DAVIDsTEA

The strongest flavor is a murky cinnamon. There’s some low quality chocolate behind that, but it’s harder to identify. This just didn’t end up being very clear or delicious. I don’t order chocolate teas from Davidstea anymore, but this one came as part of a pack.

Adventageddon Day 24

Well, we’re practically at the end of Advent Season. Though, I will have ONE last advent tea to drink tomorrow since one of my advents this year has 25 days. I was a bit surprised to see this at day 24 for DT and not one of the more classic winter blends, but I thought about it while drinking this tea and I guess there is the poem/song about the night before Christmas where “sugar plums dance in your dreams” (or whatever the line is), and so maaaayyybeeee that was the thought process since this tea’s name sort of ties in there!?

Regardless, it’s a nice blend though I think unfortunate for it that it comes so soon after having had Pear Blossom in the advent since both are fruit infusions and it’s only natural to want to compare them. Pear Blossom is definitely juicier and more floral compared to the more dark baked/poached pear notes of this blend complimented subtly by warming spices, sweet brown fig, and just a bit of lingering fennel after the sip. I do prefer Pear Blossom, but this was a nice mug and quite different from anything else I got today so the contrast between the rest of the advent mix was nice.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DD-iurcyqIK/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGgDZS8S7Dg&ab_channel=LAVALANDVEVO

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.

New Tea!

So this tea actually launched at the same time as Silent Night but I wanted to revisit the tea before writing my tasting note, since it had been nearly half a year since I had last had a mug of it – shortly after we finished the development.

I was trying to think of the last time DT had a new pear tea and I feel like it may have been Pear Blossom years and years ago!? So, this one feels overdue. I’d describe the flavour as a combination of pears and figs – leaning heavier on the pear though. Definitely sweet, but not sugary – despite the name maybe potentially implying that. It gives me strong baked pear or poached pear vibes where there’s still juicy sweetness but some of that maillard reaction taste that’s just sort of pleasantly “brown”.

Actually, on the note of sweet… one of the things I think is coolest about this tea is that there’s actually no added sugars. That includes stevia. It’s a blend that I think would be understandable to assume would be filled with stevia or rock sugar or anything like that, but we really focused on finding ways to play up that delicious cozy pear flavour using only fruits and spices. Fennel for natural sweetness, and the compliment the other spices.

So yeah, spice! As much as I think this is a pear and fig tea it’s also lightly spiced with things like cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg – which play into the baked pear flavour but also lend a more wintery flavour since that trio of spices in particular is so prevalent around the holidays.

On paper, it maybe feels a bit like there’s a lot going on with this blend but I feel like it all clicks into place to create a herbal blend that feels seasonally on point but still refreshingly different from anything we’ve had in our herbal assortment in recent memory.

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.

Sipdown! (26 | 373)

Another frequent steeper redemption. I was intrigued by the concept of scenting tea with something other than flowers, and it’s an oxidized rolled oolong which is one of my favorite types.

I enjoyed this one, it has a nice cinnamon raisin toast vibe to it. It actually does remind me a bit of Deb’s hojicha version, though without the sugar obviously. The oolong has a nice dried fruity sweetness to it, and a comforting, slightly toasty note. Then of course, there’s the cinnamon. It tastes natural and it’s just the right amount to complement the oolong without overpowering it. So it comes out tasting like toasted cinnamon raisin bread, maybe with a tiny drizzle of honey on top.

Quite yummy. I’m not sure whether I’ll reorder this one or not, to be honest I don’t find myself reaching for oolongs at the moment. Plus I have a tin of Deb’s cinnamon raisin hojicha and they are somewhat similar.

So I picked this up with one of my frequent steeper rewards. I’m not a big fan of DT’s teas in general, but I do buy their teaware pretty often, so I often have rewards sitting around that I need to use up. I enjoy Taiwanese black teas quite a lot, so this seemed like a good choice to try.

Contrary to the name though, I’m finding this overall quite savory. There’s a green beany vegetal note to it, along with some malty rye bread and roasted sweet potato. And then on the darker end, some deep caramelized notes and hints of raisin. Although a lot of those things sound sweet, it still leans to the savory side to my palate. There’s also a floral note that I’m not loving. As far as honey…? I think I can taste it a little bit, but it’s definitely a darker honey, like buckwheat.

