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Probably going to be the last tea of the night… I’m starting to get really tired, so I think a herbal is a good choice to finish the night and I’m dying to try out the last two teas I bought from the winter/Christmas collections: so I guess I’m checking this one off now!

It’s no secret that I LOVE peppermint (and just mint in general), so of course this was on my list of teas to check out. While I was in store, I checked out Santa’s Secret too because it’s so raved about – but the smell did nothing for me which was kinda odd because, firstly, it’s a mint blend (candy canes!) and, secondly, has a black base and black teas are typically a consistent favourite of mine. Although, Read My Lips is another popular David’s blend with mint and a black base – but I’ve yet to try it because for whatever reason the smell does nothing to entice me either. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised: I can’t love EVERYTHING mint.

Contrary though, I love EVERYTHING about the smell of this one! I’ll be honest, I had reservations because this blend, like Read My Lips, has peppercorns and I thought that might have something to do with why it doesn’t appeal to me, but ultimately this smells just perfect (and totally wintery/Christmasy). The smell of the white chocolate, which I love, is so much stronger than I expected it to be and the dry leaf has a lot more white chocolate swirls than I expected. The peppermint is also INCREDIBLY intense. Seriously, when I think “Christmas tea” or “Christmas flavours” this is exactly what I imagine. There’s something incredibly familiar about it…

So, I steeped 1 1/2tsp. for a 10 oz. mug in boiling water. Currently it’s still steeping, but HOLY OIL SLICK. Seriously, oily teas usually don’t bother me at all – but this one just has so much oily sheen and little “oily bits” floating around to it that it’s kinda actually gross to me. It really looks very murky/swampy. However, the smell is HEAVENLY. The peppermint is so strong that my eyes are watering a little – and I love it. There’s something very much “white mint chocolate bark” about this, and I think MAYBE what the dry leaf reminded me of was this odd White Chocolate Eggnog drink that I’ve only ever had once. I need to wait a little for it to cool, but I have high hopes for this (which means this’ll only turn out fantastically or be a disaster).

I’m stealing very small sips as it cools, and so for this is yummy peppermint with creamy white chocolate. I really need a bigger sip, but so far I’m getting “White peppermint hot chocolate”. It’s quite sweet, but that’s to be expected with stevia included in the mix. I don’t know how long this ended up actually steeping for. Pretty sure it was close to 10 minutes – but it’s a herbal so I’m sure it can take it.

I think I was accurate in my white chocolate bark comparison. This is very sweet, and strongly white chocolate flavoured especially in the smooth and creamy aftertaste. The aftertaste specifically actually reminds me of a fresher (because of the mint) white hot chocolate like Timmie’s white hot chocolate (only drink I ever get from there). I definitely get “Christmas” from drinking this blend, and it’s sort of reminding me of fresh fallen snow (perfect for today since we had our first heavy snowfall for the season here in Saskatoon). There’s nothing egg nog flavoured about the tea itself, though. I think this is a good, solid peppermint tea though.

I only bought 20g of it, so I’m thinking I’ll definitely be back for more before the collection leaves. Not sure yet whether I’ll just get a 50g bag or if I want a whole tin. It’s a good alternative to a heavily steeped cup of Peppermint Amour and makes a nice switch up from Della Terra’s Minty Cow (or whatever name it happens to be listed under atm) – which has kind of been my go to mint chocolate tea.

Variety is good.

Bought this one today to try out (actually I bought the most of this one). I’ll admit, I was not initially excited about it when I first read about it, even if it is essentially claiming to be the Nutella of teas. However, when I started reading other Steepsterite’s reviews I noticed something: a lot of the more negative critiques seem to be in regard to the licorice root in the blend. I happen to love licorice root, though – so that actually got me MORE interested in this.

In store, this was one of two teas they had samples of. I actually really liked this in store and found that I got prominent flavours of chocolate and hazelnut and basically the exact same, very sweet licorice aftertaste I get with Bravissimo (my favourite part about that blend). So I took the plunge and bought this instead of Spiced Fig (which I, sadly, didn’t enjoy the sample of even though I thought I would).

I’m making this at home now. Dry leaf smells pretty good. Very strong chocolate and hazelnut smell, and you can definitely smell the licorice root in there too. I also smell something weirdly metallic: I’m thinking that has something to do with the sort of weird combination of ingredients. The smell of the oolong base is essentially completely covered up.

