DAVIDsTEA

Cold Brew!

Not just any cold brew, though – I mixed this one 1/3 with a Pineapple and Lychee sorbet to create this slushy type drink that just tasted AMAZING. I mean, essentially it was a super tropical tasting fruit punch sort of creation with really refreshing notes of dragonfruit, pineapple, lychee, and apple and some tartness from the rosehip and the pineapple in the sorbet. Sweet, a little tangy, and SO GOOD.

Even though it’s blizzarding outside, and there’s so much snow and the weather is just hella gross and cold it felt like a little piece of summer here in the house while I drank it.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wga5A6R9BJg&list=WL&index=2

Highly, highly recommend watching this music video if for no other reason than the seriously amusing plot twist at the end of it. It’s just a fun song too, though.

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.

This is a queued tasting note.

This is the tea I drank, iced, after my Calming Chamomile. I wanted to reward myself for drinking a Project Tea Wall tea (less than ten left), even though it was one I was dreading/hated.

And this was a great reward! Sweet, fruity and tropical. I would have happily guzzled the whole thing but one of my coworkers accidentally knocked over the cup it was in and spilled out around half of it… So, not a very long lasting reward it would seem.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPiAE068AMQ&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=32

I don’t think this is the world’s strongest pairing to be honest, but I was working with very limited music selection given the laptop situation. It’s painful because I DO own like 20 CDs that I really enjoy but I have no way to play them without a laptop at the moment…

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.

Pitcher of cold brew… an underleafed one though.

I’m still enjoying it, even though it’s clearly more watered down than it should be. It lacks some of that effervescent fruit punch quality; but it does gain an almost ‘vitamin water’ like refreshingness, with soft pineapple undertones.

I’m not the one consuming most of the pitcher though – my roommates have gone and decided that it makes “the best” mix for their spiced rum, so that’s where most of it has gone. I don’t see it though. Dragon fruit spiced rum? And, watery dragon fruit, at that…

But student living right? Gotta make do with what you have.

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.

Hot tea to go…

Kind of like a hot fruit punch, but a little more mellow than your standard fruit punch is and with less of an obvious sweetness/artificial note to it. I still kind of struggle to get the dragon fruit from this one which is one reason why I don’t see myself every stocking it for at home; mostly this is just a nice mix of apple, rosehip, light hibby, and sweet blackberry leaf to my palate once you start to break down that fruit punch note into individual components. However, for what it is and the flavour offered I enjoy revisiting it every now and then. It’s still better cold though.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFinooNUmK4&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=4

No real reason; just really into The Wombats right now. I don’t think the lyrics match the tea overall, but the upbeat nature and tone of the song do. It’s fun; sort of an anthem of sorts.

Sipdown (136/143)!

Also made this one this morning (I hope people realize that when I say morning it’s just ‘cause it was only like an hour after I woke up; but I’m on a reversed time/sleep schedule – the reality is that my day started at 3PM today) and because I’ve only had it iced or cold brewed I thought that hot would be the best way to finish it off, especially considering I didn’t exactly love the last cold brew I had.

Unfortunately, the majority of what I had left in my sample bag was sweet blackberry leaves which had sunk to the bottom of the bag so I don’t feel like I got the most fair/realistic taste of what this one is like hot. That said, even though what I drank probably wasn’t the “truest” flavour I didn’t think it tasted bad: definitely still some dragon fruit flavour although it was really sweet and had some distinct hibby tartness.

I may need to pick up another 24g of this because I’m not not sure how I feel and I want to taste a hot version of this that isn’t just the dregs of the bag; but if I do get more it wont be an immediate thing either. It’s just hard to give up on an easily accessible dragon fruit tea; I know Cornelia Bean and Cuppa’T both have better version – but those aren’t anywhere as easy to get my hands on.

Didn’t like this cold brew as much at the last one; and while I can’t place why it came out differently, I can pin point the differences in flavour:

- It was very “punchy” in a way that was maybe a little fake/artificial
- There was a weird aftertaste
- It felt like someone had added sweetner to it; and I most certainly did not.

Huh, maybe I’m not as much of a fan of this as I thought I was? Rating bumped down.

