Something’s happening to me, you guys. I think I’m becoming a white tea convert. *INSERT GASP HERE*
Now, for the white tea purists among us… maybe skip the rest of this review. I’m certainly not sipping them plain, austere and floral, out of my finest china with my pinky up. But whereas I always though white teas just weren’t for me, I’ve been especially enjoying a few fun blends from my favorite tea purveyors lately, particularly when they’ve got some fun fruity notes blended in the mix.
This walnut orange scone white from David’s Tea is totally hitting all of those marks. It’s nutty, it’s bright and fresh and floral and citrusy and fruity– it maybe doesn’t taste too much like pastry to me, but I’m willing to forgive the slightly misleading name because this one is just so dang delicious.
I also have a fondness for teas that don’t require any sweetener to accentuate their flavors, and this one is simply perfect as it. Big, bold, bright, a little sweet from the fruit– like biting into the perfect wintry treat right out of the oven on a Sunday morning.
Maybe someday, I’ll graduate to finally become a fancypants white tea drinker. In the meantime, though, I’m going to thoroughly enjoy exploring these new doors opened to my tea-lovers’-palate (though my burgenoning tea cabinet may be slightly less thrilled).
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: DAVIDs Tea
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Caramel Shortbread from DAVIDs Tea. . . .
I am someone who does not like to add sugar to their tea. No sugar. Definitely no artificial sweetners. And no stevia. So personally, I don’t love when tea companies decide to pre-sweeten my drinks for me. I’m looking at you, DAVIDsTEA! Now don’t get me wrong…sprinkles, caramel bits, ice cream bits, and all those other bits and bobs that go into making a flavored tea fun and exciting, I enjoy. What I do not enjoy is this fairly new trend of DAVIDsTEA adding stevia to everything, sometimes in addition to adding actual sugar. Such is the case with their Caramel Shortbread herbal blend that they brought out (surprisingly early) for the 2017 Holiday Season.
Caramel Shortbread combines apples, raisins, brown sugar, elderberries, willow bark (a new ingredient to me that I am excited to try), almonds, hazelnuts, cherries, raspberries, stevia extract, and flavors. Though I don’t love it, I get adding sugar to capture a certain flavor but why does it then also need stevia? For some people, such as myself, stevia has a cloying and really unpleasant aftertaste so more times than not, its addition completely ruins a tea for me. That is why going into this, I am a bit hesitant.
I brewed this for 4 minutes in 200 degree water. As it steeped, I noticed it smelled a lot like another nutty herbal by DAVIDsTEA, Forever Nuts. It also reminds me of their Caramel Corn blend, which I suppose makes sense given the caramel.
As I drink this, to me, it also tastes like Forever Nuts but with stevia. Nutty and sweet. A bit too sweet but if I look past the stevia, I can kind of see how the sweetness lends itself to a more caramel-like flavor. It is also buttery, which is interesting and brings my mind to the melt-in-your-mouth shortbread cookies I think DAVIDsTEA is trying to capture. However, I am surprised I am not getting more of the berry/cherry notes given there is elderberries, raspberries AND cherries in the mix. That might be because I am distracted by the stevia but I find those flavors missing completely, which is a shame especially when you consider that without the sour cherries, this could be prepped as a latte.
Ultimately, I can see where DAVIDsTEA is going with this but like so many of their other blends recently with potential, I am completely put off by the addition of stevia. Luckily for many, that won’t be an issue so for those of you who don’t mind this ingredient, this is something worth trying. Also, for those that like Forever Nuts or Caramel Corn, this is in the same family and therefore might be something for you.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: DAVIDs Tea
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Rhubarb Cream Soda from DAVIDs Tea. . . .
I want to start off by saying that one of my favorite things about this blend, without ever having tried it, is that this blend doesn’t have stevia in it. If you want to make it sweeter, that is up to you but this is a stevia-less blend. A rare find at DAVIDsTEA these days.
When I smelled the blend, I was impressed that the scent had an effervescence to it that captured the fizz of soda. Not sure how that’s a thing but the blend had a sparkle to it and I was interested to play with that which meant a teapop was in my future. However, I also wanted to know what this tasted like on its own so I also cold brewed the tea.
I set up the cold brew and then maybe forgot about the tea so this brewed for over 24 hours. What immediately caught my interest was that this does actually taste like cream soda. It’s creamy and vanilla and also fruity. Sometimes I find DAVIDsTEA fruit blends can taste a bit like waxy dried fruits and this is no exception and I think that is a result of the candied pineapple/mango. So at times it tastes tropical and at times it tastes artificial.
