Della Terra Teas

I drank this yesterday both black and in latte form, and even though I did enjoy it brewed regular western-style it was definitely better as a latte. My mam said it smelled like hot chocolate, and it kind of tasted like it too. Yummy.

I’ll write up a better note at some point in the future, but notes will be brief and sparse for the next little while because I’ve finally started training for my new job! I’m training online because of the Covid situation, and that means there is A LOT of reading followed by A LOT of tests. So far I have 3 down, 23 to go. I’m still drinking tea, but I can’t focus as much attention on it as I’d like to right now. It’s my birthday on Wednesday though so I will be taking the day off and drinking plenty of tea then!

Sipdown 203/399!

This gets sooo much better as it cools. Hot, the flavours are mostly muted with a hint of chocolate. The chocolate does lean more on that ‘cocoa butter’ side, which I don’t really enjoy but find a lot in chocolate teas, but it’s discernible and gets better as the cup cools. The orange too, which starts out as a whisper of citrus oils, becomes more corporeal and distinctively orange. Especially with sugar, this really does give me the impression of a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, but maybe a knock off version? Ha. If I came across this tea from a current vendor I might be tempted to pick up a small amount to experiment with. Thanks go to Janelle for sharing this tea with me way back when.

I’ve never had s’mores, being from the UK, and I don’t totally know what they are, though I have an idea. I definitely have no idea what a graham cracker is supposed to taste like! Not that it really matters, because all I taste in this tea is marshmallow (and tea). Don’t get me wrong, it’s an impressively accurate marshmallow flavour that I’ve only experienced one or two times in tea form, but there’s no chocolate that I can taste, or anything else which might be ‘graham cracker’. That being said I’ve really enjoyed it each time I’ve had it, and I’ve had it a few times now, from both Janelle and VariaTEA. Thank you, ladies! It’s a good sweet treat, and it always amazes me how accurate the marshmallow is, even though I wish there were more of the other elements noticeable in the sip. The tea is robust enough to add a maltiness to the cup, without adding any astringency, which I appreciate.

Though Della Terra has gone out of business now, I know their supplier is still around and several other companies sell the same blends. So, eventually, I will probably try to find this from another vendor. For now it’s a sipdown (202/399).

Cold brew! 3tsps steeped in 12oz of water in the fridge for almost 24 hours.

This is the best ‘cola’ tea I’ve tried. In fact, it might be the only one which gets across a strong and accurate cola note. Though it smells very cakey, as well as like coke, the cake doesn’t translate through into the sip when cold brewed, except as a very faint background note which I could be imagining. I remember it coming through more when hot, but cold brewed this is all cherry coke goodness (and the ‘coke’ feels less confusing cold). I don’t get any chocolate from it either, but I think I prefer it that way. I wish I could remember which company Della Terra sourced their teas from or who else sold the same blends, because I would love to pick up some more of this for the summer. As an iced tea it does a good job of killing any coke cravings! Thanks for sharing this with me, KittyLovesTea!

ETA: I resteeped my cold brew leaves in hot water, and the cake is much more prominent as is the base tea.

I received this in a swap with Janelle a long time back, and it’s always lacked the chocolatiness I crave every time I brew it up. Chocolate isn’t usually a flavour I go for in tea, mostly because it never actually tastes as chocolatey as I want it to, but I have to say that this one disappoints me less than most. The scent is so strongly chocolate that each time I inhale I think it’s going to be better than it is, but sadly the taste doesn’t live up to what the scent promises. It is more chocolate than cocoa butter, which I appreciate, and it’s not too artificial-tasting either, and if I had had this in the prime of its life and overleafed more maybe I would have liked it better. It really is one of the better chocolate teas I’ve tried, though I prefer a black tea with natural chocolate notes, like the Laoshan black. Making allowances for the age of the tea and the fact that I had to slightly underleaf this time around – it’s my final cup – I suppose the chocolate is sort of kinda thereish. I just wish it tasted as good as it smelled!

Sipdown 174/397.

Sipdown! 285/365!

Should have used a finum filter for the last of this tea – it was a bit astringent for this final cup. Not too bad, though.

This was surprisingly good, actually. Kind of like a sweet cider with cinnamon. Wouldn’t buy it again, but especially given its age, I was impressed at the flavours I was getting!

Sipdown 2020! 13/365

This was actually a pretty tasty tea. Didn’t taste much like chamomile, but was pleasantly apple-cinnamon flavoured.

Once upon a time, I got a bajillion Della Terra samples from Janelle, I believe. Most were herbals, and though I had requested them, due to a general dislike of such teas, I really didn’t try very many. However, my MIL prefers caffeine-free teas, so it was perfect when I located the bag! Which, curiously, smells overwhelmingly of honey flavouring that is used by many companies (not an objectionable smell at all, when we think of the possibilities that herbal teas could bring).

This tea seemed pretty straightforward – apple chunks, some spice, and chamomile. Flavour is just what you’d expect, and surprisingly, I thought it was okay. It’s not too strongly-flavoured, and the chamomile is more present than I’d like, but it made for a nice evening cup the other day. Of course, my MIL also enjoyed it, so I’ll be leaving the rest for her while I focus on other teas that I like more.

I have nearly a full ounce of this, but I think this is my first time trying it… Anyhow, it looks and sounds good – barley and roasted mate, coconut – except for the rooibos. Unfortunately, something tasted off to me when I had a couple sips, so I tossed the cup (unusual for me, I know! But I brewed it up while I had guests, and then left it overnight, and just didn’t care to try and salvage it in the morning.) I realize now that it’s probably the coconut, which is sad. I’ll give it another shot, maybe with a bit of milk, before I toss the whole packet.

