TeaTaxi

Sipdown (401)

I drank this the other day at work and it seemed like an awesome mix with more unique ingredients than the typical fruit mix. Unfortunately despite ingredients like passion fruit and kiwi it tasted like all the other hibiscus/rose hip fruit blends.

This is so yummy as a latte-very creamy. I taste apple, nuts and marshmallows. It is heavenly.

The dry leaf smells amazing in this blend! It smells and tastes like bananas. It’s a pretty tasty tea.

I really enjoy this tea. It tastes slightly tart with berry flavor and the cloves and cinnamon are just the perfect amount in this tea.

Tried this as a latte and even with added sweetener this tastes very bitter. I am not really liking this one at all. Once I get past the bitterness, I can taste coffee and toffee. I might be able to finish this cup but I definitely do not want another cup of this. Glad it was only a sample.

This is the best S’mores labelled tea that actually kinda tastes like its name. Pretty tasty as a latte.

This makes a delicious latte! Tastes like chocolate and marshmallows-this tea tastes more like a S’mores than teas that are named S’mores do. I am definitely ordering more once I finish my stash of samples!

I am going crazy on the lattes this afternoon. I think this is my fifth one today but in my defense they are only from samples so they are half the size that I would normally make my lattes. So far I have liked all of them and this one keeps the trend going. It is really good! There’s an extra zing to it that I like and I think it is the blue cornflowers.

This is pretty yummy as a latte. It’s like a black tea strawberries and cream. I approve! Why are all the lattes that I have liked in black tea form?! I am supposed to stay away from caffeine-but I guess a little cup every now and again won’t hurt in the morning.

Woah-this is quite tasty as a latte. Right away, I can taste the cocoa and the chocolate. Then the black tea makes an appearance followed by a tiny hint of spice.

Tried this as a latte and it kinda does remind me of a good mocha-with a rooibos base. I quite enjoyed this sample.

Made this iced and hot and despite the lack of actual blueberry in the leaf I was surprised to find it has a nice blueberry pie flavor. However, for my tastes, I found the base to be overpowering.

Check out my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/10/07/blueberry-pie-from-davids-tea/

Sipdown

As 2017 quickly approaches, I went through my teas again to determine teas for my sipdown box. That meant I pulled all the teas from 2016 or earlier and tossed them into the box. I also pulled teas that are in shitty packaging since I don’t trust those to last as long. This was among the teas in the former category and with only a teaspoon left, it was an easy finish.

This has white chocolate in it so it does get a touch of that oil on top, however, in the case of this cup, it is more visible to the eye than the mouthfeel which is good. Tastewise this is sweet. Sweet rooibos that blends with the other flavors to be a bit caramel-like that goes well with what I would call “a bit of a cakey vibe” . However, rather than Red Velvet, it is more generic dessert tea than anything and though it is enjoyable, it is not worth restocking, especially when I can easily obtain DAVIDsTEA’s Birthday Cake which is very similar and far more nostalgic.

Sipdown (645)!

This was a VariaTEA share, and one I was so excited to see because I’ve tried and loved this tea before – and it was awesome getting to revisit it. I fully intend to buy some next time I place a Tea Taxi order, but with 600+ teas in my cupboard I don’t think that’s going to be any time soon.

It’s just a really nice rich, sweet flavour! Succulent, ripe pear notes that make me think of the more sweet and less floral Anjou pears (the red kind of pear, basically) with enough cinnamon and ginger to balance out the abundance of sweetness. It really is a very comforting profile; the name is very on point. I like the body that the black tea provides as well, without overtaking the ingredients. It’s maybe a touch malty, and that also is a nice addition to the pear and spice combo.

Thanks VariaTEA!

Sipdown (414)!

Picked up a sample of this one a while back because frankly I’m kind of just attracted to anything with pear in it…

I brewed this one up with milk, and it was quite lovely! I kind of hadn’t realized that it had ginger in it, but that’s ok one of the few things that I think ginger really pairs well with is pear so it actually worked splendidly! The pear was really sweet and juicy, and quite smooth and the mix of ginger and cinnamon added both a nice warming spice component and a little bit of a more festive/winter kind of feel. Also tasted a little bit like poached pear! I was really, really feeling it!

I doubt I’m gonna be placing a TeaTazxi order for a long while – and generally speaking they’re more of my go to for flavoured rooibos blends but this is a tea that I could 100% see myself ordering! It was actually such a good pear tea! Like om nom nom good!

Cold Brew!

Y’know, I was talking with someone at work about this company the other day and we both realized that they essentially just dropped off the map. I’m pretty sure they don’t exist at all anymore. It made me think of this one tea from them that I still own, which is why I brewed it up. It’s perfectly lovely. Just a hint buttery with an otherwise mildly sweet and ever so slightly tart mix of cranberry and blueberry. Strong Tim Horton’s muffin vibes – but in a positive way.

