Holiday teas continue w/ Gingerbread Blondie – a new herbal tea that launched in store on Monday. It will be going on the website too, but as I sad in a previous tasting note the website is a bit behind in uploading some of the newer teas…
This is probably my least favourite of the new holiday teas from 2019, but I do still like it! In fact, I think this might be the first year in since I’ve been drinking DT that I actually like all of the new holiday releases. New, of course, being the keyword as there are some returning blends this year that I’m not a fan of. I actually picked up some of every new holiday tea this year – and generally I’m pretty good at being honest about when a new tea isn’t for me. I don’t just like everything that DT puts out…
The big reason that I don’t like this tea as much as I’d like to is that it doesn’t really taste like gingerbread or a blondie to me – I think for a tea to really taste like gingerbread it needs more than just ginger; there should be a density to the flavour, and a molasses dark sweetness. For a blondie, you need brown sugar. Well, this tea is neither dense and molasses-y or brown sugar tasting, so it fails the name accuracy test. Hard.
That doesn’t mean it’s not good, though – with a bit of a perspective shift I can find aspects of the tea that I like/enjoy with the name aside. For example, this is a softer tasting tea – sometimes I think that’s really nice around the holidays, where the teas DT puts out tend to be very rich and heavy. The ginger is tamer than other ginger blends, like Ginger Crystals or Super Ginger, and more like candied ginger – but it’s got a slight heat to it. It’s sweet, but not sugary – most of the sweetness is coming from the apple in the blend (there’s definitely a distinct apple-y taste to the tea), and to a lesser extent the sprinkles and candied pineapple, as well as a really lovely vanilla that is a combination of flavouring and actual vanilla. There’s also a mild amount of stevia in this – I know that’s a dealbreaker for some, but for what it’s worth I find it pretty mild. Occasionally I find I get an almost sarsaparilla/vanilla root beer note from the taste, but I think that’s probably unique to me and just one of those weird brain things…
I’ve had it about a half dozen times now – I seem to gravitate towards it when I want a gentle, sweet spice in the evenings. It’s more approachable, for me, than a Chai blend.
Worth noting, because this definitely smells like the kind of tea that would be great as a latte, this sometimes does curdle! Because of the amount of apple, if you steep the leaf too long or use a lot of leaf/get the right combo of the apple in your measurement then the acid of the apple curdles the tea. I think DT is recommending you don’t add milk to it, just to ere on the side of caution. I just don’t want anyone to latte it and end up with a nasty surprise, but on the flip side I also don’t want anyone to be upset that we’re saying not to latte it when it sometimes comes out just fine. It’s just one of those teas that’s right on the cusp/borderline…
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 and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.
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I think the distinct ginger flavor and the intense sweetness (I was pretty sure it was stevia and the woman at the store said blackberry leaf) read as gingerbread to me. While I understand what you mean that there should have been more. I was content with ginger + sweet = gingerbread lol
There’s no blackberry leaf in this one at all – and, actually, I think I’m wrong about the stevia too. I just crossed referenced ingredients and it’s not on the list. Which is probably why I couldn’t taste it. I’m like 95% sure I just mixed up which holiday tea had stevia, in my head.
There was something overly sweet in this. I suppose it could be the apple.
I think the distinct ginger flavor and the intense sweetness (I was pretty sure it was stevia and the woman at the store said blackberry leaf) read as gingerbread to me. While I understand what you mean that there should have been more. I was content with ginger + sweet = gingerbread lol
There’s no blackberry leaf in this one at all – and, actually, I think I’m wrong about the stevia too. I just crossed referenced ingredients and it’s not on the list. Which is probably why I couldn’t taste it. I’m like 95% sure I just mixed up which holiday tea had stevia, in my head.
There was something overly sweet in this. I suppose it could be the apple.