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Leftover from the Christmas advent calendar 2015. I tried it hot back in December but don’t remember much (I think I liked it?). I tried it iced today (hot steep poured over ice). It definitely has a mango flavor but I’m picking up on the pineapple/citrus more. It is refreshing and I could see it being a great cold steep but bleh, that stevia extract leaves a horrible aftertaste. Hey DT, can I just add sweetener to my liking?
It is a decent tea, but I don’t think I’d ever stock up on it.

The tea liquor smells of wet grains with subtle hints of honey and chocolate. It reminds me of the mash when brewing beer and it is comforting to me. The taste is warm, smooth and malty with a touch of sweetness. Later steepings bring out a buttery, rich flavor and floral hints.

1st infusion (1 min) Aroma is dark roasted chocolate. Tastes metallic and earthy. Slight astringency in the back of the throat.
2nd infusion (2 min) Aroma has hints of chocolate. Tastes earthy and woodsy. More astringent taking over.
3rd infusion (3 min) Aroma is vegetal. More roasted flavor and I can pick up hints of chocolate. Astringency takes over my whole mouth after each sip.

What a weirdly complex tea! I’m not sure if I would get it again, it is very pricey for something I’m not in love with, but I enjoyed the experience!

I made this iced (brewed hot, cooled with ice) with a little honey

Dry – Lots of berry chunks, lots of lemon grass leaves. Sweet berry scent.

Steeped – Lovely shade of purple.

Taste – It reminds me of those sugar free berry sports drinks. I couldn’t detect any lemongrass flavor. Not really enjoying the hibiscus tart.

I wasn’t impressed with this. I will try it straight hot and cold steeped soon!

I’ve been loving citrus teas and cold-steeping. The sales clerk at Teavana assured me this was an aaaamazing ice tea. I did a shot of boiling water and then added cold water and let it steep in the fridge for 2 days.

Dry – Lots of large chunks, smells amazing, citrus and sweet.

Steeped – Very cloudy golden color.

Taste – It has a light sweetness but also bitter rind and all I can taste is the grapefruit. The aftertaste leaves an acidic tart bite in the back of my throat.

I didn’t really enjoy this. I think the grapefruit really turns me off. I think I will try it again, cold but with sweetener added.

Day 14 of 24 of DavidsTea advent calendar
Another tea I was leery of. Chocolate tea, how could that be good?
Dry – Smells minty and chocolatey. Sprinkles kind of threw me off. Good ratio of black tea leaves.

Steeped – The chocolate smell dominates with a little bit of peppermint candy cane. Nice dark rich color from the black tea

Taste –Amazing. Just like dark chocolate mints or the Girl Scouts Thin Mints. Rich flavor, smooth, the sprinkles give it a nice sweetness to balance out any bitter. Will have to try it with milk next time.

Day 10/24 Advent Calendar ( I drank these in order, just catching up on notes)
I was a bit hesitant to drink this tea. Usually things that are supposed to taste like dessert end up tasting like a bitter and weak version of it.

Dry – Smells like bread, nutty sweet bread.

Steeped – Comes off a bit more sweet, cinnamon, honey, nuts. A pretty dark golden color.

Taste – I may have oversteeped a bit, so it was strong. I loved it though. I thought it had a very bready flavor. I couldn’t taste the apple but I got hints of honey and cinnamon and nuts. I didn’t think it tasted like baklava but it was delicious!

Definitely on my buy list.

Day 9/24 Advent Calendar
(Catching up on my reviews from earlier this week)
I love Genmaicha. Looooove.

Dry – Love the little bits of popped rice and roasted rice. The smell doesn’t have that sesame roasted scent, just green tea.

Steeped – Lovely green brown color. The sesame oil from the roasted rice comes through.

Taste – Toasty and roasty but a bit weak. I will have to try it with a bit more tea next time.

Since Genmaicha is one of my favorites, I went ahead and ordered some from DT.

Couldn’t drink day 8/24 coco mint creme has coconut and I’m allergic.

Day 11/24 of the DavidsTea advent calendar. I drank this Thursday morning before I read that it was a sleepy time tea. Needless to say my morning kind of dragged on until I had some coffee after lunch.

Dry – very menthol lemon scent (kind of like a lemon cough drop), lots of large bits, smells relaxing

Steeped – Still smells like a cough drop. Very lovely rose color!

Taste –All of the flavors were very independent of each other. Mint, then lemon, then hibiscus. The hibiscus was very strong in this tea which I don’t love.

It is an okay tea. Maybe as a sleepy time/relax before bedtime tea. Not sure if I will purchase.

Made my way to Day 5 of the advent calendar.

Continuing on catching up with my DavidsTea advent calendar.

Dry – Very, very light lemongrass scent and ginger. No actual juniper berry in my sample. Lots of little broken up bits.

Steeped – Smells like candied ginger. A little medicinal. Lots of the little bits went through my strainer, kind of annoying. Reddish brown in color.

Taste – Light citrus note, kinda medicinal. A bit of burn from the ginger in the aftertaste. It does remind me of gin.

Not really into this tea either. Maybe if I were sick or actually needed some detoxing. I will try this again when I get to that point.