Advent Calendar Day 23

Oops!  Today's tea was supposed to be Gingerbread, but my little tin was filled with Stormy Night instead!  So I'll have to get my hands on a little gingerbread and review it later LOL

Advent Calendar Day 22

Today's tea is a holiday classic...Sleigh Ride!

Name:  Sleigh Ride


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Herbal


Dry Scent:  This smells warm and slightly spicy, of apples, cinnamon, cloves, and with a warm, nutty scent of popcorn and sharp hints of cranberries.  It really does smell like something you would drink on a sleigh ride through snow on a crisp, clear winter's day.


Steeping Time: 8-10 min


Steeped Flavour:  This is sharply sweet, tasting of cranberries, apples and cinnamon, with buttery, nutty flavour hints of the popcorn.  So yummy and warm, and very soothing.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This would be perfect with some mulled apple juice or mulled wine.  It's a perfect holiday drink, and with bourbon, whiskey or scotch it's even better.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Advent Calendar Day 21

Today's tea is Chocolate Orange, and wow, just look at that colour!  This is a prime example of why pu'erh teas are referred to as "black" teas in China, as opposed to what we call black tea which they call "red" tea.

Name: Chocolate Orange


Brand: David's Tea


Primary Type: Pu'erh


Dry Scent: This smells very much like a holiday classic (and something that our house MUST have every year at this time) Terry's Chocolate Oranges (although it's a little stronger on the chocolate and slightly less strong on the orange scents than a Terry's) There is certainly a rich, creamy milk chocolate scent to this right off the bat, with bright overtones of orange and citrus at play, and it almost masks the musky earthiness of the pu'erh. Or rather, the chocolate blends so well with the pu'erh that one might be forgiven for assuming that it isn't there at all.


Steeping Time: 4-5 min


Steeped Flavour: Ah...there's the orange that was hiding in the dry scent! The first sip brings an explosion of sweet, citrussy orange across the tongue and into the nose, followed and supported by a chocolatey richness that speaks mostly to the pu'erh tea and not too much to the chocolate. Actually this is good, though. I wasn't looking for hot chocolate with orange here, and there is still enough chocolatey flavour to ensure that one does not feel left in the lurch by something which promised chocolate goodness and failed to deliver. This tastes like the holidays, but without being overly sweet and sickening.


Food/Drink Pairings: This would pair beautifully with a slice of Terry's Chocolate Orange. In fact, I just had to run upstairs and grab a slice to have with my tea, and the flavour profiles blend perfectly! It would also make a very good digestif after a heavy meal, such as a rich Christmas dinner. Even better with a splash of Grand Marnier to really amp up the slightly bitter orange flavours! Seriously yum!


Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6 (can I rate this even higher? XD)


Buy/Don't Buy

Definitely a "buy".  Definitely definitely.  In fact, I think I'm adding this to my list of "must keep on hand" teas.

Advent Calendar Day 20

Today's tea is Vanilla Orchid, which I'd been curious to try for some time.  I must say, whomever was in charge of picking out teas for this year's advent calendar certainly has done a good job of putting in a variety of different types, flavour profiles and really fine quality teas!

Name: Vanilla Orchid


Brand: David's Tea


Primary Type: Oolong


Dry Scent: Strong scents of vanilla sweetness, with an underlying green scent from the oolong and a surprising nuttiness, perhaps also an aspect of the oolong. This smells a little like winter baking and very appetizing.


Steeping Time: 3 min (for the initial steep, in any case. This is a somewhat finicky oolong so be careful not to let it oversteep or it could get a bit fishy) 4 min for the second steep.


Steeped Flavour: OMG incredible! This tastes almost exactly like crème brûlée, creamy, with a vanilla sweetness and muskiness and a strong burnt-sugar caramel flavour that lingers on the tongue and in the mouth. It is a delicate balance, but when done right you'll find this tea an absolute treat to drink! The second steep is even more smooth than the first, although there is a slightly less strong caramel aspect to it. It is definitely worth steeping more than once though, to really get everything out of this tea that you want.


Food/Drink Pairings: This would pair well with creamy, simple desserts, perhaps the very crème brûlée whose flavour it resembles, or a pavlova or meringue. Anything creamy and light.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Advent Calendar Day 19

Today's tea is Read My Lips...not my favourite ever tea, but definitely tasty, especially for a mint tea (as far as I'm concerned)

I've already reviewed this before, so here, knock yourselves out with.... linkage!

Advent Calendar Day 18

The tea of the day for Dec 18th is Buddha's Blend.  I wasn't sure what to think of it initially, but omgwow...this is quite the tea!

Name: Buddha's Blend


Brand: David's Tea


Primary Type: White


Dry Scent: Very strong, aromatic peach and peach-blossom scents, quite sweet, but also with a strong, slightly pine-y grassy scent and hints of jasmine. This smells absolutely beautiful.


Steeping Time: 3-4 min


Steeped Flavour: Mildly sweet, fruity, with hints of peach and mango and something else tropical. There is a strong, grassy undertone from the white and green teas, and there are also perfumed overtones of jasmine and something that smells a little like orange blossoms. This is like standing inside of a summer orchard, with the heat of the sun intensifying all of the flavours and scents.


Food/Drink Pairings: This would make an amazing cocktail iced with a little lychee liqueur. It's not really a food pairing tea, but it would probably be good with most things that are not too sweet, especially fresh fruits or a fruit flan.


Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Advent Calendar Day 17

Hooray, one of my favourites for today!  Cream of Earl Grey!

...so a link to the previous review I did on this one, and a pretty, pretty picture of its gorgeous dark caramel yumminess.

Advent Calendar Day 16

Main Squeeze is the tea of the day today!  Yummy yummy maté!

