DAVIDsTEA

I picked up a DT advent calendar just to get samples of some new teas without having to buy a whole 50g of each, haha. Anyhow, I’m only 8 teas in despite it being the 19th (just haven’t managed to find the time for tea lately), but this is one of them, since I skipped a few. I actually thought it wasn’t bad – it reminded me a lot of Jolly Jellybean, actually, although the flavouring was stronger. Fairly sweet, kind of a strawberry jelly?

I’ve been putting off drinking this sample from Hapatite for a really long time, based on the reviews here on Steepster. To my great surprise, I loved it! Lovely fig and cinnamon flavours, followed up by delicious burdock which lingers at the end of the sip. If this was still around, and I had access to DAVIDsTEA (c’mon, give us international shipping!!) I would definitely consider picking this up! The only issue, which didn’t really bother me too much, was that there was an odd sourness at the end of the sip, which I couldn’t quite place. I wanted to try resteeping my leaf, but sadly it wasn’t to be – my mam threw it out, again. It’s a shame, but I’m glad I got to enjoy what I had. Now to search for a cinnamon, fig and burdock tea in the UK! I’m sure it will be easy…

Sipdown 247/405

This is Day 7 of DavidsTea’s herbal advent calendar. The dry leaf smells very promisingly like caramel, but the brew doesn’t quite live up to the promise for me. Hot or cold, I don’t taste any pumpkin, and there’s an acidity that throws the whole balance of the tea off. Hot, it smells like butterscotch and tastes like apples, cream, and caramel. If it wasn’t for the acidity, I’d enjoy it. Not quite “pumpkin crème brûlée,” but still tasty. But that acidity really stops it from working. There’s enough leaf in the little jar to make several cups, and all of them had that same problem, so it’s not a question of having screwed up the brew on one cup. This particularly doesn’t work cold, unfortunately. It tastes like apple and butterscotch, which is already a flavor profile that works better hot than cold, but then the acidity gets much stronger and makes the whole thing hard to drink. DT’s butterscotch chai is just a much better take on a similar flavor profile.

Advent Calendar from Kaylee: Day 14

Decided to try this as an iced tea because I wasn’t really into a hot herbal blend. I don’t know that I’ve ever had an iced rooibos, actually, but I don’t mind it. It seems like the medicinal quality of the rooibos gets tempered a bit. I’m mostly tasting mint and lemongrass, and it’s pretty nice. Not sure where the lavender and rose are going but I don’t miss them in this instance.

Very cooling and refreshing.

Decided to go out of order for this one since I’m behind anyway and Irish Breakfast seemed like it should be, well, breakfast tea (or at least early in the day).

I think what I’m learning through this advent is that I am more a fan of straight green teas than straight black, and perhaps that’s related to my inability to discern much going on in a straight black tea. This tea is fine – smooth, dark, bitter. It went well with the toast & jam I had for breakfast, so no complaints there. I just wouldn’t pick it on my own.

DAVIDsTEA Around the World Advent, Day 15

AJRimmer Advent Day 16

I’m not generally a matcha fan, so I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed when I opened today’s advent packet and found this inside. But AJRimmer mentioned that she enjoys David’s Tea’s matcha made with milk, so I whipped out my milk frother and made myself a latte. What a lovely surprise! It was creamy vanilla with a touch of spice and a pleasant sweetness…none of the bitterness or grittiness I’ve experienced with some of the other matchas I’ve tried in the past. Maybe it’s time to give matcha another chance? So glad for the opportunity to sample this one!

I love jasmine tea, so I was excited to see this in the advent. It’s a pleasant green tea I savored over a couple of mugs, but the jasmine in it seemed very light to me somehow. Not sure if that’s my new tendency toward shorter steep times or something specific to this tea.

DAVIDsTEA Around the World Advent, Day 13

Second sipdown of the day! After the relative delicateness of the Butiki, this one feels like drinking syrup by comparison. But I know that it’s not, and that the effect is only because they’re such different teas. This one does have a heavier, jammier mouthfeel. Between that and the tartness of the raspberry flavor, the cream note also has to be heavier in order to register at all. It’s tasty, just a very different blend than the one I was drinking immediately before.