So this is the blend I cold brewed for Saturday night’s party. After the horrible hangover from Friday night I knew that if I was going to drink on Saturday I would definitely need to be smarter about it. I mean, I had today off for recovery but I didn’t want to need to go down that route again.

So I took a cold brewed timolino worth of this one to the part with me and enjoyed sipping on it while drinking (alternating between Schnapps and tea), and then after I was done my Schnapps and this one I had half a Mike’s Hard Lemonade and some chocolate milk and I was done for the evening. That means I actually was really quite sober and can remember just how lovely this one was with full clarity!

Basically it was super rich and juicy with a very plump and vibrant fresh Dragon Fruit flavour that really, really captured the summer spirit. The was a little bit of hibiscus sourness to it, not gonna lie, but I think that the Dragon Fruit far out weighed any of the flavour the hibiscus could have added/was adding. There was also the same lush flavour in this one that I really enjoy in DT’s Pink Passionfruit blend, and I suppose that one interesting common ingredient they have is the sweet blackberry leaves, so maybe that’s it.

Super tasty though, and since it seems like Tre isn’t gonna be stopping at Cuppa’T while in Regina (something about not being able to go because of the flooding) I may stock up on this one since he wont be bringing back 100g of Dragonfruit Cranberry for me. And damnit, I need Dragon Fruit tea around!

But yeah, sadly I think this tea was the highlight of the night. Like I said, I didn’t get really drunk but man did Tyrell. I felt really abandoned; basically he got drunk and decided to spend time with pretty much everyone but me. And his friends totally picked up on it too; they were all nice and tried to make an effort to include me but it was just kinda awkward and not fun because I really don’t know any of them, and while they were all nice enough I was really there to spend time with Tyrell.

I was hoping that at the very least we’d cuddle or something when we went to bed but instead we started watching Whose Line (I love Whose Line, don’t get me wrong – that definitely seemed promising) but like two minutes in to it he just sorta passed out. So yeah, no cuddles for me. Instead I just got to sleep on his super uncomfortable bed. Wah wah wah.

Ugh, and then in the morning we watched some episodes of Supernatural (he’s finally finished season one now), but man he was just not picking up on the cuddling vibe. I mean, he was definitely hungover so I’m trying not to feel too sour about it. But it wasn’t all that fun. And then after we finished Season 1 he drove a few people home who were too drunk to drive last night and dropped me off at my place. I’ve kinda spent the whole day at this point in and out of sleep and watching stupid movies on Netflix…

Bleck.

So there, that’s my tea note and way too personal commentary on my relationship all mashed together. There ya’ go. Sorry not sorry.

First review! And in my excitement to add this to the database I forgot to attach a picture, so if someone could do that for me (I don’t have the option to edit right now?) that’d be awesome!

So this is DT’s new blend for the month of July and I have to admit that I was SUPER excited to see it, despite all the hibby in it, because I LOVE Dragonfruit and have had success with most Dragonfruit teas I’ve had, if not all of them.

Given it was released today, it was also one of the samples of the day and since I was at DT I could not resist trying it! I mean, I was pretty convinced I was going to buy it anyway – but trying it couldn’t hurt. I wont rate because I wasn’t the one who prepared the sample and I have no idea how DT prepared it – but I thought it was good and very promising!

It was a little weak for my tastes (but I think it was sitting in a pitcher with melting ice too, so that’s definitely something to take into consideration) but overall I thought it was distinctly Dragon Fruit flavoured with very light hibby notes to it. I didn’t pick up the rosehips at all. I enjoyed it.

I ended up walking away with a conservation 24g to play with. Likely I’ll cold brew it first; but I think it’ll be good hot too? Honestly, I probably would have got more because I’m sure I’ll love this one – but Tre’s supposed to be picking me up 100g of Cuppa T’s Dragon Fruit Cranberry blend. I didn’t anticipate the July tea being Dragon Fruit…

This is my 100th tasting note! Hooray! Not bad for being on Steepster for just under a month.