As usual there's a link to my previous review of this delicious orange-infused maté, and a pretty picture of it in my December teacup!

Advent Calendar Day 15

Playing catchup on posts again...

Today's tea is English Breakfast, a classic if there ever was one!

Name:  English Breakfast


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Black


Dry Scent:  Tea.  Well, of course this smells like tea, but what I mean is more, this smells like the primordial "tea" scent that immidiately tells my brain that there is tea somewhere nearby.  This smells like mornings at my grandmother's house, or walking into an old-time tea shop like Murchies.  There are deep, earthy notes, some sweet hints and a definite citrus tone to brighten it up as well.


Steeping Time:3-4 min


Steeped Flavour:  This tastes like grandma! (but not in that bad, weird way)  I mean to say that it reminds me greatly of sitting in front of the tv in the morning with a tv tray and a bowl of cereal and a slice of bread and peanut butter, with my paternal grandmother, watching a bit of early morning tv while we had breakfast.  I didn't drink tea at that age, of course, but she did, and this tastes very much like the scent of the English Breakfast tea she always used to have.  The flavour is rich, slightly oaky almost, but bright enough with citrussy and sweet notes to keep it from being overpowering.  The flavour is very comforting, and I am surprised just how strongly it brings back those early memories.


Food/Drink Pairings:  Cookies for this one.  Peak Freans in particular, dipped into it until they start to crumble just a little (but not enough to foul the tea).  It would go well with any meal as far as I'm concerned, but if you have worries about caffeine before bed, I would say don't drink this past lunch, since it is quite strong.


Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6 purely on how nostalgic this tea makes me, 5.5/6 if you want to be really picky on things

Buy/Don't Buy

Advent Calender Day 14

Today's tea is another new one to me:  Cinnamon Rooibos Chai...

Name:  Cinnamon Rooibos Chai


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Rooibos


Dry Scent:  Very cinnamon, of the sweet, "cinnamon heart" type.  Quite sweet-smelling, with earthy, sun-warmed notes of the red rooibos and faint citrussy hints as well to brighten it up.


Steeping Time: 7-8 min


Steeped Flavour:  This is...surprisingly sweet, actually.  There is honey flavour in this, and it is most definitely evident.  There is also, of course, cinnamon notes, citrus and earthy rooibos, but the tea is almost too sweet for me, and there isn't quite as much bite from the cinnamon as I'd like.  Warming, but...not quite warming enough.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This would probably be much better with a little shot of goldschlager or fireball, any cinnamon liqueur.  It probably would be good with gingersnaps as well.


Rating out of Six Tails:

4/6


Buy/Don't Buy

I'm putting a "buy" on this, but if you're looking for a cinnamon tea in particular, there are others I'd recommend before this one.

Advent Calendar Day 13

Back from the staff Xmas party and it's definitely time for some tea before I head out to deliver papers...  Thank goodness today's tea is a tasty one, and one of my personal favourites...

Glitter and Gold!  It's a tea as sparkly as the makeup I was wearing tonight LOL!  What a perfect tea for Friday the 13th!

Advent Calendar Day 12

Today's tea is Kokomo Green, something I'd been very much looking forward to trying, so I was quite happy to see it among the advent calendar teas.

Name: Kokomo Green


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Green


Dry Scent:  There is a rich, green grassy scent in this from the green tea, not fishy or seaside but definitely grass, with lemony accents and lots of sweet, tropical fruity scents, most primarily the pineapple and passionfruit scents.


Steeping Time: 6-7 min


Steeped Flavour:  Even given the long (for a green tea) steeping time, this tea is not bitter at all.  There are lots of lovely green notes, slightly grassy, but most of the flavour in this comes from the tropical fruit.  Papaya, mango, and pineapple all blend gorgeously together and this tea reminds me of my first really enjoyable experience of mango in a fruit salad I had in Hawaii back in high school.  Perfectly balanced and like a warm, summer breeze in the middle of winter.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This would probably be incredible iced, or with any sort of tropical booze, especially malibu or a fruit flavour such as pineapple, mango or passionfruit.  As far as pairings with food, this would be a nice lunchtime tea with sandwiches or a dessert tea.


Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Advent Calendar Day 11

Today's tea is Mother's Little Helper

Name:  Mother's Little Helper


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Herbal


Dry Scent:  The first thing you smell in this, dry, is lemongrass, but lurking underneath is the woody, distinctive scent of valerian.  If you've never smelled valerian, well, I won't describe it but it's definitely distinctive.  There is also a fresher, greener herbal scent to this and a slight berry sweetness.


Steeping Time: 4-5 min


Steeped Flavour:  There is actually a lot less valerian flavour in this than I might have worried about.  The strongest flavour is the lemongrass, followed by the also-citrussy flavour of hibiscus.  There is mint lurking around underneath those, which also serves to lessen the flavour of the valerian, and there is something of an elderberry aftertaste, with the mint serving to cool the mouth as a final impression of each sip.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This would probably be okay with very plain cookies, but really, it's best as a sip before bed, and not really suited to pairing with food and definitely not with alcohol.


Rating out of Six Tails:

5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

This is not a tea I would have thought to buy but it's quite a bit better than I expected, and if you're the type who needs help relaxing I would definitely say it'd be a nice choice.

Advent Calendar Day 10

Hooray!  Today I get to try a new one of the holiday teas...  Coffee Cake!

Name:  Coffee Cake


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Black


Dry Scent:  This has a very thick, sweet scent, very cake-y and rich.  There is a slight fruitiness and also a definite dark earthiness from the black tea.  Clearly this is a very strong black tea, which it needs to be to stand up to the candied fruit and molasses scents.


