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Three simple components to this tea: rooibos, coconut and almond and they are perfection. The balance of each is just right! Although the package says there are rose blossoms, they are purely decorative because there aren’t enough in the loose-leaf tea to add any flavour.

The loose tea smells very sweet, almost syrupy but don’t let that put you off. Once brewed this tea is nutty, smooth and delicious. The colour is a vibrant brick red and the brew is actually a bit cloudy, which I attribute to the coconut and almond oils.

Be sure to give your pot and strainer a good wash with soap afterwards! I left this tea in a vacuum flask once and the oils went rancid – it was not a fun task to clean afterwards.

I believe 80g is the smallest bag that Nikaido sells.

Sadly this one smells better than the brewed tea tastes. The dry tea smells wonderful of pepper, lemongrass, ginger, cardamom and a bit of coconut.

After steeping it was a lovely pale yellow liquor. The tea is very light, in fact if it weren’t for the slightly astringent aftertaste I would have thought this was flavoured water. The main note is cinnamon, with a touch of ginger and that is about all that I can discern once the tea is brewed.

When cooled down completely I can taste the lemongrass a bit more but overall this tea is not impressive for me to buy a big tin. I’ll finish the 25g sampler I bought at the store and that’s about it.

The aroma of this rooibos tea is glorious! It’s maple, caramel and so wonderful. The candy sprinkles don’t completely dissolve, they turn into colourful blobs (even after two infusions) making this a fun tea for kids. It’s not to sweet and is lovely without any added sugar.

On the second infusion, the maple flavour is much less noticeable but it’s still a nice-bodied rooibos tea.

I don’t like black licorice candy, but I love licorice root in my herbal teas so I was very eager to try this new tea from David’s Tea.

The overall flavour profile reminds me of the original Vata Ayurvedic tea David’s used to carry 3 years ago (not the current one with the rose petals and chamomile in it), which in my opinion was the Vata Organic from Tea Gschwendner. The licorice flavour is actually quite subtle in this tea, but the anise and fennel compliment it quite nicely. The chili pepper is an interesting addition and adds a gentle kick to this. The mint is very subtle and I certainly can’t detect any pineapple. I prefer a stronger licorice flavour so I use 2 heaping teaspoons when I brew this.

If you believe in traditional Chinese medicine, this is a “hot” beverage, and too much of this would definitely through your “balance” off.

The description of this made me extremely curious to try this out, since I’m always on the hunt for fruity, caffeine-free teas. A friend of mine told me that this one was delightful, so I ordered 100g and had high hopes.

The smell of the dry leaves is of ginger, with fruity background, not too much of strawberry. If it brewed up the way it smelled, I would be very pleased. The colour of this when steeped is a very pretty raspberry colour. The brewed tea has a funny aroma to it, that I identify with “artificial watermelon candy” (like watermelon Jolly Ranchers, which for the record, I detest!).

On the first sip I got a shock to my tastebuds because it is extremely tart! I should have expected this since this tea is rosehip and hibiscus based, and the tartness combined with the lemon myrtle gives this tea a very citrus-y feel. I think most of the shock was that I was expecting a sweet, strawberry taste and got the polar opposite. I don’t taste any spiciness from the ginger at all.

I added a touch of agave syrup to the tea to take the tart edge off, and although it did bring out the ginger more in the flavour profile, I can’t say that I enjoy this tea. There’s a funny aftertaste that I can’t quite put my finger on and I can’t stomach the idea of polishing off 100g of this.

I think if I’m in the mood for a strawberry tea, I’ll stick to Blazing Strawberries from David’s Tea.

I love strong mints. I think “Altoids” mints are an absolute joke, and don’t find them curiously strong at all. I’m crazy about Super-Mints that you can get from MUJI (a Japanese company) and if I had to compare Cold 911 to other pitiful mint teas that I’ve had, this is the “Super-Mint” of all mint teas.

The dry leaves smell amazing because of the eucalyptus and it is just as fabulous when it is steeped. There is a tiny hint of citrus, but only a bit. The juniper berries don’t really add anything to the tea, but it amuses me since it makes me think of Gin when I see them floating around (The French name for juniper is genévrier, from which Gin’s name is derived).

When I have a cold this tea is extremely soothing and the fact that it is caffeine free means that if I want to drink 10 cups a day, I can without getting jittery. It also makes an excellent after-dinner tea.

In an attempt to change this tea up a bit, I added half a teaspoon of pure licorice root (a rare find that I came upon in a teashop a year ago) and it makes this tea absolute magic! If you can get your hands on pure licorice, I highly recommend trying it – it brings out the citrus notes a bit more and I could go on drinking pots and pots of this mix.

I don’t drink black teas very often, but when I need a bit of a caffeine kick this is one of my go-to teas. I like that it has a little bit of a ginger kick, and a slight fruity finish. It is very aromatic, and it does remind me a bit of mulled cider but you don’t really taste the cinnamin. I don’t need to add sweetener to it and it can be re-steeped a second time.