Every year Davids Tea releases a Cocktail Collection with teas designed to be mixed with spirits in summertime party drinks. I love the idea of these teas! If you are like me and don’t drink spirits these teas are equally as fun made with sparkling water or simply served over ice.
One of the teas being offered this summer is Apero Spritz, a fruit infusion featuring bitter orange rind. The smell of this tea is amazing, the vibrant orange and passionfruit really stand out. I steeped this at 212 degrees for 5 minutes and served it over ice. It steeps up a beautiful deep reddish-orange color, talk about a pretty tea for a party! The first sip is faintly familiar to me, similar to a passionfruit juice drink I have had in the past. This tea is sweet and tropical tasting, the passionfruit is very rich and flavorful. The back end of the taste has a lovely bitterness, much like the bitterness one encounters when drinking grapefruit juice. I would not steep this longer than 5 minutes as I feel that the bitterness could become magnified with longer steep times.
Davids Tea released a You Tube video showing how to make several mixed drinks with this tea. They all look good but this tea is equally tasty prepared simply as an iced tea.
Overall I love this tea! I think that the bitter note really adds a unique depth making this tea stand out from the normal summer tropical teas soon to be released in a few months.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Fruit
Where to Buy: Davids Tea
Description
What to do when you’re lounging in the late afternoon sun? Sip this refreshing apéritif-inspired fruit infusion – a sweet and vibrant sunset-coloured blend with grown-up notes of bitter orange rind. It’s light, juicy and will leave you feeling bubbly all over. For an elegant treat, serve it chilled in champagne flutes with a delicious assortment of cheese and fresh fruits. Cheers!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Carrot Cupcake from David’s Tea. . .
I am trying this tea in front of an audience. I’m currently in the middle of a cabin with 15+ friends/kids, and everyone got excited when they sniffed this. I made several cups for everyone; I kept the last for myself.
Before I had a chance to even sip my cup, one of my friends slid up to me. “The tea you gave me is delicious,” he whispered.
“What did your kids think?” I asked. His three-year-old had sniffed the tea and kept following me around whispering “tea.”
“I haven’t given them any,” he said. “I’m keeping it all for myself.”
“That’s COLD,” I replied.
When I finally had a cup, I saw what he meant. This is a carrot/apple/spice mix with a bit of a cream/marzipan sweetness (as opposed to a powdery, shrill, hyper-sweet flavor). As I sipped, the spiciness increased. (Possibly the spices are heavier and sit further down in the mug?) I liked the flavor better back when it was sweeter at the beginning of the cup. I think that this would be sweeter and more consistent iced, and I think that’s what I’m going to try next.
Unlike my friend, I’d let my kids try this. I’d spread the joy.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Description
This decadently creamy rooibos blend tastes just like your favourite carrot dessert. You’ll love its natural carrot sweetness and the extra zing of warmth from cinnamon and ginger. Plus it’s caffeine and calorie-free, so you can sip it all day every day. Still not convinced? The rich cocoa shells and whipped cream will change your mind. Yeah, we knew you couldn’t resist…
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Coconut Cream Pie from David’s Tea. . .
David’s Tea’s site says that this tea makes a great dessert substitute. I say, uh, nice TRY, but we all know YOU SIT ON A THRONE OF LIES on this one.
That said, this tea IS a sweet sensation. It’s got coconut, white chocolate, and oolong, my personal favorite. It tastes like a tropical morning. Enough kick in the oolong to scoot you along, but enough sweet to say “hey, it’s a sunny and fun day ahead.”
Despite living in Pennsylvania during January, I do momentarily feel — with this tea and my light box — that bikini weather is right around the corner.
Just let me pretend.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Description
Rich, toasted coconut flakes and creamy white chocolate unite in this delectable oolong tea. Infused with all the flavours of a homemade coconut cream pie, this velvety oolong blend smells as delicious as it tastes. Who needs dessert when you’ve got this tea to satisfy your sweet tooth?
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Vanilla Bergamot from DAVIDs Tea. . .
“An elegant white tea…” is how DAVIDsTEA describes this Vanilla Bergamot tea but personally I wouldn’t describe the scum ring and oil drops on the surface of my mugs as “elegant”. That’s just me but maybe the flavor will show some of its elegance as opposed to the look.
I made this white tea mixed with apple, white chocolate, rose petals, vanilla, bergamot peel, and flavoring as a strawberry milk latte and a plain tea.
Despite the clearly visible drops of oil in the strawberry milk latte, the tea is creamy and smooth. The mouthfeel is soft, not slick and the sweetness of the strawberry milk really compliments the velvety vanilla and bright bergamot of the cup. At times the citrus of the bergamot gets so crisp it borders on bitter but between the prep method, the white chocolate and the gentle rose, it is kept in check. Though for those that tend to fear the blerg, this might still be too much for your tastes.
The plain hot cup is where I found the scum ring from the white chocolate, I’m assuming. Though the mouthfeel isn’t oily, it’s not really creamy either and since it doesn’t seem that the white chocolate contributes much, I don’t see why it is needed. What is contributing a lot is the bergamot, the brisk bergamot. Vanilla whisps float through but it’s the bergamot that’s hogging the limelight. The rose and apple also get their brief shot in the spotlight, adding a floral note that is a bit drying on top of the bergamot and the signature apple sweetness that so many DAVIDsTEA blends have, respectively.
Well, it seems the elegance comes through when made as a strawberry milk latte but the beauty is lost when the tea is made plain. Lose the white chocolate and perhaps tone down the bergamot and this could be a winner but as it is, I would say latte, preferably with strawberry milk, is the only way to go. It gives this tea just a little boost to take it from “meh” to “mmm”.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White Tea
Where to Buy: DAVIDs Tea
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for white teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Earl’s Garden from DAVIDs Tea. . . .
Earl Grey blends can be a little bit bitter/sour. The bergamot sometimes comes on a bit strong. That’s why you see a lot of Earl Grey Cream blends (or people say it’s perfect with milk). Putting in the strawberry is a great solution to the problem. Boom! Sweetness! Plus a little bit MORE zest!
For this tea, Earl channeled his feminine side by adding a bit of strawberry. His strawberry garden is heavily fortified to keep the bunnies out — but the bunnies keep digging.
On one side, you have Earl, adding in traps and building layer after layer of elaborate, Tim-Burton-style wraught-iron fences.
On the other, you have the bunnies, each charmingly spotted and plump. Some of them probably wear hats. They have charts of where Earl’s improvements will be built, and a bunch of Rube Goldstein-style workarounds.
This premise should be a claymation film.
I’d watch it.
So would you.
Unfortunately, this tea is currently sold out at David’s Tea. But I imagine it’ll come back. I’ve seen this tea in their selection several times. If you’re dying to try it, it’s available on Amazon, but it’ll be less expensive if you want for it to return to David’s Tea. Add it to your wish list and keep an eye out!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: DAVIDs Tea
Description
This tea is not currently available but click below for teas that are.