Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal/Tisane
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
It took us years to find the perfect peach iced tea – but this sweet, summery blend is so peachy, it tastes like it’s fresh from the orchard. Now that we’ve finally mastered our favourite summer fruit, we just can’t get enough. And we keep discovering new, delicious ways to try it. It’s amazing mixed up with peach sliced and frozen into ice pops. Or served chilled with a splash of Prosecco. But the best way might just be straight up, with lots of ice and a touch of agave. However you enjoy it, this blend is a real peach.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is part one of a five part review of the DAVIDsTEA Summer Collection.
Just Peachy Tisane from DAVIDsTEA was around last year, but I didn’t get around to trying it because it just really didn’t interest me: I’m kid of fickle towards peach teas, and at that time I was especially wary of them. However, this year I’ve opened up quite a bit more to trying new things so I gave it a shot! It was popular enough to come back a second year so there’s got to be something good about it.
This review is for my tea soda preparation of the tisane; I did this at home using my standard tea soda method (Infuse the tisane into a simple syrup and then float the simple syrup in a can of club soda), not as one of the in store tea soda’s that DT makes.
Dry, the leaf smells very intensly of sweet peach candy with some apple-y undertones – it’s really fresh and in your face. I also took a small sip of the syrup before it had been diluted with the club soda, and (keeping in mind how concentrated it was) I thought it tasted exactly like a Fuzzy Peach!
Based purely on this tea soda, I would one hundred percent buy more of this: it’s absolutely one of the better tea sodas I’ve ever made – The peach is very strong, fresh, and sticky sweet tasting. I’d describe it as Fuzzy Peaches meet Peach Bellini meets Peach Schnapps. The Peach Schnapps comparison is very high praise; that’s easily my favourite liqueur or, really, kind of alcohol in general. It does a great job of navigating away from overly artificial or cloying territory, as well.
The touch of sweeter but also slightly tart green apples stops this from being totally monotone in flavor, but really that secondary flavour is all this needs – the absence of blackberry doesn’t disappoint me. This is just a simple, fun tisane that’s incredibly hydrating and energetic with the peach candy flavour. I can’t get enough of this one; and just writing about this tisane soda has me craving it again so badly; I’m sure a restock will be in my future – I think the question is just how much I’ll be picking up.
Honey, I Dew White from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
In Vietnam, melons are a sign of good luck. In Chinese medicine, they’re said to help cool the body down. Around here, we think they’re just about the tastiest fruit around – especially when you pair them with fresh, delicate white tea. With fruity hints of pineapple and mango, this melon-packed blend is refreshing, juicy and naturally sweet. The best part? This tea was named by our customers! Is there anything they can’t dew?
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s very refreshing to see another permanent white tea blend on the DAVIDsTEA walls; I’ve been complaining for months about the dwindling amount of permanent white teas – I’ve even suffered some losses that were more emotional than I’d care to admit (Coconut Grove, Sweet Strawberry, and Big Apple…). At least a lot of seasonal blends for Spring featured a white base, and one of the Mother’s Day blends as well.
And not going to lie, the fact this was named by DT’s customers (and has such a cute name) is really appealing as well; I find I’m definitely more drawn in to wanting to try a tea when it has a unique name, even if the ingredients/flavor pairings aren’t that unusual. Let us put an end to the “Earl Grey Creams” and “Jasmine Greens” that every company seems to have a version of; give yours a neat name, and make it stand out!
I’m doing this one iced; yes, iced and not cold brewed. I don’t often have the means to do iced tea because I don’t actually have ice at my place. We don’t own an ice tray, and I don’t have the freezer space in my little apartment for larger bags of ice. I know it could be easily remedied by buying an ice cube tray but I always forget; so iced tea is a special treat for me provided by being in the right place (err, chef’s kitchen) at the right time.
My initial thought when I tried this was of Trident’s Watermelon Twist gum – the sugary, candy sweet watermelon top notes were pretty identical. I was expecting something both more mellow and, based on the name, more in the line of Honeydew so I was a little taken aback but once I got accustomed to the taste I found it really enjoyable. Contrasting that, the tail of the sip was a lot more natural tasting once the sweetness has subsided, and definitely a lot more honey dew than watermelon. I like the layers of melon that this one has. Almost like Trident Layers? That’s a bad pun, sorry.
The body of the sip is interesting too; somewhere in between where the watermelon eases up and the honeydew takes over there are a lot of very strong apple notes and some very vague mango and pineapple notes. I’d say they mostly create a tropical fruit vibe rather than make an impact as unique, stand-alone flavors though.
This was really enjoyable, and I think quite different from any other white blend that DT is currently offering, let alone any of their current blends. I really, really like the way they do Honeydew flavors; I’m thinking in particular of Honeydew Mate and Cool Cucumber (two seasonal blends). I loved both quite a bit (I still have some Cool Cucumber), and they definitely honed in on that awesome honeydew flavor. While DT’s watermelon can get too sweet or artificial, honeydew is a flavor they have successfully nailed. If you’re a fan of either of those two blends I absolutely 100% recommend giving this one a shot.