Davidson's Organics

It smells wonderful and the taste is unlike most other black tea. It’s almost hard to describe. Also, it’s the first tea I’ve seen to use carob. My husband who isn’t a big tea drinker (but becoming one hehe) also loves this tea.

I received a sample bag with the catalog from Davidson’s and I’d never heard of it before. It was very interesting and unique, a nice undertone of mint though the other flavors were a little difficult to describe. It’s not quite my cup of tea as it were.

Weak to moderate smells from the bag. Typical black tea. The taste is fine with nothing surprising at all. I prefer their Irish breakfast blend with more “oomph”.

Is this even tea? Tastes 90% like water to me. About the weakest green tea I’ve ever had. Nothing bad, but nothing good either. Not even bothering with my normal review structure it was so uninspiring in any way. Not bottom score because it didn’t taste BAD.

Having a rough morning and this really helped cheer me up today. I had the tea-bagged sampler packet from Davidson’s “Classic Tea Sampler”. I’m a regular drinker of Barry’s Irish Tea and this is a weaker version of that (tea bag to tea bag version). Moderate smell from the assam portion and that aroma quickens your pulse just inhaling it after steeping.

Great flavor while drinking, and this doesn’t have any aftertaste when steeped properly. I’m going to do a back to back with Barry’s today and determine which will be my new “everyday” loose leaf irish breakfast.

Moderate lemon smell during and after brewing. Light flavor and no aftertaste. Slight touch of lemon in the flavor. Clean finish.

Very Light, no aftertaste but almost no flavor either. For Green Teas, Tazo Green tips is my “50” score and I could drink that every day. This is too weak for me.

State when consumed: Mug, no additives, approx 170 degrees post steep.

It’s not special but there’s nothing bad about it. In fact, I’d say in its defense that it is a tea of no real downsides at all. Crisp, no aftertaste, clean. It seems like it would respond well to sweetener (I didn’t use any) and if I was served some as a guest somewhere I would be satisfied.

State at time of consumption: Coffee Mug, Silk Almond Milk (just enough to color it lighter) and around 170 deg at time of consumption.

One of my first reviews. I had the teabagged version from their sampler set. Since my “base” for green tea is Tazo Green Tea Tips (I haven’t had any better), I’d say this is on par with that. They both have a slightly fuzzy on tongue aftertaste, but are clean and not bitter. The smell is superior off of the Davidson’s Imperial Green with a slight grassy smell on top of a rich wholesome vapor. I could drink it every day and it is a superior VALUE compared to Tazo (way better price per cup buying teabags or loose leaf bulk), but since my work provides Tazo Green Tips for free, it’s not good enough to get me to change.

State at time of drink: No additives, porcelain cup and around 170 degrees at time of consumption.

Perfect herbal tea – full of amazing flavor, with intense red color. On re-steeping, new flavors open up.

Not surprising but decent.

this was pretty tasty. Vanilla and creamy, a touch spicy. No sugar and it was pretty sweet all by itself.
I’d have it again, if I can get past the oh so mild fake taste. Looking at the ingredients, there is something artificial in there, so that could be it?
bah.
Anyhow, I know I have a bunch of emails to answer but I am sooo tired after a super long day. In a good way. Kindof.
There is a new tea shop in town, and they are hiring! I might work there. In fact, I pulled a “try me” shift today, and it was fun. There are tons of details to work out but I’m pretty excited. and nervous, as I don’t know if that is what I really want.
On a positive note, the product is absolutely amazing. I’ll never drink down the rest of my stash if I get the job. Seriously, it’s the Mariage Freres of Canada. Dang good stuff, and I’d get it freeeeeeee
Edit: Thanks a bunch to whoever sent this!! It’s bagged, so ended up in my random bagged basket. Ooops!! :/

Best herbal substitute for black tea. Exceptional iced tea in summer. Loves to be dressed up with a squeeze of lime.

