35 Tasting Notes
Smells incredible, but the maple doesn’t really come through when brewed. The tea is so full of bits of apple, papaya, and raisin that you don’t get to appreciate the oolong much, either – which may be the point; they want you to have to use a lot of tea per cup in order to get you to buy more. Afraid it’s a “meh” from me.
Pleasant and summery. Nice to drink iced when you don’t want caffeine, but not mind-blowingly special. DavidsTea just doesn’t do it for me, I guess. People who said this reminds them of Jolly Rancher candy are completely right. Definitely ignore the instructions where they say to use 1.25 tsp – you will need at least double, even triple that, or it’s going to be very weak.
Preparation
Very disappointing! It smelled great, but when I brewed it up it was incredibly bitter. Tasted a lot of rose hip and hibiscus, but very little pineapple and coconut (which is surprising because DavidsTea usually overdoes it on coconut). Will drink the rest of it to use it up, but with copious amounts of sugar.
Preparation
Ouch – this is a bit TOO tart! I put in a good squirt of agave nectar and it’s still…just sour. I also can’t really taste the vanilla. Sour cherry dominates. I mean, it’s not a bad drink, but it’s not something I can imagine wanting to drink frequently. Will experiment with amount of tea and steeping time, and maybe try it iced – maybe that’ll do the trick.
Preparation
I received a bag of samples from Just Organic Tea and this is the first one I tried. This is a very “warm”-smelling vanilla – the smell sort of reminded me of French toast, in a way. It’s a very natural vanilla, that’s for sure. No fakeness or cloying aroma at all. The black tea base brews up medium-strong. I tend to like really strong black teas, so ideally it would have been a bit stronger, but it’s not bad. Adding milk and brown sugar brought out a biscuity note, and the taste of this was so smooth! The carob might be what’s contributing to that creaminess, but I didn’t really taste a pure carob note (or maybe it has just been a long time since I had carob). This is not like other vanilla teas I’ve tried, but in a good way. Pleasant and easy-drinking. Could work as a dessert tea.
Flavors: Vanilla
Preparation
Got this as a sample in Lupicia’s newsletter a while back. Dry, the smell is spot-on for apple and strawberry. I only get a hint of apple in the brew. Otherwise, it’s just a regular, everyday green. Lupicia’s flavoured blacks are almost always delicious and taste authentically of what they’re supposed to be, but their flavoured greens (with the exception of Momoko) need work, and this is one of them. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing all that exciting either.
Preparation
This drink is as creamy a taste as you can get without actually containing any milk. Very mild and pleasant, a bit like vanilla cake batter when you add a little sugar. I use more than the 1.5 tsp of leaf recommended on the packet – at least two teaspoons. The leaves are really lush, almost like a good oolong. Don’t oversteep or it gets a bit spinach-like.
Preparation
Wasn’t as big a fan of this one as I was of the other 52teas flavours I got in my sampler. I tasted a hint of blueberry, and a little pleasant sourness, but I didn’t get a pastry note at all. Decent black tea base, OK with a little bit of sugar and milk, but the taste didn’t scream “blueberry cream cheese danish” to me.
Preparation
I had high hopes for this one, and they were met! With a little bit of sugar and milk, this tea is just so unbelievably smooth. The aroma is dead-on for pancakes with maple syrup, but there’s no overpowering sweetness in the taste. I really, really wish I knew how this was made!