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Boy do I miss my Teavana Maharaj chai. No chai has satisfied me since and this Saigon chai is no different. I like my chai to be strong, to have a nice bite to it. Alas, teavana shit up shop here in Canada and I didn’t know until it was too late.

This Saigon chai is weak. Pathetically week. No amount of tea made it strong emough. I’m so disappointed. I am ready to pay the outrageous exchange and shipping to get my beloved Maharsj chai from the US.

Trying to force down the Saigon as I type this and I can tell it’s going to end up down the sink. I’m not s fan of David’s tea but had higher hopes for this.

This is really good! I was worried it would be too fishy, seaweedy but it isn’t. It’s a smooth, balanced vegetal goodness. If I hadn’t already tried the dragon pearls I would say that this is the best green tea I ever had. But nothing will top those jasmine-scented dragon pearls, those were love at first sip!

The second steep of this was just as good as the first! I did extend the steep time by a minute but no more being afraid it would turn bitter on me. But I’ve yet to be able to savor that last sip at the bottom of the cup on the first brew. I can imagine it would be delicious! You see, my two year old stole it. Yes, I made the mistake of sharing my tea with him early on and now he see’s me drinking and demands a sip. Every. Single. Time. Sometimes he’s content with just a sip and will let me enjoy my tea in peace. Not today. I thought when I gave him his obligatory sip of this he would say “yuck” and walk away..I mean what 2 year old would like a real green tea?? Mine would. And not only did he like it , he made me share sip for sip and then got to savor the last mouthful. Little bugger. Maybe he should be writing these reviews.

So, even without being able to savor that last mouthful of goodness of the first brew this stuff earns high marks. Not as high as my beloved dragon pearls but pretty darn close! I heard you can get tea-drunk. Not sure if that’s true but if it is I would imagine it’s tea like this and those delicious dragon drops that could help someone achieve that state.

I enjoyed smelling this tea as much as I enjoyed drinking it. I havent tried tons of green tea but of the 5 kinds I have tried so far this one is the best. I was afraid from some of the other reviews that this would be “seaweedy” or “fishy” because I really hate that taste/smell in tea. Instead I enjoyed a mild but very pleasant tasting green tea and did I mention how much I loved the jasmine scent? its subtle, not overbearing in any way and taking deep breaths of it I felt so at ease and relaxed drinking it. Aromatherapy in a cup. I know already that this will become a staple for me. I love Pukka’s “relax” to unwind at night but I might start with this one and end with a cup of the stronger tasting Pukka as my evening unwinding ritual. I am so glad I discovered this tea..it’s stress therapy and like laying on a cozy, freshly washed blanket in a meadow in Spring in the middle of this endless storm of my life. The little things in life really do make it all worthwhile. This is one of those things for me.

Baileys Irish Cream. That was the first thing that came to mind upon my first delectable whiff of this tea. And for the record I adore me a good Bailey’s. I got this as a sample and something that surprised me was just how little TEA was in my sample. I have not purchased this in a regular amount so I don’t know if it is normal for this tea to have such little quantity of actual tea in it but tea leaves were very scarce.

I first steeped for about 6 minutes in water that was 205 as recommended on the instructions. I do try to follow the instructions the first time I ever make a tea I’ve never had before then I adjust if I need to. This time I needed to. The steep of 6 minutes was not long enough. I was a bit surprised at this because I am quite generous with the amount of tea I use. I like flavor so I will usually put a bit more then the recommended amount. In this case I used almost 3 teaspoons for my 16 oz mug. It was still too weak for my liking so I put it back to steep a few more minutes. Probably 10 minutes before I filled my mug.

My first sip of this was a combination of loving the caramel-like aroma wafting from my mug but expecting more in terms of flavor. It was still not quite right for me. Not as much oomph as I expected and I had the idea maybe some sugar would help. I added a generous spoon of German rock sugar and stirred it until it dissolved which took a minute because the tea had now cooled down a touch. To be honest it cooled down too much with all the fussing around I had done. I sipped it and it was just.. ok. Not amazing, not WOW! but just ok. In fact I kind of regretted putting in the amount of sugar I did. At first it seemed right but as I drank my way down it became just too sweet.

I really wanted to love this and I thought for sure I would. I was almost positive with it’s delicious aroma that I would be over the moon for it but instead I was left just short of being fully satisfied. ;)

But I do think I will give this tea the benefit of the doubt. I think my sample was very lacking in terms of the content of actual tea in it so next time I go to Davids I will mention this and ask to see their blend of this tea. If it looks more generous with the tea leaves I will give it a whirl once again because I do think this tea has the potential to be one of my great teas and I have a funny feeling I’m right in my guess that this sample I received is not a genuine reflection of this tea.

That being said, I will hold off on giving this tea a numerical rating until I have a chance to try it again.

I absolutely love this tea! This is one of the first loose leaf teas I had the pleasure of experiencing and well, I’m hooked! It has the perfect balance of chocolate and mint without either one being too much. I loved it so much that I was able to somehow coax 3 steeps out of just 2.5 teaspoons! Even the third steep was yummy (although I did sweeten it a bit)

My littlest guy who is nearly two wanted to see what all the fuss was about (yes, I was literally saying “Omigosh this is just AWESOME!” out loud. Well, naturally he demanded a sip. He loooved it. He climbed up and perched his little cute self on my lap and we shared sips together. He did not want to let go of the handle and when it was all gone he stared longingly into the empty mug. Yep, I felt the same way. So I brewed some more. :)

Now I know that coffee and tea really should not be on a two year old childs menu BUT this low caff treat is one that I just have to share on occasion with my mini-connoisseur. He loves tea and upon investigating I found out that rooibos tea is one that is actually fine for babies and nursing mothers so I think I will have to find a yummy one for him to enjoy once in awhile.

It goes without saying that this tea is absolutely delicious and it will be one that I won’t want to be without although I might have to fight the two year old for it ;)

I woke up Sunday (2 days ago) morning with my head aching, my sinuses COMPLETELY blocked, so much so that I could not breathe through my nose let alone taste or smell anything. My voice was hoarse and I felt achy and awful. “Ah here we go, this is gonna be really bad”. You know that feeling when your on the verge of getting REAL sick? Yep, that was me. Well, I headed out to the mall (I was determined to pick up some tea at Teavana’s and no stinkin sickness was stopping me..and it was the only morning I had without three small kids to care for so I HAD to go if I wanted to shop in peace. Well, I stopped in Shopper’s Drug Mart and saw this. I already use the daily detox tea by Traditional Medicinals and know they make quality stuff. I picked this up and hit up Teavana for some tea and headed home. I proceeded to drink 2 bag cups all day long. I probably drank 5 or 6 cups (16 oz mug brewed with 2 bags for about 10-15 minutes) Well I tell you it’s a bloody miracle!! I am SURE this stuff kicked my immune system into high gear and I dodged a major bullet! i am a tiny bit stuffed up but NOTHING like Sunday! I can breath through my nose and my taste and smell came back the day after power drinking this stuff. If you feel yourself getting sick BUY THIS AND DRINK LOTS RIGHT AWAY! It works, it really does! I highly recommend this tea and it saved me from having to deal with a 6,5 and 2 year old while horribly ill..in other words it saved me from hell on earth lol. This will be my go to tea when I feel a bug coming on. And it tastes ok too!