I’ve had this one twice now, both times iced.

The first time I had it I actually liked it a fair bit. I mean, it wasn’t one of those “Wow, OMG!” teas but it was solid – and very fun because (due to the Spirulina and Butterfly Pea Flower) it brews up a brilliant dark blue colour. This actually isn’t my first Spirulina tea; I’ve got one from Cornelia Bean with a very different flavour profile. I think it’s a cool ingredient to use in tea, and was excited to see we were doing a take on it.

Taste wise, it’s got a lot of Moringa in it, and I find that makes it taste like a sort of passion fruit/grapefruit kind of combo, with the undertones of the coconut in the blend. It was pretty medium bodied and smooth, and made for a refreshing iced tea.

However, the same day I tried my first iced glass of this I also went out for sushi with a few friends – and I ended up getting super sick. I spent the entire next morning just completing throwing up, feeling incredibly queasy, and the sight of ANYTHING food or drink wise just made it worse. The kicker, though, was that all my vomit was tinted blue. That’s probably an overshare, but it ties into what I’m about to say next…

So, a few days later I’m feeling fine and am back at work. We were really demoing this tes/hyping it up because it’s brand new. I decided to make myself an iced cup of it ’cause all that talk about it all day was kind of making me crave it. Association is a powerful thing my friends; I took one sip of it and I just felt like I was going to get sick all over again. I could not drink it; it just brought me right back to how awful and ill I felt when I had, what was likely, food poisoning.

In fact, even the smell of this one now makes me gag.

I completely DO NOT blame the tea at all – but I think I’m going to perma associate this one with that terrible, negative experience and just wont be able to touch this one again.

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 regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Mastress Alita

I got food poisoning on my birthday, and the only other thing I’d had that day other than my birthday dinner was tea (a matcha latte and a birthday cake rooibos). Thankfully the dinner was so overpowering I didn’t really notice any of the tea and didn’t form any associations with it, but it was the worst case of food poisoning I’d ever had and major dehydration set in. I’m so sorry to hear you recently had to go through that as well.

Roswell Strange

Years ago, I had the flu on Christmas – I had been drinking non stop tea all day and then completely threw it all up. It tasted so potently of one of the Butiki teas I had been drinking that for a short time I was completely turned off Butiki in general. I got over it though, so maybe I’ll get over this one…

Mastress Alita

Ouch! It’ll probably just take time, and possibly some slow reintroduction of individual flavors/ingredients. I certainly hope I’ll be able to eat hamburgers again, but it’s been a month since that food poisoning run-in and I haven’t exactly had a craving yet, heh. Thank goodness I dodged the tea bullet, considering how much I drink in a day!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

People who liked this

Comments

Mastress Alita

I got food poisoning on my birthday, and the only other thing I’d had that day other than my birthday dinner was tea (a matcha latte and a birthday cake rooibos). Thankfully the dinner was so overpowering I didn’t really notice any of the tea and didn’t form any associations with it, but it was the worst case of food poisoning I’d ever had and major dehydration set in. I’m so sorry to hear you recently had to go through that as well.

Roswell Strange

Years ago, I had the flu on Christmas – I had been drinking non stop tea all day and then completely threw it all up. It tasted so potently of one of the Butiki teas I had been drinking that for a short time I was completely turned off Butiki in general. I got over it though, so maybe I’ll get over this one…

Mastress Alita

Ouch! It’ll probably just take time, and possibly some slow reintroduction of individual flavors/ingredients. I certainly hope I’ll be able to eat hamburgers again, but it’s been a month since that food poisoning run-in and I haven’t exactly had a craving yet, heh. Thank goodness I dodged the tea bullet, considering how much I drink in a day!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Hello! My name is Kelly, though many people in the tea community call me Ros or Roswell.

I am a mid-twenties tea addict, blogger, and all around nerd. I grew up in the Prairies, but a few years ago I relocated to Quebec to pursue a career with DAVIDsTEA in the tea industry! I’m still working on getting my French language skills down…

My first introduction to tea, in any form outside of instant and bottled iced tea, was about seven years ago when I happened to stumble upon DAVIDsTEA while looking for a birthday present for a friend! I tried their Birthday Cake rooibos blend, and I’ve been hooked on tea ever since! In those seven years; I was introduced to the online tea community, expanded my interest in flavoured teas to include a deep love and appreciation for straight teas and traditional brewing methods, got a tea themed tattoo, started reviewing teas, amassed a sizable tea and teaware collection, became a TAC certified Tea Sommelier, & even came full circle by beginning a career in the tea industry with DAVIDsTEA!

I consider myself a Jack of all Teas, and strive to have a knowledge and appreciation of all tea types, formats, and styles of drinking. I don’t like to feel boxed in to just being a “flavoured tea” or “straight tea” drinker – my expectations may vary depending on the type of tea or how it’s been processed/prepared but if it’s good tea, it’s good tea no matter how it’s been made!

You name it, I probably drink it- and I’ll absolutely try anything at least once.

My default method of preparation is hot, Western style, and straight – but I’m not opposed to additions if I’m in the right mood. If I ever add something to a tea or use a different method of preparation I will ALWAYS call it out in the tasting note though.

I like to listen to music when drinking tea, especially when I’m brewing a large pot at a time or steeping Gongfu. Often I curate very intentional tea and music pairings, and sometimes I share them here in my tasting reviews. Music is something that I find can deeply affect the experience of having tea.

I’m also one half of the “tea and fandom” podcast GeekSteep where, weekly, we discuss newly explored fandoms over tea as well as try to figure out the perfect tea to pair with each fandom. You can find us on Spotify and Apple & Google podcasts.

Favourite flavour notes/ingredients: Pear, lychee, cranberry, cream, melon, pineapple, malt, roasty, petrichor, sweet potato, heady florals like rose, hazelnut or walnut, sesame, honey (in moderation), and very woody shou.

Least favourite flavour notes/ingredients:
Lemongrass, ginger, strongly spiced profiles (and most Chai in general), mushrooms, seaweed, chamomile, stevia, saltiness or anything that reminds me too much of meat that isn’t supposed to taste like meat…

Currently exploring/obsessed with: Sheng from Yiwu, Yancha (Qilan in particular), anything with a strong sweet potato note. Also, I need to try ALL the root beer teas! Searching for a really good caramel flavoured blend, ideally with a black tea base.

Please contact me at the instagram account listed below if you would like me to review your teas.

Currently I’m employed in the tea department of the DAVIDsTEA head office. While I’m still sharing my own personal thoughts on new & existing DAVIDsTEA blends, I am no longer numerically rating them due to the obvious conflict of interest. Any comments expressed are a reflection of my own thoughts and opinions, and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of the company. Any DAVIDsTEA blends you currently see with a numeric score were reviewed prior to my being hired there and have not been adjusted since becoming a DAVIDsTEA employee.

Location

Montreal, QC, CA

Website

https://www.instagram.com/ros...

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer