Oat Milk Latte

Normally I find Mate teas bland so i avoid them. Had to try this one though as the name alone made it sound good and i am glad i did. Flavorful and savory (another type of tea I don’t do as much, normally a sweet tea girl). Can’t wait to make my next cup with chocolate oat milk

(DavidsTea 74)

I think I bought this for the appealing name alone. The ingredient list is quite a mishmash, with mate, rooibos, black tea, fennel, coriander, coffee leaves, carob, chicory… plus our constant foe stevia, which I hadn’t realized. No real idea how it would taste (to be honest, I don’t actually like oat milk, but I like the idea of oat milk, haha).

It turned out to be a fairly complex, rich, sweet blend (I chose to drink it plain but presumably it would be best as a latte). The flavours are familiar, though I don’t know what in particular is causing that sense. I’m not too bothered by the stevia, and in a latte, it would likely be even less noticeable, especially if sweetened.

I’ll have to try this again to really know how I feel about it – initial thoughts are that while I am enjoying it, it probably wouldn’t be a favourite?

A new tea from this week’s latte themed launch!

I’m still personally a little undecided on whether I like this tea or not – but there’s a lot about it I find quite interesting. Oat milk lattes, and oat milk in general, are something that I had kind of seen before in Saskatchewan prior to moving to Montreal but it wasn’t until getting here that I saw such an extreme amount of them. Oat Milk as a dairy alternative has such an extreme presence within cafes and restaurants – truly it’s a trend that has really popped off. I guess that makes sense; in my experience the prairies are usually behind on the trending curve, so I imagine it’ll be another year or so before oat milk is as common place there as it is here…

Of course – as someone who is only a tea drinker – when I hear “latte” my mind basically autofills that to “tea latte” but for most people I think picturing a coffee beverage is the norm, and so this is modeled after a coffee based latte made with oat milk. Of course, you’re getting both tea and coffee as ingredients – but the taste is definitely meant to reflect coffee. That is where I personally struggle, because I do NOT like the taste of coffee in most circumstances – tea included.

One of the things I really appreciate about the composition of this blend, though, is that all the ingredients are really putting in some work here – the oat adds needed starchiness (and obviously the taste of oat) which you need for something emulating oat milk, the chicory adds a deep roast that boosts the coffee flavours, ditto for the roasted mate, coconut from creaminess, rooibos for a honeyed sweetness, etcetera…

I love the oat, the cream, the thickness/body, and the notes of roast but the coffee…

Oof, the coffee… It’s just not my thing, y’know!?

Honestly, the best approach I’ve personally found is as an iced latte. That was pretty good, actually – but not surprising given that the tea has latte in the name and was modeled after a latte. A bit less noticeable chicory or stevia in a latte style of preparation, as well…

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.