Dessert by Deb

I requested this tea as a sample because “Tea with Jann”, a lovely Canadian tea vlogger, recommended it! She said it was one of her favourites from the Dessert by Deb collection.

Unfortunately, I was not the biggest fan of this tea (despite wanting to like it!). Although this might come down to my personal preferences, since I normally dislike red rooibos. To me, this tea tasted buttery with hints of rooibos and coconut.

However, Deb is a wonderful person, and has some other fantastic blends that I adore. I think this one was just not for me.

I’m really enjoying the couple EG blends I’ve tried from Deb. I’m liking the bergamot she’s using, especially combined with the strong, herbal lavender. The honey/maple/brown sugar surprisingly don’t take the sweetness over the top, but balance the strong herbaceous qualities of the berg and lavender.

Just finished my full length blog review of this tea (scheduled to go live late next week), and figured I’d reiterate my thoughts here.

Pumpkin Pie Tart has a very warm, inviting scent to it. Though once steeped, the flavour doesn’t exactly translate the way I would have hoped. It has a light to medium body and tastes a lot like sweet, spiced apple, at least for a majority of the sip. It finishes with a pleasant creaminess and more of the pumpkin spice. Because it doesn’t totally scream pumpkin pie in my mind, I likely won’t be re-purchasing it, but it’s enjoyable enough that I’ll have no issues finishing off what I have left of it!

This smells just like Fanta! It has a lovely orange smell! I steeped this hot. When I drank it, I did not get much of the ginger. Maybe it has a slight ginger note? However, it tastes mostly like a lovely, warm orange tea!

I love sweet orange teas. I am not a huge fan of rooibos, but I do not taste the red rooibos at all in this! Which is wonderful for me. Although I liked the blood orange cider more, I still enjoyed this tea.

Overall, I think where Deb excels is her citrus flavours! And this tea was no exception; a nice and refreshing drink. I wish it was a tad stronger on the ginger note, but I still loved it!

I was so excited to try this tea! I saw a comment that said it tasted like a liquid, matcha dessert! :)

These are just my opinions, since I know many people enjoyed this tea. I absolutely love Deb. She is such a wonderful person, and I will continue to support her since she makes some wonderful blends (hello, Raisin Bread Pudding!)

However, when I tried this Matcha Cream Puff; to me, it tasted strongly of coconut. Again, because there are whole coconut pieces in this, when they get hit by the hot water, they release natural oils, which gives this tea an oily mouthfeel and taste.

I think I might need to try it again, maybe I can cold steep it instead of warm steeping it? Maybe that will bring out the vanilla and matcha notes more? I will update this log if I do try it brewed differently!

To improve this tea, I think it needs more sugar since I cannot taste much maple! (I enjoy my tea sweet, though. So this might just be me) And maybe vanilla, to increase the creamy notes? Or maybe even some shredded white chocolate?

Although this tea was not for me, when you order from Deb, she gives free samples! :) I requested this as a sample to try, and maybe I got a bad scoop? Not sure!

I loved this one! Sometimes when there’s apple in teas, the tea has no apple flavour, and the apple is just there to add sweetness. And I understand why, since it can be hard for the hot water to absorb the apple flavour, and the apple then just acts as a sweetener.

I have only had this tea hot! But with this tea, you can really taste the apple. The spices remind me of a pumpkin pie latte, which I love! This is such a wonderful blend for the Fall!

I think this tastes more like an apple, pumpkin-spiced pie! But I really enjoyed it (even if it does not taste like a pumpkin! Maybe dried pumpkin is very expensive? Since I have never seen it used liberally in teas anyway).

I think I will repurchase this one.

This was my first time trying earl grey! I have tried the Spiced Earl Grey Muffin with both milk and hot.

I think I liked this tea, but it is not one of my favourites from the Dessert by Deb collection. Although I think this might come down to a flavour preference as opposed to the tea itself being bad. Spiced Earl Grey Muffin is still a great tea, and I can see why people rated it so highly.