Huh. I was afraid to try this because of the hibiscus but it’s really not bad! I wouldn’t mind trying a version of cinnamon/hibiscus/tulsi that was a little more amped up, as in, a loose leaf version. :) The addition of lemon peel and orange peel adds a nice citrus note; thankfully it’s not too citrusy and not too tart either.
This is the last of the tea bags TeaEqualsBliss sent me; thank you very much!!

Sipping this tea while I am waiting for the milk to come up to the right temp.
I am making Chevre cheese with all this goat milk around.
I am milking a friend’s goats while she away and have tons of milk around.
So, I am making into cheese, buttermilk and ice cream.
Anyway, I realized while I was sipping this tea that I never logged it.
It is a pretty standard Sencha.
Which is good, because that is sometimes exactly what I want.
Dry leaves smell of hay drying in the sun.
The tea itself does not actually have much of a odor, very light hay smell.
The color is a light yellow.
Taste is grassy and bright.
A bit of a bite or astringency at the back of the throat.
A very enjoyable afternoon tea!

I don’t have a whole lot of experience with tulsi, it’s one of the many things I’d like to try a whole bunch of but I don’t exactly have money to throw around on 20 different tulsi blends! Or the cupboard space. I think this actually might be my first tulsi, but I’m not sure, I feel like I’ve had it in another blend before. Probably just because the flavors are familiar! Honestly, part of me was expecting it to taste like Thai basil, which would actually be pretty cool. I wonder if there are any blends that use it as an ingredient?

The other herbs are what come through most for me, it’s very minty to the point where when I sniff it, I’d swear it was a pure peppermint blend. But when you drink it there’s a nice bright hint of lemon, warmth from the cinnamon, and a little kick from the pepper and ginger. I’m not sure if the spices are complimenting or masking the tusli, but lemon/citrus isn’t actually an ingredient so I suppose that’s where it is peeking through. This reminds me a bit of Sleepytime, very calming and soothing. I’d probably be amazing for sick, lazy days!

I bought this from the English Tea Store during their free shipping promo, although you can buy it directly from Davidson’s if you are so inclined. My box from ETS was completely brutalized in transit, but I’ll discuss that further in a later post.

The tea is packaged inside a rather cheap, re-sealable ziploc-type bag, which is then placed inside a pressboard/cardboard pouch-shaped box. This is a 63 gram box. If you buy larger sizes from Davidson’s, perhaps they have better packaging.

I’m wondering if the packaging is a factor in the fact that the dry tea has almost no aroma at all. I had to practically ingest this in my nose to get even a faint scent of anything. This Assam-Ceylon blend brews a coppery brown cup. The ratio of Assam to Ceylon is good-more Assam than Ceylon. This is malty, but a bit bland and boring for an Irish Breakfast. It’s not very brisk or robust at all. I think I am going to call the company and see if I can get a production date, because I have a feeling this may have been on a shelf in a warehouse for entirely too long. It’s not stale or bitter, but it is uneventful. If I’m going with Irish Breakfast, I am in the mood (or NEED) something lively and bold and this just isn’t it at all.

EDIT-I just got off the phone with a very nice rep from Davidson’s and apparently the tea was produced in January (by them). Of course, the Assam and Ceylon must be 2011 harvests-but they shouldn’t be so weak so fast. Not sure how ETS stored this, but I am inclined to call this blend “Irish Breakfast for Wimps.” Of course, I am sure that even wimps enjoy good flavor-and there’s not lots of flavor here. Disappointing.

Thanks to TeaEqualsBliss for this one!
When I first got into loose leaf I didn’t think I would ever appreciate tea bags again! But, they do have their place. I don’t like brewing up my favorite loose leaf when I’m heading out the door, for example, because then I forget to put the leaves in the fridge to brew later. And that’s very sad. That’s where tea bags come in!
I’ve never had tulsi before and I’m really enjoying this blend. It starts out minty, then lemony, then gingery, and then finishes off with cinnamon and pepper. I am a big fan of cinnamon! And pepper. This would be the perfect beverage for a sore throat or stuffy nose. It’s rainy here today, which is welcome relief from the heat, and it’s perfect tea weather. Mmmmmmm. I think in the future I would like to try more tulsi!