I got this sample with my David’s mug order. I was pretty excited since there’s been a lot of hype around here about the carnival collection. The dry tea is a mixture of a lot of stuff. There’s red and green rooibos, sprinkles, mango pieces, and apparently some kind of brittle. It smells very sugary and rooibosy.

The aroma is very cotton candy, which was a good sign. I can smell the rooibos, but it’s in the background. At the first sip, I definitely got the cotton candy flavor. However, it seems with subsequent sips I don’t get it any more, which is odd. I’m not sure if my tongue adjusted to the sugar and now it tastes less sweet to me or what. So it basically tastes like a somewhat weak and sweetened rooibos… Meh. I used the whole sample, too, which looked like more than the recommended 1.25 tsp.

Ok, so this review is going to be a bit of an emotional over share, so if you aren’t into that type of thing, skip to below the line and I will just talk about the teapot. I think it will help me feel better to write it, so indulge me if you will.

It’s cold, grey and rainy here, tea friends. And that pretty much matches my mood. It’s my Grandpa’s birthday today- the 2nd since he’s been gone, so it’s been a rough day for me. My Grandpa was amazing, at least to me. I lived down the street from him for most of my life and he taught me how to swim, ride a bike, and fish. He spent time with me and played with me, even letting me chase him up a tree when we played cowboys and indians or have a “dolphin ride” in the pool. He was patient, kind, and willing to take the time to teach me whatever I happened to be curious about. Even though my dad lived in the same city, my Grandpa was more of a father to me. He was always supportive and crazy proud of me. He called me his little darling and I loved him so much. “Here comes the sun” came on my Pandora station as I was getting ready this morning, which always reminds me of him (because of the little darling part) and I lost it then. I’ve been thinking about him all day and holding it together at work, so I thought a pot of tea might be comforting when I got home and using my new teapot for the first time might cheer me up a bit.
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So, this teapot is great. I think it’s super cute (duh, otherwise why would I have bought it?) and I got it during the 40% off sale. It’s well worth the money and it’s my first teapot. The infusion basket is pretty much the same as a the one that comes with the perfect mug, except about half again as long and it has a handle (folds down so you can put the lid on) for easy removal. The teapot itself is rather sturdy and the spout really does seem to be entirely drip-free. The lid was a little hard to take off and put back on at first, but it’s gotten easier after repeating it a few times. I love the silicon grips on the cups because they do provide a cool gripping surface while also looking like cupcake wrappers. For the inaugural run, I chose Capital Tea’s Strawberry Oolong and it brewed up perfectly in this pot. Plus having tea from a pot just seems more fun to me. I’m totally happy with my purchase.

Method: 1.5 tsp, 8 oz, 185 degrees, 6 minutes, French Press

Dry Leaf & Brewing Aroma: Smells like honey. Nothing more, nothing less. LOL

Flavor: This tastes like honey. The tea is also sweet on its own, but I did add a little sweetener about half way through. It’s a pretty tea, with the cornflowers, and it also contains calendula petals, but all I can actually taste is honey. Honeys taste differently depending on the type of flowers. This reminds me most of a wildflower honey.

A small sample was given to me by a friend, and I like this tea, but I am really trying to stay away from artificial flavorings, which this contains. If you don’t care about that kind of thing, this tea is definitely tasty.

I won’t say I’m disappointed with this tea, it is good and it smells a lot like caramel corn. I wonder if it would be better to just eat it. :) the smell once brewed is also overwhelmingly caramel corn — once they suggest that for you it’s hard to see that it might be something else.

Once steeped, I get a lot more apple and some Cinammon than anything else. In fact, although it’s been a while since I tried forever nuts, I’d say they two are not far from each other. Forever nuts disappointed me because I expected nuts and got pink Cinammon apple, really.

Also, however flavourful, I find this to be a bit thin tasting. You can steep longer but I suspect you just get even more apple that way. I used the entire 24 gram bag for our 3-cup pot and will attempt a resteep but that will be the end of caramel corn.

Sipdown!
Cold brewed this, left it in the fridge for about 24 hours as I tend to do.

Honestly I’ve had a few mango flavoured teas sitting in my fridge lately, they’ve all been pretty good and this one doesn’t stand out any more than the others.

