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I don’t know why I was so hard on this tea at first. Had it last night and got a wonderful mix of vanilla icing and juicy mango slices with a light hint of the camomile base. Still not exactly mango lassi, but I can see the resemblance. Absolutely boosting my rating here.

Learning from past mistakes, I only steeped this for a minute or two (I got a cup because I figured it would help my sore throat). Much better! And pretty soothing on the throat. Still turned off by the anise, but it is helpful in this one case. I’ll give it a few extra points because I was thankful to have this this morning.

Like most of my experience with Teavana, this was a “hmm…let’s just see what it’s like” choice. I will note that I do feel like I have a cold coming on, and thus my tasting ability may be impacted, but this was not a great experiment. At first I got a pretty seaweed-y punch. If not that, definitely a pretty strong plant flavour. That kind of subsided into a refreshing bean sprout note—by far my favourite level of this tea. If it had ended there I probably would’ve finished the cup, but as it cooled it progressed into a pretty strong soap flavour (at first lemon dish soap, followed by straight up white bar soap). Not overly pleasant. Wouldn’t buy again.

Having read some really rave reviews for this, I was a little disappointed. Then again I’ve never been all that into cranberry, so maybe it’s my own fault again.

The cranberry is definitely strongest in this. Dried cranberry though, like drinking a craisin. The cranberry certainly adds a pleasant tartness. At the beginning, I also got a slight orange note as well. What turns me off though it a kind of pastry-like taste, almost like a scone but too dry. Kind of reminds me of airplane food. Pear in the aftertaste which adds sweetness.

I also found this brewed up pretty weak—not too surprising as it seemed as tough half the “leaf” was cranberry bits, even though I shook up the bag in an attempt to bring some tea to the top.

Overall a pretty good tea—just a little disappointing given the hype.

I brewed up a rather large jug of this, which I’ve slowly been working through. Should finish it off this evening if I’m determined though. Pretty typical of this tea. Maybe more lemon than usual.

I was doubtful, but I did enjoy the smell so I decided to get an iced cup of this while at the mall today (desperately trying to find a birthday present for the bf).

I was right to be doubtful. I like the melon notes in this (predominantly watermelon and cantaloup with a hint of honeydew), but the BITTERNESS! The bitterness did tone down as my ice melted more and the cup got really cold. Anything else that’s supposedly in there (mango, pineapple) isn’t even present—maybe a HINT of mango in the aftertaste. I am willing to give this another go with the possibility that the girl at DAVID’s let this over-steep and that the bitterness may go away with careful preparation but it really ruined this cup for me. Melon Drop is definitely the safer bet if you’re looking for a melon tea from DAVID’s.

Chocolate chili chai tea latte made with chocolate milk! Yes please!

Obviously the chocolate milk was adding more chocolate than the tea here, but the tea added a nice mixture of spices. Wouldn’t have minded some whipped cream on top though, just to really make it healthy. A nice variation on hot chocolate.

I can’t really say I’m a fan of the original Oprah Chai Tea, but I was curious to see how this one differed.

I started sipping this one before it really had a chance to steep—about a minute, maybe 2—and was pleasantly surprised. The lemongrass and ginger were really noticeable, with the cinnamon not too overpowering. Slight hint of anise, which I’m never fond of, but no big deal. It was actually refreshing. Sadly, because I usually brew herbals for about 6 minutes, I left the bag in and after maybe 4 minutes the cinnamon just overpowered the whole cup and ruined it for me. Dumped the rest out.

Sipdown!

I don’t know if I’m just getting better at picking up flavours in tea, but the last few cups of this were wonderfully gooseberry packed. I was disappointed when I first bought this because I couldn’t pick up on it and now it seems so obvious.

This starts on a light orange note. A hint of spearmint as well. Normally I avoid mint in teas at all cost, but I do find it works in this one. It’s such a light hint that it just adds something refreshing without being “oh wow, that’s mint”. The mint lingers as the gooseberry comes through towards the end. Very intensely sour this cup actually; I can feel my mouth puckering up. Personally, I love sour, so this is great for me. If you try to avoid it, this tea might not be for you.

Cold brewed this last night. This one sure brews up strong and sweet—which I think would make it ideal for tea pop. It’s definitely fruity, but it also reminds me of cream soda. Not exactly sure what guava tastes like, but I’m getting some similarity to papaya (soft, sweet, and tropical). A little bit of hibiscus too. Not sure exactly how I feel about this one overall actually. I’ve had better tropical fruit blends.