Sleigh Ride

Tea type
Fruit Herbal Blend
Ingredients
Apple, Beet Root, Candied Papaya, Cinnamon Sticks, Coconut Chips, Hibiscus Blossoms, Natural Flavours, Pineapple, Popped Rice, Raisins, Roasted Almonds
Flavors
Cinnamon, Hibiscus, Nutty, Tart, Fruity, Ginger, Nuts, Sweet, Spices, Apple, Raisins, Coconut, Almond, Butter, Pineapple, Apple Skins, Rice, Toasted Rice, Red Wine, Tangy, Sour, Popcorn, Oats, Caramel, Salt, Artificial, Earth, Vanilla, Cardamom, Honey, Cranberry, Kettle Corn, Round
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Caffeine Free
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Cameron B.
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 45 sec 5 g 12 oz / 368 ml

From Our Community

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17 Want it Want it

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342 Own it Own it

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238 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I couldn’t stand the thought of having to drink another cup of this cinnamon hibiscus symphony to chaoskampf again. I guess I disliked it a lot more than previously thought. I only had a mug’s...” Read full tasting note
    65
  • “Another sip down from the advent calendar! By aroma, this one smells exactly like Forever Nuts. I’m not actually certain if I’d be able to tell them apart. It’s a warm, cinnamonny, nutty aroma....” Read full tasting note
    87
  • “Ah, newbies at DavidsTea, you’re so cute. Yes, I am aware of the tea of the month, and I am aware of some old classics like Buttered Rum and Cream of Earl Grey. And yes, I’ve tried all of the...” Read full tasting note
    90
  • “Well I decided to make a cup of this tonight as I am trying to work through some teas to get sipdowns and reign in my cupboard. I read my last review and I really liked this. However, I also really...” Read full tasting note
    15

From DAVIDsTEA

How it tastes
Fruity and lightly spiced, with a hint of naturally sweet beetroot and toasty popped rice

The ultimate holiday punch. With cinnamon, apples, almonds, hibiscus and beetroot, this sweet, tart and lightly spiced caffeine-free herbal tea is as nice and rosy as a caroler’s cheeks. Feeling the chill? Add a splash of brandy for a drink that’ll warm you from the inside out. It’s the perfect blend to snuggle up with while watching the snow fall.

What makes it great
• This herbal tea is caffeine-free! Perfect for nighttime snuggles by fireplace.
• Makes a great holiday punch – try it with honey and a splash of brandy.

Ingredients
Apple (apple, citric acid), Candied pineapple (pineapple, sugar), Hibiscus blossoms, Candied papaya (papaya, sugar), Beetroot, Cinnamon, Artificial (cinnamon, almond, apple) flavouring, Raisins, Coconut rasps, Roasted almonds (almonds, sugar), Popped rice.

About DAVIDsTEA View company

DavidsTea is a Canadian specialty tea and tea accessory retailer based in Montreal, Quebec. It is the largest Canadian-based specialty tea boutique in the country, with its first store having opened in 2008.

238 Tasting Notes

516 tasting notes

Not going to rate this, because I think what happened was my fault…

The recommended steep time is 5-7 minutes… I may have let it steep for 10 when I meant to steep it for 3 or 4. It was disgusting. Bitter and hibbi all the way. Evil hibbi. I couldn’t finish the cup it was so gross.

So now I have a feeling… even if I steep it right I will taste how I made it the first time. I just can’t handle any hibiscus.

The dry smell was so tempting though… but I think I’ll stick with Forever Nuts.

Jenn

Hibbiness will ruin the best of teas :/

Daisy Chubb

Truthiness!

AliPants

This tea is just swimming in hibiscus. I tried this both at home and in-store, and trying it in store was actually worse than over steeping it. It wasn’t sure what it wanted to taste like – too many sweet, fruity ingredients, and too much hibiscus. I didn’t finish my cup either. Hell, I didn’t even finish my little mini SAMPLE cup.

