Boo, I have nothing of relevance to start today’s blog with, turns out my plans for today are going to go poof and now I am sulking. So instead I shall talk about how Ben’s phone keeps changing his ringtone to totally random stuff. He did have the default for a while (so boring) and then about a day after Thanksgiving it switched to random Christmas jingles…which he promptly switched back to the default. Then his phone just rang and it was something random (some lady going do do DO DO do) which prompted him to be immensely confused. I am not sure why his phone is trolling him, but I am ok with it.
Once again we wander through the annals of history, aka my older tea notebook pile for a bit of a throwback tea. Today we are looking at DAVIDsTEA Alpine Punch, and it has been quite a long time since I looked at one of their teas! Usually I would get a sample of a seasonal tea, and by the time I got around to reviewing it, it had already stopped existing, oops, but Alpine Punch stayed around. It is a blend of Rooibos, Coconut Chips, Coconut Rasps, Apple, Cinnamon, Ginger, Cardamon, Black Pepper, Almonds, Rose Blossoms, and Natural and Artificial Almond Cream Flavoring. Looking at that list of ingredients intrigued me, it was like a Rooibos Kulfi, chai…thing, so I had to try some. The aroma is pretty delicious, like a blend of marzipan and roses, spices, and coconut. For some reason this tea reminds me of the best cake ever…not that I have ever had one that smelled like this, the blend is cake like and I want this as a cake.
Into the basket the bits go, I do not look forward to cleaning up the rooibos, always a pain since they get stuck in the strainer. The aroma is super delicious, strong notes of almonds and coconut with a heady accompaniment of roses and apples. The more I sniff the more the spice builds, it starts with cardamon and is joined by ginger and cinnamon with a sharp peppery finish. The aroma has a bit of coconut and apples, with sweet marzipan, and a strong woody sweetness. At the finish is the building warmth of spices that blend quite nicely with the woody Rooibos tones.
Since this is a tea with coconut in it, the mouthfeel is super thick and oily, which counteracts the at times dry and raspy mouthfeel of Rooibos, so if you are a person that hates that about Rooibos (I know several people like that) then I would say this one mostly bypasses it. The taste starts with coconut and apples, right around the end of the front taste, the cardamon, ginger, cinnamon, and pepper starts to build and stays quite strong until the end. At the midtaste there are roses and almonds, and the finish is a woody, honey note that lingers. This is a warm tea, aptly named, because I want to drink this while lounging in a snow fort.
For blog and (mediocre) photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/12/davidstea-alpine-punch-tbt-tea-review.html
Have you thought about taking Ben’s phone to a voodoo priestess? It sounds like it’s been possessed.