Daydreamer

Nope, I had hopes for this one but they didn’t come through. On the recommendation of a friend I brewed it shorter and I found that I liked it even less. Glad I didn’t get much of any of this collection. David’s, please let the summer collection be amazing. Please?

So I think I need to call this entry, “The First Time Tea Really DID Taste Like Juice To Dan.”

Some of you guys may remember how disappointing the DAVIDsTEA Spring Collection was last year. It was mostly just…flat, taste-wise. I think I still have a cup or two’s worth of Tangerine Dream in my cupboard which I meant to drink up but didn’t because meh.

But I secretly loved this one, and got a whole tin of it full before it was gone from stores. Then proceeded to pretty much forget about it entirely.

I re-discovered it on my shelf the other day when I was looking for tea that I could keep down with norovirus in my system. I disregarded this as a possible choice, but vowed to keep it in mind as something to drink later.

I pulled it out this morning, and popped the lid off – it’s still full, I’ve basically had none of it since I bought it. Great investment, huh? I had to wince at how much this looks like an old Teaopia tea: a whole tin of cheap sencha with some fruit chunks in it. I’m increasingly biased towards teas with a sencha base, as fewer and fewer of them hold up for me as time goes by.

Uniquity has a review for this tea stating that she(? correct me if I’m wrong) thinks it tastes like – or the taste reminds her of – Tim Horton’s peach juice. I scoffed when I first read that, because juice is so obviously a much stronger-tasting substance, and I always used to be vaguely annoyed/subconsciously envious of people who seemed to have much more developed taste buds than me.

But now… No, she’s right, I tasted it this morning. Never mind the description of it as a green tea that’s mildly fruity, it darn well tasted like juice! That could be largely blamed on the amount of sugar I had in it, but I’ve used that amount of sugar before and never thought tea tasted like juice.

Then again, my tastes are definitely changing/developing in ways I never expected: I recently tried a cup of Fruitopia, something which I used to think of as refreshing, but which I haven’t had in at least a year. When I did, I was shocked to my core at how much sugar I can now taste in it; it’s literally so sweet that it coats my mouth and makes it sticky. There’s no way that shit is “refreshing” or hydrating.

Anyway. There was definitely a strong peach flavour that came through, despite the fact that this tea is meant to be mango and guava flavoured. I’ve been trying more guava-themed stuff lately, so I think I’d recognize that, but I just didn’t taste it. It’s peach and mango. There also seems to be some citus notes underneath…I was thinking it’s not sharp enough to be lemon, so orange or tangerine.

Maybe my thoughts are now biased because of sencha, but the base did not hold up like I remember. It was a little queasy-making because it was so sweet and the base apparently collapses when you add sugar (there’s a mental image), so pretty much for the first time ever with a flavoured tea, I steeped another cup clear. (New leaves, mind you, because I have way too much stuff to justify re-steeping much of anything. Plus, that’s not a fair comparison.)

And…yeah. Part of me is missing that level of sweetness, but the flavour seems better now. Of the fruit, at least – it’s not as sickly. The base does not improve, though, and it’s more obvious that I do not like it.

Oh well. It might be nice iced, and 100g isn’t much when you are making 700mL of it at a time in little pitchers. I’m sure I will find a use for it.

Dry Leaf Nose: Classic green tea aroma with hints of fruits.

Liquor: Clear green tea colour, bright and appealing . The nose is of subtle green tea and fruits.

Flavour: Very subtle and appealing cup. The green tea is delicate and refreshing on top, while fruit notes add to the blend nicely.

Thanks jeweledthumb! This one smells amazziinnggg. Lovely mango and juicy tropical ish flavors. I really like this one!

Oh, wedding planning just never calms down, does it? There’s too much to do!!!

I need some tea. So, I reached for this free sample I received from DAVIDsTEA. The dry leaves smell strongly of guava candy. Like super sugary guava. The brewed tea aroma is guava and mango and a little more subdued.

The ingredient list says that this guava flavoring is artificial. That’s a mild disappointment. But what’s more disappointing is the taste. This tea tastes like a low-grade bancha with very little fruit flavoring. It actually reminds me of some low quality bagged green teas I used to drink before I found loose-leaf.

For all that sugary aroma, this is fairly bland and leans towards the bitter side. Unfortunately, this tea has artificial additives and you can really tell. Thank goodness this was only a sample. I am not a fan.

Ha, I left this to steep in the fridge for around two days. Not my intention but it worked out in the end.

Dry, this smelled more like mango than peach. But yet, it both smells and tastes like peach juice. Not the juice crystals but the big jugs of peach juice my family used to by at Costco when I was a little kid. I can’t taste any guava either.

I love eating peaches, but never liked peach-flavoured or -scented stuff, so I thought I wouldn’t like this once I caught a whiff of it as I was straining the leaves and such. But it’s actually pretty good. It pairs well with the green tea, which is mellow and refreshing. It’s one of those teas that isn’t worth buying but you wouldn’t mind drinking it if someone put a glass of it in front of you.

I received this in one of my orders as a sample. I just knew it needed to be an iced tea to help combat this 100 degree weather. I also decided that it needed to be subjected to my first attempt at cold brewing. I have to say that my experiment was definitely a success! I’d been making my iced teas so far by brewing them hot, then icing them. This definitely brings out the subtle flavors more. As for the tea, I really like it. It’s not overpoweringly mango, the mango feels much more subtle, almost as if it’s enhancing the tea. Overall, I’m very happy with this.

Had this in a “to go” cup on my way out of DavidsTea today (see previous tealog on Ceylon star for my fabulous experience!) It was good, but I couldn’t tell if I was tasting the mango or the agave sweetener, and I wished I had skipped the sweetener so I could really taste the tea. It was very light tasting, and I even left the teabag in the cup the whole time I was drinking it and it didn’t get bitter. Might have to get some of this one just to see how it is without the sweetener, but it was good with it!

This is very good and fruity, but not for me. I am not a fan of mango, but I do enjoy how sweet and fresh this tea tastes. Thanks, Courtney, for sending me a bit of this to try! I have enough for another cup, still, and I am thinking I’ll try cold-brewing my leftover leaves to see how that works.

This is alright. The sencha seemed nice albeit a little quick to go bitter. Very sweet and fruity, dominated by mango. A nice tea, but there are too many similar and more outstanding teas out there. I’ll see how I like it next time, when I will try a shorter steep (3 minutes this time).