Peaches & Cream Oolong

When Roswell Strange first posted about this one 6 months ago, I was disappointed that it was an in-store exclusive since there sadly aren’t any DavidsTea stores left in the U.S. (or at least not in or near my city). So when it was released online – along with Jelly Donut, which I had already been waiting for the site to restock so I could try it – I made that purchase so fast it’d make your head spin.
I’m pleased to report that this blend does not disappoint. At the moment I’m having it as an oat milk latte, which is really upping the “cream” angle, but it’s flavorful and well-balanced without additions too. I really like the peach flavor here: sweet and ripe without being completely candy-like. The whole blend just works, in a deceptively simple way. So so glad they released it online!

Lots of new teas today on the DT site along with a bunch of teaware and accessories, but if you scroll through and look at all the Spring goodies (this is the biggest collection drop in a while) you won’t see this tea… that’s because it’s actually store exclusive!

I’ve been trying to remember if we’ve ever had a store exclusive tea before aside from the point where, y’know, we didn’t actually have a website. I definitely haven’t fact checked myself, but I actually can’t remember having something store exclusive in the six years I’ve been at DT. There have definitely been web exclusives and kit exclusives, but stores!? I don’t think so…

I’m on the fence about whether I like the idea – mostly because, in general, I don’t love the inaccessibility of exclusives. Web is, I guess, better because theoretically anyone can place a web order – though I know there are shipping costs to deal with and the sizing is less flexible than buying in person. But with so few stores now, it’s gonna be very hard for people who don’t live near them to try this – and that’s kind of a bummer. Especially because it’s a good tea! On the flip side, with so few stores it kind of makes every store a destination store. When other companies (tea and non-tea) have store exclusives and do cool limited launches I really find that exciting and it becomes a sort of fun challenge to get my hands on the product I want to try. So why does this feel different? No correct answer – just something I’ve been personally mulling over as I’ve been counting down the days until this tea launches…

Anyway, it’s a really nice tea! DT has definitely tackled peaches and cream before, and honestly I feel like we’ve done a decent job with it. White Peach is the blend that comes to mind most immediately, and the long retired blend from six or seven years ago that was literally named Peaches and Cream. Southern Belle, too, was kind of in that vein. So, why are we doing it again?

Well, truthfully, every time we’ve released one it’s kind of ended up (while delicious) too similar to Just Peachy – DT’s infamous juggernaut of a peach tea that just dominates anything we release with peaches in it. It’s such a delicious and classic profile though, so I wanted to really try and tackle creating a peach and cream blend that wouldn’t end up feeling too close to Just Peachy. ’Cause, when that happens, those blends never get to stick around long term…

I think the first thing that seperates this blend is that it’s very well balanced between the peach and cream. All the other blends I’ve listed have (to me, at least) felt like a peach tea with cream and I think this one feels very equal in part. It’s no more peach than it is cream, and vise versa. I find the peach very tender yet ripe and natural; like a freshly sliced summer peach that still has the skin on it. There’s a floral undertone, which the oolong base helps accentuate, that just isn’t present in Just Peachy and it’s also much less sweet and tangy. I’d probably go as far as to call it the more mature older sister of Just Peachy. As for the cream component, I find it more of a silky fresh vanilla than something really heavy. It brings some decadence without making this blend feel like a dessert, and I think that’s pretty different than past versions of this profile. I also love the licorice root in the blend. I’ll be the first person to say that I hate the taste of licorice root but I honestly don’t taste it here at all – instead, because of it’s demulcent properties, it actually creates a coating sensation on the palate (without having a strong taste) that plays into the sensation of cream in a really unique and very pleasant way! Plus, can we talk about the oolong? In addition to subtle floral notes, it’s just got a great medium body and the faintest hint of nuttiness that adds some elevation and depth to this beautiful blend.

Ultimately, I’m very proud of this tea! My biggest hope with this tea is that it does very well in stores, and as a result there’s enough interest for it to be added to the online assortment so more people can try it. It’s certainly been my go to Peaches & Cream for about half a year now!

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.