Steeping Time: 4-5 min (less is more with this, since steeping too long can make the black tea overpower the rest of the scents)


Steeped Flavour:  This is a strong tea.  Definitely strong; and rich dark, slightly tannic black tea flavours lurk underneath sweetness from the fruit bits and rich cakeyness of molasses.  This is the kind of tea that you drink when you really need to stay up all night to finish studying for winter finals, or to help stave off the effects of overindulging from a christmas party... ^_~


Food/Drink Pairings:  This is a dessert tea...or if you're into it, a first thing in the morning, slap you awake, breakfast tea that would go amazingly with pancakes.  If you wish to add booze to this it would have to be something quite strong, perhaps Kraken black rum...  Or maybe to bump up the fruity aspect, some lemon drop schnapps or Chambord...  In fact, I have just tried the latter and can DEFINITELY recommend it!  Yummers!


Rating out of Six Tails:

5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Advent Calender Day 9

Yummy...the tea today isssssss Silk Dragon Jasmine!

And yes, I've reviewed this one, so you get a link and you can sit back and imagine me lolling pleasantly in the heady vapors of jasmine blossom perfume.  Beautiful!

Advent Calender Day 8

And the tea of the day today is....Mango Madness!

Name: Mango Madness


Brand: David's Tea


Primary Type: White


Dry Scent: There is lots of sweetness here, primarily the scents of dried pineapple and dried mango, but they are overlaid with the grassy scent of white tea and the earthy bite of the safflower petals. Actually, I would say that safflower (smelling similar to saffron, if not as strong) is the strongest scent I get off this, dry.


Steeping Time: 6-7 min


Steeped Flavour: Sweet, but not too sweet. There is definitely mango in the flavour, and pineapple, but the strongest note I get in this is the tangerine. A good blend of "summer" fruits overall, but not nearly as mango-y as, say, Mango Lassi. Still, it's very tasty and I would not turn my nose up at another cup or three!


Food/Drink Pairings: This is something of a dessert tea if you're intending to have it with "traditional western" fare, but it would meld beautifully with Indian main course dishes or any other type of curry, and it is also really wonderful iced with a splash of some fruity vodka thrown in for good measure.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Advent Calendar Day 7

Today the tea of the day is...

Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait!  So deep and red and yummy!

Name: Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait


Brand: David's Tea


Primary Type: Herbal


Dry Scent: Sweet strawberries leap first from this to tickle the nose, supported by a rich, creamy scent almost more reminiscent of whipped cream than yoghurt, although it does have similarity to the scent of yoghurt covered raisins or cranberries.  The rhubarb scent isn't strong here, with only hints of the acid sharpness, but there is a sense that it is going to bloom well once the hot water touches is.


Steeping Time: 7-8 min


Steeped Flavour:  When hot, the strongest flavour in this is hibiscus and rhubarb, both with their acid, slightly citrus sharpness, but once the tea is cooled enough to no longer being steaming, the flavours mellow and blend beautifully, the strawberry sweetness coming forward and the creamy yoghurt giving a wonderful, thick mouthfeel.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This is a good choice to cut through a rich dessert, although not too sweet a one.  There's enough acidity in this that it would not play well with chocolate unless it's a very dark chocolate.  The tea would be wonderful with fruit cobbler.  It would also probably be a good base for a cosmo or other similar martini drink if iced.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

I quite like this tea, but it's still not quite as good as the now sadly gone Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble white tea David's used to have.

Advent Calendar Day 6

Yes, I know, I'm behind again, but I have good reason...went to the movies last night which meant I got home at midnight, and between work and papers...yeah.

Today's tea is Genmaicha, one of my very favourite "basic" teas, and although I haven't done a review of David's Tea's version, I'll link my other review and add to it.

So...this is a very nice, good-quality genmaicha indeed.  Nutty, subtly sweet and faintly grassy, but not in any way fishy or salty.  Warming and very soothing altogether.  Bravo, David's Tea, you picked a good one here!

Advent Calendar Day 5

Again, today's tea is one I've reviewed before, Stormy Night, but omg what a perfect tea for a night like this when it's freezing cold outside and all I want to do is sit curled up with a hot mug of tea and relax!  David, your timing is impeccable!

Now, this is something you don't often see from me...tea with creamy substance in it.  In this case though, this tea does work best with something creamy (never milky, we won't go into the origins of my extreme dislike of milk in hot drinks) in this case, a little Bailey's brings everything into perfect cohesion.

The "bits" you can see on top there are bits of cinnamon.  Even with the Bailey's the tea isn't totally homogeneous, but it's okay.  <3 it anyway!

Advent Calender Day 4

(yes I know I'm a little late, yesterday was very hectic) 

Today's tea is Forever Nuts, one I've reviewed before, so...

Here's a link to it, and what more to say?  Forever Nuts is, quite simply, everyone's favourite tea.  I'd bet I could even get my mother to drink this one and she doesn't like tea at all!  It's very much like mulled apple cider but just that little bit better, plus it's pink!  The picture is not reflective of just how pink it is, my phone camera tends to wash out red tones a bit and I don't quite know how to fix it.  >.<

Advent Calender Day 3

Blueberry Jam

Name: Blueberry Jam


Brand: David's Tea


Primary Type:  Black


Dry Scent:  This smells of dried blueberries and elderberries ("your father smelled of elderberries!"  Sorry, couldn't resist LOL) with the musty scent of strong black tea hiding underneath to keep it from seeming over-sweet.


