Glitter & Gold

I fell in love with this tea at first steep. I’m not usually one for teas that already contain sugar, but the sparkles of this one, plus the cinnamon and citrus peel, had me hooked.

The lovely girl working at David’s when I was first introduced called it “fairy in a cup”. It’s quite lovely, and even though I enjoy it with milk and as a latte, I drink it black sometimes to enjoy the glitter.

I prefer to steep a bit more tea with a little less time to avoid the bitter after taste some black teas can leave.

Tastes pretty bland to me. I was really hoping I would like David’s Tea more than I am, since it has such a good reputation on this sight. I didn’t get the ‘tea’ taste as much as I had hoped, even when I brewed it with more tea for longer. The sparkles are a really fun touch, but in the future I would just by the sprinkles and but them into a more flavorful tea.

Sad, sad story for a wonderful tea. Delicious, sweet, spicy, and smooth. A great mix of vanilla, clove, and a hint of caramel… and yes, of course… sparkles and shinny thingies!!! All of it smelling oh so delicious in my tea cup, sparkling in the moonlight of our new apartment’s kitchen. Until… I reach over to toss out the leaves from steeping the tea and my entire cup (except for about 3 sips that miraculously managed to stay in the cup) spilled all over the counter!!! I was sooo sad. The tea smelled so so so good. The three sips that stubbornly stayed in my tea cup were tasty, yet only a small reminder of what I could have enjoyed!

I have had this tea many times before, in fact, it is one of the one’s I chose to serve at my wedding ceremony (April 5th, 2014 for those who are wandering!). I enjoy the black tea base which is complemented and not completely hidden by the light spiciness and creamy notes. Caramel is predominant in my opinion, but it is smooth and works well with the mix of flavors. I would especially recommend it to someone who enjoys vanilla and caramel notes, and a sweeter tea. Not really for the chai lovers, since the spicy notes don’t stand out too predominantly (though I do love the clove!!!)

This is the end of the sad story. Tomorrow’s breakfast will bring another cup of this tea, I hope to manage not to spill it everywhere this time! It belongs in my tummy after a quick journey in my mouth befriending my taste-buds. :)

Glad to be back on Steepster married and done with my master’s degree!!! Missed everyone!

This lovely sample came from NayLynn. Now I’m not normally a glitter person, but I had to try what miss Marzipan calls “sparkle pony tea”. The leaves are small and generic looking, and there’s silver sanding sugar and gold candy pearls mixed in along with pieces of citrus peel. Dry scent is vaguely vanilla, caramel, and desserty. I steeped a heaping teaspoon of leaf for 4 minutes at 200 degrees.

Wow, so pretty! The tea itself is a dark golden color (at least, it is in this cup) and there are tiny glittery particles suspended throughout. Lovely! This tea seems quite mildly flavored (NayLynn did say that she thought it was an older sample) and I like it that way. It’s a very light-bodied black tea base with some vanilla and caramel notes and just a touch of spice and lemon. Pretty tasty! :)

This one brews up nicely sweet due to the generous amounts of shiny sugar sprinkles in the mix…it even has soft hints of honey and clove layered over a comfortingly nondescript black base.

It’s not the best tea I’ve ever had – nor is it the worst – but it’s one I’d go back to in a heartbeat as a sure thing. I approve.

I went in David’s Tea to try some kind of black tea to kick up my afternoon. I ended up picking Glitter and Gold. A small selling point was the fact that my tea would glitter when it brewed as the gold sugar balls melted. I didn’t think this would be a big deal to me, but the effect is deliciously pretty when brewed in a clear mug. This tea is probably too sweet for me on a normal occasion, but it was fun to try. The black tea makes up the body of the drink but vanilla bean takes the frontline of flavor. It’s like having a sweet milk/creamer in your tea without the dairy. The black tea and cloves came out more in the fragrance than in the brewing. This is the perfect gift for a sparkly, fabulous loose-leaf tea lover you know. It looks good as dry loose leaf and brews up with a little fashion show. As a tea, it’s sweet vanilla black.

