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Another discontinued tea from David’s that I have to get through to (hopefully) get my tea cupboard looking somewhat presentable. I imagine that this tea was probably succeeded by Juicy Orange, which is a tea I might consider picking up just to try. Fruity Pu’erh teas are a very strange ground for me because I don’t really associate fruit with the deep earthiness that comes with a Pu’erh base. That being said, I would consider Blood Orange a fruit with the right flavor to work well with a Pu’erh base.

Once steeped the tea got the typical dark brown color that comes with a Pu’erh and sadly it did also come with the fishy aroma that tends to be present with that base. However, it wasn’t as bad as what I smelled when I tried my Ginger Pu’erh. The taste itself is more pleasant to me, it has a full-bodied base with just enough blood orange flavor for it to be present, but not overpowering. I did add a bit of sugar later and I think it helped the orange come to the front a bit more.

Overall, I think that this is a decent tea hot, but I imagine that it was eventually replaced by Juicy Orange for a reason.

I’ve been clearing out my old teas in preparation for the coming winter and I’ve discovered that I had a small tin of this that I never tried so I figured that I should probably get it out of the way considering its age. The dry leaf of this tea is very strong in its ginger component with that earthy pu’erh base.

Once steeped, the tea developed a strong fishy pu’erh aroma to it. At first it was really off-putting and I considered just dumping it, but I thought I’d give the tea itself a chance and had a sip. The taste itself isn’t nearly as bad as the smell, but it’s still nothing to write home about in my opinion. I’ve never been a huge fan of David’s pu’erh base for some of their teas, it has merits as a base for some flavored teas but I don’t care for it on its own. The ginger is present which is nice, but I find it’s competing with the pu’erh rather than being the star of the tea. From a medicinal standpoint I imagine it’s probably pretty useful for an upset stomach, but I think that there are other ginger teas that I’ll be reaching for.

Day 15 of the 2015 Advent Calendar. Almost through it before the 2016 one! I am a huge fan of fruity white teas because I love to have them iced for my morning classes.

The dry leaf smell is nice, although I’m definitely getting more of a perfume smell than anything like honeydew or white tea. The tea itself I brewed iced, and I think that the flavor is pretty spot-on. It’s very bright and refreshing with a wonderful honeydew flavor. I am hoping that David’s brings this one back for next summer because I really want to get more of it sometime!

Day 21 of the 2015 Advent Calendar that I need to finish off before December. I loved the idea of this tea the moment I heard about it because I love cardamom in desserts and I love french toast so it’s a beautiful idea.

The dry leaf smell is very cardamom-y with some garam masala notes to it. I didn’t really smell anything too french toast-like or anything but I love the smell of cardamom so it doesn’t matter. In the spoon I steeped my tea in it had quite a bit of cardamom and coriander seeds in it, so I steeped it for a bit longer to try getting more flavor out of the tea leaves themselves, and I added a little bit of milk and sugar to give it more of that dessert appeal.

The tea itself tastes pretty nice, although I find it a bit mild. I would definitely use perhaps two perfect spoons per cup next time. The taste is like it says on the tin, with a lot of cardamom being prominent with black tea notes and some cake-like taste in the back. I’m glad that David’s brought this tea back this year because I want to give it another try with some more, fresh leaf.

Overall, it’s a good tea that I think will be nice to sip over the cold winter nights coming up.

I’ve been clearing out last year’s advent calendar and this tea was apparently on day 8. I don’t remember it but it smells like cherry so it has that going for it. I made this iced and I think it tastes pretty decent, it has that sweet-tart from the cherry, but the tea base is also very present which is nice change for a fruity tea.

I’m not sure if I like it as much as Sakura Cherry, but it’s still very good and is probably cheaper. I’m too lazy to check, in all honesty. It’s leagues ahead of some of David’s other attempts at a cherry tea at any rate.

My first ever sipdown and first ever review on Steepster! I got this tea at the end of summer 2014 when David’s put their leftover packs from the boardwalk collection on sale, so unfortunately I think the tea lost a bit of its strength over those 2 years.

The dry leaf smells amazing, just like the treat its designed after. I had this iced and I found it pretty true to the dessert as well. It’s got a very sweet vanilla taste to it, with the popcorn notes and a bit of fruitiness. Sadly my steep was rather weak due to the age of the leaves (everything but leaves?), so it’s a bit hard to tell the finer details.

Overall, I think that this tea is great to have iced in the summer and if David’s brings it back like they have in the past, I’ll be eager to try it hot for a change.