Steeping Time: 6-7 min


Steeped Flavour:  Even with the longer steeping time, this managed not to become overly tannic, which I greatly appreciate.  I do so love a strong cup of black tea, but sometimes that just isn't possible without ruining the flavour balance.  In this case, although the black tea flavours are dark and certainly evident, they aren't overpowering and simply do a good job of supporting the sweet, berry flavours.  This tastes very much like blueberry pie or maybe blueberry fruit leather...either way very well balanced.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This goes really well with white chocolate (as evidenced by the chocolate and tea tasting I went to last month) and would also be really nice with a white chocolate mousse or pot au creme.  It would probably be nice iced, and would go with a sweet, berry flavored vodka in a tea martini I would just bet!


Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6

Buy/Don't Buy

Advent Calender Day 2

Today's tea is Alpine Punch.  I was so excited to see this one back this year, as it was one of my favourites last holiday season.

and since I haven't done a review for it yet... review time!


Name: Alpine Punch


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Rooibos


Dry Scent:  This smells interesting.  A little bit like a chai, because of the cardamom, but also nutty from the coconut and warm and slightly dusty from the rooibos.  There is even a faint floral hint from the rosepetals, but overall it definitely smells to me like the perfect apres-ski drink.  Something to soothe out the aches and warm you from the inside out.


Steeping Time:  8-10 min


Steeped Flavour:  This is one that tastes like it smells, with the coconut adding a nice, smooth mouthfeel and the cardamom and ginger warming just enough on the tongue without making the tea spicy in any way.  The almonds, whose scent disappeared in the blend when dry, take over once it's brewed and there are definitely marzipan notes to this.  It also tastes a little bit like mulled apple juice and a little bit like chai, but it is very much its own entity.  Honestly the best way I can think of to describe the taste is to say that it tastes like winter comfort food.


Food/Drink Pairings:  Rum.  This would definitely be excellent with a little mulled spiced rum.  It also goes well with spice cakes, coffee cakes or stollen.  Basically any heavy, hearty spiced or fruited cake would go nicely with this.  You might also try using it as the base for a "chai latte".  I definitely think it could stand up to frothed milk and come out a winner!


Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Another day done, another door opened!

December is here...

...and that means Advent Calender Time! This is the David's Tea Advent Calender, 2013 version, the item that got me into my daily tea habit a year ago this time.

This is a coveted item indeed!  I almost didn't get one this year at all, since I wasn't fast enough to get down to my store right when they opened.  Luckily Wil saved my bacon and bought me this one and sent it to me, so...we have Advent Calender Fun!  

Day One: White Chocolate Frost

As I've already done a tasting review of this one, here's a link to it, and a pretty picture <3  And yes, it did taste salty again, although less so this time.  I dunno, I'm still iffy about it, but then, as I've said before, not a big fan of mint.

Maharaja Chai/Samurai Chai Tea Blend

Name: Maharaja Chai/Samurai Chai Tea Blend


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: Maté and Oolong


Dry Scent: There is definitely a "chai" sort of scent to this, and something a little almost minty. There is also, of course, a scent of maté and the greenish, fresh scent of oolong, but one thing I definitely notice is that this smells a bit sweet. I can actually smell the sugar crystals that are added to the blend


Steeping Time: 4-5 min


Steeped Flavour: This definitely has nice, spicy and warming chai flavours to it, mostly cinnamon and cardamom, but the thing that most stands out in the flavour of this blend is, unfortunately, the amount of sugar that was added to it. This is one of the things I dislike about Teavana's pre-blended teas - they sweeten them. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to sweeten tea now and then, especially if you're cold and are trying to warm up, but I'd rather be in charge of the amount of sweetener added to my tea, rather than having the amount dictated for me.


Food/Drink Pairings: This would be nice with a slice of spice cake or maybe with a splash of rum in it, like a hot toddy.


Rating out of Six Tails:
3/6


Buy/Don't Buy

I'm very much on the fence on whether to recommend a buy on this one or not.  On the one hand, it is a nice chai, but on the other hand....too much pre-added sugar!  Seriously!

Winter Berry Spice

Name: Winter Berry Spice


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: Herbal


Dry Scent: Sweet, with hints of orange and cloves, and also fruity pineapple and sharp cranberry. Very holiday-ish.  It brings to mind mulling spices and candied peel, and baking Christmas cakes.


Steeping Time: 7-8 min


Steeped Flavour: Juicy, like sweet mandarin oranges with hints of cranberry's sharpness and mellow, well-blended cloves and cinnamon round out the flavour, although they are definitely not the major players here.


Food/Drink Pairings: Rum. This definitely deserves a splash of spiced rum in it, or maybe just a little Cointreau or some other orange liqueur. Surprisingly for a winter tea, I have a great urge to try this iced. I think it could actually be quite good that way as well, and would go well with a picnic lunch.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

My Morning Maté

Name: My Morning Maté


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: Maté


Dry Scent: This is a complex scent, including earthy coffee scents, sharp orange peel and musty green maté. There is definitely a "breakfast" sort of smell to it.


Steeping Time: 5-6 min


Steeped Flavour: The most predominent flavour here is a coffee-like smooth bitterness, which is mellowed by the sharpness of the orange peel and the deep flavours of the maté. Not bad, as "coffee replacements" go, overall.


Food/Drink Pairings: Breakfast! This is most definitely a first thing in the morning tea, and would cut nicely through toast and peanut butter, or accompany a bowl of cereal very well. It could even go nicely with pancakes!


Rating out of Six Tails:
4.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Swiss White Truffle

Name: Swiss White Truffle


Brand: Naturally for You


Primary Type: Rooibos


Dry Scent: Slightly sweet and very creamy, with the warm, sunny scent of rooibos and a subtle nuttiness.


Steeping Time: 8-9 min


Steeped Flavour: Sweet, rich and nutty, with a slight creaminess and of course the warmth of the rooibos. This is a wonderful tea for a cold night.


