Della Terra Teas

Another from AZZ’s generosity. Though I saw mixed reviews on this one I still went into it optimisticly, yet this optimism was soon tempered once opening the bag to smell the dry leaf- a strong artificial cinnamon smell that you often find with scented candles. The color of the liqour was a deeper brown and the wet leaf smelled slightly more appealing than it did dry.

First drink I was surprised, intrigued actually. There was a certain degree of complexity right away. The nutty tones mingled nicely with the dark chocolate ones. It’s so nice when flavors can play well together and no ‘time outs’ need to be administered. The slight astringency was easy to overlook when considering all that my mouth had to process. The chili was so faint it was barely detectable, which I was glad since I’ve not had chili in tea yet and didn’t want to be overwhelmed by the spice. The bold black flavor played well in this drink for me too.

My wife loved the tea and stated “this may be my favorite so far”…which she ended up saying three times today in all. To be fair she is even newer than me and so I try to bring her along as much as possible. I must also note that, in general, when I list low to moderate astringency in a tea she tells me she doesn’t find any at all. Again I’m an astringency weenie.

We liked it, my soon to be sixteen year old as well, though the wife liked it most. This tea made it on her "one to buy’ list until,that is, she tried another tea. That is another note altogether isn’t it.

tunes-Richie Havens=Freedom/Eleanor Rigby/Motherless Child/Here Comes The Sun

SIPDOWN! Ya i get excited easily. I’m sorry to see this one go even if i do need to add extra tea and steep for way longer to get it to the point that i really enjoy it. May still pick this up again though as it’s a nice winter cold day rainy storm kinda tea.

Oh man…so this is caffeine free, which is bad new bears for me since it’s delicious! and can be an evening tea for me as i try not to drink too much caffeine in the evening even though it doesn’t affect me.

So first off…the smell…oh man the smell. See I looooove lattes and cappacinos and caramel machiatos and this…this smells divine! I’m sure if Ian was here he’d be asking me why i was making coffee when i have 5 pounds of tee to drink!

So, on to the taste. I steeped it for the 5 mins, and I’m thinking next time i’ll up the time a bit and/or add a bit extra to the mix. It’s a little light on the flavour for me but that’s also likely because of the smell, which has me expecting full on coffee haha I’m also tempted to add a wee bit of milk or cream to this just to see what happens…but another time. I may just need to take advantage of the sale (free 2oz!) going on this weekend with della terra…course then i need a plan for sneaking it into the house as well haha. Maybe this one gets sent to work… Really a nice tee for anyone who loves that caramel/cappacino type flavor. The roiboos doesn’t even phase me :)

Cold brew of this one as a sip down and it’s not quite what I was hoping for. The peach is the dominant flavour, and I can barely get hints of mango out of this. It’s not a bad tasting tea, but its not mango peach. It’s peach. Added a bit of sweetener to see if that helped and it was much the same. Ah we’ll, still a decent enough tea.

So this is a great tea! As my first tea from Della Terra Teas – it’s got me looking forward to the other 6 I have to try. The flavoring of the mango and the peach together is wonderful. I’d also really like to try this iced as I think it would be even better. A great tea for those who like peach and mango :)

My many thanks go out to Azz for this sample which came in an incredibly awesome care package, she is ‘the man’,er…uh…you know what I mean. So I steeped this up and my mouth was watering. I mean, who doesn’t like vanilla. Add to that the residual giddiness I still have after opening my package from Azz (there was even a cool little adjustable measuring spoon and a spongy biscuit that I believe to be Mr Bill and teas that convince me she has telepathic powers).
Then the phone rang. ARGH!…and it was important.
So between distracted sips I can tell you I got some vanilla. It tastes buttery and creamy, though mouthfeel(TeaEqualsBliss word) is not creamy- it’s a little astringent. If you’ve read many of my notes I’m picky about astringency so this may not be a factor to many of you. Also, it’s not super dry/bitter or anything like that, just a little dryness on the tongue.
There’s a sweetness on the inside of my cheeks, which is where the lingering sweet aftertaste is as well. I seem to taste a bit of nutmeg coming through. I still can’t get over how much vanilla I taste, I can’t imagine adding sugar to this already sweet drink.
Luckily for me this is one of those cases where I have enough left to do another note later. My appologies that this note is a flop, I am disappointed at getting a phone call and I’m sure it shows.
tunes-Eddie Vedder=*Satellite/Gauranteed/Society/Long Nights
Into The Wild soundtrack *live with a ukulele.His solo work is folky and nice and moody.

Sip down!