The teapop, made with Strawberry Perrier, takes this to a whole new level. The fizz of the perrier mixes with the vanilla creaminess to help really sell cream soda. Also the strawberry flavoring and carbonation flavor that comes with sparkling water helps drown out the artificial wax fruit flavor while still playing off the tropical fruit vibes. So that means the good parts of the tea are highlighted while the bad components are drowned out.
One thing not really mentioned above is the rhubarb. That’s because I don’t really get rhubarb from this at all. On the plus side that means this isn’t loaded up with hibiscus like a lot of fruit teas are. On the down side, no rhubarb means this is not a rhubarb cream soda tea and that could be disappointing for some. As for me, I don’t miss it. This is one of the better DAVIDsTEA blends that have come out recently and it is one I certainly enjoyed.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: DAVIDs Tea
Description
Let yourself get carried away with this totally poppin’ tea. With bright rhubarb, sweet apple and a fizzy tartness we can’t get enough of, our creamy and nostalgic blend will take you back to when things were simpler – and just a little sweeter. Add a splash of club soda and a scoop of lemon sorbet for a treat that’ll leave you feeling bubbly all day long.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Long Life Oolong from DAVIDsTea. . .
I had to go to work early today, so I decided I needed a little afternoon pick-me-up. I’d bought Long Life Oolong on a whim to help a friend get to $50 (free shipping! we’re cheap!), plus, I’m a huge fan of its ingredients (oolong! nuts! fruits!).
This tea is… I daresay… a peach! It has peaches and apricots, which are like 99% of the experience.
I can taste the oolong a tiny bit (sort of a light flavor, verging on the black end of the oolong spectrum), but it’s in the background.
I’m not sure I can taste the almond slices or orange peel, but they’re not touted as major features. I might have also gotten a spoonful that didn’t happen to have those ingredients. Sometimes teas taste different cup-to-cup, which is sort of confusing and frustrating, especially for a reviewer who’s trying to give an honest overview.
I enjoyed this tea hot, but there’s a little sticker on the site’s image that says “try me iced!” I bet this would be a really great iced tea summer pick. Or, I guess, hot-day-in-fall pick. Or anytime-at-all pick if you live in the South. I prefer my tea iced when it’s hot out, but what does one do when it’s ALWAYS hot out? (When) do Southerners enjoy warm tea? They must, right? If you’re from the South, speak up on your hot-vs-cold preferences.
This blend tastes a bit like Happy Kombucha , also a David’s Tea oolong with fruit. I think if you have one, you might not need the other, but if you have neither, this could definitely fill a hole in your heart. Or stomach. Or any part, really. It’s yummy.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTea
Description
A hydrating peach oolong with sweet apricots and crunchy almond slices.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Chocolate Covered Banana from DAVIDs Tea. . .
One of my coworkers ordered Caramel Corn from David’s Tea and accidentally received this instead. (WHOOPS! Seems like somebody over there had a case of the Mondays.) Caffeine of any sort makes her face explode in treacherous boils of acne (she alleges; she’s perfect, so I doubt it). She got a refund. I got the tea.
The ingredients for this tea include “Banana, Blackberry Leaves, Chocolate Chip, Cocoa Bean Shells, Coconut, Currant, Green Yerba Mate, Natural Coconut Flavor, Pineapple.”
Though the tea isn’t currently available, there is a nice blog post about preparing a latté it here.
I didn’t prepare it that way. I can’t even begin to even. That sounds nice, though. If you have a tea on hand that has a similar flavor profile, please try that and report back.
The primary thing I taste in this blend is the cocoa shells, which is like slightly watery hot chocolate from a packet. There’s also a slight inkling of the freeze-dried banana/pineapple, which adds a little bit of a tartness/sassiness to the blend.
Would Elvis approve of this? I’m not sure.
This tea reminds me of one of those tropical-themed parties that happens in the winter. “We’re going to have a boardwalk treat!” the party-owner says, wearing a parrot-head hat and pretending to lean on a plastic, inflatable palm tree. The crowd is wearing leis over their sweaters. They are not sure they can handle the Jimmy Buffett/hula/reggae playlist forever. The basement they are in is not fully heated.
I’m not sure I love this mix, but if anyone ever wants to engage me in a Tea Trade, I will happily send it along!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Yerba Mate
Where to Buy: DAVIDs Tea
Description
This tea is not currently available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!