Cranberry Pear

What can I say – I’m impressionable. Darn you, VariaTEA! This was WAY back in my closet and I have to go digging through my (many) black tea tins to find it because once you mentioned it I just had to have it, and then of course I saw some others I wanted to pull out and have immediately too.

Mmm! I do so love this one! I didn’t add milk this time, primarily because I poured too much water into the mug to be able to fit any milk, and then by the time it was done steeping and I’d drank enough where milk could be reasonably added, I was so taken in by the flavour I didn’t want to get off the couch to go grab some from the fridge…

Bumping this up to a perfect 100 because I have absolutely no reason not to, and my rating it pretty close to that now, as is…

All done! I must say that I’m not sad to see this go, I’ve fallen out of like with this tea. It’s a bit too tart and the tea base is too light for my taste. I used double the amount of leaf that this calls for, and it does taste better this way, but still, it’s not something that I need in my cupboard. It was a good starter tea, but now that I’ve tried so many better options, this one just can’t compete anymore.

Raised expectations = Lowering my rating a tad

Finishing up my sample of this, why isn’t it called Cranapple Pear Crumble? That would accurately describe it. It’s tasting extra-crumble/streusel desserty today. Even though there were big cranberries in here, I still don’t get much of it.

Even though it’s pretty sweet on its own, I added a little agave and it did kind of bring a berry flavor out but also really strengthened the flavor of cake.

Why don’t I have any eggs I just want cake now. Still I don’t think I’ll ever buy any of this but if someone were to send me some I wouldn’t turn it down.

Now I have to go pretend I’m not going to fail this test tomorrow and try not to fall asleep hahahaha right.

Why have I never tried this before?!? I know, because it never sounds all that appealing. Luckily I have read a whole bunch of awesome reviews on it here on steepster (I am looking at you Roswell Strange!) so I decided to try it. I figured buying 10 g, the worst that could happen is I wouldn’t like it and I would just pass the rest off to Roswell Strange in one of our swaps. However, what is left is staying right here with me and might even be joined by some more because this is good! Sweet and creamy and oh so delicious! Seriously. I have no idea how or why but this is a thick, creamy, cup of fruity yummyness. Thank you Roswell Strange for all your tasty sounding notes that made me finally give in.

Let’s begin with a story.

I went into my local DT for the 2 of the 3 new teas, please!
The friendly gentleman said they had just received them today, but they weren’t open. As I physically dramatized my dismay and breaking heart, the manager girl (who usually isn’t my favorite personality) hopped over the desk and ripped opened the boxes and presented the bags. Without looking me in the eye. She hates me. But oh well! The dude and I were jumping and smelling and talking really fast in our tea excitement!

Now I go back in time, to when I saw what the three new teas were. I thought to myself: “I’m going to hate cranberry pear. I’m not even going to try it, ugh. I hate pears. bleeeh” and other dramatic thoughts.

Fast forward to the fuuUUuuuture. I smelled this one and thought, yeah it smells good, but meh. "Please sir, may I have 50 grams of this points to checkmate and 26 grams of this? points to cheeky lychee "

So the dude is suuuper friendly and we’re talking about TEA and LIFE and all sorts of awesome stuff, because he is my favorite dude and I will ask his name next time! But! I see he is indeed getting 50g of Cranberry Pear! That’s so not right… but he’s so nice… and we’re having such a good time that I’m just going to let it go. He packed my lychee and," is it too late for some CheckMate as well?" So I got all 3 teas. But mostly this one. haha.

On to the tasting. I had no high hopes, although it smells lovely. And wow… the steeped smell is like.. candy apples! or gum! or something.. yummy! And wow again, it is so full of.. delicious flavour? And bonus: no hibiscus! This one is seriously out of the park flavour wooow. Natually sweet – and although it’s similar to Movie Night in that it’s more “stuff” than black tea, it doesn’t disappoint. The tea brings a solid base to a fruity taste that isn’t very tart, but almost like a cooked fruit (cran apple pear, but without the bad pear texture that I hate ugh) crumble.. gosh!
Can I also say that I LOVE how the apple doesn’t take over the other fruit tastes? It just supports them without overwhelming, I HATE when apple bits do that to a tea!

So yeah. 100%. Love this tea. I guess it was meant to be !!

Sorry for the novel… but we’re allowed to write a novel every once and a while, right? n_-

Thanks to Indigobloom for sending me this sample of tea to try!

I steeped mine for 4 minutes at boiling but after I read some of the other taster’s notes I wish I had let it go for a bit longer. You can see there are large chunks of fruit in the tea. Anyway, it’s a bit of the tart side but has one of the nicer pear flavors I’ve had in a while. In my opinion, pear is a hard flavor to get right in a tea. Someone compared it to bubblegum and I have to agree, there is something in here that reminds me of bubblegum, I think perhaps it’d the smell?

I did add a bit of soymilk to it and somehow liked it better that way. I am not totally in love with this but I’m glad I got the chance to try it, thank you dear Indigobloom for sharing with me! :D

I don’t know how I’ve managed to never log this one – especially since we bought it months ago and I am positive that I’ve tried it before now. I recall it being too sweet and bubble-gum as opposed to cranberry or pear – in the way that many DT teas tend to be to me for the last year or so.

On to the tea! Steeped a pot up with the beau and father-in-law, the aroma is very much of bubble gum. I’m starting to worry that my memories are correct. First sips are sweet, but not exactly bubblegum. Maybe artificial pear. Very artificial. LIke a lightly flavoured hard candy or something. There is no cranberry and no tart (I would expect tart in this one!). It’s tolerable but not fabulous. No black tea taste, but I can feel it on my tongue if that makes sense. It’s a supporting role. Unfortunately, this is another middle of the road sweet fruity tea. I’m not so fond of those anymore. : (

Edit: I can’t believe I’m so out of tune with everyone else on this one – what is going on with me?!

(DavidsTea already recorded)

Bonus hospital eggnog latte! Sent my husband home at one point and requested this as an eggnog latte. Unfortunately, I think I asked for too much eggnog to be put in, and so the cranberry/pear was a little lost, but it was still good. I need to work on the ratios, I think.

I love this tea. I had it as a to-go cup today since I didn’t have time for anything to be iced, and was definitely not disappointed. When I pulled the bag I saw that it was a nice blend of the fruit and the tea, which I know doesn’t always happen. But this time I got someone who knew what she was doing and made me a perfect cuppa. Mmmmm.

This one smells great dry! Not what I was expecting when I heard cranberry. Cranberry is delicious – with turkey dinner. This was another of the samples I picked up a DavidsTea today.

Hmm not quite as yummy smelling once steeped but still pretty good. Ah so impatient waiting for it to cool but I’d like to have taste buds left for the rest of my new teas!

I’m enjoying this one. I’m not quite sure what I’m tasting but I know there are cranberries and pears from what I could see. Okay, I’m getting some pear a few sips in. I had a slight fear the cranberry would be overwhelming but nope! I may try steeping it longer next time for a bit more flavour. Overall yet another great choice from DavidsTea :)

Update February 15/13: I had 3 cups of this today. I’m loving it. I picked up 50g and I think I’ll add this to my permanent collection. It’s just got such a lovely taste for cranberries and black tea. Must be the pear. It’s excellent as it cools. I’ve found the sweet spot – not smoking hot and not cold but somewhere in between there. I think I’ll whip up another cuppa.