Daisy Chubb

haha same Ali!
When smelling the dry stuff, I thought I would be resteeping it all day… le sigh

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85
1184 tasting notes

I am not sure why I am just reviewing this now, but anyway, here goes. I can’t really say anything about this tea that others have not said already. It is a cross between Kanpe and Forever Nuts. Nutty, with a little hint of fruity and tartness.
I find that it tastes a little artificial though.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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48
15575 tasting notes

Adventaggedon Day 24: Tea 8/8

Cold Brew!

…and of course we had to close out the DT Caffeine Free advent with Sleigh Ride! Truthfully I would have been absolutely shocked if the tea in the advent would have been anything else for the last day. This just felt right.

I had my cold brew as my first cuppa this morning and it was alright; like a holiday punch with tart hibiscus and cinnamon. Y’all know that I’m not a huge fan of this tea. It’s one of those “once, maybe twice during the holidays because it’s so festive” teas for me and, as this was my second time having it this winter, I felt like I could taste that I was enjoying the holiday cheer that it was bringing me with the knowledge that… this is gonna be it for a while.

So yeah – Adventaggedon 2021 wrapped! Well, kinda – I technically have one last straggler day tomorrow for the Kiani advent. However, this is the hard part done. I can take a deep breath knowing that I didn’t miss a single tea this year. Every tea drank, photographed, captured on IG in stories and as a post, and review written.

With five minutes on the clock before midnight to spare!

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.

Crowkettle

Congratulations on another advent completed! :)

tea-sipper

Good job on all the advents! That is WORK.

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343 tasting notes

This is another tea my husband brought home for me. Wow, this is heavy and wow they recommend 2 tsp per cup (I used 3 heaping teaspoons in my 16oz steeping mug)?! I steeped for a full 7 minutes and I added sweetener.

This reminds me a lot of Tiesta Teas Nutty Almond Cream, except this isn’t as almond and creamy and it has a hint of tartness from the hibiscus. It actually smells nearly identical too which is interesting. I prefer the Tiesta Teas for taste and price too (Sleigh Ride is $7.50 for 1.76oz and Nutty Almond Cream is $10.99 for 4oz – though thanks to BF I paid $5.50).

I’ll certainly use up the 26gram bag but unless they put this on major clearance after the holidays are over, I won’t be repurchasing.

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 0 sec
anhistorianabouttown

It is quite expensive when you consider how much is actually needed!

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54
761 tasting notes

Ok, so liking this less than before. Too tart. So much potential for it without the punch from the hibby. Dropping the rating.

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83
4170 tasting notes

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – December Tea #3-A tea flavored like a root vegetable/exotic fruit

This blend has plenty of various exotic fruits:  pineapple, papaya, and coconut.  And even some beet root for the root vegetable half of the prompt! Bonus points? I’m not sure if I ever realized that this blend is fairly close to their Caramel Corn blend that I love, give or take a couple ingredients.  So I still have some of Caramel Corn around… and they are similar enough to my tastebuds.
Holiday Tea 2022 #11:  Davids Tea – Sleigh Ride
Holiday Tea 2022 #12:  Bird & Blend – Earl Grey Creme (in the advent)
Holiday Tea 2022 #13:  Tea Revv – Chilly Willy Chai
2022 sipdowns: 123

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100
170 tasting notes

First tea battle!

So, I feel like I need to give a short explanation before I go on with the review. I’ve had, for the last 3 years, the aim of trying all of the teas from DT, buying at least 25g of each (usually 50g) to give them all a true shot at impressing me. I finished the endeavour about two months ago, and I was totally thrilled about the achievement (so was the staff at my local DT, lol). But all along, I’ve been doing it with the goal of building, afterwards, a 32-teas cupboard with my own “permanent collection”, that is, all my favourites. Narrowing it to 32 is REALLY difficult, and sometimes, it’s not worth taking up 2 different spots for 2 teas that fill the same “role” (that is, when I feel like having one, I usually don’t mind having the other instead). Sooooo, this is why I am making tea battles (exciting, right?! I think it is!), where I brew 2 teas side to side, compare them, and choose a winner to be part of my collection of 32 teas.

