip. To clarify, though, the nuttiness was from the rooibos itself and not from the brittle pieces.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Cold Brew!

Not much to write here other than the fact it was the delicious and nostalgic fairy floss flavour I know and love with this blend. Definitely sweet but not heavy and I think that’s perfect for Cotton Candy!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Adventaggedon Day 14: Tea 3/8

Cotton Candy is not a winter/festive flavour so it’s definitely weird to me that this is now the third cotton candy inspired tea I’ve gotten across all the advents. It’s my favourite of the three though even if it was a little too rich/sweet for the mood and physical state I was in today. Because of that I only made a very small cup of it which smelled amazing though it tasted a little weaker than the aroma until it started cooling down. There’s something very nostalgic about Cotton Candy – both the tea and just in general.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Half sipdown.

Only a half because it was one bag finished off, but them immediately replaced with a new and fresher bag. It was a late night cuppa though, and not a bad one. Less flavourful/intense and distinctly cotton candy than I used to find it but good for curbing some late night sugar cravings…

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Cold Brew!

Had this one on my way to work on, I think, Tuesday. It wasn’t bad, but I feel like the flavour of this is just less intense/rich than it used to be? It’s not from the tea leaf being old; I just restocked with a very fresh bag of this tea – so maybe it’s just that my palate has changed enough from when I first liked this tea that the magic has been lost!?

What I ended up finding was that this tasted like a very sweet, woody rooibos with lots of the sugar “brittle” notes from the hazelnut mixture in the ingredients list. It was fine, and refreshing but not memorable.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Another sweet, decadent dessert-type tea steeped up during an evening when I was feeling a particularly intense sweet tooth. I’ll be real though, my sample of this tea is fairly old so it’s lost some of the “oomph” it once had. It still tastes really good, with that spun sugar sweetness – but the taste of the rooibos is stronger/more distinctly honeyed wood and the nuttyness of the brittle pieces comes through more distinctly too – it’s less generic sugary sweet overall. Usually that’s actually a good thing – but for a cotton candy blend? Debatable…

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Iced tea with milk! Reminded me a little bit of Dairy Queen’s Cotton Candy blizzard flavour that they bring back most summers – but less sweet. That’s a good comparison, for the record – especially the less sweet part. Really enjoyed this one!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Drank this one today.

I could tell it was a very fresh production because it still had that strong, almost booze-y. sweet cotton candy taste to it – from the flavouring still needing to air out a little bit. Still tasted good, just a wee bit strong.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Latte!

I went out yesterday afternoon with a coworker to have tea/brunch, and then explore one of the neighborhoods in the city that I haven’t been in before – this isn’t the tea that we met up to have, but rather a tea that I grabbed a few hours later while we were walking through one of the downtown streets on the way to the metro; because we just happened to walk by a DAVIDsTEA and, of course, I can always go for another tea.

So, I have no freaking clue why this latte in particular was SO FREAKING GOOD but I am not kidding when I say that this was the best Cotton Candy latte that I have ever had, and I’ve had a fair few of them. Like, someone get this tea guide an award because it was bloody amazing. So sweet and distinctly cotton candy flavored, and creamy with just the right amount of froth to milk ratio. Like, it was heaven in a cup!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

My bedtime cuppa from last night. I left the teabag in to steep, and as a result this got mighty potent and rich. Basically just tasted like directly eating one of those cute little pastel sugar brittle pieces that are in the blend. Yummy!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

With milk and vanilla agave.

So, I’ve been on a big vanilla agave kick lately but I definitely over did it with this one. It’s already a sweet tea, and adding the milk would have been fine but the extra vanilla agave just pushed it to a point where it was far too sweet/cloying to be a relaxing and overly enjoyable drink. I mean, I still finished it but just wasn’t satisfying and it took me a long time because after a sip or two I had to pause due to the richness.

Yup; just adding a note in here for myself: Don’t sweeten this one. You wont like it.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

So, this is my first time drinking this tea since it was brought back as a TOTM/core tea.

It’s not that I actually dislike it in anyway or that I’ve been putting off drinking it; I actually liked it a fair bit when it was a limited edition tea. My biggest thing was just the mouthfeel/general oilyness from the melting down sugar brittle. However, taste wise it was totally fine. It’s just that there are a lot of other sweet/dessert teas I generally reach for over this one, so it’s kind of been forgotten about?

I drank this one as a latte though – after months, I finally decided it was just the sweet treat I really needed to perk me right up on a day I was feeling a little down. My immediate feeling was regret. Not for making the tea, but for waiting for such a long time to revisit this one after it was brought back as a core tea. It was so good! Instantly made me think of cotton candy/cotton candy flavoured candies but with a bolder flavour and a strong creamy factor. Of course, the creaminess/silkiness comes from the latte style prep. Regardless, it was REALLY good and not actually as cloying as I was bracing myself for. I mean don’t get me wrong, it was sweet. However, for something cotton candy flavoured I didn’t find it over the top.

