DAVIDsTEA

Tea Pop!

Making another tea pop at the office this afternoon because it is HOT and tea pops are more fun feeling than regular iced tea while still being a great way to cool down. I went with two perfect spoons but a slightly longer steep time for my concentrate instead of the recommend four perfect spoons and I’m finding the balance better this way. Still sweet and licorice-y in the finish and plenty earthy from the roots but the overall profile is really channeling the taste of “Dad’s Root Beer”. Definitely one of the better independent root beer brands, IMO…

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Cold Brew!

Enjoyed this cold brew over the weekend! This is one of my favourite new DT blends of the summer, and I’ve really enjoyed experimenting with different ways of brewing this tea. I feel like, as a cold brew, this is quite soda-like minus of course the fizz. But it’s got such a similar rich, thick mouthfeel from the inclusion of licorice root and the exact right rich, brown sweetness.

You do need to be careful with the steep time because the licorice root can be quite pronounced in the finish (semi the case with this brew). However, as a cold brew, this doesn’t get quite as earthy from the pu’erh and all the roots as when you steep it hot.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

DT’s newest summer collection launched earlier this week and I’m honestly SO EXCITED about it because it means that after more than a year of waiting I can finally talk about these teas! It’s actually a pretty big drop with seven new teas – eight if you count the one returning matcha that is now available in organic. I don’t think we’ve had this many new blends launching all together in nearly two years!

I’m also really in love with the collection overall because it has such a cool theme to it. Basically, about four years ago, one of my favourite bands described their latest album as “drenched in nostalgia,” and I think that phrase has been living rent-free in my head ever since. It also PERFECTLY describes these teas. They’re all super refreshing and iceable with a strong late 90s and 2000s retro sort of vibe that takes me immediately back to some of my best memories of summer vacations growing up. Though it’s mighty hard to pick a favourite I think, gun to my head, it might be this one!?

DAVIDsTEA has carried a root beer tea before nearly a decade ago – I actually really enjoyed it a lot. So, when re-imagining what a “modern” root beer tea from DT might look like I knew it was important for there to be differentiating qualities. Though I don’t think there’s anything wrong with inclusions like white chocolate (which was in the old tea for the “float” element) in a blend, when beginning development I took a lot more inspiration from the ongoing prebiotic & gut-friendly soda trend (ex Poppi or OliPop) that’s been popping off lately – no pun intended. I also wanted to look at more traditional ingredients used in brewing root beer to create something with a more “old fashioned root beer” sorta vibe that was as functional as it was flavourful. Very much this idea of putting the roots back in rootbeer.

So, to that point, there’s actually four different kinds of roots in this tea: burdock, dandelion, chicory, and licorice root. Though burdock and dandelion root both have their own associated health benefits I think they also contribute quite nicely to the flavour of the blend by adding a rich and slightly roasty/earthy flavour that gives the blend a lot of depth. The chicory root does this too, but it’s actually there more-so because it has an incredibly high amount of naturally occuring inulin – a water soluble and prebiotic fiber that’s great for your gut. The licorice root, on top of being adaptogenic, is added for it’s mouth-coating sweetness that helps emulate not just the taste but the texture of soda.

I also deliberately used pu’erh as the base because it doesn’t just taste good, but pu’erh has also traditionally been consumed as a digestive aid and is purportedly also prebiotic – so much gut health goodness.

Now, those are a lot of strong flavours so I think this is a good time to point out that this is a STRONG tasting tea. It steeps very quickly and intensely, and if you leave it brewing for more than a few minutes you’ll get both a robust earthiness to the taste but also a lot of that licorce root sweetness. Sometimes, however, that’s a good thing! It means you can make a pretty strong concentrate without a ton of tea leaf – and this tea is INSANELY GOOD as both a teapop (duh) and as an iced latte for that sort of root beer float kinda vibe. Both of which are recipes that use a more concentrated brew of tea as the base of the drink.

