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Ha, I left this to steep in the fridge for around two days. Not my intention but it worked out in the end.

Dry, this smelled more like mango than peach. But yet, it both smells and tastes like peach juice. Not the juice crystals but the big jugs of peach juice my family used to by at Costco when I was a little kid. I can’t taste any guava either.

I love eating peaches, but never liked peach-flavoured or -scented stuff, so I thought I wouldn’t like this once I caught a whiff of it as I was straining the leaves and such. But it’s actually pretty good. It pairs well with the green tea, which is mellow and refreshing. It’s one of those teas that isn’t worth buying but you wouldn’t mind drinking it if someone put a glass of it in front of you.

Normally whenever I see watermelon-flavoured or -scented anything, I slowly back away. Remind me again how artificial watermelon tastes and smells anything like the actual melon?

But this is an exception. It smells like fruit juice, mostly watermelon with a hint of strawberry in the background. It smells like a watermelon slice to the power of 27.

As soon as I take a sip and the tea hits my taste buds, it reminds me of biting into a fresh watermelon slice, but a split second later, even more flavours burst out. It’s ultra melon-y and the strawberry comes out too. And not overwhelmingly sweet either. Why would anyone want to drink juice packed with sugar and calories when you can just have this instead?

Way to be, DT. I wouldn’t mind having more of this.

Today is cold and rainy, so in other words, hot tea weather. I just bought another pouch of this after going so long without it. That’s impressive, you know why? Because I don’t even like rooibos. But this one won my heart a long time ago, because it doesn’t actually taste like rooibos.

The dry leaf is a spice lover’s dream. Loads of whole cloves, green cardamom pods, pink peppercorns, and more. The smell is a balance of all of these spices with ginger peeking out a bit more.

The coconut shines through when this is steeped. Every sip is filled with creamy coconut and warming spices. The ginger is still the most prominent spice, and the peppercorns add a little kick to this. Not much, but just as an accent.

I just added some 2% milk, and in the words of the star of Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time, SUGAR FOR DA FLAVOUR. Ironically, the flavours have died down a bit too much. Just coconut and ginger now. I definitely prefer it “black,” or in this case, red.

Yet another sample I received from DT.

This is so unique. It’s definitely pear, with a hint of crisp apple in the background, but it also tastes a little creamy too. Probably from the vanilla. The aftertaste is pear, but it sits on the fence between being artificial and real. It’s odd, because I normally love tart and sour fruits. Here, it’s tart, but it’s a little off. The way the pear lingers on the tongue after each sip isn’t so pleasing for me.

But it’s not bad. I wouldn’t buy it, but to me, it misses the mark. It was a good try, but there are much better teas out there.

First off, this really does smell like lime jello. Bang on. Secondly, I’ve prepared this tea in two ways today: hot and cold steeped.

Hot, this is like a soothing cup of citrus tea with a twist. Instead of traditional lemon, I think I’d like this whenever I’d be sick because it’s different. The marshmallow in this should also soothe sore throats. And speaking of the marshmallow, it adds a touch of gooey sweetness to the tart lime. The flavours complement the green tea marvelously.

Iced, this smells awesome. Seriously like lime jello with crushed pineapple. The flavour isn’t as intense as I’d expected, but it’s clearly lime jello. It’s not a pronounced marshmallow here but more like a delicate lime creamsicle. I initially bought this with the intention of drinking it iced, and I’m not disappointed.

Overall, very happy with this one. I’m surprised it hasn’t sold out, actually. It’s like a novelty tea that’s very practical, if that makes any sense.

I’m having cotton candy for breakfast. Or at least I’m trying to pretend that I am.

My package unexpectedly arrived yesterday and this went straight into my iced tea jug to cold steep overnight. I must say that the lovely black tea base is definitely an appealing Darjeeling. But honestly, dry, this little concoction smells more floral than candy-ish.

The smell of the steeped tea is very faint too. Basically like a sweetened Darjeeling. I’m already on to my second glass of this and so far, and just like its smell, it tastes like a vaguely sweet black tea. But just like how perfumes need a bit of aging and soaps need a bit of curing perhaps I should let this gel for a little while longer and try make another jug of this in a few days? I’m also curious as to how a cotton candy tea would taste hot.

For now I’m going to rate it based on these initial impressions but if/when I come back to this tea next week and reevaluate it, let’s hope the rating will go up!

Smells like piña colada! Both in the package and steeped. But the flavour falls short for me. It’s definitely pineapple and coconut, but watered down, and waaaay sweeter than I’d like. I cold steeped this for about seven hours, by the way.

Gah, I wish it were more pineapple-y. Tarter. And I doubt steeping it longer or using more of the “dry leaf” would have helped. Probably would just be more sugary. Sorry, not a fan.

But it does make me want a fresh slice of pineapple.

Time to crack open one of the several samples I got with my DT order. I normally don’t care for hibiscus. Too tart. Usually gives me a weird dry feeling in the mouth. But it really works well with the citrus fruits here. Not so in-your-face.

Because I only had a sample size, I didn’t want to cold steep it in my 1L jug (and wanted to simultaneously steep something in there!) so I busted out my Heineken pint glass, covered the brew with saran wrap, and let it sit in the fridge for about five hours.

When I uncovered the glass, whew! Soooo intensely fruity-smelling. Like to the max. The taste isn’t nearly as fruity though. Again, hibiscus-y but it’s not overkill or anything. I definitely still get that overly tart dry-mouth feel after each sip but I’m distracted by the slightly sour citrus notes to truly care. Probably the best hibiscus tea I’ve had thus far.

There is also grapefruit in there, but it tastes much sweeter to me than a straight up grapefruit. I wouldn’t buy this but it’s still better than I expected.

Has anyone tried this iced? I’m sure everyone is sick of my iced tea experiments, but this is definitely noteworthy. I thought it would be weird. A cold pancake iced tea? Huh. But actually, cold steeped, the black base calms down and the maple syrup is stronger. In general, I tend to find Frank’s black tea bases too domineering despite playing with the steeping parameters.

The maple syrup flavour isn’t just maple syrup though. It’s a melange of maple syrup, toffee, and vanilla syrup, but mostly maple. No cakey flavours but I like this the way it is.

Try it sometime!

Ultra mega steep failure. Life got in the way and I completely forgot that I put this to steep, so this got a horrifying ten-minute steep. So down the drain that went and I just redid is properly.

Back to business. The second this touched my lips, I thought, “Wow, that’s buttery!” However, the aftertaste is a little on the vegetal side. It’s not bitter at all and leans towards the sweet side. With each sip, the butteriness subsides and the vegetal side of this takes over (and I personally don’t care for that).

It is nevertheless very well-balanced and excellent quality. I can see why this is a bestseller.