DAVIDsTEA

Note #200! Woo hoo!

In my ongoing quest to find nice caffeine-free teas for the evening, I’ve turned to this tea which I got in a 3-pack from David’s. (I really got it to get some Bear Trap. The others were just a bonus.)

Dry, I smelled the lemongrass and the berries. Brewed, I noticed the distinctive tint of magenta, which could mean only one thing – that Hibiscus was in town to play. However, I completely forgot that its Cousin in Tartness, Rosehip, was also stopping by for a visit!

This smells quite tart. I added some agave nectar to the mix to tone it down before I sipped, and I think it worked. This is still quite heavy on the hibiscus, but not mouth-puckeringly so.

This would probably be nice iced, but I’ve found I’m not a big fan of coldbrews, so meh.

From TTTTB: This is good! I am partial to mint as peppermint is something that started me in on tea :). It pairs nicely with the black tea in it. I may add this to a future DavidsTea order.

Sipdown (192/196)!

Hooray for sipdown progress!

So, I grossly oversteeped this one. I set it up and had it steeping but was feeling icky and crampy so I sat down for what I told myself would just be “a few minutes” but I just distracted by a few things including a metric fuck ton of FB notifications, albeit delightful ones ;) Around 15 minutes later I remembered the tea! Oh no! I was sure it would be nasty and gross.

But, surprisingly, this is every bit as lovely as it was yesterday: light, buttery coconut and a pleasant black/white base combo with a really soothing affect. Now I’m even more crushed this is a sipdown and a discontinued blend. Obviously it can hold up quite well to some pretty significant user error, and that’s impressive.

With that new knowledge I’m increasing my rating a bit.

I’ve been holding onto this sample from BrewTEAlly Sweet for months now; honestly I think I’d mostly just forgotten about it to be honest. It was an added in sample back when I purchased some tea from her, so it was never really that present in my mind.

Recently I was looking through my stash for coconut teas to try cold brewed though, and I rediscovered this one with the intent of cold brewing it. I didn’t take that route today though; I made it as a hot cuppa instead. I’m pretty glad I did too, because sipping on it I’m not sure if the flavour would have been strong enough to make it through a cold brew: the black/white base combo is easily the strongest flavour and I think that would have been especially present in a cold brew.

The coconut is the second most noticeable flavour and is light and buttery in a sweet, almost pastry like way. Because I also was drinking a Pina Colada mudshake as I was sipping on this there were a few sips that seemed more tropical but more than anything I think that was the flavour of the mudshake carrying over to the tea in between sips.

I’m not sure what the difference between Roman chamomile flowers and regular chamomile is or if there even is one, but I can say that I did like the chamomile in this blend: I felt it softened the whole tea, took the edge off the black which made the black base work more with the white base, and created a calming drink overall.

This is yet another discontinued white/black DT blend which makes me a bit sad: I can see this as something I’d buy 10g of on impulse in store – though not something I’d want to restock in quantity.

DAVIDs Toasted Walnut tea smells great, but the flavor is lacking. Before and during steeping, the sweet scent is quite pleasant. To me, it smells like baking cookies.

I steeped the recommended amount for around 3 minutes to start, and had a little test sip. The flavor was very weak. I let it brew for another 2 minutes. Still weak. Since I was worried about picking up bitterness from oversteeping, I just drank it at around 6 minutes. Luckily it wasn’t overly bitter, but it also wasn’t good.

I think I’ll try increasing the amount of tea the next time I make this. Maybe I can get a better result. I’m disappointed in this one, so far.

Later: tried this as a cold brew, with twice the recommended amount of tea, and the walnut is much more noticeable. Unfortunately, it’s very bitter, even after only 2 hours brewing. I added a little rock sugar, and the tea is better, but I don’t think I’d buy this again.

OK, now I’ve officially had a cup of this so I have more to base my review off of. I still stand by the “it smells so good!” statement. Smells exactly like grape candy. Not my favourite flavour of candy (Hello, “blue raspberry”!!), but I’m not one to turn down candy period. So not unpleasant.

The smell of the brewed tea is ah-maze-ing. Smells exactly like grape candy. And then…something gets lost in translation. The flavour of the tea, as far as I can determine, is “burnt green tea” flavour. I didn’t get any grape flavour at all (or raisin, for that matter, which tastes completely different than grapes do to me), and had this hideous after-taste. It was sweet, metallic, and plastic all at the same time. It wasn’t enough to make me throw out the cup, but it was getting close to that point.

I’m going to try it again iced at home sometime to see if that changes my opinion. But so far? I’m glad this one is only a seasonal tea and I won’t ever be tempted to buy it again having forgotten that I don’t like it.

Verdict: will not buy again.

Can’t base my review on much since I just tried a sample in the store, but…I have mixed feelings. I bought a small amount because it SMELLS so good. The taste as a sample was a bit of a let-down, so I’ll have to write a more complete review after my first cup I make myself. Don’t know if I’ll get around to trying it iced, since I bought so little (the stackable tin…24g of tea, so about 5 cups?). We’ll see.

Verdict so far: great smell, less great taste.

I remember having this tea last time David’s introduced it, but didn’t get around to buying it. I remember the feeling of intense disappointment when I realized it was a limited edition tea and that I had missed my chance to buy it.