For steeping, I used 1 1/2 tsp. for a 10 oz. mug in 96 degree water for about 4 1/2 minutes. The smell of the steeped tea itself doesn’t have anything metallic about it, which is good. The odd sort of metallic smell of the dry leaf is the only thing that has turned me off so far. The smell is Nutella with a very subtle licorice scent to it, and it’s pleasing. There is an oily sheen to the top of my cup (probably from the artificial stuff added into this).

First few sips are good: I get hit with an initial Nutella burst, sort of like the first bite of a piece of toast slathered in Nutella. The licorice root slowly works its way into your mouth unlike the “punch” of licorice root in Bravissimo, but this lingers in your mouth for a long time much like the licorice root in Bravissimo does so these two teas share that in common. I seem to be amassing a lot of chocolate teas (I bought two today alone), but this one really seems quite different from everything else I have and I’m happy to be adding another Oolong tea to my inventory. The fact there’s black tea in this makes me happy too.

Honestly, I think this is really good and I could see myself picking up a full tin of it before the winter collection leaves. We’ll see if it continues to live up to my awesome first impression of it after I’ve had it a few more times, though. I know Robyn will be interested in trying this out next time she’s over though – she’s crazy about Nutella so Nutella tea will probably be exciting for her too.

EDIT: Resteeped, and this was still really, really good! Lots of chocolate and hazelnut flavour still, but most of the licorice root flavour had faded and the oolong base was more present. Also, I can very weakly taste the black tea too.

Made this again for work today, but only a mug worth (not enough to fill my whole 20 oz. water bottle). First time having it was on the comic con trip hot, but today I drank it cold. I’m not sure if I necessarily liked it better or worse, but it was really different that’s for sure. Maybe that’s because I was more prudent in steeping it this time around, or maybe the temperature just brought out different flavours.

Drinking at work, there was a light floral quality to the tea, and the light creamy ALMOST caramel taste I experienced hot was amplified at a cold tea: this was very creamy caramel with buttery notes. It was yummy right down to the last few sips – and it sure didn’t last a whole lot of time.

Still not sure if I’d repurchase – but this is an interesting one for sure. I think I need to drink it a few more times hot and cold before making my mind up. However, I need to show some love to my new teas as well as some other teas which haven’t been drank in a while, and I’d like to finish off a couple samples before my swap from VariaTEA arrives.

I sent a swap out to VariaTEA today, and one of the teas in it was S’mores. When I was packaging everything last night it really made me want to make some of this for myself, but since it was really late at night and I worked in the morning I opted out because of the caffeine. However, caffeine was crucial this morning at work, so I made some for myself in my Timolino to bring with me.

And, I burnt my tongue drinking it. It was mostly worth it, though. Today this smells a little better than it tastes (like warm marshmallows and graham crackers, with a touch a chocolate) – but that’s because I oversteeped this morning since I was doing my makeup in between making cups of tea for different thermoses, and I lost track of time. Despite being a little bitter, it’s still good though. I want more marshmallow today though.

Hope you like it VariaTEA!

I was going to log everything I’ve had to drink today in the order I consumed it, but for some reason that seems like a flawed plan – and I wish to start with this one because A) I get to tell an awesome story about some good customer service at David’s and B) it was one of the winter blends that I was most excited for when they were ‘announced’ (leaked).

So, lets start with point A…

I went in today with two main goals: Get some of the new winter/Christmas teas to try out and get a replacement part for my Timolino which, sadly, was purchased with a broken brew basket that I didn’t notice in store at the time of purchasing it. So I walked in store on a mission to find the part I needed, and a friendly sales guy (who has helped me out in the past) asked if he could help find something for me since it looked like I was trying really hard to find something.

I told him a needed a replacement part for a Timolino, and instantly he seemed very concerned about why I needed a replacement part. After asking what needed to be replaced, I explained to him that I had bought a Timolino around a week ago (right before the comic con trip) which had a broken brew basket. Everytime I try to brew something, the basket falls to the bottom of the thermos and is nearly impossible to fish out (and therefore get my leaves out), which usually ruins the teas I’m drinking.

He asked if I had a receipt because, if I did, they could just give me a new Timolino, but I told him I sadly didn’t. I did, however, have the Timolino with me minus the brew basket. After asking me to wait just a moment he ran to the back, and then came out with a brand new black Timolino in the same size as mine. After exchanging the one I had for the new one he apologized for the fact I had purchased a broken one and said it was no problem replacing it (even though I neither had a receipt OR the brew basket to prove it was broken). Customer service like that is awesome and it’s just one of many examples of DAVIDsTEA going that extra little bit for their customers!

