Superberry (Organic)

Again, another blend I liked that’s been discontinued. Sigh. If you are/were looking for a sweet and fruity berry tea with a super intense flavor, this was perfect.

Thanks so much to VariaTEA for this sample! The label was in French, which I don’t speak at all, so it took me a while to figure out what I was drinking. :) This is a really nice fruity black tea. There are lots of dried berries in the blend and the flavors mingle nicely and layer well on top of the black base. There’s a tiny bit of tartness to the aftertaste, but that just adds to the berry flavor for me. This is one I’ll definitely be drinking again!

As soon as I read the description on this sample I got from VariaTEA I knew I’d be cold brewing this. Looking at the previous tasting notes I can see I wasn’t alone in that decision.

But also, wow, correct decision. Hello juicy tasty treat! How incredible is this? Perfect cold brew black. I really loved this, I’m shocked to see so many negative reviews for it—most if not all of those appear to be for trying this hot, so I’m even more glad with my cold brew decision.

Is this one actually discontinued now?

Thanks so much for the sample VariaTEA — I loved this one!

Picked this one up because I heard it was being discontinued and a friend with me at our local DAVIDs said he liked it and I’m a packrat. For a while all I tasted was the sweeter berries, but as it cooled and sat the more bitter flavor of the juniper and acai came forth. The flavors cancel each other out a little but the slightly bitter aftertaste is still there. Not what I expected from a berry tea, and I’m actually not going to complain. If you know what you’re getting into this actually stands to be a good blend, and DAVIDs carries other berry blends that fit the classic sweet berry blend. I can see that throwing off a few people, and I’m not sure if that’s why it got discontinued, but I’m a little sad I didn’t pick some up sooner.

I was so excited when EvaGrimm sent me this tea and a lot of other teas from my wishlist that I never really thought I would ever try. I knew right away I was going to cold brew it. I did about a week ago so I don’t remember much only that I liked it but would not be heartbroken if it is not available the next time I order from DAVIDs.
Thank you so much EvaGrimm

A while back I asked steepster what tea was good for coldbrewing. The response I got from so many of you was this tea. When I went to pick some up a while back, I was told it was retired so yesterday when I saw it on the wall, I jumped at the chance to try it. Sipping on it now, I definitely understand why it was so highly recommended. It is basically like sipping on a cup full of berries. No base, just sweet, fresh berries. Yum! Now I guess I better decide quickly how badly I need this around as it is getting retired soon.

ETA: For those interested, DAVIDs added more chocolates. Now they have Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate and Forever Nuts Milk Chocolate.

Another morning, another new (for me) tea. This one wasn’t originally on my to try list, but I’ve heard good things about it so I thought I’d give it a shot. I wasn’t sure that it was what I wanted this morning either… I wasn’t really in a sweet mood but everything else was just not right for today. Anyone else ever have those mornings that it doesn’t matter what’s available, you don’t want any of it but you want/need something? That’s been my morning, from breakfast to now. And it’s not just food either… sigh ah well

Dry this tea smells very sweet and filled with berry scents. The rosehips also standout and, combined with the safflower petals, give it a nice floral scent that mixes well with the fruity berry-ness of the tea. There’s a few darker notes from the black tea but nothing that really stands out to me at the moment.

The clear orange-brown liquor has a much deeper scent profile; the (previously almost overwhelming) sweetness has mellowed out and now blends nicely with the rest of the aromas, while the berry notes have become darker but still with that tart fruitiness to them. The floral notes from the rosehips and safflower have also evened out and now serve as a lovely base for the berries. I can also detect a bit of malt coming from the black tea which should prove interesting if it transfers through to the flavor profile.

Speaking of the flavor… I don’t know that I’ve ever had a berry tea that has had so much berry-ness to it without being overly artificial. There are some slight artificial notes to it but I don’t find them particularly off putting. The juniper berries complement the blueberries quite nicely and both stand out in the tea, while the rosehips and safflower serve as subtle highlights giving it a bit of a dynamic tone. I can catch hints of the acai powder every once and a while but not often and the darker malt notes from the black tea form a nice base for the rest of the flavors.

A very interesting tea… I’ll have to see how it differs from DT’s Blueberry Jam before deciding if I’d like it in my cupboard but for right now it’s a potential. And I could see it being good iced too.

This tea smelt wonderful when I was in the store, but I don’t love it as much now. It is okay, but the berries are all you taste sometimes- no tea present. I tried to steep it fro the base 4 minutes and quite frankly, it was gross. Dunno if I would recommend this to anyone.

Sipdown (205/207)!

The sample I received of this from aisling of tea was the perfect size for a cold brew, which made me really excited because that’s why I had it in my shopping/wishlist in the first place. In total, this cold brewed for nine hours.

I brought it to work today to leave at my till and drink in between customers. It’s definitely more refreshing keeping cold brewed teas around than hot, though I appreciate the hot tea at the end of my shift when I’m cashing out/doing the closing paperwork and on the walk home.

This one was REALLY good. It definitely came across very strongly of berries, and I specifically tasted the sweet acai berries, and the blueberry. Sadly, the Juniper berries were kinda lost in the other strong flavours despite there being so many of them; I’m sure that they contributed something to the flavour on a whole though. This also reminded me a little of Blueberry Jam, which I also thoroughly enjoy.

Once my cupboard is better maintained and I’ve finished off a whole bunch of other DT blends, I’d TOTALLY stock this one up just for cold brewing; I think the key difference between this and Blueberry Jam is that Blueberry Jam didn’t make for a great cold brew where as this one totally did. It’d be interesting to try this hot and see if the reverse it true as well…

Really nice simple black berry, really liked it.