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Well, I was right – I definitely DID want more of this one. In fact, my first AQ2T order after finishing this tea off earlier in the summer wound up with a decent amount of this in my cart, so I should be good for a while now…

I’m drinking it iced right now and it’s really perfectly hitting the spot. It tastes pretty much exactly how I remember it tasting too: really robust, juicy flavour notes just bursting with flavour. The blueberry is so bright and intense; it’s hard not to love it. The lemon is really sweet, and just a little sour so it makes for a great compliment to the blueberry! While I don’t get a nutty flavour from the almond so much, I do get a lot of marzipan like sweetness, especially in the finish of the sip. That marzipan quality does make this seem more pastry like overall but I have to say that “muffin” still isn’t exactly the word that comes to mind. To me, a muffin should be lighter and more buttery.

That said – I still think this is an AMAZING tea. It’s pretty well everything I want out of an iced blueberry tea AND an iced black tea. So fresh, and hydrating! REALLY satisfying.

Sipdown (334)!

So, I’m finishing this one off right now as an iced tea, and I have to say that I’m nearly done the cup and I’m still not sure whether or not I like it.

I do think overall it’s pretty accurate to the name/desired flavour but it took me a while to think so. It starts off very fruity, and tart! The hibiscus in this one clearly comes though, along with sour green apple notes and a very citric orange. I can probably handle the first two notes overall. but the degree to which the orange is present really threw me off. I mean, I just don’t think there should be orange in a “caramel apple” tea, or at least not this much of it.

I also didn’t really taste the caramel at first; but it IS there. Thing is, it’s only really present in the finish after the bulk of the fruity notes have subsided. I think largely that’s because this tisane only uses caramel flavouring. I’d love to see, in addition to the flavouring, actual caramel pieces tossed into the leaf as well. So, despite the fact that this element of the flavour is softer/more subtle, and not present in the whole sip I do think it’s very lovely. I just want more of it. A lot more of it.

In fact, in general I think this tea would benefit greatly from just as overall increase in sweetness – both with the apple (red instead of green, maybe?) and with the caramel element. Just tone down the hibby a touch, and cut the orange in half and you could really have something nice!

Nabbed this one last time I was at Chapters, without realizing it was a green tea base and not herbal. That’s what I get for letting super cute packaging draw me in. Honestly, I probably would not have bought it if I’d realized it was a green tea…

I’m diving in anyway though; made this one up as a cold brew! Normally I let my cold brews go a solid 8-12 hours before straining them, but the teabags this tea comes premeasured in are fairly big and I was using my smaller mason jar (the 16 oz one and not the 25 oz) so I was worried it would get way too strong so I strained this at the four to five hour mark instead. Better to be cautious, for the first time anyway.

- Very tropical
- A little strong/abrupt at first but once you settle into it’s it’s quite good
- All three titular fruit flavours are well defined/present
- I appreciate that it’s not overly sweet either
- I felt like I also tasted mango as well
- The green tea base was actually present, somewhat grassy with floral tones
- Light to medium bodied in presence overall, and complimentary to the fruit

I’m surprised at how much I enjoyed this one, honestly! It’s a shame summer’s almost over; this actually would have been really nice to have around in June/July. I mean, I’ll still drink it but I think it’ll probably feel a little weird now that we’re definitely transitioning into the fall.

It kind of bothers me that despite having three cups of this one now, all made very similarly, I’ve yet to be able to produce a consistant/reliable flavour profile…

This morning’s cup was certainly pleasant/delightful but again just very unlike what I remember past cups tasting like! Light to medium bodied, this was very smooth with the sweetness of honey or fresh peaches, with a soft floral body and a touch of a roasty/woody element, with a finish that reminded me of puffed wheat!

Like, elements of that line up with the company’s description, and with what I’ve experienced from past cups but not the overall profile. It’s quite irritating, despite being tasty. I feel like I just HAVE to be more critical of this tea because of that. So, lowering the rating…

Trying this one hot, this time around, and actually paying more attention to the flavour!

It’s a little bit weird knowing how many different red fruit elements are in this tea if I’m being honest, because I mostly just taste the cranberry. It’s a good balance between quite sweet but also a little bit tart. It’s not a bad thing that this flavour is the majority of what I’m tasting though, in fact cranberry is probably actually the red fruit note that I like the most in tea; and specifically in black teas. It’s very likely my taste buds are just hard core honing in on it because of this fact…

Apart from a heck of a lot of cranberry, I do get some of the other elements though! The raspberry is the next strongest flavour to me, and in more of a jammy way. Apart from that, the rest of the fruit notes just meld together as this mixed red fruit undertone. I’ll take it though! All of these elements combined are still VERY lovely.

