Alright – holiday teas!
I was hoping to put off writing holiday tasting notes until both stores and the website were in sync, but it looks like it might be a moment before the website gets completely updated and I’m honestly getting a little impatient. So, some of the new holiday teas are just in stores now – but they will be coming to the site soon(ish). I’ll clarify with my initial note for each holiday tea. I think they’re just a bit behind updating the website because they’re transitioning everything over to this new site layout now? But that’s just a guess on why the holiday teas aren’t updated…
As some people have kind of figured out already, this is mostly a US exclusive tea. Which really is just to say that only US stores will be receiving this one loose – however, both US and CA websites should be getting it so us Canadians will have access. I think, at the moment, it’s only made it to the US website right now though.
Let me just be clear right now – I love this tea! I totally get why it’s more US exclusive – “Sweet Potato Pie/Casserole” is a VERY American thing and there’s definitely a lot of Canadians who don’t know what it is, but I personally feel like it still could have worked in Canada. It’s a well composed blend that’s tasty without knowing the inspiration, and for people who do get what Sweet Potato Pie is I think they’d still want to buy it. It’s like the novelty of visiting Canada and buying a maple tea to bring back but in reverse, y’know?
I’ve actually never had real Sweet Potato Pie before but it’s something that is VERY high on my food bucket list. I have tried many different Candied Yam/Sweet Potato Pie type of teas though, and at this point I sort of feel like I have a very solid idea of what to expect. Well, this tea tastes exactly like what I’ve idealized Sweet Potato Pie to taste like in my head. It’s great – and even better as a latte, very indulgent.
Flavour wise I think this is a tea that you could easily expect to be over the top sweet (because of the rock sugar and marshmallow) but it’s actually not as sweet as I think most people would expect. That’s not to say it isn’t a sweet tea, it does have a rich caramel/brown sugar note and a nice creamy marshmallow taste but it’s not cloying and is pleasantly balanced by a warming spice (cinnamon, numeg) note, a hint of nuttyness from the pecans, and a savory/starchy sweet potato taste. The black tea doesn’t come through super distinctly in its taste but it does provide a hint of malt and a lot of body overall. It’s really wonderful – exactly what my Canadian brain pictures sweet potato pie to taste like, and my new standard for all sweet potato blends.
I’ve already stocked up on this one myself (advantage to working in the tea lab) but it’s probably my top tea for the entire holiday line up and the one I would most recommend to other people – if you have a chance to try it, I really think it’s worth doing so!
EDIT: Also should add that this tea used Elephant Approved black tea as the base! I definitely wont do it justice explaining it – but here’s the link to the place that will!
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.
The ingredients here sound DIVINE.