So sadly not a favorite. I think I might set the rest aside to rehome, not sure yet though…

How much judging do y’all do for drinking old tea? Because this is definitely on the old side, purchased very early in my DAVIDsTEA exploration days. I had a sealed pouch left and decided it was time to use it or get rid of it.

I went with iced first, because “lemon smash” and “fabulously zesty” both made me more inclined toward iced; it’s definitely why I bought it initially. The sage really popped out though, giving it a heavy medicinal flavor, and my partner & I both decided it was probably going to be better hot.

It is better hot, but weirdly, the sage is much more of a background flavor this time; I get a bright lemon note instead that would totally make me feel more inclined toward iced tea – if I hadn’t already tried and disliked it. A bit of the sage-infused honey I’ve been working on helps it a lot, but I don’t think I’ll miss this one overall.

I actually preferred this one with some milk. The apple smelled really artificial and unpleasant, but it turned out pretty decent. I taste a sweet cinnamon along with the artificial, but good enough apple. The black tea doesn’t make much of an impression. To be honest, I think I would drink this one again, but not frequently.

2022 Sipdown 163/365!

I had this as a latte but do not remember it at all. Oh well.

Still roasty toasty. Too much for my liking. I’m going to declutter.

I’m actually surprised on how roasted this oolong smells. I guess I was expecting something more floral or grassy given how green this is, so I am surprised.

Sadly roasted is a flavor that doesn’t seem to agree with me and I am having a lot of problems discerning any flavors other than roasted.

Its not bad, but I don’t really see myself choosing this over other teas I enjoy more.

This tea is so weird to me. Weird in a mostly good way, I think, but I struggle a little bit with it too – I just can’t make up my mind whether I like this tea or not, overall.

The scent is a cloying candy flavor, almost tart. Sipping it is sweet, but in a pleasant way, unlike many of the artificial flavors I get from this company. I don’t like rooibos much and definitely get the woody aftertaste – another point in the cons column. I can’t imagine adding anything sweeter to mask the rooibos, so it’s just sort of there at the finish.

Not a very satisfying review because I remain completely torn on this tea!

Steep:
212°F
5 min

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: butterscotch, rooibos
Steeped Tea Smell: rooibos
Flavor: rooibos, butterscotch finish
Body: Light
Liquor: translucent very light orange yellow

Comments: thin and watery

Post-Steep Additives:
sugar
much more butterscotch, hint chai (cinnamon, ginger)

Comments:
two teabags didn’t change much

Resteep:
didn’t work

Rating: 2/4 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

YouTube Review https://youtu.be/9pd0HK7Xh2g

TikTok Review https://www.tiktok.com/@circuitswan/video/7163110884926065963?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

Blog Post https://amazonv.blogspot.com/2022/11/davidstea-teabag-herbal-tea.html

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:
212°F
6 min

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: spice, cinnamon, woody, clove
Steeped Tea Smell: cinnamon, clove, pumpkin
Flavor: cinnamon, wood, clove, ginger, sweet
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: clove
Liquor: translucent dark orange brown

Comments:
having just made pumpkin puree from scratch to put in coffee, it does. not have much flavor! so this is mostly pumpkin spice rooibos, and delicious

Post-Steep Additives:
honey
yumm dessert tea

Resteep:

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

YouTube Review https://youtu.be/vGPS9wGTA10

TikTok Review https://www.tiktok.com/@circuitswan/video/7163095291619527982?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1

Blog Post https://amazonv.blogspot.com/2022/11/davidstea-teabag-herbal-tea-monster-mash.html

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:
212°F
5 min
Mesh basket strainer

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Roasted sweet nuts reminds me of Renaissance festivals
Steeped Tea Smell: Sweet roasted nuts
Flavor: Sweet, hint nutty
Liquor: Translucent pink … Red?

Comments: Sadly never add good as it smells, but still tasty. Good with and without sweetener.

Resteep:
Does not resteep well

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

Twitter – Day 11 24 Days of Tea Advent Calendar – https://twitter.com/CircuitSwan/status/1457973979629555713

Twitter – DAVIDsTEA halloween sachet tea wheel – https://twitter.com/CircuitSwan/status/1588340811892391937

Blog Post https://amazonv.blogspot.com/2022/11/davidstea-loose-leaf-herbal-tea-forever.html

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.

