Sugar and Spice

Name:  Sugar and Spice

Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Black


Dry Scent:  This smells of baking or mulling spices; hot, sweet cinnamon, sharp, bright cloves, and dusty, warm ginger with a hint of apple.  It smells like the kitchen in Old Town, for anyone who's ever been to the Royal BC Museum.  Super comforting on a miserable, wet day.


Steeping Time: 6-7 min


Steeped Flavour:  This tastes like gingersnap cookies, gingerbread or spice cake, but most strongly it reminds me of gingersnap cookies.  The ginger and cinnamon are front and center, and then there are hints of molasses and a sortof doughy flavour left in the mouth, a little like the flavour you get when you sneak a bite of the Christmas baking before it goes in the oven.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This would be nice with any cream liqueur, although I MUST try it with my eggnog cream...  It would probably also make a very sophisticated cocktail iced with goldschläger and some ginger liqueur.  Maybe rim the glass with demarara sugar...  As far as food pairings, this is PERFECT for cookie-dipping, and would also be nice with spice cake or apple pie.  Probably pumpkin pie too.


Rating out of Six Tails:

5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Note that this is one of DT's fall teas, and as such, it won't be around forever.  Get it while you can!

Gold Rush

Name:  Gold Rush


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  White


Dry Scent:  Rich, sweet and almost boozy, this has an intoxicating, creamy, caramel-like scent that speaks of secrets hidden and sweet, seductive fruits.  Honestly the scent of this is hard to describe but absolutely incredible.


Steeping Time:  6-7 min


Steeped Flavour:  Sweet, caramel and creamy.  The mulberries impart their sweetness and the rich, butteriness of the coconut adds body and smoothness to the tea.  Overtop of these, the light floral and faintly green tones of the white tea sing out.  This is one of the few teas I always double-steep, and the second steep is, if anything even sweeter and richer than the first, although I tend to find that it won't manage a third steeping.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This is a dessert tea, or something to be served alongside the finest pattisseries and bonbons.  It's definitely a "high-class" sort of drink.  I've never tried pairing it with alcohol, but if I did, it would have to be just a titch of Patrón or some other high-quality tequila.


Rating out of Six Tails:

6/6

Buy/Don't Buy

Yes, I know, double-posting, but I had to put this one up tonight in honour of the season premier of Once Upon a Time.  This tea always makes me think of RumBelle

Jungle Juju

Name:  Jungle Juju


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Maté (well, actually Guayasa)


Dry Scent:  Sharp and very green, with a green sort of sweetness from the guayasa.  I find Guayasa much brighter in scent and flavour than is maté, and this tea is no exception.  Under the brightness of the green, there is a juicy fruit scent of papaya and peaches, enough to make your mouth water.  It smells like a fruit stand in the middle of summer.


Steeping Time: 6-7 min


Steeped Flavour:  The flavour of this is just as bright and green as the scent.  Guayasa has a natural green sweetness that is wonderful on the tongue...truly a beautiful drink.  The fruit flavours in this are immensely satisfying, and don't overpower the guayasa at all, blending with it quite well.  It's like drinking a warm, summer's day, even in the middle of winter.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This goes well with a light lunch, and would pair nicely with any sort of fruity booze or liqueur.


Rating out of Six Tails:

5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Cherry Rose Rooibos

Name:  Cherry Rose Rooibos


Brand:  Naturally for You


Primary Type:  Rooibos


Dry Scent:  This is delicately scented tea.  At first, the rooibos is strongest with its warm, honey-like sun-baked earthy scent, then, dancing overtop are the scents of rosepetals and cherry, but neither is of the overpoweringly strong variety.  The rose is delicate, not heavy tea-rose, and the cherry is sweet and berry-like, not kirsch-strong and reeking of amaretto.


