Sleigh Ride

Ingredients:Apple, hibiscus blossoms, pineapple, papaya, beetroot, cinnamon, raisins, coconut, roasted almonds, popped rice, artificial flavouring


In the Christmas season, time to break out the festive teas!

Sleigh ride is a tea that has made a come-back for at least the last three years. So, it's reasurring that you don't have to worry about falling in love with this one -if you like it- and never being able to get your hot little hands on it ever again - as seems to be the way of DavidsTea.

I was expecting a sort of watered-down cider flavour, but with a six minute steep, I was pleasantly surprised.
While cider-like, it is incredibly full of flavour.

Apple is the most outstanding flavour of them all, the next being cinnamon. I would liken it very strongly to a hot apple cider - more so than DavidsTea's actually "apple cider" named tea!

Definitely the best (besides White Chocolate Frost) Christmas tea that I have tried from DavidsTea.


I recommend everyone have some of this tea in their home for the holidays.


Happy Steeping,

~K

Pineapple Oolong

pineapple oolong from DavidsTea

Ingredients: Tie Kwan Yin oolong, pineapple, apricot, and natural flavouring


Honestly, I thought that this tea was going to suck. (pretty sure that's why Laura gave me her sample of it - so she didn't have to try it... the fiend!)

This tea really surprised me.
Now, it's nothing to get me jumping up and down and screaming to the heavens like milk oolong, or raspberry oolong (if we are sticking with a fruity oolong theme), but I actually liked this tea. It's unique, and if you love pineapple, DEFINITELY don't skip buy this one.

You get a perfectly even balance of everything... if you add a pinch more Tie Kwan Yin like I did. LOOK at that sample I got. There was practically NO tea, so I used some of my plain Tie Kwan Yin and added a couple leaves. Is that cheating? I would imagine that if you got a couple grams from the store you wouldn't get so shafted on the tea - so I did not cheat. I didn't.  ... maybe a little... I made it FAIR!

But I digress... the apricot smooths out the pineapple, removing all acidity, and the tea is still the major contributor. Like I said, I am very impressed. Give this a try, you may be just as impressed as I was. And it is priced around the same range as the average tea in DT's collection.


Happy Steeping,
~K


It's like a tropical adventure!

Caramel Corn

Caramel Corn from DavidsTea

Ingredients: apple, pineapple, caramel (milk, sugar, glucose syrup, butterfat, sorbitol, tara powder), currants (currants, vegetable oil), almonds, beetroot, coconut, popcorn, natural and artificial flavouring.
Warning: contains nuts, dairy, and coconut.


In lieu of recent sad events, I figured I could use a cheerful, crazy tea; it seems only fitting.

The ingredients in this tea are complete madness! Madness that smells like complete deliciousness!! Wow.
It does make me think of caramel-assaulted popcorn. Even if I did not get any pieces of popcorn
inside of my sample. Actually, considering the lengthy list of ingredients, I have a feeling that I may not be getting the real nature of this tea considering how plain everything looks.

I steeped for the full seven minutes suggested, and I was a little bit disappointed by the colour. It looks very pale, I was expecting to taste water that someone dropped a Wherthers in to. I wasn't completely wrong, it is very weak. You just don't get enough in a sample.

But, if you actually got a full perfect spoonful, I think this would be a really delightful, sugar-y tea.
You get a lot of apple flavour, so maybe it would have been more apt to call it Caramel Apple. It really does taste similar to the way that it smells.

Wrapping this up; it is definitely worth giving a try if you are a fan of caramel. I think I might actually buy some. I really enjoy the combination of apple and caramel.


Happy Steeping,
~K

Lime Gelato

Lime Gelato from DT

Ingredients: Apple, sencha green tea, pineapple (candied), lemongrass, and artificial creamy lime yogurt flavouring.

I am a sucker for anything lime. I'm a little bit psycho over limes. Yet, I avoided trying this tea for so long because a good friend of mine told me that she thought it was disgusting, and "creamy lime yogurt flavouring" sounds kind of... awful. But, I finally got it as a sample in one of my online orders, and after a sales girl insisted it was good when chilled, that's what I decided to try today.

Well, I'll be damned! SUNSHINE!

My first sip instantly made me think of lime greek yogurt - something I am a pretty  big fan of. But the more I drink, the more I just taste the lemongrass.
My imagination was deceiving my taste buds. THE FIEND!
It has s smooth, almost creamy lemongrass flavour, but it is NOT lime. Where da lime at, davidstea?! WHERE?! Even the coconut lime (haven't tried that yet) from Tea Desire has ACTUAL LIME PIICES IN IT. Get with the program. You say lime, give us LIME. Please note: lemon is not lime. LemonGRASS is most definitely NOT LIME.

Well, I do believe that I have abused my caps lock enough for today, the poor bugger.

It's not absolutely disgusting, but it reminds me far too much of something you drink when you are sick with the flu or some other nasty bug thing that always seems to assault my system in the winter months. It is not the delicious, limey Italian desert they promised... not at all....


My friend was right, and I am glad that I listened to her.
Until DavidsTea learns what a lime is, I recommend not wasting your time -or money- on this one.
 This tea is not for me!
 

Happy Steeping,
~K

Three Wishes

I know Kayla reviewed this back in 2013, SO NOW IT IS MY TURN.

This tea is lovely.