Day 6 of the DavidsTea herbal advent calendar. I bought a box of teabags of this one based on the description, so I was happy to see this in the sampler and get a chance to try it before opening the teabags! It does have a fair bit of sugar crystals in it. Thankfully that didn’t translate into an overly sweet brew. It tasted raspberry-tart, sweet, and gently creamy. I happily downed two mugs in a row, finishing off the tin. This is definitely a dessert tea, but I think it strikes a good balance of feeling indulgent without being sickly sweet or leaving a weird texture.

This tea is pretty, but flavor wise it’s just okay. It’s mostly a rooibos with a vanilla flavor. I’m not really getting cake flavor anywhere. It’s not bad but I’m underwhelmed from what I expected reading the other reviews.

Steep:
2 tsp (entire sample)
212°F
3 min
kati loose tea system 12oz

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: ginger, cranberry
Steeped Tea Smell: fruity ginger
Flavor: cranberry and ginger
Aftertaste: tart, herbal, green yerba mate
Liquor: dark maroon, opaque

Post-Steep Additives:
cinnamon honey
a more chai like cup of tea

Steepster Link – https://steepster.com/teas/davidstea/100812-cranberry-gingerale
YouTube –
https://youtu.be/aKKZxATbiY0
https://youtu.be/Lakbmql7Gjk
TikTok –
https://www.tiktok.com/circuitswan/video/7174819745223429419 https://www.tiktok.com/circuitswan/video/7174913835638197550
Blog Post – https://amazonv.blogspot.com/2022/12/davidstea-loose-leaf-herbal-tisane.html

Leaf system:
1=Bleh! not again if it were free
2=Acceptable, if it were free or there were limited other tea options
3=I might purchase this tea from time to time, or select it while out
4=A staple in our cupboard from now on, I will purchase and keep purchasing

Statement of Sponsorship or Advertisement:
I purchased this product.

Disclaimer:
All my reviews are as unbiased as possible, whether I buy or receive free product. I accept no other compensation other than free product.

Steep:
2 tsp (entire sample)
212°F
3 min
kati loose tea system 12oz

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: pecan and cinnamon
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet toasted pecans, hint squash
Flavor: sweet, pecan, cinnamon, hint squash
Liquor: cloudy light orange brown

Resteep:
5 min
slight sweetness, astringency, a little nutty, not very good, watery, weak
not worth resteeping

Purchase Link – https://www.davidstea.com/ca_en/tea/sweet-potato-pie-tea/10788DT01VAR0075665.html#q=sweet%2Bpotato%2Bpie&lang=en_CA&start=1
Steepster Link – https://steepster.com/teas/davidstea/90119-sweet-potato-pie
YouTube –
opening https://youtu.be/aKKZxATbiY0
review https://youtu.be/sFoeI6qR3sU
resteep https://youtu.be/oxahCuFqXY0
TikTok -
opening https://www.tiktok.com/circuitswan/video/7174819745223429419 review https://www.tiktok.com/circuitswan/video/7174823953658268974
resteep https://www.tiktok.com/@circuitswan/video/7174918957881675050
Blog Post – https://amazonv.blogspot.com/2022/12/davidstea-loose-leaf-black-tea-sweet.html

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Leaf system:
1=Bleh! not again if it were free
2=Acceptable, if it were free or there were limited other tea options
3=I might purchase this tea from time to time, or select it while out
4=A staple in our cupboard from now on, I will purchase and keep purchasing

Statement of Sponsorship or Advertisement:
I purchased this product.

Disclaimer:
All my reviews are as unbiased as possible, whether I buy or receive free product. I accept no other compensation other than free product.

I’m still not a huge fan of the flavor profile of this blend, but it’s the ginger tea I have the most of at the moment. It’s not the ginger that I object to – I like ginger! It’s the pepper. And the lingering stevia sweetness, which is tolerable only because the pepper is so overpowering. It’s just not my favorite combo for a ginger blend. But! I managed to sprain my ankle because I am excellent at getting hurt at inconvenient times, so I’ve been drinking this to help with the inflammation (along with the usual RICE treatment). Sometimes it’s less about the flavor and more about the purpose.

Day 15 of my Steepster homemade advent calendar from Kelmishka! We always keep a bagged/sachet ginger tea in stock for migraines/other ailments because it’s easy to make in that format. Our go-to is Harney, but I’m thinking of switching because I would prefer to avoid plastic sachets. DavidsTea is a leading contender because of their plastic-free sachets and environmentally friendly packaging, but I don’t love the presence of stevia here. My partner has tried this blend and says he’s good with switching to it. I’m not a huge fan – the ginger could be stronger and the pepper is too strong, plus the stevia aftertaste is notable. But I can tolerate it as a sick tea if it means safer sachets.