All in all, this will probably be the most polarizing tea of the bunch. However, if you like root beer, pu’erh or other earthy tasting ingredients, or are looking for a “cleaner soda alternative” then I think it’s pretty spectacular! Also, holy hell the dry leaf smells sooooo good. I have a tin of it on my desk at work right now, and multiple times a day I pop the lid off just to smell the rich root beer aroma.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=1 (1st Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g5_9fuxkak

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

TTB tea! This does taste a little like lychee! It’s light and fruity. Not my favorite, but not bad! I wish the flavor were even stronger and juicier, but I do enjoy the authentic flavor. Sometimes it’s a little herbaceous or plain.

Not a true sipdown because I have another bag, but this one is done. I like this! I had better notes jotted down somewhere, but from memory: I like the floral jasmine here, I recall the underlying oolong being smooth and creamy, and it resteeps well Western-style as well as being good for grandpa-style brewing.

I’ve been disappointed lately with the cinnamon teas, I’ve had in my cabinet. Most seem to be light in the cinnamon and needing a boost of “something” to add to the flavor. This one was a contender this morning and while the scent of cinnamon was strong while steeping, sadly, it is not a strong cinnamon while sipping. It’s sweet and also missing the spice flavors that I equate to chai. I am unsure how long this tea bag has been in my cabinet. Perhaps long enough that it lost is spicey edge. Through those disappointments, I will say, I did enjoy this mug. It was great for a rainy spring day and gave a cozy feel. There was an appley taste to it with the sweetness and cinnamon. I didn’t bother to add any milk or honey but did think about it.

Day 9 Davids Tea 2023 Advent Calendar

My last sample from the Advent calendar. Its not as good as I seem to remember but it’s not bad. I find it more nutty than caramel. Definite buttery taste and heavy on the salt. The last sip was room temp and actually tasted more caramel than when it was hot.

Day 11 Davids Tea 2023 Advent Calendar

Down to my last 2 advent calendar samples to note. Milk Oolong is a new term for me, so I Googled to get a bit more educated while sipping. I enjoyed watching this one steep as the leaves really unfurled and filled the infuser. I find this to be very floral and dark with a creamy feel and taste. I did not expect the floral taste initially but based on what I just read on Mr Google, it sounds as if this tea is exactly as it’s supposed to be. I’m enjoying it more with each sip. Might try a second steeping to see how it stands up

Sipdown and backlog

I’ve been drinking too much puerh and oolong lately, that I’ve avoided the flavored tea sipdown pile for too long. This was a leftover from the Christmas Advent season and I was ready to start digging into the pile again. I drank this hot during work last night because I wanted something sweet, but I’m doing the best to avoid the Thin Mint cookies in my freezer.

This is a good brew though. I noted, “strong berry notes, tastes like hot juice (mix of cranberry and grape), and sweet.” I’d imagine this would’ve made for a beautiful iced tea, too.

I totally get the Mexican candy vibe this is going for. In some sips, I taste a really nice combo of slightly sour candylike watermelon plus that kick of heat. I just wish there could be a smaller amount of beet in there because often it overpowers the other flavors. Definite points for creativity on this one.

Day 2 Davids Tea 2023 Advent Calendar

I actually have a pouch of this somewhere in my tea cabinet as well and I’m glad because I enjoyed this one. Being “from the north” sweet potato pie is not a common occurrence for meals. Our family sure loves sweet potatoes though.
I steeped for about 5 minutes at 200F. The blend looked interesting with chopped nuts and marshmallow bits. Its definitely sweet as I would expect and has a caramelized sugar taste. Definitely gives off vibes of cozy, warm, and comfort. Next time I drink this, I think I’ll make it as a latte to bump up the dessert factor.

