Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Tisane
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
Whether you’re looking for an afternoon pick-me-up or a sweet treat on the go, nothing beats peanut butter and chocolate. Sweet, rich, salty and addictive, it’s a classic combo for a reason. And with this smooth and satisfying blend, you can indulge your sweet tooth anytime, guilt-free. With almonds, cocoa beans and chocolate chips, it tastes just like the real thing. And since it’s completely peanut free, you can take it with you everywhere. Want to take it to the next level? Try it as a latte with frothed chocolate milk. You heard it here first…
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
DAVIDsTEA’s Fall Collection has been out for a little while now, but I’m just getting the chance to try the new teas in it. To me, this is definitely the most interesting one they’ve come up with this year; and if it actually delivers on the flavour then I think it could be a really unique, interesting dessert tea staple for late night sugar cravings!
Like tends to happen every season, this is a seriously heavy tisane so if you’re picking any up for yourself keep that in mind and know that 50g probably isn’t going to stretch super far. It does smell really decadent though with really creamy chocolate notes and a sweet, creamy and powerful peanut aroma. All combined, it really creates a solid, easily comparable smell to Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I have to wonder how they got the peanut to come across so clearly when there isn’t actually any peanut in the blend (just almond). Having had a few peanut teas, I can say that I’ve been really let down by ‘peanut’ flavoured things that use artificial flavours. My experience is that you need the real thing to get the flavour across. But this tisane could easily break that trend.
I’ve read that people find this weird hot, and it’s better cold (or as a latte) but I decided to make my mug hot because I actually thought that would be the best way to serve it and I think cold brewing a tisane so heavy would be a big waste of leaf. The smell is very rich and reminds me of extra creamy peanut butter: the kind that gets stuck to the roof of your mouth and you can still faintly taste like half an hour after finishing it.
The taste is surprisingly accurate; I’d say it’s more peanut than chocolate, but that the chocolate is very creamy and sweet. I think DAVIDsTEA really, really achieved what they set out to do with this blend. Now, that said, it does have a little bit of an oily mouthfeel, which is relatively inescapable when you’re using chocolate chips, and the flavor is a little bit thin. I can see people either really liking this one or finding it incredibly weird or disappointing. Personally, I didn’t realize quite how much I liked it until I had finished the mug and had the immediate urge to go resteep the leaves again, which I NEVER do with tisanes. My second mug was also pretty thin tasting, and didn’t pack much of a chocolate punch but the peanut notes were still really strong.
Again, I very much want to know how they got the peanut flavor accurate. I’m sure there are gonna be a lot of people with peanut allergies hoarding this…
Australia Houjicha Green from What-Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: What-Cha
Tea Description:
Two Rivers Green Tea started producing tea in 2001 with the aid and encouragement of Japanese tea experts who were seeking to encourage Japanese style tea production for the domestic Japanese market. The Two Rivers farm was selected as it has the same latitude of southern Japanese tea farms, idea temperatures, rainfall and great quality topsoil.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Recently I placed a What-Cha order for myself, and one of the things I was looking for was a Houjicha to stock up since it’s one of my favourite kinds of green tea and while I currently have a Genmaicha stocked that I really like there’s a hole in my cupboard where a good Houjicha should be. This one comes from Australia, and personally I’ve never tried an Australian grown tea before though I was aware that they were produced. Australia is one of those regions that isn’t typically thought of as a tea growing region among people who aren’t more learned tea drinkers the same way people don’t realize tea is grown in places like Kenya or Hawaii and I’m very excited to get my first taste of an Australian tea, especially considering how affordable this blend was. It was an easy thing to gamble on.
I do think this was worth the gamble. While it’s not as straightforwardly roasty as I tend to prefer from a good Houjicha there are some very, very nice subtle nuanced flavour notes that more than makes up the different. For starters, there’s an interesting nutty notes that seems to make itself known in each part of the sip in a different way. With that first initial taste it’s light lightly toasted nuts, and then in the body it weaves in and out between the other flavours. In the aftertaste, you’re tasting the shadow of the nut flavour which once was.
There’s also some really nice sweeter notes like caramel and cocoa which gently stretch out across the surface of your tongue, creating this really nice, smooth body flavour. The finish is lightly smokey, and leaves you wanting to go back in for another sip so you can experience the flavour dynamics all over again. Overall it’s a very warming and welcoming cuppa.
I definitely think I’ll clear my purchase of this easily, and will probably go back for more after that. More than that, this only gets me even more excited to try more of what Australia has to offer!
Almond Matcha from Red Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green/Matcha
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
The well recognized and much loved taste of sweet almonds can be heightened and made vibrantly unique by adding the exotic Matcha blend. Almond Matcha makes a slightly sweet treat that can be perfect for those looking for a combination of the nutty flavor combined with an interesting twist of oriental Matcha. Almond Matcha is perfect for many desserts, cakes and any other snack because of its naturally sweet taste that blends well with most snacks. This makes it a very popular treat for young kids anytime of the day or night.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The final flavour from Red Leaf Tea’s sampler! Like the penultimate flavour (Cotton Candy), this is one I’ve tried before – however it’s been over a year since I first had it. Just like Cotton Candy matcha, I also prepared this one in cold milk but for the purposes of this tasting I’ll be doing it in cold cashew milk to stay consistent with the rest of the teas in the sampler.
Here are some snippets from my Steepster review to see if my old observations are in line with the observations from this tasting:
“…really strong … very rich and marzipan like“, “I found that there was a faint chemical edge to the aftertaste“, and “almost too much almond concentrated into … one cup“.