Food/Drink Pairings: This is good with dessert, or lunch, and also a good way to warm up after a cold time out in the winter weather. It's also a good "teatime" tea and excellent for dunking cookies into.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Peach Tranquility

Name: Peach Tranquility


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: Herbal


Dry Scent: Sweet and peachy, with a sharp bite of rosehips and a slight tang of spice, cinnamon perhaps? Or allspice. Something warming and subtle


Steeping Time: 7-8 min


Steeped Flavour: Very, very sweet and fruity, with a very "true" peach flavour, along with floral, grassy hints from the chamomile and just a little subtle bite of rosehip. This has a "thick" mouthfeel, almost as if it actually contains peach juice. The consistency is very similar. This almost reminds me of peach cobbler or warm peach pie.


Food/Drink Pairings: Excellent as an iced tea, with a picnic, or with breakfast (if you don't need a punch of caffeine in the morning). It would also be very tasty with a fruity dessert (especially one containing peaches)


Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6

Buy/Don't Buy

Sugar Maple

Name:  Sugar Maple


Brand:  Murchies


Primary Type:  Black


Dry Scent:  Sweet and rich like maple syrup or maple candies...or maybe those maple cream cookies....yumm.....


Steeping Time: 4-5 min


Steeped Flavour:  Sweet from the maple for sure, but not overwhelmingly so.  There is a dark, full-bodied richness from the black tea, almost a little musty and earthy, and there is also a slight fruity hint from the bits of apple in this.  Overall very well blended.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This is definitely something that pairs with dessert, and sweet desserts at that.  This would be great with chocolate cake or sticky toffee pudding...especially the second.  Dang now I'm craving sticky toffee pudding LOL!


Rating out of Six Tails:

5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Strawberry Paraiso

Name:  Strawberry Paraiso


Brand:  Teavana


Primary Type:  White


Dry Scent:  Sweet with the scents of sun-warmed strawberries and juicy pineapple, but with a hint of grassy white tea and notes of buttered popcorn adding richness.


Steeping Time: 2-3 min


Steeped Flavour:  Again, sweet, but with just enough hibiscus tartness to keep from being sickly-sweet.  The strawberry is very much evident, but the scent of the brewed tea carries much more of the popcorn flavour, and the tea does as well, flowing over the tongue with a buttery sort of sweetness.  There is a rich mouthfeel to this tea, and the flavours all play very nicely together.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This could be iced as a picnic tea, but I like it as an after-dinner treat with something light and sweet, like mirangues.   <3


Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Like most white teas, especially from Teavana, this isn't particularly cheap, but it's definitely worth the buy in this case.  Yum.

Matévana

Name:  Matévana


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type:  Maté


Dry Scent:  Dark and chocolatey, with musty hints from the maté and rich, almondy notes as well.  Very appetizing and makes me think of high-quality chocolates or a chocolate shop.


Steeping Time: 5-6 min


Steeped Flavour:  Very tasty and chocolatey although a little rough on the tongue as far as mouthfeel goes...better with a little bailey's or Godiva added in.  The maté provides a dark base note and the almonds add some richness as well.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This is good with cookies and also with biscotti - anything that would go well with coffee.  It's wonderful at breakfast time and also a very tasty way to keep yourself going if you have to stay up to work on something.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Cinnamon

Name: Cinnamon


Brand: Naturally for You


Primary Type: Rooibos


Dry Scent:  Sunny, warm rooibos blends perfectly with the even warmer, spicy scent of cinnamon.  This is almost what I imagine a phoenix nest might smell like, subtle but amazing.


Steeping Time: 8-10


Steeped Flavour:  Marvelously warming, cinnamon but full-bodied and warm, not sharp or biting as you might find with cinnamon candies.  More like cinnamon buns or cinnamon cookies.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This is a very good teatime tea, and also wonderful for dunking cookies into.  It's a good warming drink for just before bed, because there isn't any caffeine in it, and it goes well with a splash of whiskey - it doesn't even have to be cinnamon whiskey.


Rating out of Six Tails:

5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Peach Bellini Blush

Name: Peach Bellini Blush


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: Herbal


Dry Scent: Sweet and peachy with a bit of a bite to it from citrus and a warm richness from vanilla.


Steeping Time: 6-7 min


Steeped Flavour: Sweet, fruity and rich, with just a little bit of citrus acidity, slight tannic notes from the grapes and a bit of peppery warmth, which is unexpected but not, overall, bad. A tasty, sweet tea, and better as it cools.


Food/Drink Pairings: This is certainly a picnic tea, iced or hot. Very much summery, and blends extremely well with a little nip of peach schnapps. Mmm!


Rating out of Six Tails:
4.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Ener-G Tea

Name: Ener-G Tea


Brand: Naturally for You


Primary Type: Black


Dry Scent: Musty dark almost oaky scents from the black tea, along with bright green notes and warm, sweet yet tart scents of cranberry and apple.


Steeping Time: 4-5 min


Steeped Flavour: Rich and sweet, faintly fruity, with herbal overtones, musty mints and ginseng notes as well. Full-bodied and energizing.


Food/Drink Pairings: This is good first thing in the morning with breakfast, but not a dinnertime tea, unless you're planning to be up all night writing or sewing or partaking in some other, similar pursuit.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Weight to Go

Name: Weight to Go


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: Pu'erh


Dry Scent:  This has a rich smell from the pu'erh tea, which supports bright notes of citrus and orangepeel, sweetness from the strawberry bits, and some more musty herbal scents from the mints as well.  A complex scent, which you can't take in all on one sniff.


