DAVIDsTEA

I don’t remember why I bought this tea, but here we are. It doesn’t need any sugar. The main flavor is a fresh ginger. It tastes nice both hot and cold. I probably wouldn’t buy this again since it’s no better than grocery store brands, but I was happy to enjoy it more than I expected. Though there are lots of completely invisible fun ingredients in there, which is too bad. Maybe I can taste hints of them occasionally, but they’re really overpowered by the ginger. I would definitely just purchase straight ginger in the future.

Sipdown (264)

I blew through 50 grams of this in under a week thanks to cold brewing. Like a tangy and juicy passion fruit punch. Upping the rating from 75 and something tells me I will be buying more of this shortly.

Finishing up the cold brew of this which I’ve been having throughout the day. It’s definitely better this way because while it’s still sweet, it doesn’t seem out of place here.

This is better cold brewed. The blackberry leaf isn’t as cloying which allows the nice passion fruit flavor to come out.

(1) this tea is adorable and (2) I remember why I didn’t love pink passion fruit and it’s the blackberry leaf. It’s not overly offensive but not my favourite either. I think I’ll try cold brewing this one tomorrow though.

Yesterday we had a goodbye party (socially distanced in the patio/outdoor eating area of the head office) for two coworkers in the tea department who had their last days; one is moving across the country and the other is starting a new adventure a little more close to home here in Montreal…

It was a sad afternoon – the tea department is very close (I would argue much closer than any other department in the office) so it meant a lot that even during Covid-19 we all gathered for this send off. For the one coworker, we’ll probably see her in the near-ish future but for the other, since she’s moving so far away, who knows when we’ll all see her next in person! She was one of the very first people I ever met here in the city after I moved and has been such an ingrained part of my life here since moving…

We made two big pitchers of iced tea for everyone to drink, in addition to plenty of wine – and this was one of the two. I don’t drink very much, but I picked this one because it seemed like a nice way to stay kind of “on theme” and get to partake in the drinking without actually drinking – and I did drink a lot of it! It was very hot, and this has the perfect herbal/boozy and refreshing orange flavour without being sweet or cloying and because it’s not “sticky in your mouth” sweet and overly rich you’re able to just down a lot of it without hitting a point where it gets too rich!

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.

Yearly cocktail/mocktail collection is out – a little surprised that Mojito Matcha didn’t launch with this collection but what do I know, I’m not in marketing…

Returning teas this year are:
Raspberry Mojito
Coco Colada
Lychee Belline

I wont write new notes for these ones for the collection launch because I have several already for each…

I’m starting with this one from the three new teas because it’s the most interesting to me. It’s my second flavourite of the three new teas as well. Of the collection this year, only two are direct cocktail recreations – and this is the only one where I’ve actually had the cocktail it’s inspired by/named for. I don’t mind a Negroni – I’ve always thought of them as a more classic and sophisticated cocktail. I also find it interesting that they’re not really perceived as a “girly drink” despite the fact that they are fruity. Maybe it’s because they’re bitter? Is that the thing that makes it more “masculine”? Idk – gendering food products is weird to me…

Lets start with the visuals – I think this tea has one of the nicest visuals of any blend released so far this year. The black tea used throughout it has such a consistent appearance, and is a less broken looking that the black tea base you will often see used in tea blends; the leaves are slender and twisty and while I’m not 100% sure of the origin they look a little bit like what I’d expected from a Kenyan black tea. I also love the mix of large cut orange slices/wedges and the small citrus twists – it’s a nice contrast against the black tea and against one another, and both style of citrus remind me of different ways you might see orange purposed as a garnish – the twists being a little more “craft” in appearance…

In terms of smell and taste – I think this is eerily spot on for a Negroni. Like, there’s a quality to this tea that both smells and tastes really boozy/alcoholic – I believe that’s coming from the tonic flavouring in the blend but the level/balance is just so on the money for the cocktail it’s recreating. The orange is fresh and vibrant, but also pithy and a little bit bitter – not enough that I find it unpleasant, but enough that it adds nuance to the blend and offsets much of the sweetness (this is the least sweet of the new teas by far) – it’s a really good recreation of the bitter and herbal taste of Aperol. It does worry me a little bit that it’s both boozy and bitter though because I think that a Negroni is a type of cocktail that isn’t really as commercially prevalent in all areas of the country and I know that the DT customer base as a generalized collective is more hesitant to embrace teas with any bitterness – it’s possible this might be a slightly too elevated concept/too accurate representation of its concept to have mass appeal. I hope I’m wrong about that.

Also, usually the cocktail collection is marketed as iced tea but I really enjoy this one both iced and hot. I’ve had it about a half dozen times now and I can’t decide which way I prefer. The best tea I can think to compare it to from DT is Apero Spritz – but just a more refined version. If you liked that tea, you will likely enjoy this one – and is Apero Spritz was too bitter/boozy for you then this might be a safe pass.

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.

I don’t have the words to describe the taste of this tea, but it is wonderful. I got multiple teapots worth out of two perfect spoonfuls. Although I oversteeped my tea leaves a lot, I didn’t notice any adverse flavours.

I bought this a couple of months ago after seeing that DAVIDsTEA had brought back some of their past favorites. It seems a lot of people on Steepster really like this one, so I thought I’d give it a try. Probably not the best move since it was only available for a short time, but hey – you only live once. I had my first cup this morning, and it was really nice. It had a deep flavor, and I could taste the raspberry. No coconut in this cup but I’ll play around with it to see what comes out.

Unfortunately, I put my mug down on my nightstand while I was folding laundry and came back to find my cat playing in it. I was only able to drink about half, but that just gives me an excuse to have another cup soon.

Got the teeniest tiniest sample of this tea, but it was very good. I would definitely buy again in LARGE quantities (4oz) if there was a sale so I could make this one a staple.

Very cute but too overbearing to be the staple candy mint tea. Would not repurchase.

The main flavor here, weirdly, seems to be something like coconut? There’s none included in the blend, so I’m not sure where I’m getting that from. The red fruit flavor is tart and a bit artificial. I really don’t mind it. Not special enough to purchase again, but I’m glad to have tried it. It’s a pretty refreshing tea when enjoyed cold. It doesn’t taste like sweet tart candies, but it does taste both sweet and tart, so the name works!

I made this as a matcha soda with strawberry Perrier. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it’s really good. I expected matcha flavor since this is a rare time that my matcha isn’t in a latte or smoothie but the drink is just so light and bright and fruity and flavourful. Mint is definitely at the forefront but sweet comes from strawberry and lime pairing nicely together.