So, this tea launched on June 1st – at the start of Pride month.
I debated whether I would write a tasting note for this tea since, like some fans have been quick to notice, it’s the exact same blend as Rainbow Sherbet but with added citrus peels. Citrus peels really don’t have a taste at all in tea blends (not a significant enough one to impact the overall flavour, anyway) and are usually used for visuals – which I think is the case here, in order to better tie this tea into the Lemonade Collection for the summer. So, if you want to see my thoughts on the flavour you can just go read my reviews for Rainbow Sherbet – but, spoiler, I’m not a big fan.
What I do want to write about is corporate Pride, since that seems to be a bigger conversation happening this year as more companies try to be a part of Pride: including DAVIDsTEA, which is donating 10% of all sales of this tea to It Gets Better up until June 30th of this year. So, this is just my own thoughts on the matter, as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, both in general and in relationship to DAVIDsTEA…
It’s a complicated issue – as a minority group it’s important to have allies and support, it’s meaningful and impactful in making real change. However, no one wants to be taken advantage of or profited off. It definitely gets under my skin when I see companies, for the month of June, slap a rainbow on their logo or put out some product (usually rainbow coloured) with a sort of lazy “Love is Love” slogan. That doesn’t, to me, feel like real support – and I especially hate seeing corporate floats in pride parades: that’s not your place/not for you. If you really want to support us, you can walk with us WITHOUT dawning your corporate logos or you can sponsor a local LGBTQIA+ group/organization or charity financially, so that they’re able to have a float/do something elaborate – but without splashing your logo on it/necessarily shouting to the world that you made it happen…
My experience with DAVIDsTEA, though, has been so positive – it’s honestly been the most inclusive and welcoming to the LGBTQIA+ community of anywhere I’ve ever worked. Part of my training when I entered into more of a management role was diversity training and my experience in store was that about 1/3 of my coworkers WERE LGBTQIA+. I had a coworker, who is now an assistant manager at that location, who is FTM trans and the HR department was amazing about making sure that his company email address, name on our shift scheduling system, etc. was all under his chosen name. We even had a manager who made him a name tag with his pronouns on it, under his name, because a lot of customers were inadvertently misgendering him. We also had a long standing partnership with the local gay and drag bar, year round, and contributed prizes for fundraisers and tea for various drag events throughout the city…
Within the head office, I’d say that it’s actually about half my coworkers who are somewhere within the LGBT+ umbrella – when I first started at the office it was very common place for people to ask my pronouns when we were first introduced, we have gender neutral washrooms, and it’s people who are part of the community who led the marketing for not only this campaign, with Rainbow Lemonade, but with our past ones as well – because DT has been involved w/ Pride for YEARS.
So yeah – if this tea does really well then yes DT is going to profit off it and that’s somewhat conflicting for me. However, at the same time I feel like the intentions here are genuinely good; this is a campaign that the staff (both in store and in head office) are excited about! Like, I feel as if it’s KNOWN within the LGBTQIA+ community that DT is a safe and welcoming place both to work and shop year round. Our Pride doesn’t stop on July 1st. I also think disclosing the amount we’re donating (which, again, is 10%) is an important part of “Corporate Pride” because you’re, at least, giving people within the community the knowledge to make an informed choice about how you want to spend your money.
So it’s something I do feel a little conflicted about – and which I personally feel will always be a grey area for me. There’s always going to be things companies can do to be better allies, and I feel like we’re doing some good things as a company year round. We’re capable of pushing ourselves to do more, though.
Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.