Steeping Time:  4-5 min


Steeped Flavour:  The mints in this add a strange, mustiness to the otherwise sweet and fruity tea, I think they're enhancing the flavours of the beetroot in this.  The pu'erh's earthiness does a good job at rounding things out, however, and keeping all the other flavours mostly in line.  Overall not bad although not my favourite of the "slimming" teas.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This is definitely a good breakfast tea.  It's got enough caffeine kick to get you going, and won't overpower a simple meal.


Rating out of Six Tails:

4.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Toasted Nut Brûleé

Name: Toasted Nut Brûleé


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: Oolong


Dry Scent: Warm sunny and very sweet and nutty. This smells something like walking into a candy store when they have been making nut brittle. Very, very yum!


Steeping Time: 3.5-4 min


Steeped Flavour: Mmmm...bliss! Nutty, rich and sweet, with an underlying warmth from the rooibos in this, and slightly green, grassy and musky oolong notes as well.


Food/Drink Pairings: This is a dessert tea, for sure, or a tea that would be beautiful with high tea, especially scones, strawberries and clotted cream. It would also be very tasty with some frangelico or other nut-based liqueur. Possibly even would go well with sambuca.


Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6


Buy/Don't Buy

This one's on my list of must-have teas for sure!

Honey Lemon Ginseng

Name: Honey Lemon Ginseng


Brand: Naturally for You


Primary Type: Green


Dry Scent: Strong, grassy green tea scent brightened by hints of dried apricot and other fruity scents and grounded by musty ginseng.


Steeping Time: 3-4 min


Steeped Flavour: There is a lovely, grassy green tea flavour in this, without saltiness or fishiness, and it has hints of honey sweetness and the musty gingery flavours of the ginseng help ground the flavour and blend everything together.


Food/Drink Pairings: This could probably best be described as a lunchtime tea, or something to keep you going on long nights of writing or knitting or whatever else crafty needs to be done. Also nice with japanese food or other subtle flavours.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Guava Papaya Passion

Name: Guava Papaya Passion


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: White


Dry Scent: There is a lot of fruit flavour in this, and also something floral, but not rose or jasmine, more like passionflower, perhaps from the passionfruit?


Steeping Time: 2 min


Steeped Flavour: This is fruity but also unfortunately soemwhat perfumey from the passionflower floral notes, with grassy white tea undertones supporting the blend.


Food/Drink Pairings: This is probably best at breakfast or dessert. It would also be really nice iced, especially blended with a little fruit juice or fruit flavoured vodka.


Rating out of Six Tails:
3.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

I'm going to put this as a "buy if you try it first and like it", it might be a bit of an acquired taste.

Jumpy Monkey

Name: Jumpy Monkey


Brand: David's Tea


Primary Type: Maté


Dry Scent: Coffee definitely, but there is also a strong dry grassy scent here, and it's underlaid by the more musty green scent of the maté itself, and lightened and lifted by the almost floral notes from the almonds. There is also a deep richness in the scent from the carob, cocoa nibs and white chocolate.


Steeping Time: 5-6 min


Steeped Flavour: There is definitely the flavour of coffee in this, but no bitterness, and the richness of the coffee is balanced and enhanced by the musky deep green-ness of the maté and the straw-like flavours of some other other herbal ingredients. There is also the faint sweetness of chocolate to keep this from being too bitter overall.


Food/Drink Pairings: This is good for breakfast or any time you might normally drink coffee, and is also very good with a little splash of cream (Irish or otherwise).


Rating out of Six Tails:
4.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Belgian Chocolate

Name: Belgian Chocolate


Brand: Naturally for You


Primary Type: Rooibos


Dry Scent: The strongest scent in this is rooibos with its warm, red, desert wind sort of scent, but it is deepened and rounded nicely by the chocolate bits, and the result is mouth-watering, for sure.


Steeping Time: 8-10 min


Steeped Flavour: Smooth and chocolatey. There is a faint mintiness from the rooibos, and the tea is warm and comforting. Heck, anything with chocolate, right?


Food/Drink Pairings: This is perfect for dipping cookies into, or to accompany any rich dessert, such as chocolate mousse or chocolate cake. Anything rich and chocolatey. It is also very good with a little chocolate liqueur added.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Fig Rose

Name:  Fig Rose


Brand:  Teavana


Primary Type:  Herbal


Dry Scent:  Very figgy, with a little tropical sweetness from the pineapple, a little nutty scent of almonds and a very light floral from the rose petals. It's a lovely scent though, and almost Christmassy, although probably that's because of the dried figs, which always make me think of the holidays.


Steeping Time:  6-7 min


Steeped Flavour:  This is sweet, although not so much that it tastes like fruit juice.  There is a deep, ruby red colour which tells the tale of hibiscus, but there's little enough that the flavour blends nicely in with the rest of the fruits in this infusion.  The tea itself is very smooth on the tongue, almost silky and a little thick.  Very nice.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This would go nicely with breakfast, but it's also really nice after dinner as a replacement for dessert.  It could possibly pair with something like a fruit cobbler or pie, but nothing too sweet.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6

Buy/Don't Buy

Chocolate Chili Chai

Name: Chocolate Chili Chai

Brand: David's Tea


Primary Type: Black


Dry Scent: This smells rich, chocolatey and has has a peppery, chili bite overtop and the dark, earthy and slightly musty scent of black tea and the chilies. There is a sense of depth and richness in the nose, and they did a really good job of stabilizing the blend of scents.


Steeping Time:4-5 min


Steeped Flavour: Yummy, spicy and rich, with a dark earthiness, almost musty, a little like the smell of sundried chilies, but not in an objectionable way. This has a rich, thick mouthfeel, and it's warm on the tongue from the spice but not to the point of being "too hot to handle". The sweetness of the chocolate is here, but it reminds me more of a "Mexican hot chocolate" kind of thing, or perhaps molé. Perfect for a cold winter evening.


