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…
Awake from Treehouse Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Treehouse Teas
Tea Description:
A wonderful energetic blend that will keep you awake! Maybe you’ve been traveling the world or just need a little boost to get you through the day. Green Tea, Green Mate, Gynostemma Leaves, Strawberry and Papaya make this blend a get up and go to.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I am such a fan of green tea and green mate. I love how the flavors mix. What is fun with this mix is that there is also a bit of a tropical feel to it with the added strawberries and papaya. This tea had such a nice sweet aroma.
What I always seem to be confused by is what steeping parameters I should use. Green tea and green mate have completely different steeping times. To play it safe- I went with the green tea setting on the Breville One Touch because I wasn’t sure how forgiving the green tea would be if I went with the mate setting I typically use. Poured the sample into the brewing basket and away I went.
My thoughts? I like this blend. It isn’t overpowering and it is very subtle. No one flavor gets in the way or pushes the other around. The green tea has a nice buttery feel that really pairs well with the strawberry and the mate gives a slight roasted flavor that goes well with the papaya. All in all, a nice brew subtle brew. I would love to try this one on ice. With ingredients like strawberry and papaya, I can see this being perfect for these last days of summer!
Miss Figgy Black from The East Indies Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The East Indies Tea Company
Tea Description:
Fig taste with dried figs and pink pig sprinkles.
Learn more about this on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
Despite being pretty much over my ‘sprinkles in tea’ phase, this tea drew me in with the combination of pig sprinkles in the blend and the fun, whimsical name and the promise of fig flavour. In my humble opinion, there aren’t nearly enough fig blends and any chance I have to try a new one is one I’m going to take!
However, when I cracked open my sealed 2 oz. package of this blend I was hit with something I hadn’t been prepared for; the strong, piercing aroma of lavender! The lack of comprehensive ingredients lists on East Indie’s website it definitely a valid criticism; while a super generic blurb has worked out in my favor in the past in this case I feel like I was failed – I cannot stand lavender, and had I known this blend had so much of it I’m sure I would’ve been persuaded against this tea despite wanting to try ‘all the fig’.
Regardless, I cold brewed myself up a mason jar worth of tea because you never really know how a tea is going to taste for sure until you try it, so despite major reservations there was still a chance this could be alright. Sadly, I just couldn’t get over that concentrated lavender flavour. It was floral in a soapy, artificial way that made me feel like I’d licked all of the counters and shelves in a Bath & Body Works store. Any fig that was in this blend, and I know there was because I could see the dried out pieces in the leaf along with the adorable pig sprinkles, was completely masked. I was not impressed.
My overall opinion is that personally I found this blend as irksome as the puppet it’s playfully named for – and if you’re looking for fig look elsewhere. However, if you’re a fan of lavender and want to try a strong lavender blend over a black base you’re in luck.
Tsugaru Green from Lupicia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Tea Description:
Japanese green tea flavored with “San-Tsugaru” apples from Aomori prefecture in Japan.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Green tea is one of my favorite kinds of tea. I love the soothing and refreshing flavor you can get out of green tea. This tea was no exception.
Never having this tea before I wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t even know what kind of tea this was since this was a sample from a tea friend. I wanted to be surprised so I didn’t check online either.
Brewed this up with my Breville One Touch on the medium green tea setting. A few minutes later, I had a lovely cuppa awaiting me. I took a sip after the brew cooled for a few minutes and this tea was light and refreshing as you could ask for!
Crisp and almost apple juice like was what I would guess. So after I finished my cuppa, I looked online and was pleased to see that I was correct. An apple flavored green tea. This tea is spot on with flavor and I like the fact that there are any spices included and this is a simple yet well done apple tea. Most apple teas include cinnamon or some kind of a chai spice. This tea let the juiciness of the apples shine thru with the backing of a slightly hay like and slightly buttery undertone.
I brewed up another infusion of this tea and experienced it as an iced tea. It was magnificent. This is definitely one that I’m taking note of and am loving! This would be a perfect alternative to the fall inspired teas that will soon be available.
In other news, this was sipdown #20! Woohoo!
Elixir #9 (Peachy Oolong) From Liquid Proust Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Liquid Proust Teas (On Etsy)
Tea Description:
Ingredients: Green oolong (Vietnamese Tung Ting), peach blossoms, flavoring.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Finally trying the last of the tea samples that Andrew, from Liquid Proust Teas, was nice enough to send my way. Over on Steepster I’ve posted this review as well – and there it has some special significance as well as it’s my 3000th ‘tasting note’ on that site. I really wanted to celebrate my involvement in the Steepster community by drinking a tea made by someone also engaged within the Steepster community not just as a ‘creator’ but as a consumer as well.
The base for this tea is a Tung Ting/Dong Ding, which is a type of oolong I find pretty enjoyable though not one I drink as regularly as other types. The infused leaf was just gorgeous; long, full olive green leaves with a nicely bruised and oxidized red rim around the edge of the leaf. I tried to show my mother, who was watching me brew the tea but she just didn’t understand the beauty of that.
With both Western Style infusions I ended up doing, I found that more than anything else that I could taste the base tea. It was very fragile/delicate overall with an initial sweet flavour with almost a ‘leather’ or gentle smoke note, but then evolved into this super fragrant and aromatic floral tea with very bright, round notes of lily or possibly lilac to a lesser extent. There was also a smooth, silky vanilla-like sweetness as well especially in the end of the sip/long lingering aftertaste.
I could also taste the peach blossom as just this extra ‘floral’ flavour with a little bit of honey and generic fruit sweetness. Sometimes I forget that, unlike orange blossoms, peach blossoms don’t exactly taste ‘peachy’. I do wish this had been peachier, though – with a name that contains both “Elixir” and “Peachy” I expected both a more vibrant, rich fruity taste as well as something distinctly peach. That said, this was a very calm, delicious tea and I did really enjoy drinking it.