513 Tasting Notes
It took me forever to get around to even trying this tea. I am neither a cardamom fan, nor a pistachio fan, but I do very much like candied fruit, almonds, and walnuts so, when I found a set on sale, I scooped up a small tin. Brewed up, the tea is definitely a nut based tea but surprisingly I actually really like it. I don’t think it is a tea I need to drink every day, but it is a nice evening oolong once in a while.
I gave this a long, cold steep overnight just to see what would happen. I was concerned that the hibiscus was going to become overpowering, but the flavours remained pleasantly balanced! In fact, the hibiscus remained pretty subtle and it was actually the vanilla notes that began to dominate. I don’t usually have iced teas that are heavy on vanilla, but this is a pleasant change.
Initially I left this one alone because I am not always crazy about pu’erh blends, but we picked some up today and am I ever impressed. The tea bases add an earthy note to what is otherwise a citrus tea. There is also a natural sweetness to the brew, which makes it even more enjoyable! I am really glad we grabbed this tea and I gave it a shot!
I have to admit, I sort of ignored much of David’s Winter and Christmas teas. I had found fall slightly less than inspiring and when I saw how (overly) complicated a lot of the winter blends seemed to be, I just wasn’t enthused. Combine that with a trip to the mall on a busy day and a harried sales person as well as a personal overstock of both Sleigh Ride and Santa’s Secret, and, aside from the enthusiastic purchase of much Cocomint Cream, this was a pass for me. Since I have been much more in love with the Spring Collection and these are showing up in sets on the web specials, I have been reinvestigating my initial pass on several of the teas.
J and I are at complete odds on this particular blend. I think if you brew it right and don’t let it over steep it is buttery and amazing, J thinks it is water and then gets overbalanced by the apple. Nevertheless, I do have a small tin of it now to play with. I like some notes in it a lot, I dislike others intensely. For me, really watching the four minute steep yields a brew that is intriguing enough that I enjoy sipping on a cup, but not so engaging that I need to have it absolutely every day. I don’t think I need to have this tea forever, but I am glad I have some to play around with.
Flavors: Apple, Butter
Preparation
I had a few scoops of this left so I thought I would ice it just to finish up the bag. I usually only cold steep for about five hours, but I let this one go for closer to seventeen hours. The end result is better than it was when I initially tasted it five hours in, but still not quite what I was looking for. I have really liked this tea in the past, so I think the issue is that I was just working with whatever was left in the bag (which may have been more tea dust than quality fruit pieces). I will work my way through the pitcher, but I am not going to be sorry to be done this one! I think it is a good tea, but my bag was maybe a bit too old and not quite enough to make a whole pitcher of tea.
I am slowly working my way through the new spring tea collection from David’s. This tea was an immediate draw for me, I adore most strawberry teas and had high hopes for this one too. I have tried it several times so far and had mixed results. I think it has the potential to be a really nice tea, but I also think it can be a very finicky tea to brew. I find that it needs a bit of sweetening, but not too much sugar. I also think the base has the tendency to get a bitter if not steeped perfectly. The first time I steeped this I was pretty haphazard, and it didn’t go well for me. The next time I watched my steep time like a hawk, tossed in a bit of sugar and had a beautiful cup of black tea.
I do find that the strawberry is a sweeter strawberry, more akin to the old Sweet Strawberry flavour they used to have as a white. So this was a comforting, sweet berry more than a tart, refreshing berry note. (The cream flavouring may be adding to this as well though…)
Preparation
I smelled this in store yesterday and just had to have some to try! The leaves smell amazing, like seriously good enough to eat. Brewed up, the coconut is beautifully creamy while the pineapple adds a nice tart bite to the sip. The base tea is definitely present, and a little stronger than I like my black bases to be. I like a lot of things about this tea, I think I just need to drink a few cups to get a bit more used to the presence of the base tea notes. Overall, I am glad I have some of this to try and I could see it becoming a tea I am very fond of.
I was SOOOO excited to see this tea show up for Halloween. We started drinking tea when this one was still a bit of a big deal but was no longer available. I badly wanted to try it but it just was not around. I ran down to David’s last night to pick up some of it and it was amazing! It lived up to all of my expectations! I like green rooibos so much better than red and the green rooibos blends so well with the fruit flavours. I am glad to see this one back and I hope it sticks around on line for a little while!
