Oh, hello new tea friend!
Y’all, I know I say this a lot and I have a TON of personal bias but… I freaking love this tea.
Honestly, I think this is my favourite out of every single brand new tea that DT has released so far this year and will release for the remainder of the year. Now, obviously it’s not a secret that I do have a personal preference towards not just fruity teas in general but specifically cranberry teas. I mean, my all time fave DT blend is after all Cranberry Pear. However, the cranberry in this blend versus that one are pretty different in style. Whereas Cranberry Pear is smooth and creamy, this blend is all about the juice.
And, wow, is it ever juicy! Yes, there’s top notes that are a bit more expectedly tart from both the cranberry and hibiscus, but really this is just sweet and refreshing with really, really bold and playful notes of fresh squeezed oranges and this explosion of red fruits. Brewing it hot does bring out a bit more of the tartness, but even still it’s quite a sweet and “round feeling” blend. Juicy truly is the word to describe this tea.
When developing it, I started by looking at different cocktails like the Cosmo (which is becoming trendy again) but I was also really inspired by all these cranberry flavoured iced drinks that popped up everywhere last winter. There’s this interesting behaviour happening where cafes/coffee shops are releasing just as many new seasonal iced beverages as hot ones, even in the dead of winter. And so, of course, this tea is perfectly timed out for Thanksgiving but also Winter/Christmas and, with the cocktail inspo, maybe even New Year’s as well.
I mean, it is really flexible in terms of preparation. I already talked about how drinking it hot brings out a bit more tartness, but toss in a cinnamon stick or two and you can create a really lovely mulled beverage to warm up with. Personally, 90% of the time when I drink this tea it’s iced or cold brewed. So good all on its own without anything added, but steep it up extra strong and you can make an awesome concentrate to make cocktails with. Beyond my OG cosmo inspo, I’d reco trying it as a mimosa or even turning it into a big holiday punch with lots of freshly sliced fruits. And don’t discount this as a tea pop, either! That sweet, juicy flavour shines with a bit of bubbles.
I don’t know – I’m just really passionate about this one!
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 and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.