-Regular teabag without a string.
-Teabag smells like tangy fruit. Tea liquor smells strongly of almond with sweet cherries.
-Tea liquor is a dark, thick brown.
-Nutty base with an almost grainy flavor. Very faint bitter cherry finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Poor tea. Almost spicy. Looks and tastes almost like coffee. Bitter, lingering finish.

I’m sending a bag of this in some of the mini swaps I am doing! Totally forgot to officially log (thought I did) so I will now :)

With all the tarty and fruity ingredients in this – All I can really smell is the Chamomile…which I find rather strange…that I can pick that aroma out above the rest.

The taste is primarily Chamomile, too. It helps shade the hibiscus. But I’m usually not fond of either ingredient on it’s own. I can only really taste a LITTLE HINT of orange…not so much the cranberry and I just keep coming back to that chamomile. I’m thankful the other ingredients are overly tart and VERY grateful that the hibiscus isn’t screaming that the top of their lungs, too! I was hoping for more cranberry and orange combo and less (or no Chamomile). So there are quite a few pros and cons in this one for me, I guess. It doesn’t taste bad but it’s not one of the preferred Davidson’s offering in my opinion – for my palate that is.

This tulsi blend is a total staple in my tea cabinet, and at the prices available online, a total steal. You have no excuse not to have a bag full of tulsi in your kitchen! Right now I am sipping on tulsi I steeped with some lemon balm from the garden, and a little squeeze of extra lemon! I usually mix in some other things with my tulsi, because it is kind of plain by itself, and flavor lends itself exceptionally well to blends. You can drink it by itself, though – it has a smooth, mellow herbal character with notes akin to mint, clove, maybe a hint of pepper with most of the bite taken out.

The leaves and bits are fairly finely cut, but my usual tea strainers handle it just fine. If I’m drinking it straight, I usually use a heaping teaspoon per 8 oz. and steep for up five minutes. If I leave it in longer (some say the longer you steep the more you’ll get out of it), a bit of dull bitterness starts to come through.

I usually try to rate teas based on the quality of their flavor without any added mix-ins, but I have to give this herb extra points because of its fabulous medicinal/tonic properties. Tulsi promotes an overall sense of wellbeing, particularly mentally. It’s soothing and balancing. Great in times of stress, or for every day.

I love the balance, stress relief, and general sense of well being I get when I drink tulsi. While tulsi’s smooth minty-clovey herbal flavor is vert agreeable by itself, it’s not flat-out delicious. However, it lends itself exceptionally well to blending with other herbs or teas.

While at home I prefer to mix up my own tulsi blends, I actually bought a bunch of this particular “signature blend” to have some tulsi on hand when I’m over at my boyfriend’s place. I’m happy with my choice. He likes this tisane too, though to him it just tastes like tea. :)

The tulsi is still at the heart of the “signature” blend, but it’s blended with a cooling dose of mint, brightened up front by the lemony taste of lemon myrtle, and deepened in the lower register by a warming spicy flavor, mostly the ginger with a lingering bite of pepper especially prominent in the aftertaste. The contrast of the warm spice with the cooling mint might sound a bit odd, but it makes perfect sense tied together by the tulsi and lemon!

This is another very generous sample from Sandy. Dodge really likes this one. I suspect she loves the hibiscus.

It’s pretty tart. I think I pick up the rosehips and hibiscus with hints of orange. This is the love child of lemonade and koolaid. The rooibos can’t compete with the above superpowers. It’s smooth and heavier feeling so perhaps the chamomile is trying to make a good showing.