When you smell it, you definitely get a strong bergamot note. When I tasted this, it tasted like bergamot, lavender, with a hint of spice. I think the bergamot was the most prominent note, and it made it hard to taste the other spices in the blend. However, I think I got a hint of clove from this?

Overall, I enjoyed my first earl grey tea experience! I think I might not have enjoyed this one because I like SUPER spicy chai teas. But I felt like the spice in this element was very mild and just there to accent the other flavours.

I also hope Deb releases a spicy chai with a black tea base soon! :)

Woah! This tastes like cinnamon raisin bread pudding! I am shocked, in the best way possible.

I am notorious for never thinking teas taste like their namesake. I am usually very critical, since I want my teas to taste like melted versions of whatever they are trying to replicate.

I think using the roasted green tea in this blend was such a smart idea! Similar to Deb’s, S’mores Fireside (which incorporated roasted black tea to give it a smokey taste), Raisan Bread Pudding really invoked the taste of what she was trying to replicate.

When I smelled this, it gave off a very warming, cinnamon aroma. I have only had this hot and with milk, but it definitely tastes like a bread-like pudding. Although next time, I want to try it without the milk, since I think it can stand on its own and still taste great.

I would highly recommend this! It is such a fun tea. Perfect for Fall or Winter. I will repurchase it for sure.

I tried this hot. I enjoyed this blend! I love refreshing flavours, so peppermint and spearmint are definitely some of my favourite herbal tea blends. This smells very minty, with the slightest hint of chocolate.

I would say this tea tastes expensive and fresh. Obviously, I think that is because Deb does not use any artificial flavourings in her tea. I even took a bite of the chocolate pieces and the cacao nibs, and they tasted like organic, antioxidant-rich chocolates I would eat when I was on my health kick!

The mint is very strong in this one, which I love. I would say the chocolate is more so in the background as opposed to being a prominent note.

I also liked that the rooibos in this blend was in the background. In fact, it does not taste like rooibos at all! I would have never guessed it was in here (which I like, since I am not a huge fan of rooibos teas).

Although I enjoyed this tea, my one piece of constructive criticism would be that it needs more chocolate. Mint is a strong flavour, so I think adding additional chocolate would have amplified this tea so much more!

But overall, I liked it. It was simple and refreshing.

Wow! I am so impressed by this tea! It tastes like a blood orange, which I think is a tricky flavour to replicate. And the blood orange does not taste artificial. It tastes very natural, and when you brew this tea, it smells like fresh citrus.

I rarely like rooibos teas, but in this, you can barely taste the rooibos. Mostly, I think Deb does a fantastic job with her rooibos blends. Rooibos is in the background, while the other flavours can shine through. I was also afraid that this tea would be too tart, but it is not. It just tastes like a refreshing, warm, blood orange tea!

I do not think this tastes like cider, though. When I think of cider, I think of spices. However, this is more like a sweet, refreshing, blood orange tea.

I will definitely repurchase this one.

I absolutely love Deb! And I wanted to like this tea. When I read the ingredients I was like, toasted rice, toasted coconut, sugar, and green tea – YES! Those all sound like ingredients I would love.

I should preface this by saying that I feel neutral about genmaicha. I have only had it one other time; I neither strongly liked nor disliked it. But it could have just been the brand I had. Or I might just not like genmaicha? I think I have to try it more to make a firm decision.

However, I unfortunately did not like this tea as much as I wanted to. When I first sipped it, the coconut took prominence over the rest of the flavours. Deb also only uses natural ingredients to make her blends (which I love), but when steeped, the coconut releases oils. It gives the tea a heavy, oily mouthfeel which I dislike.