This was one of my first teas from DAVIDs, years ago. My roommate brought this home along with Swampwater and Jessie’s Tea. I remember it being pretty and tasty, so along with a good bit of nostalgia, I picked it up again.

It is so pretty, with the metallic candy balls in the dry leaf, and then with a gold shimmer to the steeped liquor. At four minutes it was a bit weak. After it had cooled a bit, I steeped for an additional minute, and then a third of the way through the cup, for another minute.

It also tastes quite nice – lots of clove, lemon and spice, with some cinnamon notes, and sweetness. The clove endures on the finish, along with a touch of a floral. The nose is a bit fuller and more tempting than the palette, but all in all this is a nice one.

This is a very popular tea from Davids that I have sampled in store but never purchased. My youngest brother recently got me some on a trip to Toronto with his mother and our brother though, so here I sit with a beautiful gift of tea. The clove smell is strong initially, and (for me) a bit off-putting but I have decided to think of it like a chai, which then makes it smell pretty good. I am interested by the idea of an (unnamed) Chinese black base as Chinese blacks are my favourite, and tend to be less bitter so this could be a nice spicy black for me. I used to love chai teas, but they tend to have strong bitter bases that I don’t enjoy, so this is something different.

As many others have noted, there are little candy balls in the tea which impart some sweetness and also an interesting look. It feels like a party! I steeped it for three minutes in 96 degree water (exactly!) in my perfect tea mug. The result is a rich amber cup of tea, that reminds me strongly of chai. The clove smell seems cinnamon-y to my nose, and the sweetness from the sugar crystals and the little balls contributes to the chai trick. I also get a smell like chocolate, maybe baking chocolate in something with a spicy kick. I don’t often encounter cinnamon and chocolate together, but this is what my brain believes.

First sips are pleasant. Still getting chocolate (what’s up with that?) and also some distinct sweetness and a cinnamon sort of taste at the end of the sip which must be cloves. The aftertaste is sweet and spicy. Where is the chocolate coming from!? I don’t get any bitterness (big thumbs up!) and the spice builds with each sip. After a few, I have a slight tingle at the back of the throat that I presume will remain throughout the cup. I gotta say, I like it. Hot, at least. We’ll see if it is as appealing at cooler temps.

The sugar in it doesn’t seem to have released too much sweet. I haven’t dug through the used leaves to see if the little balls stayed intact but I assume they didn’t dissolve completely. Maybe they would with agitation but I don’t tend to like my tea sweetened and wouldn’t want any more than this. I remember that there is some citrus peel in here, but I don’t notice it. i am sure it is doing something, it’s just doing it quietly. Fine by me!

EDIT: Man, did I misunderstand this tea! I have been drinking this slowly and the remains are room temperature (and surprisingly good!) BUT, I gave it a little shake AND THE TEA IS GLITTERY. That is what they mean. The little balls give off their tantalizing glitter INTO THE TEA. I feel like it A-Can’t be healthy and B-Is AWESOME. I am so happy about this. What a lovely surprise for a cynical (mostly) unflavoured tea drinker

SPARKLEPONY!!! After giggling my head off at Marzipan ‘s nickname for this tea, I was pleased to find a sample of it in my swap with VariaTEA and didn’t waste much time throwing it in an infuser.

It really is a sparklepony. Wow. Look at that glitter! Worth it for the novelty alone! Though the tea itself is pretty delicious. Very warm-tasting. I had it warm all on its own and just enjoyed watching the sparkles as I drank.

The rest of my sample is cold brewing in the fridge as I type; I’ll most likely take it to work tomorrow! Those sparkles don’t waste any time, though. As soon as the cold water hit the teapot, BLAM! GLITTER EVERYWHERE! So cool.

This is one of my go to favorites. The smell and taste go hand in hand unlike some of the other Davids Teas I have had. The warm cinnamon and creamy vanilla hit you first and then there is a nice orange after note all in the company of a smooth black tea. The added sugar crystals and balls make it just sweet enough to not add sweetener without making it overly sweet in any way. The sparkles are just flat out fun. Love this tea!