Sleigh Ride

why does steepster go wonky and dead around 3p everyday? i mean, i’m not REALLY complaining, i’m just kinda curious.

i have a Hario gongfu teapot that i’ve really wanted to use so i decided to try it now even though this tea isn’t really gongfu material i don’t think. maybe i’ll get one of those little over the cup strainers and then use the gongfu whenever i want. :)
i smelled the tea, and was like ‘this seems nice, why didn’t i buy more of this one?‘…aaaaand then i tasted it. and it’s a hibiscus tea. and we all know the blah blah about hibiscus teas. so i’ll just spare us all and say it’s pretty. and nice enough. and i won’t buy more. and i’ll give my sister the rest of my sample. with love xox

Day 24 of the DavidsTea herbal advent calendar, and a bit of a disappointing note to end on. I feel like I’ve had this one before and never been a big fan of it. I’m just getting generic red berry, nut, and… coconut? hibiscus? It just feels like a random assortment of ingredients and it doesn’t work for me, unfortunately.

I’m glad I did this advent calendar, but I don’t think I would do it again. There were a few real treasures and sleeper hits – Sleepy Lychee, Valerian Nights, and North Star come to mind – but for the most part it feels like a lot of these blends either hit middle-of-the-road territory for me or were things that just don’t justify ordering a whole advent calendar (I’ll always love a peppermint tea but it’s not enough to get me to buy an entire sampler). Super pretty packaging though, and I’m a big fan of the little tins!

final tea of the evening if a 24 oz pot of this. i’ve been adding a scant tsp of white sugar to each 6oz cup and it’s just… 15 calorie perfection. i have an intense love of apple cider and this satisfies this craving perfectly. i’m generally not a huge fan of hibiscus and i really am aching for a tea like this without the tartness, but i understand my sweet tooth is more pronounced than most peoples.
also, the toasted rice gives this a fullness. it’s like genmaicha but fun fruity and caffeine free!!!!

Funny story. Yesterday I was at work and I walked into the employee room for my break and I saw two DAVIDsTEA cups sitting on a table. I knew exactly who they belonged to because two co-workers of mine love tea and we have tea conversations all the time and confuse all of the other employees who do not really understand the language of tea (ie they get confused when we say words like oolong, rooibos, infuser, steep, etc). Anyways, so I was so curious to see what they were drinking so I grabbed their cups and smelled their tea to see if I could recognize what they had (and I was correct, Glitter and Gold & Forever Nuts). Yeah, I am a crazy person… no shame! So I started to crave Forever Nuts so I went to DAVIDs during my break and asked for that. The employee recomended that I try Sleigh Ride because it is quite similar to Forever Nuts so I did. I really enjoyed this tea. It was sweet and nutty (kind of like myself), and it also reminded me of a warm cup of apple cider. Yum.

I find DavidsTea Sleigh Ride to be a bright and fairly flavorful hibiscus blend. The hibiscus is by far the strongest contributor—and the brew is rich red, similar to Tazo Passion, as proof. There is some coconut and pineapple in here, along with popped rice, all of which makes this a bit different than most hibiscus-centric herbal infusions à la Celestial Seasonings (Red Zinger, et al.). So I do believe that this one stands out a bit from the crowd. To me, however, it seems more tropical than winter wonderland-inspired.

I am personally turned off by the inclusion of artificial flavoring in this mix. With so many virtuous ingredients included, was that really necessary?

Sleigh Ride was a tea I initially bought in fear of it disappearing before spring came. I am so pleased I picked this up and tried it as it comes close to beating Oh Canada as my favourite tea ever.

When I opened the bag, I could only feel memories hit me when I inhaled the scent. It smelled like our house, around Christmas when a fire was going and the wind is howling outside. It smells of blankets wrapped around me, of cartoons playing on TV telling of Santa and other things and the Christmas tree decorated full of crafts my mother has made.

I was so worried this would not be up to par with the smell but is surpassed that and I found myself drinking gulps of it in a very unladylike way. It has a sourness to it that is just right for my tastes and it is warm and inviting and the very essence of winters in the Rocky Mountains.

I am buying a tin of this but I am restraining myself as I do. This is a winter tea and will be treated as such during the year. It will be out at winter or when I desperately need a reminder but never more as this is too special to be spoiled.

This tea and Forever Nuts are very similar, however Sleigh Ride has hibiscus in it. I ordered this on web special and drink it chilled for the most part. I like the flavour but I find the huge chunks of cinnamon(which are not advertised in the picture) to be a bit cheeky for purchasing. My 250g had about 20 “hunks” of cinnamon stick in it and I’m totally going to weigh the cinnamon and see how much it came up to!

That being said, I do like this tea a lot and it was a no brainer when it came up for sale to purchase it. Iced, it is delicious!

Sample sipdown! For better or worse I’m putting all my samples in here in the hope that I’ll be horrified by the number of teas I have and use some up. Knowing me it’ll probably work.

This tea is aptly named, because I feel the same about this as I do about the song “Sleigh Ride.” It’s too forceful and it screams “winter holidays.” Unfortunately those holidays have passed so again I’m left with the impression that someone took something very similar to Forever Nuts (which I loved) and put a bunch of hibiscus flowers on top. I think hibiscus is officially my least favorite tea ingredient now, beating out such contenders as peppermint and orange rind.

ETA: My tastes may be off, but this is absolutely disgusting today and is turning my stomach. I usually make myself drink the cup even if I don’t like the tea, but today I can’t and it’s going down the drain. Never, ever again!

I actually thought David’s Tea had screwed up again (they had two day 8’s on my calendar), the color threw me, and it smelled almost exactly like I remembered Forever Nuts smelling. Once I brewed it and saw the crazy pink color I came immediately to Steepster to see if it had beetroot in it.

And, it does indeed appear to be Sleigh Ride. It tastes like apple cider, with a strong coconut smell. It is delicious indeed. I still think I taste beet though. I appreciate the color, I just cannot get it out of my head that it contains beets. It is totally psychological, I know I don’t really taste beets. Knowledge sucks sometimes. But this tea does not (even if I taste beets).

ETA: And there is the hibiscus! Now that it is cooling off the hibiscus is becoming dominant. I can see why people aren’t a fan of hibiscus. It really does take center stage. Show off.

I haven’t seen this one in store… is it a new tea?