Strawberries & Cream

Another from CameronB!  Thanks so much!     Very intrigued by this one.  Strawberry!  Cream!  Milk oolong!    I used half a sample for the mug.  I was hoping for more strawberry — there is a hint of something red here but it reminds me more like beets… I don’t mean the color of the cup, as this is in a dark mug so I can’t tell what color it is anyway.  I was a little scared at the mention of the stevia, but it isn’t overdone here — I can’t really tell it’s here.  I’m also glad the hibiscus isn’t overdone.  The cream aspect is almost more in the texture of the tea than the flavor.   The cream does linger through all the steeps but whatever the berry aspect should be keeps changing.  By the third steep the “berry” is mostly a hint of hibiscus.  The milk oolong is the perfect base for this blend though.  The flavors do tend to get even better as the mug cools.  I like this blend but don’t love it. If only there was a great strawberry flavor here…  I’m not sure I would buy a bunch to stock up, but an occasional sample would be great.   I bet it ends up being one of those blends that likes to linger in my mind though….
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug  // 22 minutes after boiling // 1 1/2  minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 2 min
Steep #3 // 1 minute after boiling // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 5 min

So I ordered some of the new spring teaware from DT, and they were having a promotion for a free tea sampler with an order over a certain amount. I happened to be spending enough, so here we are. Truth be told, I wasn’t very interested in the sampler, but might as well try the teas!

This sounds good in theory, it’s a flavored milk oolong with strawberry. But it sort of tastes like two different teas competing with each other. I think it’s because of the hibiscus, but it mostly tastes like a weak strawberry fruit tea with a bit of creaminess, and there’s also a roasty flavor that reminds me of coffee. Not sure if that’s from the oolong or what. And then there’s the stevia, ruiner of teas…

Needless to say, not for me.

Strange VariaTEA TTB: Tea 16

I asked Roswell Strange how she recommends this and she said cold brewed so I did that. I will say this is creamy. And sometimes sweet strawberry, other times more floral. The floral throws it off for me slightly with the cream. Also the stevia. I can see how someone who doesn’t mind stevia would like this though.

I really enjoy the flavors in this tea, but it’s only good for one or two brews. On first brew, it has a charming pinky-rose color that’s just so #aesthetic but it’s very pale upon the second brewing, and the tang from the hibiscus is really reduced, as are most of the fruity notes. It’s still drinkable, but it’s not nearly as rewarding as the 2nd or even 3rd brew of the coconut oolong I picked up at the same time. This saddens me, because I really appreciate being able to stretch my tea through multiple pots while working. It’s not the measuring out fresh tea that bothers me, it just feels wasteful to toss it after one pot…but that might be a ME problem?

Anyhow, I find this tea really pleasant to drink, and will drink all 100g I bought, I just wish it translated to more pots of tea. Given all the chunky fruit in this blend, it didn’t even fill the tea canister completely- by comparison, I could only fit 50-70g of the coconut oolong in the same size canister.

I got this half off along with the coconut oolong for free-the frequent steeper points majorly helped.

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I really liked the smelly dryleaf and brewed, and did an experimental sessions western. I steeped it up in my french press with about 6 ish grams for a good 12 oz serving, and half of it was poured over ice, and the other half hot. It’s better iced for sure, but I could taste more of the individual flavors hot.

It’s insanely fruity, but like Kittena and Roswell note, there’s a clash between the hibiscus and milk oolong. Icing it helps clear up that clash, but the grassy buttery notes clash with the drying fruity ones of the hibiscus. Oddly enough, the milk oolong actually bugged my taste buds more than the hibiscus…which is a first since I am usually picky with hibiscus. The fake milk flavoring might have gotten to me. I think the tea might have been better if either they held off on the hibiscus and leaned more into the dessert qualities of berries and cream, or if they used a more natural tasting oolong and vanilla flavoring instead with the hibiscus.

I’m holding off on rating, but it’s going to be a great ice tea for the heat waves.

This was my first cup of tea in a long while, since I prefer other drinks in the summer. Honestly, it tasted like a watered down Strawberry Shake (one of DT’s green teas). Looks like I didn’t know what to say the last time I tried it either. Third time’s the charm? I won’t even rate this right now.

(DavidsTea 57)

Very mixed thoughts here. My first cup was nice. My second cup tasted like vomit. My third cup, I couldn’t place for the life of me, but it tasted like a sweetened hibiscusy but creamy herbal on an oolong base. I was not able to figure out what it was until I checked the bags I’d set aside. I found that interesting – and it definitely speaks to the fact that strawberry is not the dominant flavour here, because of the hibiscus. I think the inclusion of hibiscus was a miss here; this blend would have been infinitely more successful without it, but with some heavier strawberry flavouring.

I’ll probably pick up another 50g just to play around with, and because I enjoyed the resteeps of this as the oolong is decent quality, but this missed the mark for me.

ETA: I’ve still rated it fairly well, but I feel like this concept had the potential to be in the 95+ range for me.

Another new tea – it’s in some Valentine’s Day kits and things, but otherwise it’s currently exclusive to this first Spring subscription box!

DT has done strawberry and cream profiles before – Strawberry Fields immediately comes to mind as an example of that. It’s been a while though, and I like that this is on an oolong tea base because I haven’t really seen that a whole lot before from DT or otherwise. What I think is really cool about this blend is that it’s a milk oolong tea base, so in addition to the sweet cream flavouring you get an added layer of velvety creamy oolong as well – making for a blend where you can actually taste the oolong used in it quite distinctly. It’s a cool way to play into the natural flavour notes of the tea base that’s been used. That milky/creamy silkiness is my favourite part of this blend.

The strawberry is nice but not nearly as cool to me – though you can’t really have a strawberries and cream without there being any strawberry, can you? It’s similar to strawberry flavours we’ve seen in other tea blends from DT before – at this moment Strawberry Moringa is coming to mind, but not at the same intensity. Similar just slightly under ripe but sweet strawberry notes though. I don’t like the use of hibiscus here; I understand it’s meant to add a level of acidity to make the strawberry come off as especially juicy and flavourful but to me it sometimes just feels a bit sharp. It also means I can’t add milk to the tea either, and that’s sad for me.

It’s one of those things where, in using the hibiscus, you get what is arguably a more “accurate” strawberry flavour because real, fresh strawberries do have a slight pop of acidity to that. However, at least personally, when I see something is “strawberries and cream” flavoured I don’t know that I necessarily expect the most natural/accurate strawberry flavouring? Like, I’m craving the super lux and creamy “Strawberry Campino” yogurt candies or a thick, double churned strawberry ice cream. Those do not have that pop of acidity, and that’s my personal preference for this flavour profile.

So for those reasons I enjoy this tea, but it’s not likely to be a cupboard staple for me any time soon either.

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.