Day 5 of DavidsTea herbal advent calendar. I expected to hate this one based on the reviews, but I don’t totally hate it. The dry leaf smells like coconut and sugar. I overleafed and steeped it for a long time in order to extract as much flavor as possible. Brewed up, it smells like coconut, marshmallow, and goji berries. I don’t love that it’s rather cloudy, though, and I think that speaks to this being a particularly sugary blend. It does taste, to me, like cereal milk in tea form – lots of sugar, marshmallow, and coconut flavor. What I don’t love is the lingering feeling of sugar coating my teeth after the sip. It’s pretty unpleasant. Ultimately this blend isn’t something I’d revisit given how sweet it is, but glad I got to try it! Gonna go brush my teeth now.

Day 4 of the DavidsTea herbal advent calendar. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this blend. The leaf has sugar crystals and (admittedly very cute) star-shaped sprinkles. So it’s not surprising that the drink itself turns out pretty sweet. It tastes like hot, sugary, vaguely creamy and tart cranberry juice. I get a general impression of white chocolate but there’s something elusive about it too, like I’m not entirely sure whether that’s what I’m tasting or not. Overall, it’s tasty but too sugary for my preferences.

I know I’m a harsh rater, but honestly this is a good example of why I didn’t think I liked green tea for a long time, until I finally found a couple that I enjoyed. This would not make me drink more green tea.

Day 3 of the DavidsTea herbal advent calendar. I love me a good straight peppermint. I mostly keep it around as a migraine tea, since it can get tiresome to always go for ginger teas and I like to have an alternative around with a different flavor profile to mix it up. This particular one is nice and minty, soothing and bracing in equal measure. I’d happily add this to my rotation when my current stash runs out.

I’m neutral at best on earl grey in general, just to preface. This is a pleasant enough earl grey. The bergamot is present but not totally overpowering the black tea, and it’s smooth overall.

The earl greys I’ve liked more tend to have other flavoring happening. I’ll enjoy the rest of this, but I don’t think I need more.

DAVIDsTEA Around the World Advent, Day 12

Day 2 of the DT caffeine-free advent calendar. This is tasty enough, I suppose, but I feel like it has more ingredients than necessary. Hot, I just taste sugar and hibiscus, which… at that point I’d rather just have a good straight hibiscus without the sugar. Cold, it does taste like fruit punch but I don’t actually like fruit punch so that isn’t appealing. On the up side, I can’t taste the stevia under all the sugar. I can see this being a good candidate for a hibiscus lemonade cold steep – Cameron B. was writing about that the other day and now I’m eager to try it out.

Advent Calendar from Kaylee: Day 11

Took a sick day today and am enjoying a cup of this lovely brew alongside an orange scone my partner baked last night. I’m hoping that my aggressive resting will help me kick covid relatively quickly!

This one smells absolutely amazing. The cinnamon is somehow both subtle and super-present. It’s such a gentle, light cinnamon, with no edge to it at all — the scent almost reminds me of cinnamon toast. I’m not getting a ton of cinnamon in the cup itself, but what I do get is very pleasant. So smooth, not at all bitter or astringent, with a nice full body and mouthfeel. Mmm, it’s almost honey-like.

I like this a lot and would consider keeping some on hand.

Another straight tea that I was excited to keep drinking. And here I thought I’d only ever appreciate flavored tea.

At two minutes, there is only a slight bitterness – it’s mostly a smooth vegetal cup that’s a bit grassy. Shared with my partner and double-steeped each round again. I think this could easily replace the Japanese Sencha I have in my stash as a favorite straight green.

DAVIDsTEA Around the World Advent, Day 10

Advent Tea!
Big leaves, lots of coconut flavor and a creamy finish. What’s not to like here? The second brew was a bit mild, but I’m glad I got to try this. Thanks, Lexie!

Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | February 2023 | An afternoon tea

I’m drinking this tea in the afternoon, therefore it is an afternoon tea! Faultless logic! XD

This is one of those days that is not REALLY cold at all, but because it’s grey and damp, the mid-40s temperature just feels kind of nasty. I’ve been chilled all day long!

This was today’s afternoon green tea of choice. I’m enjoying it alongside some dried (unsweetened) mango slices, which I consider the food of the gods. It’s a pleasant pairing.

I stand by my comments and rating from last time!

2023 sipdown count: 19/75