Now on to the tea:

Samples teas for the day were Spiced Fig and Choconut Oolong – both of which I had on my list to get samples of. However, I took the opportunity to try them both first. I’m glad I did, because although I had a great customer service experience I didn’t have a great taste experience with this tea. Lots of people have noted that it’s really heavy and takes a lot to make a flavourful cup (which makes it a very expensive blend). The sample I had today wasn’t exactly flavourless, but none of the flavours were super distinct.

I think I tasted every flavour in the ingredients list MINUS the fig itself, which is super disappointing because that’s what this tea is named for and that’s the flavour that really had me interested. The rest just worked out to be a generically fruity herbal (cranberry was a bit more noticeable as a flavour note, though) with a strong clove taste. It was enough to keep me from picking any up today to play around with.

Who knows though, maybe I’ll change my mind. Maybe not.

I’m ranking this with two things in mind: the actual flavour (which was generic, but not bad) and the fact that this tea almost in no way embodies what the title claims it to be (a FIG tea).

EDIT: I almost forgot to add this! I was talking to the sales guy about the new blends and we got on the topic of Alpine Punch returning. This is something he mentioned to me, so fans of Alpine Punch from the last few seasons might want to take note of this. The Alpine Punch blend this year was altered. It now has black pepper in it and an increased amount of coconut.

Sipdown!

The sample I received from Robyn was JUST enough for two cups of this – the first of which I had pre comic con trip. I actually brought this with on the trip but never ended up drinking it, even though I meant to (it was double bagged and sealed off but still managed to stink up the rest of my travel bag of teas!).

It was a good “welcome back home” tea. I barely had enough leaf for the cup I made, and fully steeped it looked like a washed out/dull pink colour – but the taste was still quite strong (not as much as the first cup) and very delicious and guava-y. I wish I had more.

Oh well, guess I’m waiting until Christmas to see if I get any from family. It’s one of the teas I included in my wish list. And, I suppose I can always mooch a cup off Robyn each time I come to visit her at the University.

Last tea I made for the trip: I drank this at Comic Con with me while playing this really cool game called King of Tokyo in the gaming centre. My brother really enjoyed the game – I should see if I can find it for him as a Christmas present. I think that’d probably be really cool. My store doesn’t carry it in our games section, but I’m wondering if the large Go Games! downtown might have it stocked… Anyone on Steepster ever played it?

I steeped. 2 tsp. for 5 min. in boiling water in my Timolino – nothing added (although I wouldn’t have minded a tbls. of butterscotch pudding to swirl around in it). This was slightly astringent and bitter – It got steeped a bit longer than I would have liked. Overall, still very good though.

Drinks and food were pretty overpriced there (to be expected), so I was happy to have brought lots of tea with me.

Steeped 1 1/2 tsp. for 7 min. in boiling water twice (each time with fresh leaf) and poured into the 20 oz. water bottle. This was consumed cold, and probably close to 10 hours if not longer after I made it.

The liquor was a darker green than it usually is, but the taste was no different than usual (even after sitting for so long). I think I need to go back to drinking this hot, though. I seem to be just a bit fonder of it when it’s hot.

I don’t really recall how I steeped this one: the notes I made for it are fairly limited. I was consumed cold in my 20 oz. water bottle with nothing added to it, though.

The smell was strongly spearmint with a tangy strawberry smell and light ginger aroma. The taste wasn’t as well balanced as I’ve experienced in the past with this tea, but it was still good. The strawberry was VERY powerful and tangy, and the ginger tasted really light.

I think I was really tired when I wrote my tasting notes for this one (probably exhausted from the travel time driving down to Winnipeg from Regina), because I titled it was “Pumpkin Chai – Tea Desire”. Yeah, definitely not a tea desire tea…

I used 2 tsp. for 12 oz. steeped in boiling water (in my timolino) for 5 minutes. I made this one for the drive from Regina to Winnipeg, and out all all the teas I had over my trip this one was probably made with the worst brewing conditions (which really weren’t too bad).

The smell as it steeped was very light cinnamon and cloves (especially the cloves, I hardly detected them at all). Maybe the small amount I brought with didn’t actually have any cloves in it? I could really smell the pumpkin, and especially the caramel (I noticed lots of little caramel square bits in the dry leaf though – more than usual).

The taste worked out to be more balanced than the smell was, and was delicious of course (it always is). Sometimes I like the add milk and honey to this one, but when I made this for the trip it was straight with nothing added. Caramel smell was especially present, and the carrot too.