I’m enjoying having a cold brewed tea on hand these days, given that it’s been close to 40 degrees celsius with the humidex. blech.

So anyway, this was good, but I won’t be buying more because it’s not way better than anything similar that I have!

Mmm, smells just like a key lime pie, the taste could be a bit stronger for my liking, but it’s still very nice. I love being able to get my dose of green sencha in a tasty, creamy, sweet limey form! I tried it iced, but to be honest, I like it better hot…

Combined with milk, this tea is DE-VINE. (Upped the rating!)

Yay, coconut! It’s the closest to SoHo Blend I could get locally. I had a Harney cart filled out but then I was reminded of the $15 shipping… I knew about the fee as I ordered before but I guess when you see it written down there at the TOTAL it’s kinda, well, jarring. :)

But this came to me courtesy of the lovely salesperson at the Church St. DAVIDs Tea, Toronto. I went with a long list and told her I had a budget and kinda didn’t want to go over, asked her to keep an eye on the total. We went $2 over, which I was ok with, but it meant I had to abandon the sample of chocolate macaroon I was going to add to my list. And you know what she did, totally gave me 16 grams free of charge. She said she knew I really wanted to try it and so she gave me some. How’s that for customer service? :)

I like the tea also but I agree it is thin tasting. I also knew it was sweet and only added a pinch of sugar (it’s gotta be psychological at this point, what’s a pinch of sugar to a 8 oz cup?, I should just leave it out).

The first few sips were very much coconut, yummy coconut, reminded me quite a bit of the SoHo blend in that respect. I then made the mistake of adding almond coconut milk because I wanted it creamier. Unfortunately now all I can taste is my almond milk. Maybe because this is so thin tasting, it can’t take much addition and still maintain its own flavour.

I have enough for another cup and I will likely buy more but I have to figure out what to mix it with for stronger base — don’t have many str8 black teas in house — I don’t want to just use more because it would become too expensive that way.

I drank this today using my free tea from joining the Frequent Steepers club at DAVIDS, and asked that they make it a hot latte.

OMG. Really. I immediately walked back in and bought 100g of this beauty and I plan to make tons of lattes with it.

I had a cup of this earlier today as we sat in our icy-cold basement and I wanted to warm up a bit. ;P (Best complaints for the summer?) It was really good, considering root beer should be cold. I could taste the sasparilla and other spices – but they weren’t overwhelming.

Yes. So good. I might (might?) get a tin of this for the summer! The hype was right!

AHHHHHH. I LOVE THIS SO MUCH.
So this basically tastes like cherry kool aid if you add sweetener, and if you don’t, it’s like this delicious hibiscus-y-cherry-y awesomeness. I like it waaaay more than Indian Summer (the only other cherry DT I have) for an iced tea and this one makes great tea pop too.
Overall a really fun blend for summer. I’m going to be sure to stock up.

This tea is surprisingly good. I went in for a free sample and was skeptical at first. My mom and sister had tasted it previously and said it did not taste like anything. I went to smell the loose leaves first and it actually smelled just like caramel corn. And I tasted it and was pleasantly surprised. i would actually go back and ask for it warm. It is a nice dessert tea that I would love to have after dinner, like I currently do with Forever Nuts.

Cue the music…. “I’ll give you a taste, make it like your birthday everyday”. I think those Katy Perry lyrics really depicts how this blend tastes, KIDDING! But let me tell you, I actually really like this blend a lot. It does taste like birthday cake, you can actually taste those little notes of cake batter and that makes it so much more festive and enjoyable to drink. It does taste very similar to the Red Velvet Cake actually, so it is a good caffeine-free alternative if you like that blend (Personally I love both of them). I didn’t buy this blend until this summer (which is quite odd because it’s Iced tea season for me now..) and I decided to be a little adventurous and try this iced. I was pleasantly surprised…in a good way…. because it tastes absolutely amazing! It definitely doesn’t have the birthday cake flavour when it is iced (presumably because of the dilution of the ice…duh?) but it does taste like sweet tea you get from the U.S (which I actually love so much) or if you are familiar with the big Arizona Iced tea cans, it tastes just like the sweet tea flavour. So good.