Food/Drink Pairings: This is good with desserts, especially anything with chocolate where you can double down. It's also amazing with Bailey's, or Godiva...any chocolate, creamy liqueur!


Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6


Buy/Don't Buy


So, so, SO happy this one is back! I missed it when it went away after last winter, but now it's back for good. Yay!

Strawberry Slender

Name: Strawberry Slender


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: Pu'erh


Dry Scent: Rich, sweet berry scent, with the earthy pu'erh supporting the juicy strawberry scent, making it robust and more like the actual berries, almost like the scent of strawberries in the garden warmed by the summer sun.


Steeping Time: 4-5 min


Steeped Flavour: This tastes like good-quality stawberry jam, with the basis of thick, earthy pu'erh tea. Even more than the strawberry flavour, there is a strong, sweet strawberry scent that rises off the tea as you drink it. Yum. This is definitely a weight-loss tea I can see drinking lots of.


Food/Drink Pairings: This goes really nicely with breakfast, perhaps toast and a little strawberry jam!


Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Tea and Chocolates!

So today, lucky lucky me, I happened to find out that our local downtown David's Tea shop was going to be having a Tea and Chocolate Pairings tasting event with Purdy's Chocolates.

Even luckier, I happened to be off work tonight so I could actually go!

There were three pairings of tea and chocolates:  Blueberry Jam paired with White Silk chocolates,  Assam Banaspaty with Petit Chocolat, and Quangzhou Milk Oolong with Caramel Carnival or Maple Walnut Cream.

In order:

Blueberry Jam and White Silk:  Delicious!  A perfect pairing.  A nibble of the white chocolate followed by a sip of the hot tea lends juicy berry flavours over the creamy sweetness of the chocolate, and keeps the white chocolate itself from being cloying or coating the mouth.  Delicious, and it also manages to clear the palate after it's done.

Assam Banaspaty and Petit Chocolat:  Also a very good pairing.  The dark bitterness of the dark chocolate and the creaminess of the ganache lend depth to the strong, malty assam black tea.  A very clean, smooth feeling in the mouth and a lingering soft sweetness.

Quangzhou Milk Oolong with Caramel Carnival:  This oolong is a delicate, faintly floral one, and it is lent an incredible sweetness by the liquid caramel inside this chocolate.  The sweet caramel somehow enhances the floral notes, and it makes this combination surprisingly fragrant and almost perfumed.

Quangzhou Milk Oolong with Maple Walnut Cream:  In this combination, the deep, earthy flavours from the walnuts bring out different notes from the oolong, sweetness and slightly musty green flavours burst into smoothness in the mouth.


Overall, very grateful to the David's Tea folks for putting this on, and the Purdy's people as well.  This was an amazing evening, and a great deal of fun!

Slimful Chocolate Decadence

Name: Slimful Chocolate Decadence


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: Oolong


Dry Scent: Chocolatey scent, with hints of nuts and the slightly greenish scent of the oolong tea, however, all of this is overlaid with an unfortunately almost turpentine smell, perhaps from the licorice root.


Steeping Time: 3 min


Steeped Flavour: This is nice, chocolate and carob are the strongest flavours in this, and the coconut adds richness to the body and mouthfeel of the tea. There is an overlaying taste of greenish earthy oolong and almost the perfume of rose as an aftertaste.


Food/Drink Pairings: This is good on its own, or with cookies to dip in it.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Gyokuro Yamashiro

Name: Gyokuro Yamashiro 


Brand: David's Tea


Primary Type: Green


Dry Scent: Very grassy and green, almost oily-green in scent. This is altogether the most green thing I've smelled in quite some time.


Steeping Time: 1.5 min


Steeped Flavour: This is lovely. Not bitter (of course, only due to careful steeping) and also not in any way fishy or "oceanic" the way that green teas can be. I've heard this described as tasting like buttered asparagus, and I can see where that idea comes from. There is certainly a butteriness overlying the green in this, but it reminds me a bit more of kale or fiddleheads. Definitely fiddleheads. I would buy more of this if it wasn't so very, very expensive.


Food/Drink Pairings: This is marvelous with cheese and crackers, or shrimp...any high-end, delicate appetizer really.


Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6


Buy/Don't Buy




Again this was a sample I ended up with and I've been putting off trying it because of the price. I put a buy on this but for goodness' sakes try this before you buy it, and only buy it if you have some experience with the care needed for brewing green teas. This is very good but very, very pricey.

Berry Basil Blast

Name: Berry Basil Blast


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: White


Dry Scent: There is the sweetness of berries, apples and pineapple front and center in this, but it is quickly followed by the dry, slightly dusty herbal scent of basil and hints of the citrus tang of hibiscus. An unusual combination, although they do seem to play reasonably harmoniously together along with the grassy, fresh scent of the white tea leaves.


Steeping Time: 2-2.5 min


Steeped Flavour: The first and strongest flavour in this is the basil, unfortunately. It is followed by the lovely fruity flavours, and the citrus bite of the hibiscus, but the basil just seems a little odd. Not bad, overall, but odd.


Food/Drink Pairings: This probably would work best with a main course meal, especially pasta, since then the basil flavour might be overwhelmed and allow the fruity flavours to come out more strongly.


Rating out of Six Tails:
3.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

I'm putting a "maybe buy" on this.  It's not bad, per se, but it's definitely different, and probably not to everyone's taste.

Cherry Delight

Name: Cherry Delight


Brand: Naturally for You


Primary Type: Maté


Dry Scent: Very much kirche, with the green musty maté providing a base to keep the sharpness of the alcoholic cherry scent from being overpowering. This is almost almondy in scent, and not too sweet, especially given that its primary scent is cherry.