Sipdown
After a long day at the hospital visiting a precious baby and their parents, having to drive the most chaotic way home – thanks to the highway constantly being shutdown for construction (welcome to Ohio) – and the snow (making a loud and brief return to the land), I needed a big mug of tea. I reached into the sipdown pile blindly and grabbed this tea. I really love the play that DT has with their Earl Grey blends. This was one of the special EG blends remaining from a couple of years ago, when I discovered DT, after had been given a sample of their Coffee Puerh through an online tea swap. I knew of their existence, of course, they are one of the bigger tea distributors, but the Columbus, Ohio location had closed well before the time I had learned of their existence in our state (I always assumed they were solely Canada based).

Anyway, I had 4tsp of this sitting in the bag. I had the intention of making this as an iced cup. I was video gaming while making the cup, thus, in my hurry, made it a hot cup of tea. Let me note that this, in no way will sway my opinion of this blend, since the final dregs of the highly over brewed and overly bitter mug was the error of my multitasking. One must admit the fault of their hand, if there’s the knowing that the tea usually makes a lovely cuppa. However, before I close on this review, if you’re ever curious what this will taste like, with the intention of it being enough leaf to be watered down by ice and not as a hot cuppa, imagine yourself drinking a very, very bitter hot mug of IPA beer.

Latte! …kinda.

So, this Superfood Latte powder actually released a few months ago, but I’ve been putting off writing the tasting note for it because it’s one of the handful of teas that have come out that I’m allergic to (the chaga – I’m allergic to mushrooms). It’s so incredibly hard and frustrating doing the research and development on teas that I can’t drink…

But, as I do every time we launch a tea I’m allergic to, I will drink a few sips of it once. Don’t worry, I do it in a controlled way. It’s just important to me to have more than a conceptual idea of the taste once we begin selling a tea so that I can take that into account when we start receiving feedback, seeing sales, etc.

Like all these Superfood Powders, this was developed with a specific function in mind. In this case, we were looking at more of a “mood boost” kind of vibe from the combination of the theobromine in the cocoa, the adaptogenic chaga, and chili which can cause the release of endorphins.

Honestly, it’s close to what I was picturing taste wise. Fairly rich hot cocoa kind of profile, though not too sweet at all. I think that’s kind of nice with a hot chocolate sort of blend because you get a little more control there with how you want the final cup to taste. Definitely can’t taste the mushrooms at all, though I do get maybe just a bit of the earthier undertone of the beets in the blend. I think it adds depth of flavour. The chili is the interesting part to me. It’s lighter than I expected, and without having more than just my few baby sips it’s hard for me to gauge whether it’s one of those kind of heats that stays a whisper or if it slowly builds in intensity on the palate over the coarse of a full mug. I’ve heard both from different coworkers.

So, anyway, this is officially in the flavour memory bank now!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Gongfu!

Yes, I know it’s not typical to brew a Darjeeling gongfu, but it actually worked out very nicely. And experimentation is fun.

I drank this while rereading some of my favourite poems from my friend yogateapoetry’s debut collection of poetry, “What Will People Say.” I’ve read through her work about twice now – once straight through and once more broken up into pieces. One thing I haven’t done yet is explore any of the well thought out tea pairings that Taniya has curated for the different parts in the sections, and I thought it was about time that I did so.

I don’t want to spoil anything too heavily for anyone who hasn’t read/finished the book yet, but Darjeeling is the pairing suggested for the final part of the collection – which is why I’m drinking this first flush Darjeeling blend this afternoon. It’s approachable and soothing for a Darjeeling with really minimal astringency; with that said it still had some of the hallmark tasting notes such as gentle florals, a crisp mineral finish and that rich, clean and earthy note of cooling petrichor. It feels like a fresh breath of mountain air on a cool morning, and in many ways that in and of itself feels is something I associate with the sensation of being light and unburdened. I think it’s a very fitting pairing for the poems in this section, and it’s honestly really enhanced my read-through.