Cold Brew!

I was thinking about this when I was prepping this cold brew, but is TeaTaxi even still in business anymore? I feel like I haven’t heard anything about them in ages…

Anyway, this cold brew is pretty good but I do think the tea is showing some signs of aging. The flavour is a bit less potent than I recall, and that slight fade is allowing more of a sharp sour berry top note to come through in the flavour. The rest is like a berry pastry or even an oatmeal with fress berries, just maybe a smidge too acidic in the top note to big as perfect as it has the potential to be.

Have I ever even drank this time in the morning?

Seriously – I feel like every time I have this tea it’s in the evenings because, for a rooibos tea, that just makes sense!? I never want to start my day with something that’s caffeine free. It tastes so nice though; sweet, and a little bit buttery with loads of berries including a lovely cranberry note. I enjoy this basically every time I have it – I just think it has the dumbest name.

Currently sipping on this one.

It’s too tart in the beginning of the sip; very sheer tart apple/cranberry/blueberry notes that are, like, penetrating all the weird crevices in my mouth? Almost feels like it’s leaving behind that metallic taste that pennies have. The rest is like a kind of buttery blueberry and currant profile. It’s a bad juxtaposition. I wanted more light and muffin-y. Not sure if it’s because I steeped poorly in some way or if it’s just ‘cause I’m sick/out of whack.

Bleck. If I wanted tart muffin I’d have steeped up DT’s Blueberry Muffin though.

Ironically, this was an evening cuppa with some cashew milk and a smudge of vanilla agave. I actually find myself hard pressed to believe that this is something I’ve ever going to want to drink in the morning given the fact it has no caffeine in it. I just need the caffeine almost all days to be a functioning adult.

However, flavour wise this was great! Kind of buttery and sweet, both from the additions to the cup but also from the tea itself. The base rooibos in this one has an especially honey like quality to me, so it really sort of pushes those ‘muffin’/honey oat sort of tastes all on its own, and then the nuttyness of the milk and the extra vanilla sweetness just sort of exaggerate/amplify that quality it already has.

As for the berry flavours – this one has a lot going on. I mean, it really, really does come off as a mixed berry sort of flavour but you can pick out some of the stronger/bolder berry notes if you’re thinking about it – the cranberry and the blueberry mainly. The combo makes me think of Saskatoon berries even though there aren’t any in the blend; but Saskatoons do taste like cranberry/blueberry combos in the first place, so…

Yeah.

Cold Brew!

So, it’s like seven at night – not morning, but this still makes for a nice tea. I have no clue why TeaTaxi’s tea names are so weird; but there’s definitely something special about them. I hear a tea named “Binge Watching” or “Daddy Cool” and one of the first thoughts in my head is I wonder if that’s from TeaTaxi?

I think this really does a great job of capturing the feeling/taste of a berry muffin, though! One of my biggest complaints with muffin teas in general has been that they don’t capture the fluffy, buttery taste that a muffin needs and just focus on the “flavour”. Like, you can’t just make a blueberry tea and tack muffin on the end of it and expect that to convey a blueberry muffin. Yes, looking at you – DAVIDsTEA! So yeah: buttery muffin notes totally done and done well here! I think the base choice probably helps a lot.

As for the berries/flavour? Strongest one in my opinion is the cranberry, but it’s nice to get a little of that sweet tartness up against the buttery and honeyed taste of the rooibos base/muffin. Also, I usually just love cranberry teas in general. It’s a good fruit for tea blends. Other than the cranberry, there’s a relatively substantial amount of blueberry, which adds to the plump/juicy berry flavours and provides a little more sweetness. Cranberry and blueberry are a good match up; you have a tarter berry paired with a sweeter one. It’s like two musical notes from the same chord but one is a high note (cranberry) and one is a lower note (blueberry). Or, at least that’s how I see it in my head. Harmonious, complimentary, but separate. I hope that makes sense to someone other than just me…

But yes – good berry muffin tea! Well executed, and a lot of interesting stuff going on in terms of flavour. Would recommend this one.

Sipdown (326)

Getting in some sipdowns before my orders start showing up. I know I have some time but best to start early.

I was sad my sample of this was only two teaspoons since I was hoping to try this iced and hot and it would have been easier with one more teaspoon. Instead I just dumped the whole thing in a filter and steeped it hot. Then got distracted and I am drinking it cold.

It reminds me of Della Terra’s Lemon Chiffon rooibos which means it would have likely been good as a cold brew. The mint is a nice touch though it does lessen the chiffon vibe a bit. I would potentially get more of this if I were placing a TeaTaxi order.

Sipdown (327)

This tastes like sweet marzipan and flowers. Not bad but not really for me. The rainbow candies were cute though.