L.O.V.E.L.Y

My one qualm with the tea, is the artificial flavoring. It doesn't elaborate as to what the flavoring is flavored as, so it's not 100% positive what belongs to what. Honestly though, the tea still tastes great so fuck it.



My qualm with DavidsTea is that they have it in JUST the Black Tea section, instead of both the Green and Black. Considering it has both green and black tea in it, it just seems unfair and misleading! I'M BEING PETTY. DON'T JUDGE.

A little tip with this tea, I've brewed it at both a full boil, like you would normally do for a black, and then at the lower temperature that tends to suit greens better, and SURPRISINGLY brewing it as if it were JUST a black tea is what works best. That may be why it is in the black tea section

It smells kind of pineapple-y, kind of mango-y. Basically really refreshing. I have tried it iced. It get's this weird bitter after bite, and loses the fruity qualities. 2/10. Would not do again.

Flavor wise you can absolutely taste both the green and the black tea, with a hint of that pineapple-y and mango-y taste.  This is one of those teas from DavidsTea that makes me keep coming back. Lately there are fewer and fewer of those, which makes me sad.

But, this tea rocks. Go buy it. Like, right now. But don't ice it, you'll feel bitter and disappointed.

-Laura

Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon from DavidsTea

Ingredients: Candied pineapple (pineapple, cane sugar, citric acid, sufur dioxide), blueberry, lemongrass, elderberries, cornflower, natural and artificial flavouring. Contains sulfites.


Well, "SULFUR DIOXIDE" did not make me feel comfortable reading as an ingredient in my tea... but I do this for you, dear readers.
UPDATE: Apparently it is a preservative... a SCARY sounding preservative. 

 

Very interesting colour. In the dark it looks BLUE.

The entire spring collection smells like alcohol (at least when dry) to me. Is that weird, or does it have something to do with the ingredients? WHO KNOWS. It smells like blueberry liquor. I'm not entirely keen on blueberries, though sometimes they surprise me... and I really don't like lemongrass... This is a play-by-play, don't expect a positive review, is what I'm saying; I have no idea what to expect.

Like with the peaches and cream, the scent is very strong, but I have my doubts as to the strength of the tea. Even though I did steep it for the longest recommended time (DT's times I take as a guess more than instruction).

Surprisingly, the strength is fine! AND I am not repulsed by it like I honestly expected to be. It's not jump-up-and-down fantastic or anything, but there is something about it that makes me nod my head in quiet appreciation.

The lemongrass is smooth and lemony, and you can really taste the blueberry and elderberry! It's a little like the blueberry candies from those fruit basket candies you get from the quarter machines at like... swimming pools and what have you.

This would be really nice iced, I think. It's very different, and that is refreshing as well. It isn't often that you find blueberries in tea. And blueberries are super good for you!

This is something worth trying to get your hands on as least a sample of. Go out of your comfort zone, like I did, and it just might surprise you!


Happy Steeping,

~K


PS.
Sorry I write so much sometimes. I hope no one minds!
I love treating this more like a blog-y, thought-process type thing than a "HERE ARE THE FACTS" kind of review.

Bamboozled

Bamboozled from DT

Ingredients: Pineapple, bamboo leaves, peach, apple, peach crunchy , peony petals, rose buds, artificial flavouring

Tah-da!! Finally, I am reviewing something from DavidsTea that is STILL available!!
(way to finally get your shit together, Kayla)

I have never had a bamboo tea... Come to think of it, I'm not sure i have ever consumed bamboo in any form. So I was quite interested to try this fruity cornucopia. It smells so light and fruity when you take a big sniff of it dry, and when it is steeping you can really smell the bamboo.

I can really, really taste the peach and pineapple. I assume that unfamiliar flavour is bamboo, and it adds a delightful woodsy type flavour. I picture myself just chillin' in a bamboo forest -just not the suicide one- as I sip at this fruity, but delightfully unique flavour. 
Fruity, floral, bamboo....y? I certainly am BAMBOOZLED trying to pin down the flavour of this mad delicious concoction. 

Icing this with some sprite and cucumber slices would be heaven. But it is still shitting snow from the sky here, so I am in no mood to get all fancy and summery with my drinks. Okay, and lazy. But it would be delicious. 

Obligatory panda tells you to try this tea!!
 

"TRY THIS TEA!!! IMMA PANDA"

 
Happy Steeping,
~K

Coffee Cake

 

Coffee Cake

Ingredients: Black tea, cherries, pineapple, natural and artificial cake flavoring  (DT, NO! You are a CANADIAN company. Use PROPER spelling! Flavouring*... Yes, I copy and paste the ingredients from their site.)


Coffee Cake smells amazing. Even Chris  told me that he thinks it smells really good, and he never comments anything about my teas. So I was excited to give this one a try.

I steeped it for five minutes, as suggested (it could use a little longer, in my opinion) and it does smell a little like a coffee cake. All I could think was that it tastes like a toasted caramel rooibos, even though there is no rooibos tea in this one. I wish I could taste more of the fruit and less of the cake flavouring... but that is not to say that it isn't yummy; it is!

It tastes like caramel and rooibos, but you still get the rich flavour of the black tea. That's about all I can say about it... It's good!

I'm going to go back to making chocolates now!
(Perhaps MATCHA chocolates?????)

I will try and make a post before Christmas with some recipes that I have come up with. if not, Merry Christmas!

Happy Steeping!

~K