This smells delicious, like fuzzy peaches. Unfortunately, there’s a strange element here… almost tastes like the fruit is rotten-ish? It could be age, but I think it might actually be a combo of the honeybush and fruit. Not really a fan.

Sipdown 2020! 33/365

Whoops, waited a touch too long on this one and the walnut and/or coconut went a bit off, but it was the last cup, so that’s ok. I did definitely enjoy this tea fresh!

This tea has both coconut AND walnut in it, and consequently should have tasted awful given how old it is. By contrast, it was delicious. I steeped it perfectly (165F did well for it), and it was light, sweet, nutty, and perfect. Probably haven’t ever had a better cup of it.

Another old tea; no off flavours but a pretty ho-hum peachy black. Definitely more on the floral-peach side than mango; tasted somewhat like fuzzy peaches. One good thing – the base is a little more forgiving than some, and doesn’t get astringent so easily.

Sipdown! 156/365!

My first sipdown of June… yikes (it was a few days ago)! I’ve been drinking a lot of favourites recently, especially as my friend was visiting and I wanted to share good teas with her (and also, ones that I have more than a single up of!) Hoping to double up on my sipdowns for the next few days.

Anyhow, this tea was more or less flavourless, which I think I had noted last time. Not bad to drink, but no citrus. No rating because age is obviously the culprit here; this would be an uncharacteristically bland tea from Della Terra (and citrus usually isn’t terribly subtle).

So much backlog. Ugh, sorry.

Should have had this sooner. It was mediocre; not astringent but also not terribly flavourful. Maybe a little citrussy?

Thanks to… whoever this sample is from? (Likely Sil, it seems!)

Since I just logged a tea I didn’t drink I thought I should actually write a review. I looked back and to my horror it’s been three years since I’ve done one. How the heck did that happen? I check here almost every week and I drink more tea than ever.

So this is a really old tea and soon to be a sipdown. I have enough for one more cup and after this one and I think I’m going to make it right after I finish writing this. It was that good.

I’m picky about my rooibos/honeybush teas. Drinking them straight is icky and they have to have just the right flavoring. Honeybush is better than rooibos but I’m always slightly dubious of either. I wasn’t expecting much from this sipdown because of the age of the tea but it’s just as good as I remember if not better. I can taste each part individually. You know how somethings are generic lemonlime flavored like Gatorade and some things are lemon & lime flavored? This is lemon & lime flavored. I can taste both clearly along with a sweet creamy-ness with a hint of vanilla and they blend to create something truely amazing.

I should be happy to complete a sipdown from the dark depths of my cupboard but this leaves me slightly sad. I’m going to have to go digging around to see what other Della Terra teas might be hiding in there.

Rating wise I’d give this a 95 but Steepster doesn’t want to let me use the little slider bar for rating on my iPad and the closest I can get is 99. That’s probably fair though.

Sipdown! 52/365

This is pretty yummy, which I recalled from having it previously (buuut apparently I did not log it). Candy cane-type of minty, as opposed to peppermint, with a nice creaminess. The rooibos is woody and noticeable, but not unpleasant. Wouldn’t have minded having more of this!

Random tea pick for the day, as I poked through a bin of teas from various companies. This tea presumably has lost some flavour, and I unfortunately can’t really taste any strawberry at all – but there’s a hint of ginger, and a light spearmint. I can see why I was interested in picking it up when I did, and it has all the makings of a tasty blend, if only it actually tasted like strawberry! I don’t usually like mint in teas, but I think it’s done well here, making it all the more disappointing that there’s no strawberry.

Have I made my point yet? Ahaha.

Sipdown! 3/365

Not bad; very reminiscent of fuzzy peach. Not really getting any ginger, but it’s pretty old. It looks like it was a shared sample between Sil and I, so I likely had a cup of it previously. Too bad I didn’t write anything down!

Sipdown! 1/365

In an effort to visualize progress I’m making with sipdowns, I’m going to aim to get in (an average of) one sipdown per day this year! Should be very, very achievable, so with any luck I’ll actually exceed this number! I’ll be drinking plenty of other teas as well, but this will record things removed from my cupboard (and give me something to show my husband, haha).

Anyhow, I swear I’ve had this tea before although there is no note, but it’s hard to say, as DavidsTea has had a number of pom teas that I could be confusing it with. This tea is pretty much as expected – standard black base (not astringent, not particularly interesting either), and a decent amount of pomegranate flavour. A pleasant surprise that the inclusion of hibiscus was done properly, only adding some depth to the fruitiness instead of mouth-puckering sourness. Not a huge fan of pomegranate, so not a tea I’d have again, but not a bad version of it!

Sipdown 154/397

I’m not getting any orange or citrus notes from this tea, which I’d say is a good thing since I find orange and caramel a slightly weird flavour combination. I remembered liking this more, but I think I’m confusing it with another tea since I seem to remember chunks of some sort of fudge, but there are none here. The oolong looks roasted from its appearance and the dark colour of the tea, but there’s none of the strong nutty tones I would expect from a good roasted oolong. It’s not a particularly strong tea, even though I overleafed slightly with it being my last cup, with the caramel flavour being stronger than the base though not by much. I had to add a whole teaspoon of sugar to coax out the butteriness of the caramel, which is something I prefer not to do if I can help it. Not a tea I will miss, which I guess is for the best since it’s long since discontinued.

Sample from Janelle ’s Mystery Box.

Sipdown 145/396

This was okay. I expected worse, from the other reviews. The blueberry isn’t the strongest flavour ever, but I can tell it’s there. It’s mostly rooibos in the sip, with the blueberry coming through in the aftertaste. It pops a lot more with sugar added, too. There are other teas I’d rather drink, but I certainly wouldn’t begrudge having another cup of this. It’s nice.

Thank you Janelle for the sample.