DAVIDsTEA

Melon flavoured things in general feel so summery to me, but I really love this tea so much that I saved a 1/2 kilo bag for myself for my office at work – so it’s now one of about a dozen teas I have a very large work stash of. I love my little mini work tea cupboard; it’s basically all the DAVIDsTEA blends (past and present) that I enjoy so much that I can brew them up essentially in any mood I could possibly be in. So, this bag is in good company.

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.

Iced Latte!

Another at work tea that I ended up drinking in the afternoon to try and beat the heat a little bit. It also had the added bonus of being a tea we were filming for TikTok so that was convenient too! And, of course, it was delicious. Y’all know I love a good fruity tea that works well with milk. Definitely channeling the profile of the creamy pastel green melon bubble teas, though perhaps with a little more of a bubblegum-y undertone to the melon, and a hint of floral oolong too. Really refreshing!

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.

Another new tea!

This is one that I’m really excited about. I feel like, for as long as I can remember, there’s always kind of been an unspoken expectation for a new melon flavoured tea blend from DT each year. Usually that blend is a watermelon tea, but this year I’m so stoked we’re showing some love to honeydew!

When I first started development on this tea it was actually for a completely different honeydew concept, but for several reasons we just couldn’t get it to work. A coworker during a tasting for one of those previous versions kind of just threw out something along the lines of “Y’know what would be good? Like a honeydew bubble tea…” so as a last effort I decided to tweak what we had been working on to be more of that iconic sweet, creamy honeydew boba type of flavour and, well, it came out INCREDIBLE.

I think what I love so much about this tea blend is the balance. The honeydew is sweet and ripe tasting but met with such a smooth, creamy flavour from the yogurt inclusion that it really does mirror its bubble tea inspiration. However, it’s not too cloying or sugary at all, and it also doesn’t mask the really aromatic green oolong base either. Those lovely floral top notes still shine though, and there’s even a little bit of a nuttiness the comes out as well – especially when steeped as an iced drink.

It’s rare that DT’s melon blends can be made as a latte, but this is one that actually shines quite well with the addition of milk or milk alternatives. Particularly iced. However, I do still personally prefer this blend without any additions at all – though I drink it pretty evenly split between hot, iced, and cold brewed. It reminds me a little bit of my favourite Lupicia melon blends (which are such a pain to get hold of here in Canada) – just a little more creamy. Y’all know I’m a bit of a simp for a tea with a lot of flexibility, though. So probably no surprise that this is another favourite of the summer.

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.

Iced Latte!

Steeped this up to enjoy earlier this afternoon using some oat milk. It was quite rich with that lovely sweet brown sugar and malty black tea combo. I felt like the raisin undertones from the black tea were especially prominent in this brew along with a hint of cocoa. Aside from being a pretty sweet drink, I thought that it was quite nuanced with this mix of several different distinct tasting notes.

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.

Just a few days ago we released a new mini capsule of teas that all had a bit of a boba theme. Some, like in the case of this tea, are definitely more obviously directly related to boba…

If not obvious from the tea name, this blend was very directly inspired by the flavour of Brown Sugar Boba/Bubble Tea – one of the most iconic/menu staple bubble tea flavours around. It actually took a few years to get this one quite right because, as I’m sure you can imagine, it’s sort of challenging to recreate that super iconic taste of brown sugar syrup without actually having brown sugar syrup in the tea itself. But I’m really proud of the final tea!

Lets get the obvious out of the way first. This is not a 1:1 boba tea recreation. It’s a loose leaf tea with the flavour of a brown sugar boba, so even though you can see adorable tapioca pearl sprinkles in the dry leaf (as a visual homage/nod to its inspiration) when you buy this tea on its own you wont have tapioca pearls in your beverage unless you add them in yourself. with that said, we did specifically develop this tea with the idea that the people drinking it would probably be using to “recreate” the type of drink you’d buy from a shop – whether that’s because it’s more convenient or cost effective to make your bubble tea from the comfort of home or otherwise. So, with that in mind, I would pretty strongly recommend having this tea with milk or a milk alternative (either hot or as a latte). It was really envisioned to be consumed that way and I think the flavours really shine and feel most balanced when prepped in that style. Of course, the beauty of loose leaf tea is the ability to customize and do your own thing – so if you want that sweet caramelized sugar taste and the robust black base but without milk/alt milk there’s nothing stopping you enjoying it that way too!