I love Deb, and I want her to improve and thrive! <3

I think to improve its current formula; it needs more sugar (although I understand why Deb used it sparingly since some people might want a dessert-inspired treat, without it being overly sweet, and I can easily add it to the tea at home), ONLY toasted coconut or even no coconut, and vanilla notes. Instead of palm sugar, maybe Deb could add icing sugar to make it taste more like a marshmallow?

Given the ingredients, I obviously never expected it to live up to its namesake. I think this tastes like a genmaicha, with a strong hint of coconut.

I absolutely love Deb! And I wanted to like this tea. When I read the ingredients I was like, toasted rice, toasted coconut, sugar, and green tea – YES! Those all sound like ingredients I would love.

I should preface this by saying that I feel neutral about genmaicha. I have only had it one other time; I neither strongly liked nor disliked it. But it could have just been the brand I had. Or I might just not like genmaicha? I think I have to try it more to make a firm decision.

However, I unfortunately did not like this tea as much as I wanted to. When I first sipped it, the coconut took prominence over the rest of the flavours. However, while I was drinking it, the coconut note died down a bit to let the rest of the flavours shine.

I definitely taste the toasted rice and earthy, green notes. I think to improve its current formula; it needs more sugar (Although I understand why Deb used it sparingly since some people might want a dessert-inspired treat, without the sugar, and I can easily add it to the tea at home) and vanilla notes.

Given the ingredients, I obviously never expected it to live up to its namesake. I think this tastes like a genmaicha, with a hint of coconut.

I really liked the ginger berry crisp! It has hibiscus in it, but I think Deb only added it to give it a beautiful, bright colour as opposed to tartness. I do not really taste the hibiscus (which is a good thing for me since I prefer my teas to be sweeter than tart)

It smells like berries and ginger. I steeped this with boiling water, and after sipping it, I think it also tastes a bold ginger with some berries added into it. I tried this with honey, and it really amplified the flavour.

I think this is a tea I could definitely see myself repurchasing. It is very warm and soothing.

I was really excited about this blend and the dry leaf visual is also SUPER cool looking but to be completely honest I was very underwhelmed by it when I tried it last night…

I’ve been trying to think of the kindest way to say it, but ultimately I think the best way is the most honest way and that’s that… it just tasted very stale. Really flat/muted and musty apple that’s not assisted in any way by the dull earthiness of the beet power that’s coating those apple pieces (even though they look bloody brilliant)! The cranberry is similar; tastes like the bag of Craisins that’s been sitting in your pantry for multiple years that you bought one day because you were going to “start being healthy” but then never finished. Doesn’t contribute much flavour at all.

Now, I believe this blend has zero flavouring in it – and that’s probably the root of the problem. It’s not that a tea needs flavouring to be good, but dried fruits rarely ACTUALLY contribute substantial flavouring to blends – they mostly look nice and sometimes work as good flavour carriers because they soak up flavouring like little sponges (depending on the fruit). A blend comprised only of dried fruits, though, is just trying to win and uphill battle.

I only tried this tea with milk. I will say that the ingredients list was very intriguing! It says Fireside S’mores; however, this does not contain any marshmallows. I know Deb makes organic, wholesome tea blends free from any artificial/natural flavourings. I appreciate this so much about her company! But I am sure it requires more creativity to mimic the flavours of well-known desserts.

I absolutely loved this tea. It smells very smokey, like the fire from a bbq. For preparation, I steeped this on the stove in boiled water. I then added some milk to it, and brought it to a boil. The chocolate had melted and incorporated nicely into the drink.

As far as taste goes, it tastes like a smokey, chocolate, creamy drink! I really enjoyed this tea because I have never had Lapsang Souchong before, and I thought incorporating it into a s’mores inspired tea was super creative!

I would highly recommend this tea! I will repurchase it for sure.

My only constructive criticism for this is that I wish it had more Lapsang Souchong. But this might just be because my taste buds love stronger, bold flavours.

I have a terrible habit recently of making tea and then not drinking it until it cools. So I have basically been having luke warm to cool teas for who knows how long now. This tea is no exception and I feel it would have been better when hot.