Steeping Time: 5 min


Steeped Flavour: Lightly kirche cherry flavour overlays the musky deep flavours of the maté, with a slightly bitter-cherry aftertaste.


Food/Drink Pairings: This would go nicely with mild meats, chicken or fish. Surprisingly enough for a "cherry-flavoured" tea, it really isn't sweet. It's definitely more of a main course tea than a dessert tea.


Rating out of Six Tails:
4/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Azteca Fire

Name: Azteca Fire


Brand: Teavana


Primary Type: Herbal


Dry Scent: There is milky chocolateyness in this, hints of fruit, and definitely the bite of chilies. It smells like good mexican hot chocolate, very warming, even just from the scent.


Steeping Time: 5-6 min


Steeped Flavour: This tea sits there looking all innocent and sweet in your cup, but don't believe it. This tea has definite bite. It is sweet, certainly, especially as it cools down a little bit from the heat of steeping, but there is a light skim of chili oil floating on the top of the cup of tea that will bite you in the back of the throat after the flavours of chocolate and strawberries have flowed over your tongue. A couple of important things to keep in mind with this tea, though, to keep it at its best. After steeping, even if you don't add anything to it, you should stir this, as the chocolate tends to settle out a bit. Also, you might want to add a little more tea than you normally would, since it can seem a bit "thin" otherwise.


Food/Drink Pairings: This is excellent with a bit of Bailey's or other cream liqueur. It is definitely a dessert tea, and is also very good for dunking cookies into, or biscotti. Whatever you do or don't add to the tea though, if you need to get warm on a cold winter's evening, this is a good, safe bet.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Birthday Cake

Name: Birthday Cake


Brand: David's Tea


Primary Type: Rooibos


Dry Scent: Yummy! Vanilla cream icing is what this smells most like, with hints of white cake underneath, and warm sweetness from the rooibos itself only adds to the mouthwatering scent.


Steeping Time: 6-8 min


Steeped Flavour: This definitely tastes like cake. In particular, white cake with buttercream icing. A little more of the icing and less of the cake, but then, this is tea, after all, and it's hard to get some of the subtleties of the actual flavour of cake. Besides, the icing is the more important part of any good birthday cake anyway LOL!


Food/Drink Pairings: This is dessert. No ifs, ands or buts, dessert. Being a rooibos you can drink it any time of day but my favourite thing to do is to add some UV birthday cake vodka to this, doubling down on the birthday-cake-ness only makes it better.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

And yes, in case you wondered, it was my birthday a couple of days ago.  Thus my having this tea on my backlist of reviews to post LOL!

Sorcerer's Tea

Name: Sorcerer's Tea


Brand: unknown


Primary Type: Black


Dry Scent: Warm and fruity, with hints of mango, tangerine and peach. Definitely reminds one of ambrosia salad, but with the heady, slightly earthy undertones of good-quality black tea.


Steeping Time: 4-5 min


Steeped Flavour: Delicious. This definitely is a fine black tea base, which supports the fruity flavours well. It makes me think of spring and early summer, and eating fresh orchard fruits from a roadside stand.


Food/Drink Pairings: This would do well iced with a picnic, or as a breakfast tea. It's fairly caffeinated, so probably not great as an after-dinner tea, but it would do well for a lunchtime tea too.


Rating out of Six Tails:
5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy


This was given to me by a friend, who didn't remember where she got it, but the packaging is all in french. The actual listed name is "Thè des Magiciens" and if anyone knows where I can get more I will be eternally grateful, because it is absolutely divine!  Buy it if you can find it, and if you do find it LINK ME!

White Chocolate Frost

Name:  White Chocolate Frost


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Herbal


Dry Scent:  Smells like creamy peppermint.  A little like after eights or peppermint patties, there's definitely a slightly chocolatey edge to this.


Steeping Time:  3 min


Steeped Flavour:  Well, you all know I'm not big on mint teas, so keep that in mind.  All in all this one isn't bad on the mint, it's nicely balanced by the white chocolate to keep it sweet and creamy.  There is something a little unusual with this tea, though.  There is a slight skim of oil on top of the tea, likely from the white chocolate, and it's...almost salty.  Sweet, but there was definitely a pang of salt in this, and I just can't figure out where it comes from.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This tea is probably best as a dessert tea, as it is actually fairly sweet.  The peppermint is of course good for the digestion (for most people, just not me) and it does do a really good job at palate cleansing.


Rating out of Six Tails:
3/6


Buy/Don't Buy

I put a buy on this for folks who like peppermint teas, and because the salty taste did actually help enhance the flavour, but I also do recommend trying before you buy if possible, to be sure, since I can't exactly trust my own evaluations of mint teas for the tastes of others.

Korean Sejak

Name:  Korean Sejak


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Green


Dry Scent:  Grassy scent with hints of the seaside, also rich and buttery.  This is, in its way, what I would describe as the epitome of the perfect green tea scent.  Salty oceanfront scent without being fishy, buttery and green without being obnoxiously grassy or hay-like.  A divinely blended scent.


Steeping Time: 2 min


Steeped Flavour:  Fresh at first sip, with lingering smokeyness; almost a little salty but in a good way.  There is some earthiness in this, but mostly it just tastes green and fresh, like rain-washed leaves, the rain having come from the nearby ocean and carrying hints of its salt that only enhance the green flavours of the leaves.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This is probably best on its own, as you do not want to miss any of the myriad flavour nuances, but if you really want something to eat with it, then I recommend something Japanese like odango, or lightly sweet cookies with white chocolate.  Something delicate that won't overpower the tea.


Rating out of Six Tails:
6/6


Buy/Don't Buy

This truly is a beautiful green tea...and I'm very picky about my green teas, as I find so many of them end up tasting fishy.