As a latte, with honey and german rock sugar. Adding both honey and german rock sugar has been my sweetener of choice these days. The german rock sugar is good, but the honey adds a little extra flavor. Really nice evening dessert tea.

Drinking this tea while snacking on some korean puffed rice cake. Kinda miss the korean market back home in Vancouver Canada – they had the crazy machine thwacking away making them.

CRAP, forgot to check the tea isle while I was at the korean market!

Mmm, I made this into bubble tea!

Double strength, poured over milk, ice and honey. I also boiled up some tapioca pearls I got from the locate asian supermarket. Super yum! Caramelly, sweet and a little coffee taste!
So happy too as I know this is way less calories than actual bubble tea! I’m just lacking a wide straw. Sigh.

I made this tea double strength as a soy latte with a bit of light agave.

Very Very good – Double strength and with milk, the flavorings come out well and not rooibosy at all. Creamy, sweet, hint of caramel and coffee flavor. Actually better than any cups of fancy high calorie coffee I’ve had.

I haven’t had this tea in awhile – something appealed tonight about having a “coffee” or “stay awake” type tea, but it not keeping me awake!

This time I got the 5 minute steep and the flavor is much stronger but still light. The rooibos, despite being a rooibos disliker, works well with the coffee flavor, along with a really nice creamyness that sits on the tongue a bit. I didn’t get the creamy taste with the faster steep, I was totally missing out! Also picking up a good caramel taste on some sips.

Totally need to do a latte next time!

I received this tea from a Della Terra’s Facebook contest! I selected this tea as it sounded interesting to try a cappuccino rooibos, even though I’m not big into rooibos.

Last night I barely slept. I got a gi burn on my elbow and hurt my back in brazilian jiu jitsu so it was hard to sleep. Waking up, my back feels much better, but I’m very tired. I should of reached for a mate or black tea, but the coffee smells of this tea called out to me. I probably need to follow this up with something with caffeine, but whatever, more tea!

DRY: Sweet, coffee and caramel – yum! A good amount of those cute caramel squares in this tea.

STEEPED: Smells creamy and coffee like. Brown colour.
Annoyingly, the sample pack I got cites a 3 minute steep time, which I did. I get onto Steepster and Della Terra’s website and it cites a steep time of 5 minutes. DOH

TASTE: Light slight rooibos taste with a background of cappuccino. Aftertaste of sweetness.

COMMENTS: This is really light tea, I think the 5 minute steep time would be more accurate. I’d steep up more but I should really have something with caffeine before I fall over or end up going back to sleep. Actually, crawling back into bed sounds like a good idea.

However, the rooibos and coffee combo is pretty good. The sweetness of the tea blends in with that weird rooibos flavor. Very yum! This might make an interesting iced latte…

Thanks Emilie for this sample!

Mmm fall teas. I love fall, I can’t wait to cuddle up in a sweatshirt and drink some tea and watch the leaves. Ah, I love it!
Steeped for 4 minutes, though 5 was advised. Didn’t want any bitterness but I have a feeling it would have been okay anyway.
This smells like a fall candle, which is a good thing! Lots of my favorite spices and of course pumpkin. It tastes really good too, I do get some sort of cool feeling on the back of my tongue dunno what does it, and it’s not bad. There is a little bit of something artificial in there, it may be the candies. Tasty nonetheless!

Playing around with the steep time of this one, I did a new cup for 5 minutes. Bolder flavor but bordering on the bitter after notes. I think 4 minutes will be just perfect in the future.

Goodness this tea is so good.

This tea is exactly like stepping into a fall festival and standing in front of a concession stand drooling over all of the caramel and candy apples shown in the windows. Only.. you don’t have to go back and forth over trying to decide if you’d rather go with a caramel or a candy apple. This is the best of both worlds!

Steep time was right at about 2 minutes.

Phenomenal tea. If you like fall teas or dessert teas or tea in general do your moth a favor and give this one a try!

Della Terra Teas has yet to disappoint me. I was beyond ecstatic when I heard they were launching a S’mores flavor tea.

Steep time was right around 2 minutes.

This wasn’t as heavily scented as the other dessert teas from DTT that I have, so I was somewhat concerned that it would not be as flavorful. Not at all the case! This tea starts out with a deep smokey black flavor that was almost a bit startling at first. Next comes the sweet chocolate hues and then creamy marshmallow notes. There is a subtle spice and the full s’mores flavor really forms on the palate after a few sips. Delicious!

I really should try this and add a bit of milk as well as I feel that would drastically bring out some of the flavors. (Being lactose intolerant I never take the time to add milk since I always forget my meds. Lazy me!)