In terms of flavour, this is quite a rich tea. I mean, bubble teas are notoriously sweet and brown sugar bubble tea is one of the sweetest. It’s got a very dark, heavy kind of brown sugar meets butterscotch meets caramelized sugar kind of taste that works really well with the strong black tea base. On top of the black tea base being so full bodied, we also added black milk tea powder to the blend (like what would be used in a lot of boba shops as a drink base) which only ups the maltiness and emphasizes some of the tasting notes of the black tea, like a hint of raisin and cocoa. It also gives some extra velvety fullness to the mouthfeel.

I’ve made this as an iced latte a few times already this summer, and it’s just a nice rich and decadent break up from the fruity profiles that usually dominate DT’s summer assortment. I’m excited to finally share this blend with others! Feels like it was a long overdue.

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.

Sip Down & Backlog

The blueberry notes really popped in this blend! I found that it worked very well hot or iced. The hot brew allowed the thickness of the tea to add the ‘pancake’ experience by giving it the thick blueberry syrup thickness. Meanwhile, making this as an iced tea drew out the subtlety of the blueberry, and made for a gentler, mild sweet tea.

I left myself 2tsp for a hot cup once I decide to make it…hopefully this weekend. I cold brewed this overnight since I had the thought, “If I have to work a 12-hour day, then I might as well make the best of it with teas upon teas!” I’m dreading tonight and Monday (Memorial Day) since I’m on “mandatory” coverage. Whomp whomp

Anyway, here we are with Blueberry Pancakes. I think, once upon a time, I noted that the hot cup of this reminded me of blueberry and maple syrup but lacking all pancake. Cold brewed, the blueberries are predominantly present while the syrup is taking a step back. I can faintly taste the syrupy sweetness, but not very much.

PS. I’ll return for a sip down rating and if anything changes with the hot cup.

On Saturday, we hosted board game night at the house with a few friends. Naturally, I offered to make tea…and many teas we had! I was asked to brew something ‘unique and iced,’ so to the sip down pile I went, knowing that this was something interesting. I had 4 tsp remaining in the pouch, so I tossed it into 8 oz of water for 6 minutes (one minute longer than the recommendation). Before tossing it over ice, I was asked to add a touch of honey to sweeten. Let’s just note that this tea CLEARED my sinuses. It was as if I opened a jar of Vick’s and took a deep breath in. I took a small swig of the drops of tea too little to fit into the glass of ice, and it was truly a strong eucalyptus and minty tea. I may have to buy this one in bulk—I’m an oddball and enjoy ‘sick’ teas while feeling 100% a-ok—and keep it around for both the days of sickness and for the summer. I imagine this would be wonderful as a sun tea, too!

Okay soooo this is definitely a new favorite from DAVIDs TEA. I grew up in the early 2000s and this was such a nostalgic flavor for me. I honestly think it was perfectly done, not too sweet and really good hot but preferred it iced/cold brewed. I got to try this lovely blend as a part of a Mother’s Day gift plan Kelly aka @roswellstrange helped me with. Thank you thank you Kelly! Now I have another favorite to gush about!

Sipdown

I haven’t been sleeping as well as I’d like to. Been getting Charlie horses in my leg for a few nights (I’m not going to assume it’s cramping from working out, so I’ll have the doctor look into it). The joys of aging, as they say. Anyway, I wanted to brew some sleepy time tea toward the end of the shift, and this was right on top of the sipdown pile.

I could stay all day in the dry leaf section of this tea. The lemongrass, apple, and florals all blend beautifully together. I brewed this for a while (until the water became room temp) and tossed it back after adding to ice. There was a blast of fruity flavors, and the lemongrass added a slight citrusy bite that was perfect. I slept like a baby until 06:00.

Much too sweet for me; threw it away. It would be worse with stevia, though. I would drink this tea if it didn’t have sweeteners (sugar, stevia, etc) at all.

I don’t think I’d enjoy this straight, but I drink it cold with almond/soy milk, and that makes it taste like a strawberry milkshake. It’s quite rich and desserty. Genuinely, it’s a great strawberry milkshake. The resteep tastes like beets.

Iced!

I believe I mentioned it last week in a tasting note, but I’ve been heavily involved the last few weeks in helping our social media team with some different content. Primarily for TikTok. I shared on instagram earlier in this week I small little round up/sneak peak of some beverage photos from a handful of the shoots I’ve been part of, and this was one of them.

The videos not out yet, but it’s just a little spotlight on some refreshing iced teas that have lemon in them. Very cute! The best part of all of these shoots is 100% getting to drink the teas afterwards – and in this case the handful of us involved all split up the four drinks, and I got a bright and pucker-y cup of strongly steeped pink lemonade. So refreshing after a long morning of being in the very, very hot sun.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8sdjY1O2cI/?img_index=1 (2nd Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yogEDUqThvc

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.

Iced!