The black base is nice too; a mix of present but light floral, malt, and sort of pine wood notes!? The pine is the most surprising, but not unwelcome. Like a much beloved friend/relative unexpectedly popping by for a visit.

Found one lonely little cup of this kicking around in my mom’s tea stash – and figured that I’d finish it off because otherwise I don’t know that it would have ever gotten finished…

I don’t know; this one tastes fine and everything but there’s something about it that just doesn’t 100% sit completely right with me. The cinnamon notes are great though, and very warming – and with this weird cider like quality of the rest of the flavour? It’s pleasant enough, and definitely appropriate as a fall/winter flavour. So, I guess I can put up with whatever aspect of it doesn’t completely work for me.

Also, it’s a sipdown! And I get to rejoice in it being a sipdown, even if it’s not a sipdown of one of my teas/does nothing to help with MY stash situation.

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.

Got a whole bunch of this one as a gift, which of course I had to be polite about but inside I was definitely at least a little grumbley because of all the Oasis teas this one was the one that I liked the least. You have to be nice about gifts though, so…

Cold brew!

- Surprisingly sweeter than I remember!
- More of a pineapple/papaya flavour that just sheer tartness
- With a milder hibiscus flavour, and just overall roundness to the flavour
- Not my favourite, but not bad!
- I’ll just finish this one off as cold brewed tea, I guess!

So, maybe this one wasn’t that bad to get as a gift!

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.

Cold Brew!

I don’t remember much of what I thought of this one from last time I tried it, other than I’m pretty sure it was pretty heavy on the bergamot. That’s essentially what my experience was with this cold brew though; VERY strong and full bodied bergamot notes! Obviously, because of this, my automatic thought is of Earl Grey. However, this isn’t simply just bergamot; there’s an underlying fruit undertone that I think really compliments the intensity of the berg. It’s very hard to pinpoint exactly what the fruit flavours are, but I’d lean more towards stonefruit I think, perhaps favouring the darker stonefruits: black cherries, plums, etc.

It does frustrate me that the company itself isn’t super forthcoming with what those fruit notes are either – they simply call them ‘exotic fruits’. However, what’s exotic to one person can drastically vary to another and the difference in flavour between exotic fruits is SO large. I mean, a lychee fruit tastes NOTHING like durian but both are exotic? So what is it?

Regardless, I did find this cold brew really satisfying.

So in my head I had convinced myself that this was a really nice iced latte, because of that I wound up making an iced latte yesterday – but it really wasn’t that satisfying at all. I mean, it was drinkable but I thought it was WAY too floral and the white hibiscus almost gave it a soapy taste.

My manager Dani LOVES this tea though, and when she saw I was making it as an iced latte she did the same and she adored it! So, it really does just go to show just how subjective flavour can be and how everyone’s idea of good flavours are different.

I really, really wish I liked this one though…

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.

So, I’m currently the majority of the way through a pot of this one. I thought it would be something nice to sip on while I worked on writing reviews/updating some social media stuff – and holy shit I was right.

I feel kind of bad that I haven’t tapped into my most recent AQ2T order that much yet, but I really want to be able to appreciate the teas completely and very consciously so it’s been important to me that I take my time with them. So, here are the notes I’ve taken while sipping on this pot:

- Medium bodied black tea; a little brisk, with some soft malt/floral tones
- I enjoy that it’s just as present as the other added ingredients/flavours
- While it can be nice to just taste a solid, uniform flavour it’s also nice to get the base too
- And I think it takes much more skill to find a balance between base AND ingredients
- The cranberry is really lovely! It’s bright, juicy, sweet and just a sliver tart
- Starts as this vibrant top note, subtly softens and is present for the whole sip
- I was a little surprised how strong the basil is; in a good way, though!
- While it’s gently present for the whole sip, it’s more noticable in the finish
- Very herbaceous, and natural: a really great contrast to the cranberry
- Overall, makes for a super unique flavour that hits SO MANY key flavour elements
- And it’s very fun and refreshing!
- One of the better cranberry teas I’ve had in a LONG time, as well

I’ve also been listening to music all morning while drinking this one, but this is my favourite pairing from the morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__trPtFbpAk&list=PLZ3F_T_pSqESIk5WU032vdMOGDQaXunIE&index=6

I feel like the imagery in the song is more cold, and this tea is brighter and definitely not wintery at all. However, I think the peaceful and reflective nature of the song matches the consistent flow of the flavour of the tea even if the imagery doesn’t completely line up.

I don’t know – I thought it worked very well.