DAVIDsTEA

This is the best smelling tea I’ve ever smelled. It smells like oozing warm caramel. I spent a good five minutes just smelling it before I took a sip. It doesn’t taste as strongly of caramel as one would expect but it is very silky on the tongue which was a pleasant surprise. The tea is sweet enough that it doesn’t require any additional sugar or sweetener too.
This is one of my all time favorite teas, especially after dinner with some peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies, but it’s marvelous on its own. It’s perfect as a dessert tea. Yumm!!

Drinking what little I had left of this. How I regret not getting 100000 grams of it! This is my favourite DT ever, and I am still shocked that they didn’t make it permanent. I was so sure they would that I didn’t feel I had to stock up on it… at my local DT, it was clearly the biggest hit of the 2010 fall collection, and everyone I know who tasted it was in love! Sooo rich, creamy, bold, full, pure deliciousness! What a sad day, the day I found it wasn’t permanent, and that it was already sold out. Also sad was the day it didn’t win the Back from the dead poll. Those who voted for Fantasy Island never tasted this! It can’t be!

Farewell, Cocoa Paradiso, I will miss you a lot! I might tell my grandchildren how great you were when I get old.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

Trying this one again tonight, knowing this time to expect Ceylon.

CEYLON CEYLON CEYLON CEYLON CEYLON

Which is fine, if you want Ceylon. I am still grumpy about the change of this blend, as it’s hard to find a blend that’s got some China black in it. Yunnan is listed on this batch, but I swear, I cannot taste it. If you put a gun to my head, I might pick out some Darjeeling. Tastes a lot like Red Rose with some wood notes. Not brilliant. Made this for the sake of deciding which tea to drink this evening, and I’m expecting this one to go down the drain again.

1.5 tsp for 300mL @100C, steeped 4 minutes.

They’ve changed it.

This was a blend of Keemun, Assam, Yunnan and Uva. On the DavidsTea site, on the front page for black teas, it still is. When you get to the indiviaul listing, though, it’s now a blend of Darjeeling, Yunnan, and Ceylon. Could we get it together here, people? Grumble snort.

Ceylon, huh? I dunno …

And what’s with DavidsTea and Keemun? First, they dropped their Keemun offering, and now this blend no longer has Keemun. I had liked how this blend was heavier on China than India black tea.

So yeah, I am not feeling kindly inclined.

Lots of copper from the Ceylon, and that sunshiny but slightly flat taste some Ceylons offer.

Where’s the Darjeeing? Where’s the Yunnan?

A Ceylon-heavy blend. Fine, if you really like Ceylons. Disappointing, if you were in the mood for China. As for being in the mood for Darjeeling … yeah, go get some decent Darjeeling.

Not bitter, and not acidic — but only a medim body. No heft, no snap, no surprise — just a lot of coppery Ceylon. If you like coppery Ceylons, you might really enjoy this incarnation of the blend.

Bleah. Hauling my rating down.

Scant 1 tsp for 250mL water @93C, with 1/2 tsp Dung Ti Oolong added. Steeped 4 minutes. Drunk bare.

Perils of the sipdown. I didn’t have enough of this left to make a cup, so I made up the slack with some Dung Ti Oolong.

I find David’s Organic Breakfast to be very batch specific. I had some last winter that was brilliantly complex, while the next packet was bitter and harsh. This batch was quite acceptable, though not as interesting as the first one I ever tried — less good Yunnan, I think.

I thought last night of adding a small bit of Quangzhou Milk Oolong to some Assam Gingia, which I’ll try this evening. At work I only (hahaha) had Dung Ti. The sweetness took the edge off the David’s Organic Breakfast and made it richer. I will totally try this again.

1 TB for 450 mL water, steeped 4 minutes 15 seconds. Rating: 80

Hmm. Maybe making this one a bit stronger brings out more of the complexity I remember, but it still isn’t the same as the first batch I ever tried. Lots of creamniess and heft from the Yunnan and Keemun, and some smoke from the Keemun, but also a sharpness I’m not sure I care for, a “typical” bitterness I find in cheaper blends. The Uva maybe? Did I scald the Assam? It’s still a fine blend, but I am dinstinctly not in the mood for it this morning.

6 tsp for 1000mL tea, Breville, 3 minute steep with basket cycle on. 85

A tasty blend, but not as complex and bright and I remember. I first tried some about a year ago and got the BAM effect. Not this time. I guess different batches going into the blend would affect that.

One thing that does bug me a bit about the copy: The company talks about tasting Darjeeling when putting this blend together, but there is no Darjeeling in the blend. It’s a mix of Yunnan, Keemun, Assam and Uva teas. That’s been revised on the packet I just got but is still on the site.

For a breakfast blend, it’s a bit on the strong side; the Keemun plays hard here. The Assam gifts some heft, but the tea is not overly malty. The Yunnan smooths it out. It’s really good, especially when compared to many “breakfast” blends out there, “breakfast” being another way of saying “floor sweepings,” I sometimes think. I like this much more than David’s Orange Pekoe and enjoy this blend when I just want some good black tea.