Another drink that I made at work this week, also using the strawberry popping boba we have in office. I mean, this was essentially just another way of making a strawberry lemonade but to be honest I enjoyed this a lot more than I do the Strawberry Lemonade tea was carry. The lemon is so much more front and center with a zingy sort of sweetness. Very commercial pink lemonade vibes. And then with each sip you get that burst of super sweet strawberry from the popping boba that balances out that acidity.

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.

Last but not least from the recent 90s/2000s summer collection is Pink Lemon!

I think, flavourwise, this is probably the most straight forward of the blends other than perhaps the matchas!? Just a really punchy and lively tasting pink-lemonade inspired blend. We’ve carried a tea called Pink Lemonade before that was a rooibos base, but this is definitely different. I remember the rooibos blend was pretty polarizing because it had so much hibiscus and stevia in it and it really tasted more like a hibiscus lemonade. So, when working on this tea, we took those elements into consideration and ultimately created this tisane that doesn’t contain any stevia or hibiscus. Instead this tea gets its beautiful pink colour from light inclusions of beetroot and dragonfruit, which impact the flavour a lot less substantially to allow for a brighter and more true lemonade-like flavour.

It’s super iceable and definitely the most crowd-pleasing of the collection IMO. Very good as a tea pop, also, or spiked with some vodka or gin.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=8 (8th Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEsv9wpm6m0

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.

Tea Pop!

This was so smooth and refreshing with such a gentle yet well defined tropical flavour. It was also interesting because the fizz of the carbonated water (for whatever reason) seemed to bring out a little more of the coconut flavour so in some ways I felt like I was having an ultra smooth, hydrating mug of coconut water with a “squeeze” of fresh pineapple juice.

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.

Next up in the new summer collection is a matcha that, honestly, is a pretty strong contender for being my favourite DT matcha of all time. Top three for sure, easily.

Like the other matcha that launched in this collection, this one is a bit more expensive than other organic flavoured matchas and that’s because this matcha is more like a “semi sweetened” version. It actually contains 40% less sugar than our usual flavoured matchas, which is why the cost is higher but also why the taste is a little less sweet and more matcha forward.

Even with the sugar reduction, though, I find the taste fairly rich. Well, the coconut element in particular. It’s pretty creamy and definitely has a bit of a “thickness” to it that I don’t think any of DT’s previous coconut matchas (coconut water/unsweetened coconut) have had. That makes sense though because pina coladas are very creamy, rich cocktails. The pineapple is fresh and tropical tasting and compliments the fresh, vegetal taste of the matcha really well. It’s no secret that I have a personal fondness for pineapple, so maybe that biases me a little bit but I really do think the balance of flavours here is really well done and the lower cane sugar amount makes for an almost more “mature” feeling take on a flavoured matcha that, at least for me, has been something I reach for more consistently than the full sweetened flavours.

To that point, I actually have a kilo bag of this on my desk that I’ve nearly gone through because it very regularly ends up being the tea I reach for in the afternoons as, like, a post lunch latte and little caffeinated pick me up. And, y’all, it’s so good as a latte. Hot or iced. But, also, very good plain and as a tea pop too. Really, I have yet to find a preperation method that I don’t like with this matcha!!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=7 (7th Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA7XIru89U4

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!

Just finished off this cold brew while eating dinner and starting to wind down for the night. Heavy emphasis on the cherry, for sure, but in a way that was somewhere between fresh cherry juice and the sweeter taste of a melted cherry popsicle. That was supported with some citrusy top notes and a surprisingly strong smooth, floral and distinct tasting oolong note in the finish.

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.

One of the things I worked on this past week was a Cherry Limeade recipe video for DT’s social channels – specifically, we made this tea into a slushie! Basically a “full circle moment” in a way, since that’s the inspo of the blend. It was really easy to do. Basically, we made a very strong cup of the tea with some fresh lime and agave and then froze it, and the next morning blended it all up with some extra water to give it more of the slush consistency. Best part was 100% eating it after the video was finished. So refreshing and juicy with a balanced cherry and citrus flavour! Yum!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8sdjY1O2cI/?img_index=1 (Third Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifK5RIx1CjE

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.

Wow, I am really getting in a lot of writing today with these new teas!

This is one of the new teas from this summer’s 90s/2000s inspired collection. Though I know Cherry Limeade as a beverage has been around for decades it’s something that I personally really associate with the late 2000s as well as, specially, the fast-food chain Sonic’s very iconic Cherry Limeade slushies. That said, this is 100% a flavour I’m starting to see pop up pretty much everywhere and it really good me interesting in exploring it in tea form.

