96

Since I was in the area today, I went and stopped by Tea Desire to pick up more Chai Apricot and check out some other teas while I was there. I’ve really been dying to get my hands on Teavana’s Chocolate Banana Foster but since it’s the only thing from Teavana that I’m currently interested in getting I’m not going to make an online order for just one tea (I don’t have a local Teavana store to go buy from), so I’ve been looking for a suitable replacement.

This tea looked worth a shot! Even though there were no Steepster reviews (I had to add the tea to the database!) there were lots of reviews on the Tea Desire website, so I thought I’d give it a taste.

Technically, I guess, this isn’t really a tea – it’s a fruit infusion but I’m ok with that because it just means another dessert tea I can drink before bedtime! Honestly, this tea looks and smells like dessert heaven. Everything in the mix is GIANT. Seriously, massive hunks of chocolate (not chips, HUNKS), bananas, mango, and WHOLE banana chips. Sadly, because of all the big pieces this one is REALLY heavy, so 50g doesn’t buy a lot (the sales lady joked that this is her “favourite trail mix”).

I just have to comment that I’m really impressed with Tea Desire’s guest service as well! Other than today, I’d only been in the store one other time but the sales lady recognized me right away! She even remembered what my purchase was, and asked if I’d enjoyed all the teas I had tried (and I gushed about Champagne Cassis, which is now probably my favourite white tea). It was a really welcoming environment and there care and attention for sure makes me want to come back again and again.

I steeped a cup of this for myself and a cup for Tre. I’ll be honest, most of Tre’s cup was chocolate and Mango since I seemed to get a lot of those bits and wanted to save the giant banana chips for myself. I guess I don’t share too well with others. In my cup, however, I made sure I got at least one piece of everything in the blend.

The liquor for this one is very murky and cloudy brown, with a little bit of an oily sheen that reminds me of some teas from DAVIDsTEA. Not a problem for me, but I know other people have issues with that oily kind of sheen or with teas that aren’t “clean”.

I steeped this for 10 min., although admittedly I was only aiming for 7. I got distracted by the sub delivery guy. It was alright though, because the steep time for this tea is incredibly broad: 4 to 10 minutes. At ten minutes, my tea tastes great. It’s very much banana – and not an artificial banana taste but the taste of ripe, real bananas. The chocolate taste of this tea is very creamy and strong too, and holy butts does it compliment the banana. The other ingredients in this blend sort of take a backseat, but that’s alright: with a tea called “Chocolate Banana Cream” or whatever, you’re not really DYING to taste the papaya are you? I don’t think so. With that said, I can taste the mango but it’s very subtle.

Honestly, I think I like this better than Chocolate Banana Foster! The only thing it’s missing is the caramel flavour, although for the last quarter or so of my mug I did add about a teaspoon of butterscotch pudding, and that worked quite nicely.

Overall, a very much banana and chocolate flavoured dessert tea that’s SUPER sweet (no need for extra sweetener, unless like me you want to add in that caramel sort of flavour – although it tasted divine without it as well). I’m thinking that a longer steep time is really important, with how huge the chocolate pieces are you’d definitely need a significant amount of time for them to melt. Also, use boiling or very near boily water – trust me, this tea can take it.

Definitely a tea that’ll now have a permanent spot in my cupboard! Tea Desire, I’m really quite impressed!

PS. The best part of this tea was totally eating all of the pieces afterwards!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more

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Bio

Hello! My name is Kelly, though many people in the tea community call me Ros or Roswell.

I am a mid-twenties tea addict, blogger, and all around nerd. I grew up in the Prairies, but a few years ago I relocated to Quebec to pursue a career with DAVIDsTEA in the tea industry! I’m still working on getting my French language skills down…

My first introduction to tea, in any form outside of instant and bottled iced tea, was about seven years ago when I happened to stumble upon DAVIDsTEA while looking for a birthday present for a friend! I tried their Birthday Cake rooibos blend, and I’ve been hooked on tea ever since! In those seven years; I was introduced to the online tea community, expanded my interest in flavoured teas to include a deep love and appreciation for straight teas and traditional brewing methods, got a tea themed tattoo, started reviewing teas, amassed a sizable tea and teaware collection, became a TAC certified Tea Sommelier, & even came full circle by beginning a career in the tea industry with DAVIDsTEA!

I consider myself a Jack of all Teas, and strive to have a knowledge and appreciation of all tea types, formats, and styles of drinking. I don’t like to feel boxed in to just being a “flavoured tea” or “straight tea” drinker – my expectations may vary depending on the type of tea or how it’s been processed/prepared but if it’s good tea, it’s good tea no matter how it’s been made!

You name it, I probably drink it- and I’ll absolutely try anything at least once.

My default method of preparation is hot, Western style, and straight – but I’m not opposed to additions if I’m in the right mood. If I ever add something to a tea or use a different method of preparation I will ALWAYS call it out in the tasting note though.

I like to listen to music when drinking tea, especially when I’m brewing a large pot at a time or steeping Gongfu. Often I curate very intentional tea and music pairings, and sometimes I share them here in my tasting reviews. Music is something that I find can deeply affect the experience of having tea.

I’m also one half of the “tea and fandom” podcast GeekSteep where, weekly, we discuss newly explored fandoms over tea as well as try to figure out the perfect tea to pair with each fandom. You can find us on Spotify and Apple & Google podcasts.

Favourite flavour notes/ingredients: Pear, lychee, cranberry, cream, melon, pineapple, malt, roasty, petrichor, sweet potato, heady florals like rose, hazelnut or walnut, sesame, honey (in moderation), and very woody shou.

Least favourite flavour notes/ingredients:
Lemongrass, ginger, strongly spiced profiles (and most Chai in general), mushrooms, seaweed, chamomile, stevia, saltiness or anything that reminds me too much of meat that isn’t supposed to taste like meat…

Currently exploring/obsessed with: Sheng from Yiwu, Yancha (Qilan in particular), anything with a strong sweet potato note. Also, I need to try ALL the root beer teas! Searching for a really good caramel flavoured blend, ideally with a black tea base.

Please contact me at the instagram account listed below if you would like me to review your teas.

Currently I’m employed in the tea department of the DAVIDsTEA head office. While I’m still sharing my own personal thoughts on new & existing DAVIDsTEA blends, I am no longer numerically rating them due to the obvious conflict of interest. Any comments expressed are a reflection of my own thoughts and opinions, and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of the company. Any DAVIDsTEA blends you currently see with a numeric score were reviewed prior to my being hired there and have not been adjusted since becoming a DAVIDsTEA employee.

Location

Montreal, QC, CA

Website

https://www.instagram.com/ros...

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