Another DT blend that I had a sample of laying around… It was surprisingly really good! That’s nothing against DT I’m just super picky about Earl Grey blends. I loved the sweet vanilla and pop of peppercorn, a definite rebuy!

I had a tea bag of this blend and I wasn’t expecting too much because I’m not a sweet tea fan but this was lovely. It wasn’t too sweet, minty, or candy like… Just right for a holiday breakfast tea.

Mom and I had this blend in the David’s Tea Holiday wheel, it was a nice treat. It wasn’t sweet like some of their other blends and it was minty without being too much.

Adventageddon Day 22

I’ve been following along on TikTok with someone who’s doing daily reviews of this advent, and he opened up today’s video by saying he was excited to see this “holiday classic” in the advent and, like, the amount of joy that brought me is just crazy…

At this point I’ve developed a bunch of new winter and Christmas teas for DT, but this is really the first one that I worked on that got SUPER popular to the point of being brought back year over year. For, like, three years now. And it’s just really, really cool to have had a hand in crafting some of these flavours that people have built holiday traditions around.

I also happen to really like this tea personally, so I was excited to see it and brew it up this afternoon. Though, I will admit that getting “sleep teas” during advent season is always a little awkward because I drink all my advent blends before 5PM so that I can post them at the same time on instagram. So, I made my cup of this and then probably in a not entirely unrelated chain of events ended up feeling really sleepy not long after and took a big cat nap…

I love the brightness of the orange in this tea, though, and how it’s then balanced out by all the warming, cozy notes of spice which take a bit of the edge of what might otherwise be interpreted as a little more of a lively and energizing flavour. It’s not as intensely spiced as Orange Spice/The Spice Is Right, but you still taste cinnamon and allspice pretty clearly and that bit of clove as well.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DD5YtkaSoDn/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZCCc5lEx74&ab_channel=EmmaHarner-Topic

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.

Cold Brew!

I can’t believe I’ve only written a tasting note for this tea once before! I’ve definitely had it quite a few times, though this is definitely the first time I’ve made it cold. I wasn’t totally sure how it would work, but since it’s much more bright and orange forward with a hint of spices I thought it might be okay.

I felt sort of so-so about this brew, truthfully. The orange was nice and I even thought the cinnamon worked pretty well chilled too. However I do think the clove notes were a little stronger than is typical for this tea and I didn’t love how those came across with this method. It was ultimately still a refreshing brew and great to wind down with but not something I think I’d repeat again.

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.

A new winter tea that quietly launch earlier in the week!

Back when we were in the brainstorming phase of this year’s holiday assortment, someone had made a comment about the 12 Nights of Christmas (I honestly can’t remember the context) and I made an offended joke like “at that point just make a holiday sleep tea called Silent Night”. It obviously stuck, and we ran with it!

So yeah, this is definitely a blend intended to be relaxing/restful – something that most of us probably need during the holidays. Other than just having a more gentle flavour, the main thing that gives this tea that quality is the addition of Valerian root. When it comes to sleep, ingredients aren’t one size fits all (DT has a whole podcast episode on that, actually) but Valerian is one that we do get asked about a lot and I realized that right now we don’t actually have a sleep tea with Valerian that doesn’t also contain chamomile – and that’s a problem for people with ragweed allergies or who, like me, just don’t like chamomile.

As far as flavour goes, we went with the direction of a gently spiced and warming orange flavour. There’s something about the combination of spices – cinnamon in particular – and orange that just feels so wintery and cozy during snaps of cold weather. I thought it was the perfect direction while also being distinguished from the rest of our sleep assortment. The orange has a bit of brightness to it, and is more prominent than what’s in The Spice Is Right (now renamed Orange Spice) while the notes of cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg are all more light handed. For people looking for a “Chai” I definitely don’t think the spices used here are at the intensity level to warrant that descriptor.

I don’t know – I guess I’m just pretty proud of how this one came out considering it started in a very non-serious sort of way compared to how most of our tea blend concepts come about. It feels really elevated and I can very much picture someone curdled up by their window sill on a really calm winter’s night watching a gentle snowfall with a cozy mug or pot of this tea – some kind of classic holiday movie playing softly in the background.

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.

This is such a comforting tea!