Another new tea – it’s in some Valentine’s Day kits and things, but otherwise it’s currently exclusive to this first Spring subscription box!
DT has done strawberry and cream profiles before – Strawberry Fields immediately comes to mind as an example of that. It’s been a while though, and I like that this is on an oolong tea base because I haven’t really seen that a whole lot before from DT or otherwise. What I think is really cool about this blend is that it’s a milk oolong tea base, so in addition to the sweet cream flavouring you get an added layer of velvety creamy oolong as well – making for a blend where you can actually taste the oolong used in it quite distinctly. It’s a cool way to play into the natural flavour notes of the tea base that’s been used. That milky/creamy silkiness is my favourite part of this blend.
The strawberry is nice but not nearly as cool to me – though you can’t really have a strawberries and cream without there being any strawberry, can you? It’s similar to strawberry flavours we’ve seen in other tea blends from DT before – at this moment Strawberry Moringa is coming to mind, but not at the same intensity. Similar just slightly under ripe but sweet strawberry notes though. I don’t like the use of hibiscus here; I understand it’s meant to add a level of acidity to make the strawberry come off as especially juicy and flavourful but to me it sometimes just feels a bit sharp. It also means I can’t add milk to the tea either, and that’s sad for me.
It’s one of those things where, in using the hibiscus, you get what is arguably a more “accurate” strawberry flavour because real, fresh strawberries do have a slight pop of acidity to that. However, at least personally, when I see something is “strawberries and cream” flavoured I don’t know that I necessarily expect the most natural/accurate strawberry flavouring? Like, I’m craving the super lux and creamy “Strawberry Campino” yogurt candies or a thick, double churned strawberry ice cream. Those do not have that pop of acidity, and that’s my personal preference for this flavour profile.
So for those reasons I enjoy this tea, but it’s not likely to be a cupboard staple for me any time soon either.
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.