Another lovely dessert tea.

While Steepster was on the fritz a bit earlier I drank this one and did a full review that will be LIVE over at Sororitea Sisters after 6pm tonight… http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/08/21/lemon-chiffon-from-della-terra-teas/

I’ll give you a heads-up…I really liked it!

I won this in a contest on Della Terra’s facebook page, they frequently have these giveaways so I would highly recommend that you guys check them out.

I went into this with low expectations, but a lot of curiosity. I love s’mores but just wasn’t sure how well it would translate into tea. It really exceeded my expectations. With a little sugar, it was a rich chocolatey brew with hints of marshmallow and graham cracker and a little hint of smokey spice. Frankly, this was delicious. I went into it with low expectations but I came out of it with a new tea on my shopping list. You should check this one out.

Thank you Della Terra for offering the 10 dollar Try Me packages! Very nice to get such generous samples and have the variety in trying a company I have never tried before!
This tea could be spicier FOR ME but for frame of reference people I use Insanity Sauce and eat hot peppers like candy! With that said – there IS a light spiciness to this tea and I say that even for those who do not like hot things. My hubby is very sensitive to hot spicy things so I know this is one that anyone could easily enjoy.
The chocolate is pretty good, I am VERY pick with chocolate and its not too fakey tasting but there is a slight after taste of that artificial LIKE flavor you get with some chocolate but trust me it is not NEARLY as bad as it sounds I have had some “chocolate” teas that just make you want to rinse your mouth out! This is NOT one of those!
So with all that said for me to order more of this I would need a bit more KICK from it BUT I am going to enjoy every last drop of what I do have!
Its good – the little bit of heat does sort of sneak up in the end of the sip but it dissipates really quickly too so you don’t have to worry about a spicy after taste lingering around!
Its nice. :)

If you haven’t tried this as a latte yet, do ittttt! I made this cup with soymilk and a little rock sugar.

VERY chocolately! I actually like this more than hot chocolate as there is more going on – black tea base that is kinda smokey, rich dark chocolate flavor – like I melted one of those 70% rich dark chocolate bars in my tea.

MMMM!! I like this tea more as a latte! YUM! Feels like I’m spoiling myself this morning, ehhh almost christmas anyways.

I won a Facebook contest with Della Terra Teas, winning a couple sample sizes of their teas. I chose this one, Dubbele Chocolade (DBC) because I love my chocolate teas and often feel a tea could use MORE CHOCOLATE!

DRY: Woodsy dark chocolate smell, yum!

STEEPED: bright tangy dark chocolate. Steeps up to a dark brown tea.

TASTE: Deep earthy, woodsy and smokey black tea base with strong dark chocolate taste. DBC’s chocolate flavor is similar to having 70% + chocolate bar as it is not very sweet of a tea on its own. No bitterness.
Adding rock sugar turned DBC turned the chocolate less strong and a more smooth chocolate taste.

WHO’D LOVE THIS TEA: Chocolate lovers and black tea drinkers. Coffee drinkers (come on, tea is better!).

COMMENTS: I don’t think there is way to pack more chocolate taste into this tea. DBC is very strong and packs a big chocolate punch – thus why I think a coffee drinker would enjoy this tea.
I don’t like adding sweetner/milk to my tea, but DBC was very good sweetened.

I’m thinking of cold steeping this bad boy into an iced chocolate tea drink, ohyeah! This tea would also make a killer latte! I must get some soy creamer! MUHAHAHHAAAA!

Overall, pretty good. I have one other sample to try of Della Terra Teas (a rooibos, gasp!). I really want in on the “Smore” tea they just released, I could see DBC being a precursor tea.

This is really much better than I expected it to be. I don’t know really what I expected … I think it’s more of a case of my automatic response when it comes to oxidized rooibos. I always think I’m not going to like a rooibos blend … but more often than not, I end up enjoying the cup.

The woody and nutty flavors of the rooibos come through strong in this blend, but they meld quite nicely with the flavor of juicy orange and cinnamon. I taste a hint of the chili pepper at first, and the flavor seems to develop as I continue to sip. The aftertaste has a slight “burn” sensation on my palate – not really an uncomfortable feeling, but more like that enjoyable sensation you might experience after eating something spicy. (Well, it’s enjoyable for me anyway)

I don’t taste much from the coconut, but there is a slight (very slight) creaminess toward the tail end of the sip that I attribute to the coconut. As I continue to sip, the creaminess builds, but it never becomes a very strong flavor.

Overall, this is really quite an enjoyable tisane: it isn’t overly spicy, but has an interesting balance between spice and sweet. Nice.