Today’s contest is: Kanpe Tea vs. Sleigh Ride

I always felt like these two teas were essentially the same, both being very tart from the hibiscus, as well as fruity and spicy and comforting and sort of juicy. I LOVE both, but it certainly isn’t worth having both at hand as they are so similar. Going into the tea battle, I did feel like Sleigh Ride had an advantage, having it linked to fond memories. Comparing them side to side really made the differences more apparent:

- Kanpe is really an in-your-face tea, the flavour is bold, very bold, and rich. Right away, you get a huge amount of sweetness, and a huge amount of tartness. Yum! I know hibiscus haters are a plenty, but I love it! Behind all that sweetness and tartness, you can definitely pick up the fact it’s very fruity, yet it’s really difficult to point to specific fruits, it just feels tropical. It’s also a little spicy, with a hint of cinnamon. But that only adds depth to the prominent sweetness and tartness, which compliment one another in a very balanced way. Maybe it actually is a little too sweet, but that doesn’t keep me from craving one more sip after each of them! It is very slightly astringent. Not enough for it to be unpleasant, but I’d do without that hint of astringency.

- Sleigh Ride is surprisingly (well, it surprised me anyway) a bit less bold. As similar as it is, I see big differences now. What you get right away is the hibiscus: it’s very tart. Probably, not more than Kanpe, but all of the spotlight goes on the tartness, since it is not nearly as sweet. However, after the initial hit of tartness, the spices are very prominent, especially cinnamon. I think I can taste what the popped rice adds to the mix, and I like the additional dimension, but it gets a little lost in all the rest. It’s also fruity, but the spices are really what I naturally concentrate on after the tartness has passed. It has the hint of astringency that Kanpe had as well, so on that level it’s a draw.

Comparison: While Kanpe is so sweet it is almost too much, the in-your-face sweetness compliments the in-your-face tartness so well that I can’t help falling in love with every sip. Sleigh Ride is awesome, but feels a little empty on that level compared to Kanpe. The additional spice taste gives it a few extra points, but that won’t do it. I think Kanpe is a keeper. Sorry Sleigh Ride, I love you nonetheless!

Winner: Kanpe Tea! Yay!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
TheTeaFairy

Hahaha, great idea, good luck in your battle rounds! Please make sure none of them get hurt:-)

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75
125 tasting notes

Sipdown!

I got this as a sample with one of the DT’s orders and I’ve been looking to try it for a while. It smells just like Forever Nuts and tastes almost the same as well… the only difference in taste I think it’s the tartness coming from hibiscus.

I like Forever Nuts so I find this enjoyable as well. Especially that hibiscus is not too overpowering here.

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec 5 g 8 OZ / 236 ML

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289 tasting notes

Dry Leaf Nose: Intriguing and complex nose. Sweet and fruity.

Liquor: Bright pink and clear liquor with a complex aroma that follows the dry leaf nose.

Flavour: Very complex. Sweet and fruity notes are up front, while savoury roasted notes are also prominent. The beetroot and popped rice combine to ground the blend and add a hint of oven baked, spiced gingerbread.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 7 min, 0 sec
Michelle

Sounds… complex!

Plunkybug

I can’t recall if I ever had this one last year or not.

DAVIDsTEA

@Michelle: Hahaha! Very Complex :P

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1112 tasting notes

This was one of my free samples from my DAVIDsTEA order. I looked at the completely bizarre list of ingredients, and said “Ech! We’ll never like this!” but at the same time was uber-curious to give it a whirl. So, I made it for our evening tisane.

Guess what!? It’s completely delicious. It’s very hard to describe – maybe a lightly spicy, slightly… anise-y? cider-y? kinda tart but sweet, popcorn-y? delight. Truly different than anything I’ve tasted…ever!

Bravo, DAVIDsTEA! I’d order this in a heartbeat!

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec

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