DAVIDsTEA

This tea is nice and refreshing. The big chunks of fruit are great. I can’t believe this! A couple months ago I balked at any tea mentioning fruitiness. Anyway, yes. Fruity and refreshing. I haven’t had it iced but will someday when there is nicer weather to get me in the mood.

I often choose rooibos as my take-to-work tea; I make it in my travel mug as I’m rushing out the door as it doesn’t get bitter on my way to work. I like to carry it on the streetcar and have it to drink once I get to the office. I need to learn that this tea isn’t so great for that; if you over-steep it, it starts tasting kind of off. Like bad wine, thanks to the fruit.

Otherwise, it’s a standby for me when I want something fruity!

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @85C, steeped 6 minutes, drunk bare.

This blend has been tweaked since I last drank it, and I think it’s better. You get a sweet and smooth coffee-flavoured tisane with notes of white chocolate in the aftertaste. Watch the water temp — anything higher than 85 will probably scald things and bring out bitterness. Mate gives a nice lift. Because this tisane is very like dessert, a coffe-tinged dessert, I wouldn’t be drinking it all throughout the day.

1 TB for 450mL water, steeped 8 minutes and counting. Rating: 90.

I usually drink this one from a gourd, but that can get very rich and a bit sweet. Today I made it as a tisane. Earthy and sweet and packing a slow-burn buzz, Jumpy Monkey does it again. There’s no one ingredient that makes this blend so good; it’s all of them together. Really different and well worth a try.

2 TB for 125 mL gourd, 1 tsp white sugar.

Oooh ohhh ah ah ah!

This tisane is so uttterly unique, and such a refreshing change from tea. I LOVE tea, but this coffee-laced mate, which I also love, renews my palate for tea. And it delivers sweeter, cleaner and steadier buzz than just coffee when sipped from a gourd.

2 TB for a 125mL gourd, + 2 tsp white sugar.

I’ve posted on the taste and potency of this tisane many times — I really, really like it. Today I added sugar for the first time, having just run out of stevia. Interestingly, I find the white sugar coaxed out a bit more spiciness form the cloves and a bit more vegetal green-ness from the mate. Not a major difference, but certaily noticeable. And really nice.

2-3TB for 125mL gourd, for a somewhat authentic packed mate, OR 1 TB for 450mL water, for a thin tisane.

Backlogging after a really bad batch …

I let DavidsTea know I had a bag that tasted bitter, sour, stale, and just plain offm and they replaced it. I’m talking the great big 250g / half-pound bag. This one’s fine, back to what Jumpy Monkey should be.

In a gourd, which is how I prefer it: INTENSE. Very vegetal, in its mate way, with clove and white chocolate flavours, plus decent coffee bean flavours and scents. The 2-3TB are good for at least four infusions. Powerul and potent sippin. Can and sometimes does replace coffee for me.

Brewed as a tisane, the flavours are not as bold, unsurprisingly, but they are more thirst-quenching. The taste can get a bit thin and sharp.

I don’t use boiling water on mate. Maybe about 93 degrees.

2-3 TB for a gourd, 1 packet stevia (equals 2 tsp sugar)

New batch — ai! David, what happened?? This is all bitter and harsh, and even extra stevia ain’t helping. My darling Jumpy Monkey has jumped away? Oooohh, it pains me, but I gotta haul the rating wayyyy down here.

2-3 TB in 125mL gourd, 1/2-1 packet stevia, 125 mL steaming (not boiling) water.

Sweet yet ‘green.’ Some coffee flavour, some white chocolate, some cloves. Really pleasant and mellow green mate taste amongst it all. Medium body and slightly creamy mouthfeel when sipped through a bombilla, versus a definitely thin body and sharp mouthfeel when drunk as a tisane. Good for 3-4 infusions. Can be quite potent. A good friend when fighting deadlines. Yerba mate does not affect my sleep hours after the fact, something I really like. Dregs in the gourd look like the bottom of a bog, but that’s okay — everyone else is scared to drink it. More for me!

I try never to run out of this one. I’ve asked for a big 250g bag as a Christmas present.

Very potent when drunk from a gourd and bombilla. Good for at least four infusions. I like it mich better this way then brewed as a tisane.

I feared this one would be bitter, but it’s smooth and sweet — yet light, not a sticky dessert infusion. The coffee mellows against the white chocolate and almonds, and the mate doesn’t get all sharp. It feels gentle in the mouth, but after you’ve drunk it, feel da power! Good for multiple infusions. Even better sipped from gourd and bombilla.

Again, it’s one of those fruity greens I like. Not as sweet as some, it’s a very rounded flavour, with the lime, pineapple and apple not as sweet as you would think. The green underneath is nice and smooth, and it’s never been bitter. A very pleasant tea.

Despite this being a Christmas tea, I’ve been thinking it would probably make a great iced tea.

It does. This is lovely. Sweet and just a touch tart to keep it nice and fresh-tasting.

Such a delightful little tea.

Also good to brew at work as I have little control (not a very good kettle, often have to run to answer the phone and forget about steeping). I actually dumped this into my Libre without thinking so it stayed in my glass as I drank and never got bitter or any less delicious.

This tea is pretty hard to pass up when you get a whiff and see it in all its fun, fruity glory. I couldn’t place what it smelled like but knew I had to taste it.

It doesn’t exactly taste like Christmas to me, but I like when DavidsTea takes any excuse to release new teas. It is definitely bold, but it’s not out of control. It kind of tastes like a fruit punch and as bad as that sounds, it’s great. I don’t usually tend towards fruity teas (though DavidsTea has got me re-thinking that with several of their teas) but I enjoy this and don’t find that the flavours completely overpower the sencha. It’s a nice pick-me-up in the dreary early winter, and I’m glad I bought enough for several brewings.

Now this is good. A true, lemony dessert tea. Have you ever had lemon bars? The gooey kind? This is a liquid version. It’s like I can even taste the powdered sugar that’s sprinkled on top! The lemon is strong, in your face, and that perfect balance of sweet/sour. There’s a pastry/vanilla/crumbly taste underneath the lemon…divine!! And for those people who aren’t fans of rooibos: well, I can’t find it at all in the taste. Maybe, if I try hard, there’s a green rooibos in the background. But that’s with me really trying to find it.

Disclaimer: if you have a low sour/tart tolerance, you’ll probably want to avoid this one. Or not brew it for 10 minutes like I did. My tart threshold is higher than the average, and this is definitely higher on the tart scale. Which I really like.

ETA: A second steep at 15 minutes is nearly identical to the first!

I think I can see the bottom of the can. I need to go tea shopping soon…

Back to the good stuff today. I’m going to be slightly sad when I empty my tin of this…

Much better today. I think this is one of those teas which is pretty sensitive to what you scoop out. A little orange peel and a bit of cranberry and it’s lovely. Miss the cranberry and it’s too bitter. I suspect no orange peel would be too sweet.