Last tea to review from today’s new launches…
This is a hard one for me – not because I dislike the tea, but because it’s one of those teas where I think the name doesn’t match the profile well/is a bit misleading. Is there vanilla in the tea/a vanilla taste!? Yes. However, I don’t think it’s the dominant profile of the tea and with a name like Tahitian Vanilla I would definitely expect this to be a “vanilla first” profile – and a really classic vanilla, at that.
So if it’s not vanilla forward, then what does it taste like!?
Well, to me I tastes like the Yellow Box Cake that I grew up with. We couldn’t afford Betty Crocker box cake mix most of the time, but for almost every school bake sale/function growing up we would end up contributing some type of off brand boxed cake mix. Usually made into cupcakes. I’m not totally sure how to describe that flavour as anything other than cake-y, but if you’ve had that type of yellow sponge/sheet cake made from any of those box mixes then you can probably imagine exactly what I’m tasting. It’s very distinct…
So, aside from tasting really cake-y to me I also feel like I’m getting a thick vanilla buttercream note accompanied by a mix of nutty hazelnut and a sesame flavour as well. The chicory adds the softest roasted nut, which makes the hazelnut seem a little roasted in flavour to me as well – though if I think about it too much the illusion breaks and I just taste chicory. In my head, what that amounts to overall is images of a big slice of cake with that almost inch thick frosting layer and crushed up hazelnuts and sesame covering it as some type of decorative topping. Ignoring the fact these is clearly pecan, this is sort of what i’m picturing:
https://www.cookingclassy.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/butter_pecan_cake4.-500×500.jpg
It’s sweet and buttery/decadent, with a big hit of nostalgia to the profile for me. I like the way the honey/nutty notes of the rooibos lean into the sesame/hazelnut notes I’m getting, as well. I do wish the finish had a bit less stevia, but with milk I didn’t notice it.
And thus we circle back to the dilemma. I like the tea – but I don’t think this is what people expect from the name, and the name is so important to informing your expectations of a blend…
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.
Based on your review, this is the tea I was most excited for in the Black Friday sale, but it sold out before I was able to check out ): Hopefully it’ll come back soon!