I love that it’s on an oolong base since that’s a tea type we rarely release new blends on, and I think that despite having pretty bold flavours you actually can taste the oolong in the blend just a bit. It adds a nice soft floral undertone that offsets the tartness of the cherry and citrus, and rounds out the cup a little more than it would be otherwise.

DT has definitely had A LOT of cherry teas so I think it’s a fair question to ask how this compares to others. I find the cherry notes in this blend are brighter and a little less sweet than the dark/heavy flavours of Cherry Berry Punch or Cherry Lucuma, and also less sour than Very Cherry. The tartness is comparable to Sweet Tart, in my opinion, but the overall flavour is less candy-like.

And then, of course, you have the limeade aspect. Technically, there is no lime in this tea and I think that it’s a fair criticism to point that out – I can totally understand expecting lime and then being disappointed when you don’t see it in the ingredients list. Really the only thing I can say to that is that we did try versions that included lime and in all our blind tastings we also felt like the versions without the lime actually tasted more like a limeade. It’s still bright and a little tart, with a distinct zesty citrusy flavour. Flavours are weird like like that sometimes – when you’re not staring at visual cues your brain often does a scarily good job at filling in the gaps. We still wanted to have something in the blend as an homage/nod to the lime though, and that’s where those gorgeous pomelo cubes come in. In the dry leaf they have a really lime-like appearance and provide a contrast of bright green against the red that winks at the inspiration.

Really, I think this tea is best iced. That’s pretty much exclusively how I’ve been drinking it the last year-ish, but of course there’s nothing to say it’s not good hot either if that’s more your jam. I think there’s a lot of fun cocktail things you can do with this blend too. I mean, it would be a great addition to a tea-based Cherry Lime Rickey, and if you wanna get really wild you could infuse it straight in vodka for a punchy cherry flavour you can add to other drinks.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=6 (6th Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZwmciiLFPA

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 had such an intense craving for this on the day I got my dental surgery done so I set it up as a cold brew in the fridge early in the morning before I left for the dentist, and then afterwards I found out I couldn’t drink anything from a straw for a few days so when I got home I just felt discouraged and sad seeing my cold brew in the fridge knowing I wouldn’t be able to strain it into a tumbler like usual…

So, it sat in the first brewing for a couple days. However, yesterday I was finally straw approved so I strained it and enjoyed what was one hell of a strong and punchy iced tea. Very liquified ice pop with blue raspberry, lemon, and cherry notes just to die for with a BOLD black tea base. It actually felt like a little reward for myself for being patient and taking the post-surgery aftercare seriously.

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

I’ve been craving this tea for the last couple of days, so I ended up making myself a mug to enjoy this evening after I got home from work. Sweet but not too syrupy/cloying – I’ve always loved that the full bodied black tea base helps balance out those melted popsicle notes. Cherry in particular came through today, but accented by blueberry and blue raspberry with a little sweet lemon on the finish. Slick, in a good way.

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.

Tea Pop!

Currently sipping on this blend as a tea pop and really enjoying it! It starts off initially a bit brisk and bitter with more of a lemony note, but then very quickly slides into fruity sweetness with very ice pop-like notes of cherry and blue raspberry. Not too sweet at all, but very nostalgic and reminiscent of its inspiration! I love that I can still taste the black tea with all the fruity flavours too.

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.

From the new 90s/2000s inspired summer collection! I really love this whole collection and it’s so hard to pick favourites, but this is definitely one of my top picks.

As is probably obvious from the name, it’s inspired by the red/white/blue Rocket Popsicles that many of us grew up with as kids. I learned during the development that there are actually a bunch of regional names for them like Firecrackers and Bomb Pops. To me, though, Rocket is the most iconic.

This is definitely a flavour that is having a moment right now – especially in the RTD world. This past year I’ve seen so many Rocket Popsicle inspired energy drinks, sodas, sports drinks, and even craft beers. The blend has red sprinkles and this blue-ish cotton candy bits as a visual homage to the popsicle inspiration, and I think on the black tea base they really pop visually and add a fun element to this tea.

The original popsicle is blue raspberry, cherry, and lemon lime flavoured and I think this tea hits all of those notes pretty dang well – maybe a little less on the lime? We also added some blueberry to ours, though it’s not as distinct tasting as you might think. Sure, if you really focus in while tasting you can pick apart this very juicy layering of fruits but as a tea just casually sipped on I really think it just creates a very authentic flavour of a melted ice pop with all of those notes kind of bleeding together into one sweet, fruity, and nostalgic taste. And yes, it is a sweet tea – but popsicles are sweet! I don’t think this would taste like the inspiration otherwise. This is also one of the blends in the collection that (at least in my opinion) is pretty equally good both hot and iced.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=5 (5th Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn5_ZbP1vug

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.