Also, the mouthfeel/texture thing? Really not an issue for a latte – the milk hides that unpleasant feeling. I’m sure I’d still get it if I were drinking this one straight but not this way.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Sipdown – but not of one of my own teas, so it doesn’t count.

Like I often do, when I was spending Christmas at my mom’s house I raided her tea stash looking for things I don’t have that I might want to try or revisit. Low and behold, she had enough of this one left for one more cup! Which I stole…

Merry Christmas to me!

Peanut Brittle and Cotton Candy tea, though? Goes together amazingly, actually. The tea was on point, and the sweetness just made the peanut brittle taste richer, while the heat for the tea almost melted it in my mouth as I’d take a bite of the brittle and then follow it with a swig of tea. Mmm!

Friendly reminder that I’m not currently numerically rating DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently seasonally employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Sipdown (136)!

Finished this one off hot, and it was fucking delicious. Subtle fruity notes from the mango in the background, but mostly just soft, sweet flossy cotton candy just as it should be. Perfect for curbing those late night sugar cravings…

This review is for the Cotton Candy infused white chocolate bar…

… as seen here: https://www.davidstea.com/ca_en/cotton-candy-white-chocolate

Mmm, not much to say about this one. In a lot of ways it reminds me heavily of the Birthday Cake infused white chocolate that DT put out not too long ago. Same sensation of biting into the “bits” (brittle/sprinkles) in both and a comparable, sweet flavour. Though I will say that there seems to be a lot less loose rooibos mixed into this bar although it is still there. I only had a square or two of this one and I’m setting the rest aside for later as it was just SO rich. Also, our house is stupidly hot and the chocolate was melting in my hands faster than I could eat it, so…

Hey, welcome back Cotton Candy!

There was actually a lot of returning teas announced recently, all of which were ones I liked at least a little bit. Since I still have some Caramel Corn I didn’t nab any of that during my DT trip today – and then Tropicalia and Strawberry Colada can only be bought in those premeasured 100g boxes so before I got either I wanted to try Coco Colada so I can determine which is my favourite so I can stock up on that one.

This is one I just wanted a taste of again; I never did get to try the latte I wanted last time it was in stores so I’m gonna try to dedicate at least part of my sample to doing a latte. Not the first portion of it though: that first portion went to a late night mug that I’m currently drinking. I’ve kind of hit that wall of sleep deprivation where I both have all the energy and none of it – but can’t sleep. So, grabbed something caffeine free to hopefully relax me before bed. This was the first caffeine free option I saw in the kitchen.

I taste familiar, which I mean it is. But I’m happy it is at least somewhat consistent. But did it always have mango in it? I swear I don’t remember there being mango originally – though I’m not complaining. A little bit of sweet, fruity flavour on top of that kind of sticky sweet, “melt in your mouth” cotton candy is nice. It gives the tea a little more dimension. I’m at the last bit in the mug now as well, and I swear it’s richer than the rest of the mug was – with an almost thicker mouthfeel? I guess all that melted up “brittle” was hiding out in the bottom of the mug? It’s yummy though.

I’m happy to revisit this one though – but also glad I only got 10g.

Sipdown (127/134)!

Just finished Dad-Proofing my house. It’s my day off today, and it look like it’s going to be spent with my father who let me know last night that he was planning on coming up for the day. Urgh.

So, he’ll be here in like half an hour so I’m trying to squeeze in my tasting notes from yesterday’s teas now instead of waiting until after he leaves, ‘cause who knows when that’ll be…

At least I can take advantage of his car to do one really big grocery run; normally I do small runs so I can reasonably walk/bus home with the groceries.

Anyway this was a cold brew and, obviously, the last of this tea. It was a really good cold brew; sweet and sugary and definitely Cotton Candy flavoured, but I think it’ll be the last cold brew. While this has been sweet and fun I’ve gone through something like 50g of it now, and I think that’s enough to have fully experienced it.

Though, if I wind up making it into a DT store before the carnival collection leaves I’ll get it to go as a latte because that’s the one way I wanted to try it that I never got to.

Cold Brewed!

I picked up more of this one for cold brewing (and possibly for trying a latte) because I’ve really enjoyed the last few ones, except this one wasn’t so fantastic – I think I underleafer it or something since it wasn’t nearly as sweet or as flossy.

Not horrible or anything; just not as fantastic. I think when I finish my leaf of this one I’ll probably be done with it.