It’s ok. Sort of coffee. Sort of chocolate. Sort of coconut. Sort of vanilla. A lot of jumbled and not my favorite. I think I may try it as a latte…or toss it into my swap box…

This was very generously included as a sample in my order. Unfortunately, I really did not care for it. Very, very buttery. The rooibos and coconut are also extremely strong, which are not flavors I generally enjoy. Luckily, my boyfriend really liked it. So, he got to enjoy a few cups of it.

As a disclosure/forewarning/etc etc, I feel that it’s necessary to say that purchasing this tea was very out of character for me. For as long as I’ve been living, I’ve never enjoyed the taste of chocolate, and still don’t, but there is something about this tea that drew me to it. And I think that thing was the Lapsang Souchong.

After trying Fireside S’mores both as a latte and as a plain hot cuppa, I can now see why Deb insisted on only having this tea with milk. Milk really elevates the overall creaminess and helps support the lack of actual marshmallows. But I think that the combination of vanilla, toasted coconut, and the aforementioned Lapsang Souchong did a well enough job of mimicking a toasted marshmallow flavour. There is a nice amount of savoury smokiness without being overwhelming and outshining the components. Most surprising to me was the fact that the chocolate was palatable and not nearly as strong as I feared.

Overall, I really enjoyed this use of Lapsang Souchong tea. Even though I don’t think this tea necessarily screamed s’mores, it was still pretty good and I think that it’s worth trying at least once, if you’re able to get your hands on some.

Prevalent notes of ginger, to the point where I have to remind myself that I’m drinking a black tea, because the tea base is otherwise nonexistent. There are hints of creaminess from the coconut and vanilla, but not enough to confirm a “creme brulee” flavour in my mind. Especially without milk; milk is what helps to redeem this blend for me. It makes the ginger less harsh tasting, introduces a much needed creaminess, and even a bit of natural sweetness.

Would recommend if you’re a fan of ginger, but as a whole, Ginger Creme Brulee falls short in delivering a balanced flavour that properly represents its namesake.

I don’t care for this at all, unfortunately. The genmaicha and coconut combo is just not working, and definitely can’t be considered a marshmallow crispy treat. I’ll be sticking with the Necessiteas and 52Teas versions.

I love when people use Lapsang in flavoured tea blends soooo much!

The dry leaf of this one smells a little savory, like liquid smoke and BBQ, but the taste is all rich milk chocolate and marshmallow with whisps of smoke throughout. It’s delicious, and gives me the feeling of burnt marshmallows at the end of a summer BBQ or when camping, when the area of practically drenched in the smell of smoke and the fire is dying down – the nights where you can almost feel the nostalgia of the moment in the air.

Definitely liked this one, and look forward to trying it again in the future!

Not quite sure what happened here. I can smell the cinnamon, I can see the apple pieces…but I taste neither. It’s just extremely sweet caramel. I added a bit of honey, but not enough to skew the flavor profile this much.

Ooooo! I’m kinda liking this! I’m not a huge fan of rooibos, but there isn’t much of that flavor coming through. I’m getting a strong creamy orange with a touch of ginger behind it. It’s ever so slightly sweet, but like the other DDB blends I’m not able to link it to maple in my brain. I also don’t quite get the shortbread part. There is a touch of tartness in the finish that is just distracting enough to make me want to take another sip. I bet this would be good with some creamer, but I’m enjoying it enough as it is. Thanks VariaTEA for the chance to try this!

Hmmm… I’m getting the same strange flavors that I did with DDB’s other EG that I tried. I can smell it, it’s a sharp and bright and comes out in the flavor. It’s less ginseng than the other EG. It’s mellowed out with the addition of cream, but that also kills the rest of the flavors for me. I did not get any cakey flavors though. Not a huge fan of this one, but I super appreciate the chance to try it. Thanks VariaTEA!