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I didn’t even know that this is supposed to have a peachy flavour until I finally smelled it in the sniffer lid last week. But the dreaded jasmine may still show its nasty side? Nevertheless, I sucked it up and tried it iced. Nearly not as floral as I would have expected considering the ingredients. The artificial peach they added to this really covers a lot of that up. A touch of bitterness but I must have lucked out with the brewing considering the finicky nature of this blend, or so I hear.

The first time I tried this, I wasn’t that impressed. With a splash of milk, I got mostly the honeybush base with cinnamon, then a hint of pineapple. I wondered how this could possibly resemble carrot cake in any way.

This second time around, I made the remainder as a latte and it’s a lot better this way. The coconut came to life, plus I’m detecting a little more cinnamon, and that base is more subdued. I also cheated. Earlier today, I found some Jordan’s Skinny Mixes sugar-free whipped latte foam topping in caramel, so I added a couple pumps to this. That probably played a role in the improvement, even though I tend to not like adding sweetener, especially artificial sweetener. It seems pretty good!

In the end, it still isn’t carrot cake or pina colada but for what it is, it made a good night cap.

Sipdown! I never did brew this for a smoothie but I’m sure it would have been good. I’m enjoying the rest of this as a latte. Be proud of me because after all these years, I finally started actually making proper lattes rather than just dumping milk from out of the fridge into my mug. I’m actually heating and frothing the milk with the frothing wand I bought from IKEA a couple years ago.

Thank you to the TeaGuy for sending me a very generous sample of this my way!

I think I’m the odd one out thinking this isn’t too bad? I do wish that it tasted like it smelled, though, as it smells more candyish but without being really sweet. It isn’t apple Jolly Rancher either, which many of DAVIDsTEA’s apple blends wind up tasting like, and has gotten a little tiresome. I keep huffing the leaf in my bag trying to piece it together. The closest I can think of is a sour Push Pop. When I had my mom smell it the other day, she said that it reminded her of SweeTarts.

Iced, it’s refreshingly tart, and a nice change from the typical tart nuance that hibiscus gives to many tisanes. It just doesn’t taste as juicy and squishy as the dry leaf smells. I opted for a 50g bag but you know what? I think I could have polished off 100g (and would have gotten a free coloured tin, oh well).

Those large green apple slices taste absolutely delicious once they’re rehydrated, too.

I can see why people really like this one. It’s ultra peachy, like peach juice, although on the artificial side, and it’s quite sweet too. Takes me back to when my parents used to buy this big jug of peach cocktail from Costco during the summer months. I would probably enjoy it more if I were to combine it with a straight black tea to give this a little more depth and cut the sweetness. But it’s a fun, juicy blend.

Speaking of that, I finished my last yellow peach yesterday so I should check at the grocery store today if I can get more nice ones before they are out of season. They’re my favourite summer fruit! White peaches don’t hold a candle to them.

Here we go with Matcha Spirit. I was thinking of making this as a latte before even opening the sealed bag then remembered this had turmeric and other savoury stuff going on so I thought it would be best to try it straight first.

Opening up the bag, whew, that is definitely turmeric. It even smells like a specific kind of ground coriander my family had a long time ago, which had a heavy earthy, lemony scent. The turmeric in here is slightly earthy and bitter with mustard and lemon notes. I can’t even smell the matcha in there, and mushroom powders could possibly be contributing to the earthy undertone, as well. Then the black pepper is super obvious. I also read up on reishi mushrooms and apparently they have a bitter taste to them too so perhaps that bitter aroma is coming from them too.

I frothed up one teaspoon in some slightly cooled hot water. The mushroom aroma comes forth now that it’s blended with water, but the turmeric and black pepper are still the main notes here.

Flavour-wise, it’s very heavy on the turmeric and black pepper. I’m mostly getting bitter earth from the turmeric and reishi, then lemon, with some heat at the back of my mouth from the black pepper. I can’t taste the matcha in here whatsoever. I’m detecting a brothy undertone and that could also be from the reishi.

This definitely isn’t something to be drinking for the flavour, but rather, for its health benefits, primarily, for immune support. Sources suggest trying reishi with honey or almond milk if you can’t get past the bitterness, so maybe next time I make this, I’ll add a bit of honey and see how that goes, and maybe go for that latte sometime.

Aww, sad sipdown. I enjoyed the last of this as a London Fog. I would definitely pick up more of this once I get through the big bag of Zen’s EGC I snagged before they stopped carrying tea. It’s great to also see that The TeaGuy carries a Lavender Earl Grey since I also loved Zen’s, so I’ll probably score that too eventually.

Thanks again to the TeaGuy for sending me such a generous sample! Definitely got me hooked.

In conjunction with the Mint Chip Sundae, I picked up a smaller bar of Moroccan Mint white chocolate that was on sale for $1. I love chocolate mint, and I grew up liking white chocolate (although now I’m a lot pickier with it), so surely this should be good, right?

Hmm, this fell flat. Quite a huge disappointment, really. The white chocolate itself is über waxy and doesn’t melt in the mouth like good white chocolate should. At least it’s not over-the-top sweet like those white chocolate Easter bunnies can be. The mint, on the other hand, is a lot weaker than I would have liked. I love when mint-infused chocolate is icy cool. This isn’t refreshing, and only ha a hint of mint. I’d say the spearmint is actually stronger than the peppermint here.

Would have preferred spending that $1 on a York Peppermint patty, and I’m sure that would have been more calorie-friendly too.

I think I’m done with trying their chocolate at this point. The only thing worth while has been their Salted Caramel chocolate, which was a dream. But seeing that the tea itself is also gone (also sad stuff), who knows if that would ever come back.

Hmm, pretty… ok. Another example of a green/white base that gets lost amongst all the other stuff added in here. The green base was no match for the super tart hibiscus in here. I think the ratios are way too much in favour of the hibiscus. Iced, it tastes a little bit like goji, but more so like raspberry and pomegranate. Surprisingly enough, I’m not getting much stevia in this one. Whew.

Going into this, I already knew I wasn’t going to be a fan because of the stevia, and seeing the white chocolate curls conjured up images of oil slicks on my tea. Now, I love white chocolate actually, but it’s been an annoying flavour to capture in a tea. That cocoa butter in hot water is a little dicey.

The cocoa notes aren’t as strong in here as I would have liked. This reminds me of a seasonal tea from the past. White Chocolate Frost? I appreciate the peppermint notes in here, and the vague attempt at pairing it with white chocolate, but it’s that damn stevia that is ruining the experience. I really, truly, want to poll the shit about of DAVIDsTEA customers, and find out, quantitatively, just how many people actually enjoy the stuff, because I find it hard to believe that enough of their demographic like it enough to justify putting it in so many blends.

No more stevia tears for the day, I promise.