Thanks to my tea pal Indigobloom for this sample!
Is this tea perfect for San Francisco? Hippy-dippy and kinda fruity? I’m about to find out. Speaking of fruity, I have a fruit fly infestation right now which is such a drag — I’ll have to take these leaves out to the compost immediately after I’m done! After doing a quick read of the package, I used my small Finium teacup and filter and went with 180F for 5 minutes.
My cup ended up being a medium orange and smells very fruity! The flavor is incredibly peachy and pineapple-y. It’s kind of hard to taste the oolong underneath here but it makes a good foil for the fruit. I actually like those fizzy kombucha drinks even though they are expensive. This has the slight aftertaste of one of those, it’s a fermented almost beer like quality. I didn’t know you could even get powdered kombucha, so that was interesting to discover.
When you buy a fresh kombucha drink it’s $4 a pop, so I was thinking you could mix this tea with some fizzy water and have a reasonable substitute for a lot less money. I wonder if it still has the same health benefits as the fresh tea? This would be good iced, too.
I’ve never been the biggest David’s Tea fan, but this had me scanning their website for the price. I might need some of this in the future, but then again I have a ton of flavored tea I still need to get through. Are they ever going to open up a David’s Tea in California?
It’s a nice fun, fruity flavored kinda deal. I think I’m going to try cold brewing the rest of it overnight. Me likey. Thanks IB!
Butchart Gardens?
Yeah, it’s one of the most beautiful places on the planet. :)
http://www.butchartgardens.com/
Wow! You weren’t kidding. That place is gorgeous!!
must say i’m in the same boat… (also the same island) as you…. david’s teas is one of the fastest growing canadian companies and sadly it really shows. they’re not keeping up with quality controls or creative demand.
Pretty much every tea store I’ve been into has said that DavidsTea (and to a lesser extent Teavana) has been a boon for their business. So that’s good, right? :)
They ate a great starter company for people looking for a friendly and convenient intro to tea.
true… though i began with teavana. i admit i hold a bit of a grudge against david’s teas because i have food sensitivities and they haven’t been as diligent as they need to be for their customers.
It’s definitely true that these bigger companies are helping out the smaller ones in a way. It’s getting more people into tea in general. But I’ll admit that when DT opened a store near me, I thought it was overrated even then. The only thing that traps me into giving them more money is the 10g allowance. It’s convenient and I don’t feel like I’m putting all my eggs in one basket by having to blindly purchase 50g or even 100g.
And nice to see another Steepster on the Island!
How do you mean, James? My BFF is severely allergic to mint, and this month especially it’s been a bit of a trial. Thankfully the local stores have been really good about helping her even when she can’t come in.
@OMGsrsly… everyone has a different set of parameters and sensitivities. i have an auto immune disease which, in my case, had included a fabulous case of broad spectrum sensitivities. for the most part i know what they are and i handle the issue with a healthy dose of literacy— reading before i put it in my mouth.
this is where my problem with david’s teas occurred. i got a free sample from headquarters in montreal… not something i would normally buy for myself, but hey… it’s the thought that counts. i dug in. i felt rotten. i read the ingredients. no issue. figured it was random. it happened the next time i tried the sample.
i decided to look up the tea here on steepster. DIFFERENT INGREDIENTS WERE LISTED!!! the list here had something in it that explained what was going on.
i won’t say that it’s a store or an employee problem, it’s a diligence level that isn’t being met at a corporate level.
please keep in mind this is just my opinion after a very frustrating experience. i am very glad that your friend has been given good direction.
I’m so sorry that happened to you, JustJames. Did you contact them about it? That is a very serious issue and they need to straighten things out like that. Show a little more consistency and accuracy with information. I’m so lucky that I don’t have allergies or an auto immune disease. I can’t imagine how extra careful you need to be.
Oh geez that’s absolutely terrible. I’m glad you’re ok. Just FYI, tea stores to be careful with are TWG/The Urban Tea Merchant, Murchie’s and Granville Island Tea. The first two do not list ingredients as far as I’ve been able to tell, although Murchie’s sometimes has them available. And Granville Island has different ingredients on their website and in store. I try to get ingredient listings for everything, just in case.
i have to be diligent is all, i am careful where i eat and where i buy… but life gets alot more complicated if things are not clearly AND CONSISTENTLY listed. this borders on a rant, which i don’t want to do to your awesome post… as a company you do not get to have multiple ingredients lists in multiple locations. OR if you choose that option, you do not get money from me.
i do buy from DT, but it is very limited. they don’t list the ingredients in their artificial flavouring because it is considered proprietary (it is usually that stuff that gives me problems).
no, i did not contact the company about it, i just absorbed it into ‘buyer beware’. the reason i got the sample was as an apology from the company regarding an incident that happened when i was there one day.
i don’t know if DTs has an incognito presence on here or not, but i wish they more visible like verdant, butiki and teavivre.
argh! incendiare… sorry! another essay!
good luck on your thesis proposal! maybe just present it in ancient norse and have the prof nod and smile? lol. i’m sure you’ll sail through…
Still, that must be a super inconvenience for you to have to triple check everything, especially when some companies aren’t consistent with the information they provide. But on the bright side, you’re not really missing out on the artificially-flavoured ones anyway!
I know DT has an account and announces/writes reviews of their new teas, but don’t think they have any reps reading our reviews and providing feedback.
Thanks, I need all the luck I can get with my proposal! First I need to read and listen to data in the lab to see if I can even do my topic. Aye.
really? haven’t seen them here anywhere…. they are wasting a valuable insight resource if they aren’t paying attention to the reviews on here. (my opinion)
They seem to write a tasting note for new teas: http://steepster.com/DAVIDsTEA
Maybe they’re here more for promotion than anything else? They appear to be following quite a few Steepsterites but I’m not sure if they comment on their reviews.