When I saw it was being reintroduced as a spring tea, I didn’t get my hopes up. I remembered my experience with Mom’s Apple Pie: the original tasted exactly like apple pie, and when reintroduced it had a plastic-like aftertaste. “Don’t get excited, self” I said. Went in to get an iced tea with my mom, and saw the monster-can sitting on the counter. AH-HA! I thought. I’ll try it now.

So I tried it. And yummmm. Iced, at least, it was really good. No astringency, no bitterness, no weird after-taste. Just fruity yum. I would get some just to make iced tea this summer.

Verdict: will buy.

Had it as a sample hot, then got a cup of it iced. Yum yum yum yum yum. I dragged my mom to David’s for her Frequent Steeper card, and convinced her to get a cup of it iced. Her opinion is also yum yum yum yum yum yum. I’m glad we’ve reached a consensus. I’ll have to buy some of this to have it iced over the summer (I think I’ve created a monster…)

Fruity, has a wacky colour (and who doesn’t love a tea with a wacky blueberry-induced colour?!), smells delish, and tastes like tropical. And it doesn’t have coconut in it! WOO! Seems like nearly every one of the teas that has sounded good recently has coconut added. Blech. But not this one. (excuse me while I dance in my chair)

Verdict: Will buy.

When I heard about this tea, I knew I just had to try it! Rhubarb AND ginger? SOLD!

Once brewed the tea is a bright reddish pink colour and smells amazing – like tart rhubarb and spices. The taste is pretty pleasant, though I’m not sure it’s really distinctly like rhubarb or ginger – more just generally fruity and with some mix of spices. The one thing I couldn’t get past unfortunately is that I found there was an odd aftertaste just at the end, almost like an artificial sweetener? I’m not sure what it is, but it’s put me off buying any more of this tea, even though overall it doesn’t taste bad.

The first time I made this tea I’d just sat down on the couch with it beside me but before I’d even had one sip I accidentally clipped my mug with a careless elbow spilling my tea all over the couch and myself. I think that may have put me off drinking it again for quite awhile. *side-eyes the tea *

Thankfully all went well this time – the smell of the tea is very candy-like, like butterscotch or something close to it. I’m not a big fan of rooibos but thankfully the rooibos flavours are pretty subdued in this blend. It has a nice sweet toffee-like flavour but with an undertone of coconut and something that might be rum. A great dessert tea.

Day 11 of the DavidsTea herbal advent calendar. I haven’t had this tea in years. It kind of smells and tastes like rugelach filling – the cinnamon and nuts combo is very evocative at the moment. Although it’s not my personal favorite flavor combo, there’s definitely a place for it and it’s a classic filling for a reason.

I really wasn’t expecting to like this. My experiences with DavidsTea have been pretty hit-or-miss and this one just didn’t sound very promising.

And yet. This is actually quite pleasant. The smell is nutty and evocative of marzipan. The color is discouragingly red, but the hibiscus isn’t actually as overwhelming as I feared. The taste is primarily almond, with a sweet hibiscus undertone and a tangy aftertaste. This is so close to marzipan! I wouldn’t rush to have this again, but I wouldn’t turn it down either.

sipdown!

Oh, this one was delicious! Spicy and minty is a gooood combination, I think! I was totally sad to see my cup end – when I have room for another flavour of tea in my stash this one is definitely making the cut and is being included. I’m always on the lookout for greens that don’t cost a small fortune.

Day #18 of tea! A nice, soothing blend on this rainy morning. Not as strong as some chai teas I’ve had, but sometimes that’s what I’m looking for! I added some milk to this one to make it a little creamier, and as spicy black teas go, this one is pretty good.

This was sampling at my local DT yesterday when I went in, and I didn’t have enough of it to truly taste, I don’t think. That said, I did enjoy the spicy flavour – I seem to have a thing for ginger and or/chai-inspired teas right now – odd, considering that this is supposed to be spring. Oh well!

The more I have this tea, the less I like it. First steep was extremely vegetal, the second steep was mint with a vegetal background. I’m glad I’m going to be finished with this one soon.

This one smells exactly like spearmint gum — minty and sweet! It’s the last of the untried Spring Collection and I was excited for it this morning.

Steeped, it retains the sweet mint smell. Tastewise, it’s got a vegetal note from the cucumber, especially as it cools down. I like this much better lukewarm than hot. One of my friends had this mixed with Pom Tango as an iced tea and says it was mindblowingly incredible. Maybe that’s how I’ll use up the remainder of these teas.

Sipdown.

This is nice, but it’s not a to-die-for flavour for me. Until next December, Santa…

Saturday Sipdown #2!

There was just a teensy bit of this one left from my VERY FIRST swap with De and aisling of tea. Can’t believe I’ve tried so many teas since then!

There really wasn’t enough for a full cup, so I oversteeped it a bit to compensate. It was still a little weak in flavour, but that’s ok. It just means I have one less tea to worry about.

I wanted to start off my morning with some black tea, but I don’t think I made the right choice here. This is sweet and minty, but quite mild – probably better as a dessert tea.

Backlog from yesterday:

I carried this in my travel thermos, and it’s actually quite a good tea for travel – it’s not that fussy, and it works well with near-boiling water. It looks like I underleafed it a bit, though, as I only used 2.5 tsp when I should have used 3.

Nice base with a bit of mint. Reminded me quite a bit of Read My Lips, which I think is my favourite black blend from Davids.