This type of green tea is my absolute favorite. I decided to get this instead of the two other options from David’s: Butterfly Jasmine and Dragon Pearls. This is a bit cheaper, and I have faith that it still tastes good. Besides, unless I am brewing those in a glass teapot I can’t see it unfurl. Hence why I picked this tea over the other two, because I don’t mind if it doesn’t look fancy.

Anyways, this didn’t disappoint me. I like it because it takes green tea (which is enjoyable by itself) and adds a nice floral taste to it (not too little, not too much). I’m normally not a fan of flowers and tea, especially rose and lavender. But I love the smell of jasmine and it tastes fantastic with green tea. To me, this is not a “refreshing” tea its a relaxing tea.

In the future, I may buy a small pouch (25g) of the Butterfly Jasmine just to discover if it tastes much different. When I run out of Silk Dragon Jasmine tea I will most certainly refill my tin. Like I said earlier, this type is one of my favorites and it is going to stay in my permanent collection.

1yr reflection: Wow I can’t believe I liked this one so much… because it’s not that good. Removed rating

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped five minutes, drunk bare.

I’ve not had this blend for a few years. I think the roasted mate in here is new since my last cup.

I often avoid anise, but here it works, its black licorice notes giving some depth the ginger and cinnamon. I can only taste the roasted mate on the after taste, where its often harsh bitterness shows up. (I much prefer green mate.) This tea brews up a bit cloudy, probably because of the ginger, but it’s got a lovely spice heat. I like this blend better than DavidsTea other chais — although Saigon Chai is very good — but I’m not much of a chai fan, as I find the tea bases used are often low quality. I drink this one for the stimulant effects, and for that, it works just fine.

Sharp, and a bit thin in body. Pleasantly spicy, and the guarana does add some kick. The anise does not overwhelm but it definitely announces itself.

If I was being snobby, I’d call this a Darjeeling wannabe. But it deserves a little more respect than that. It’s got similar tasting notes to Darjeeling, being grown at a hgh elevation in Nepal, but seems a big fruiter to me. I didn’t find it any more energizing than any other black tea, incidentally. Milk might overwhelm this one.

Still drinking this, I’ve gone through about 2/3 of my 100g tea pouch. Its a very light tea, so it really fills up the pouch. If one were to get this in a tin, they would have to provide an “overflow” pouch as well.

Its very light and has a bit of sweetness to it. Not overly sweet, just enough to make the drink a more interesting.

This is just a follow up note. See my previous one for more tasting notes.

The tea is not a gimmick; it actually tastes very good.
I can’t say that this reminds me of champagne. Then again I rarely drink champagne. However I do know that I enjoy this tea. It is very flavorful, it’s smooth but not really creamy. When I smell it, I am reminded of coronation grapes. So more than anything else it smells like a “wine tea”. The scent of this brewed tea makes my mouth water.

Awww yeah, pumpkin chai and pumpkin tim bits!

Small note:
Had some of this with a bit of Peppermint Amour thrown in (2:1). It’s weird, but I kinda like it. I’ll have to put in less peppermint next time, it’s really strong.

This is a mix of a lot of different flavors. The black tea is not very strong tasting. It kind of has a muted flavor.
I know this sounds strange, but it tastes like David’s Tea combined a slice of pumpkin pie with hot apple cider (minus the apple-y flavor). Weird I know, but very tasty. Pumpkin is one of my favorite flavors so I couldn’t help but buy this. It’s also kind of rare for me to find anything like it unless its Fall.

Smooth and sweet. For my husband and I, this is our favorite rooibos. We love to drink this sort of tea at night, because its soothing and does not have caffeine.

I was feeling a bit stuffy and all around me, people have been getting sick— and not the ‘I don’t want to go to work’ sick, REAL sick! So, I thought I would give this tea a shot to nip any cold I may be getting in the bud.

As the cleverly written description suggested I do if desperate, I added a clove of chopped fresh garlic, so keep that in mind as you read my review.

First, I can say that it did make me feel better! I had it yesterday evening and I woke up bright-eyed and tail bushy!

As for the taste, it was definitely different, and was almost somewhere between a tea and a broth. That said, I really enjoyed it! The Lemongrass/Ginger combo was lovely and not at all overpowered by the added Ginger.

If you are super not feeling well, I would recommend this for sure! Or maybe a combination of this and some DavidsTea Detox as well.

One of my favourites when I want something simple.

I had a plan with this tea. I thought I’d try it in a latte after reading some of the comments here, to see if that would make the butteriness less apparent. I think it was the right choice!

It sort of reminds me of an orange smoothie Popsicle. It has a certain creamy, buttery vanilla taste, but I think the citrus orange flavour is quite apparent and absolutely great!

In the words of Hannibal Smith: I love it when a plan comes together.