If you haven’t checked out yogateapoetry’s debut work yet I would HIGHLY recommend it. It’s even National Poetry Month, so you really can’t ask for a better excuse than that. And read it with a good cup of tea. Seriously.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5eMVonOx-G/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDHxNmJtqno

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

We recently just brought back a few fan favourite Garden To Cup teas for the Spring season, and with them we’re introducing this new Darjeeling that will be a part of the core assortment. It’s a blend of First Flush Darjeeling teas that produce an overall medium bodied cup with crisp, mineral notes and a pleasantly soft and sweet floral quality. Makes me think of Spring rain and florals, or fresh mountain air. Very, very smooth without as much as astringency as Darjeeling blends can often have – this is meant to make it a little more approachable for someone possibly less familiar with this tea type while also having the benefit of meaning you can steep it for a long time in a method like a giant Western teapot (for high tea, perhaps) without it becoming harsh for quite some time.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

You know, this one is quite starchy/potato-y. I also would have guessed apple? With milk and sugar, it was actually pretty enjoyable. The rooibos was a great choice, and I could picture there being applesauce on top, though I don’t prefer my latkes served like that. I really appreciate what this blend was trying to do, and I think it did a good job. It tastes best at room temperature or cold, and I find myself craving this one pretty frequently!

The creaminess is very mild but present. while the floral notes are much stronger. A little bit grassy/woody.
Has a creamy mouth-feel as well, but is still very light and refreshing.

Day 3 Davids Tea 2023 Advent Calendar

I have a pretty decent stress headache at the moment. Probably related to a meeting I need to run this evening. I remembered that this tea was hanging out on my “make sure to note this” stack and decided that relaxing with it would be a good idea. Either the tea or the Advil (or both) are helping!

Unsurprisingly, this blend of medicinal tea reminds me of other herbal teas I have used in the past. Like most of them, I don’t love or hate the taste. It’s creamy with minty cool of the mint lingering after each sip. I could see this being a staple in my “wellness” tea tool box.

This is a lovely creamy dessert tea. Although a bit cloying, I like how thick and fullbodied it is and I like the vanilla and cream flavours. It is less citrus/bergamot than some other EGs but I actually like that better. Stronger bergamot can make tea bitter or medicinal. This is good with a touch of maple syrup or brown sugar + a dash of vanilla soy milk. I’ve also tried Silk brand coffee creamer and it was very sweet and delicious.

Day 21 Davids Tea 2023 Advent Calendar

I’ve been avoiding this one because it doesn’t appeal to my ideas of AM or PM tea, when I usually have a mug. I got out of bed rather late today, so thought I’d give it a whirl. I don’t taste peanut butter but I do get brownie. It is nutty but there’s a medicinal taste for my palate. Maybe it’s the apple? Not sure. This one bordered on a do not finish and “maybe it will get better on the next sip.”

Day 22 Davids Tea Advent Calendar 2023

This one I used the entire tin. There was quite a bit of candied fruit in the blend which is surprising when you don’t read the ingredient list. It steeped up with a nice scent of ginger to it. It’s sweet with a bit of spice and a rooibos base. I do detect a bit of floral in the background as well. While I don’t generally favor sweet teas, this was nice.

I got this in a sampler, and I removed the candy corn before steeping. I wouldn’t call this a chai. The spices were quite mild, but I do enjoy the desserty rooibos vibe. I’d consider buying some if it were available outside the sampler I bought it in. It’s interesting!

Ooo, that’s a nice aroma. Sweet and chai spicy. Also using this one for apple chips beyond what I am drinking.
Oh man, that licorice root is out to get you and it does. It’s a big can of whoopie. I really think they should either tone down the licorice root by at least half or take it out altogether. It is an interesting flavor addition but way too overpowering. It is soft on the palate with hints of spices and bits of black tea but that licorice root is just a bully.

Day 19 Davids Tea Advent Calendar 2023

I’m drinking this for a lunch time Zoom call. I don’t taste bourbon which is not a bad thing for me. It’s definitely brown sugary, sweet, and creamy. I like the maltiness of the mug. Hazelnut is strong in my mug and that’s fine with me. A nice dessert tea.