Cash & Chris Send Message

A boring, overly lemony flavor hot turns into a fantastic treat when you put some honey in it and pour it over ice. This is a summery blend I’m glad I tried, but not something I’m likely to keep around at all times.. the lemon flavor just comes through a bit too much.
-Cash

This came as a free sample with an order of some 52teas iced teas.

The tea itself smells like straight cocoa nibs, and honestly looks like it too – I’m not sure why I was expecting to see all three Neapolitan colors, but I was vaguely (and irrationally) disappointed not to. Threw it in the ingenuitea and poured boiling water over it and the tea released a deliciously sweet scent. Not overpowering by any means, but definitely noticeable.

The liquor was as dark as expected from the leaves, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the tea doesn’t taste as purely chocolate as the appearance had me expecting. In fact, all three flavors are distinctly present! This is an impressive blend just for that; now, flavor wizardry aside, I can’t say I’d order a bag of this on its own. But it’s really cool to be able to detect all three parts separately and equally.

I’d like to see this company try a spumoni, maybe.
-Cash

Tasty, but I’m disappointed by how weak the flavor is. This seems to be a common story with me and rooibos.
-Cash

This is my first experience with both milk oolong and DAVIDsTEA, and I’m very very happy with both. The shipping from DAVIDsTEA was fast and free, and the teas came packaged in appealing foil pouches describing the contents and providing steeping instructions. The inclusion of a free tin with every 100g purchase is a wonderful bonus, and I expect I’ll have more than my fair share of DAVIDsTEA tins laying around soon!

Not knowing at all what to expect from a milk oolong, I was mildly surprised at its nondescript appearance and absolutely blown away by the smell – this may as well be a stick of butter in a bag! The leaves are rolled up and dark green, and light! The 25g bag I purchased seems like it’ll last me a fair while.

The butter smell yields a bit to an earthy, herbal scent in the steep, and is nearly gone by the time I’m putting the cup to my lips. The flavor sticks around though! This is all cream, honestly one of the smoothest teas I’ve been able to try, with just the right amount of grassy aftertaste to remind me I am, in fact, drinking something made from a plant. The liquor is a perfect golden yellow, classic oolong appearance. Upon multiple steepings, the grassy flavor becomes more prominent, which is not a bad thing in the least.

This tea impressed me with the novelty, but wasn’t gimmicky enough that I felt iffy about finishing the bag. I have heard tale of a coconut-flavored milk oolong, and that sounds like an absolute dream. I’d purchase this again.
-Cash

My mother loves A Southern Season, so anytime they’re running a sale – like the store-wide one that just ended – I can look forward to being mailed at least a half pound of new teas. This is one of a variety of fruit teas I was sent this time, including the Blood Orange Chocolate Rooibos that’s become a new favorite.

When you open the bag, the scent of orange that comes out is very, very strong (as citrus scents are wont to be), leaving no room for a tea scent whatsoever. The oolong is so dark as to be colorless, and has a disappointing amount of stems to it but fortunately doesn’t overdo it with the sparse bits of dried orange peel. Still, it is a pleasant enough scent – not being a big fan of most orange teas, I was surprised to find myself excited for this cup.

The liquor is a dark yellow bordering on orange, which is unsurprising given the leaves’ color. It doesn’t release much scent when steeping, and you’ve got to dip your nose into the cup to get a faint earthy whiff. The taste is unexpected but very pleasant. That strong orange nose to the raw tea shuts up and lets the mild, earthy tea take the stage. I generally like a stronger, fuller cup than this provides but the experience was tasty enough all-around that I would definitely consider this as a regular morning tea.

Don’t be tricked by the scent expecting strong orange flavor here, but if you’re a scented oolong fan this is a great mild option.
-Cash

Looking for a new fruity oolong to add to my collection, I happened to be by my local Teavana and thought I’d take a peak. I’m a huge fan of tropical flavors, and the description of this one sounds right up my alley.

The tea is nothing special to look at or smell; a plain-looking rolled oolong with bits of pale dried fruit. The scent is not very tropical and honestly leaves something to be desired – though I don’t agree with Chris’ description of it as “Christmassy,” I believe that speaks to how little it reminds one of island life.

Steeping, it releases a LOT more sweet fruit smell, and the deep golden liquor it leaves behind is a fantastic example of a flavored oolong done right. The first and last taste on your tongue is subtle, smooth earth, topped off with just enough papaya flavor to earn its name. I can’t detect much presence of the other fruits visible in the tea, but they’re most definitely responsible for the sweet steeping scent. I would like a bit more tang out of a tropical tea. More pineapple would certainly be welcomed.

Putting my expectations based on the name and ingredients aside, this tea impresses me more than most of Teavana’s tepid fruit infusions. I’d buy this again.
-Cash

This (unfortunately discontinued, but Teavana sells a suspiciously similar variety I’ll have to try..) wonderfully sweet tea has to be one of the most heavenly scents I’ve ever smelled. The tea itself is gorgeous to look at, with bits of red cinnamon and white almond slivers amongst a generous amount of black tea.. honestly, I could just leave this tea in a bowl on my table to look at and smell and be happy without bothering to taste it.

A tad bland on its own, a teaspoon of honey and a dollop of milk (almond milk in particular does the trick!) makes this tea live up to its look and scent. There is little tea flavor to be found here, the creamy vanilla flavor of the cinnamon and almond completely dominating both the nose and the taste, but that’s not a bad thing at all for a dessert tea. I’d prefer this to a real almond cookie, honestly. It’s particularly good on a snowy winter night but I find myself making a cup of this once a week even in the middle of our humid DC summers.
-Cash

A strong, thick brew with a wonderful blood orange scent. The chocolate flavor is somewhat lost under the blandly creamy rooibos, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it leaves a lot of room for the fresh, juicy blood orange to shine. The liquor is the embodiment of “red tea,” looking exactly the way its name should.

Far more satisfying than the other blood orange rooibos I’ve been able to try (from Spice & Tea Exchange.) I expect this to be fantastic over ice, and hope a little sweetener may bring out the chocolate notes.
-Cash