Alpine Punch

This tea is a goody. It’s like spicy fruit punch. No caffeine and I like drinking it to re get my hydration back like after a workout. :-)

Boo, I have nothing of relevance to start today’s blog with, turns out my plans for today are going to go poof and now I am sulking. So instead I shall talk about how Ben’s phone keeps changing his ringtone to totally random stuff. He did have the default for a while (so boring) and then about a day after Thanksgiving it switched to random Christmas jingles…which he promptly switched back to the default. Then his phone just rang and it was something random (some lady going do do DO DO do) which prompted him to be immensely confused. I am not sure why his phone is trolling him, but I am ok with it.

Once again we wander through the annals of history, aka my older tea notebook pile for a bit of a throwback tea. Today we are looking at DAVIDsTEA Alpine Punch, and it has been quite a long time since I looked at one of their teas! Usually I would get a sample of a seasonal tea, and by the time I got around to reviewing it, it had already stopped existing, oops, but Alpine Punch stayed around. It is a blend of Rooibos, Coconut Chips, Coconut Rasps, Apple, Cinnamon, Ginger, Cardamon, Black Pepper, Almonds, Rose Blossoms, and Natural and Artificial Almond Cream Flavoring. Looking at that list of ingredients intrigued me, it was like a Rooibos Kulfi, chai…thing, so I had to try some. The aroma is pretty delicious, like a blend of marzipan and roses, spices, and coconut. For some reason this tea reminds me of the best cake ever…not that I have ever had one that smelled like this, the blend is cake like and I want this as a cake.

Into the basket the bits go, I do not look forward to cleaning up the rooibos, always a pain since they get stuck in the strainer. The aroma is super delicious, strong notes of almonds and coconut with a heady accompaniment of roses and apples. The more I sniff the more the spice builds, it starts with cardamon and is joined by ginger and cinnamon with a sharp peppery finish. The aroma has a bit of coconut and apples, with sweet marzipan, and a strong woody sweetness. At the finish is the building warmth of spices that blend quite nicely with the woody Rooibos tones.

Since this is a tea with coconut in it, the mouthfeel is super thick and oily, which counteracts the at times dry and raspy mouthfeel of Rooibos, so if you are a person that hates that about Rooibos (I know several people like that) then I would say this one mostly bypasses it. The taste starts with coconut and apples, right around the end of the front taste, the cardamon, ginger, cinnamon, and pepper starts to build and stays quite strong until the end. At the midtaste there are roses and almonds, and the finish is a woody, honey note that lingers. This is a warm tea, aptly named, because I want to drink this while lounging in a snow fort.

For blog and (mediocre) photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/12/davidstea-alpine-punch-tbt-tea-review.html

Advent calendar [14/24]

Good news! My frivolous spend-as-much-as-I-need-to-get-points order is in. I have a few more teas to review soon. In other good news, I’ve converted my boyfriend into a black loose leaf tea drinker.

Despite my aversion to drinking non caffeinated tea in the morning, I had to have this one early. It just sounded so good.

It seems like this tea had a lot of different flavours going on. I get a spicy coconut flavour with a sweet aftertaste. I’m not really sure what this tea is doing, but I really like it.

If I didn’t have a 50g pouch of red rooibos sitting in my cupboard at home, this would be a definite choice to buy.

Day 14/24

I was a little disappointed to see a rooibos today (though I knew this was coming eventually), but WOW, this is really good! For me it’s somewhere between a biscotti or a cranberry bliss bar from Starbucks. Prominent almond, cranberry, white chocolate, and vanilla notes wrapped up in a warm cup of delicious. You hardly notice the rooibos base (a plus for me). I’m kind of sad I used up the whole sample (I didn’t want a bunch of rooibos hanging around). It’s not a must have, but it’s a great holiday tea!

A warm cinnamony fruit punch that’s quite a joy to sip. The main three flavours (cinnamon, coconut, apple) blend in such a way that none overpower the other. I’ve found that rooibos teas have an extra smoothness or creaminess to them and that quality is very detectable here. Light, fruity, smooth and not too sweet, this is a definite rooibos favourite.

Part of the DAVIDsTEA permanent collection.

Tried this tea for the first time today, & it was very sweet & fruity. I’m not one to really drink fruity teas though, so it’s not really for me. I wouldn’t mind drinking it again, but if I had another choice, I probably wouldn’t pick this one. I would recommend this tea to people who enjoy fruity teas!

This tea confuses me. Every time I drink a cup my opinion of it changes.

This time, it’s very nutty, almost sweet – possibly the flavor of marzipan? I can taste the cardamom but I just… don’t understand it. I think that there are too many basic flavors and it’s too complex for me to fully enjoy it.

I bought this tea for skiing in Vermont (I know, the only reason I bought it was because we were going skiing) but I would definitely get it again. It had a welcoming, ski chalet taste to it. I usually drank it before we would go out in the mornings and it helped me to conquer my fear of the hill!

Alpine Punch is one of those teas that seems like it would be great, but it doesn’t deliver on its promises. The tea both smells and tastes HEAVILY like candy. My personal opinion is that the flavoring they’re using, in addition to the coconut, creates this extremely rich profile. Perhaps diluted way down this would taste better, but it really didn’t make a pleasant tea for me, warm or cold.

Definitely not a fan of Alpine Punch hot – cold is much, much better. The coconut doesn’t mesh with the punch – at least not for my tastebuds. I’ve heard this is ridiculously popular so I guess I’m the odd one out… doubt I’ll buy again but I’ll enjoy what’s left in the bag.