Remarkably, I made almost the same observations this time as well. Even before opening up the sample packet and measuring out the matcha I was sure I could faintly smell the almond aroma – and once that packet was cracked I couldn’t smell anything but. This matcha is very strongly flavoured; I didn’t taste any vegetal or grassy notes from the matcha itself and for, I think, the first time since starting this sampler the flavour of the matcha completely eclipsed the taste of the cashew milk.
The one part where my observation from last time differs is that I didn’t think it tasted chemical or artificial at all; just really, really strong. Of course, like often comes with concentrated almond flavour, I did think this was quite sweet with definite marzipan notes – but apart from that I think this is just a very true, accurate and BOLD flavour. Fans of almond will love it, and people who dislike almond to start will cringe because of the intensity.
Personally, if I didn’t already own a large quantity of Pistachio matcha I’d probably add this to my list of flavors to buy in my next order – but you really only need to own so many nutty matchas at a time.
Final rankings of the five flavors of matcha from the sampler:
1. Almond
2. Butterscotch
3. Coffee
4. Cranberry
5. Cotton Candy
Halmari Gold Assam by Golden Tips Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Golden Tips
Tea Description:
Assam is a celebrated tea growing region in the world and there is no doubt over the fact that Assam black teas are the most sought-after in the world. However, even in Assam, there are those rare and special days when ideal climatic conditions backed by intuitive manufacturing excellence garnered by years of experience prepares something as rare as this Halmari Gold Clonal Black Tea.Handpicked from superior P126 clonal bushes at the Halmari Tea estate, the opulent appearance of the tea is characteristic of an almost equal combination of black and golden tipped leaves with a smooth texture. Carved out selectively from specially plucked tender young shoots, the tea brings in a unique rich maltiness which is only found in select Assams during the peak second flush tea growing season. The flavor is exhilarating with a perfect balance of strength, full-body and smoothness. This unique clonal tea brings in a sweet fruity finish in the mouth with a lingering aftertaste. The highest grade GTGFOP1 CL leaves prepare a sharp infusion which can be brewed several times. A bright golden amber liquoring cup greets your eyes when you strain out the royal dark brownish infusion.An absolute luxury, the finest of the finest and clearly one of the best Assam black teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a second flush Assam from Golden Tips Tea, picked in June 2014 on the Halmari Tea Estate. The dry leaf smells sweet and malty with a rich, nutty undertone, and it’s a treasure to look at. The leaves themselves are fairly thin and a little curly, mostly dark brown but with some lighter golden tipped leaves, and some pure golden leaves, scattered throughout. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor is a bright reddish-brown, and I added a splash of milk.
When I read the name of this tea, I was hoping that it would be a “Golden Lion” variety. These Assams have a lot in common with Chinese Yunnan black teas, which I absolutely adore. Judging by the scent of the wet leaf, it looks like my wish has been granted. Sweet potato and chocolate notes abound!
To taste, this one is an absolute delight. The initial sip is quite strong – very, very malty, with a strong squashy, yam like flavour. It’s also quite tannic, so perhaps to be avoided on an empty stomach. Successive sips show this to be a very smooth tea, although I’m pretty sure the milk is helping to round out what might otherwise have been quite rough edges. The chocolate notes emerge towards the end of the sip, and add an extra layer of sweet creaminess to what is already a sweet, smooth, malty cup. This is certainly a full-bodied tea; rich and flavourful, and immensely satisfying as a mid-afternoon pick me up.
This is a tea I’d recommend to all Assam fans – relative newcomers and experienced aficionados alike. It’s a very punchy cup, and certainly doesn’t hold back, but it’s also a good, solid example of the variety. I’d also recommend it to those who enjoy Chinese black teas, since it shares some similar characteristics. I really enjoyed my time with this tea, and it’s definitely one I’d look to repurchase in the future.
Coffee Matcha from Red Leaf Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green/Matcha
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
When the easily recognizable and well loved taste of deliciously aromatic coffee is combined with the wildly popular regal Matcha, the resulting Coffee Matcha treat leaves its many takers delightfully breathless with pure palate sensations. This all-day treat provides the best companion for many days when work becomes too heavy or too boring and a person needs a delectable snack to carry them through the tedium. Coffee Matcha’s unforgettable taste and delicious aroma is irresistible to many coffee lovers.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The second matcha sample from Red Leaf Tea’s new “Choose Your Own” sampler!
I’m not a coffee person so on the rare occasion that I do decide I want to partake in some java I usually go for actual coffee, not coffee flavored tea. To me those two things are separate, and for a reason. However, I still couldn’t resist trying this flavour – I had this gut feeling that it was going to be done well.
Like the previous matcha from this sampler, I made this in cashew milk. It mixed up such a bright, cheery green too and the smell was definitely freshly brewed coffee; quite roasty.
I was surprised by just how strong and sweet this one is; and I know that sweet kick isn’t from the cashew milk either since it’s unsweetened – but with the level of rich sugaryness it made me think I was drinking more of a Iced Coffee/ Iced Cappuccino type drink like you can get from Starbucks or Tim Hortons or whatever your coffee shop of choice is. At the same time, though it was quite sweet, it maintained a nice level of roast in the flavor and had some surprising caramel notes. And of course, from the milk, there was a faint nuttyness that worked really well with the coffee flavor. It probably only made the idea of drinking some sort of fancy sweet coffee drink stronger, if I’m being honest.
I wouldn’t buy this one again if I’m being honest; I just don’t do coffee – but it was surprisingly more nuanced than anticipated and like my gut told me it was in fact well done. So I do recommend trying it if coffee and sweet coffee drinks are your thing.