Steeping Time: 6-8 min (or more)


Steeped Flavour:  Warm, sunny from the rooibos, but with the floral notes hiding until later in the sip.  This always makes me think of a warm late spring day when the cherry blossoms are blooming all over, as they do here, and the first of the roses are just beginning to open as well.  Wonderful and also nostalgic, as this was the very first rooibos tea I ever tried.  This is a very calming tea, and might be best saved for evening or bedtime.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This tea is wonderful on its own, but as for pairing, it goes best with light desserts that won't overpower it.  The subtlety here is such that it's best to make sure to pair it with simple fare.  It would go beautifully with strawberry shortcake or some nice sugar cookies.


Rating out of Six Tails:

5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Okay folks, again you will notice there is no link to this one.  Unfortunately unless you live in Victoria, you might not be able to find this.  Naturally for You is a wonderful little hole-in-the-wall tea shop in the Oak Bay village down in the Monterey Mews.  So well-hidden that unless you know to look for it you won't find it.  They do, however, have a website http://oakbaysteas.com/ although how often it is updated I'm not sure.  All the information on it seems accurate, although the teas listed may change depending on what he happens to get in stock.  This one isn't on the list right now, but who knows, he might have some in stock.  If you do get the chance though, go down and check out their stock.  Dennis, the owner, is an endless font of tea information, and of course, they also have delicious belgian chocolates!

Genmaicha

Name:  Genmaicha


Brand: Panacea (The Bubble Tea Place)


Primary Type:  Green


Dry Scent:  This smells like fine green tea, grassy, and with a hint of the sea from a dried seaweed scent as well.  A little salty, a little roasty.


Steeping Time: 2-3 min


Steeped Flavour:  This is, of all "straight" green teas, my favourite.  There is a faint warm grassiness, of course, but it is mitigated by the popcorn flavour of the toasted rice.  This makes me think of my childhood and having puffed wheat for breakfast, and it's surprisingly comforting.  It's lovely in the summer, and lovely in the winter on a cold, snowy or rainy night.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This goes with anything and everything and also works well on its own.  Breakfast, lunch, dinner...anything goes with genmaicha!


Rating out of Six Tails:

6/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Keep in mind, this review is for the genmaicha from Panacea, I've also had David's Tea's genmaicha and would recommend it just as highly.

Chocolate Rocket

Name:  Chocolate Rocket


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Maté


Dry Scent:  Very fine dark chocolate scent, grounded by the musky, slightly musty odour of the maté, followed by the light, bright notes of raspberry and the warmth and richness of the almond.  Very, very appetizing.


Steeping Time: 4-5 min (+ as with most maté)


Steeped Flavour:  The usual slight mustiness of the mate is mellowed by the addition of the chocolate. Sweet, fruity on the tongue from the raspberries, but with the calmed mate as a smokey aftertaste.  Almost as rich and satisfying as hot chocolate, but with a more "grown-up" flavour.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This is a great on-its-own tea, but for pairing it, it goes best with dessert.  Just the thought of eating a wonderful tiramisu or a fruit trifle with this is making me drool just thinking about it!  This would also be really good with Bailies (my usual little add-in) or a hazelnut cream liqueur or some Baja Rosa.  Especially the Baja Rosa.


Rating out of Six Tails:

6/6


Buy/Don't Buy

Blood Orange Pu'erh

Name:  Blood Orange Pu'erh


Brand:  David's Tea


Primary Type:  Pu'erh


Dry Scent:  The first thing you smell with the dry leaves is the dark, musty earthiness and cave-dust smell of the pu'erh tea leaves, then comes a hint of green leafiness from the lemon myrtle. And then the brightness of the citrus shows up.  Smells more lemony than orangey, really, but it has the bitterness of marmalade oranges in there too, or maybe kumquats.  Not a particularly "juicy" smell but definitely all citrus.


Steeping Time:  5-6 min


Steeped Flavour:  The strongest flavours that come out of this are hibiscus and citrus.  And yes, then those are underpinned by the rich, full-bodied pu'erh taste.  And yes, I used words often used to describe coffee.  Pu'erh is, to me, the closest tea comes to having the thick mouthfeel of a cup of coffee.  Much less bitter, of course, though!  Drinking this tea feels almost ancient somehow, like "living in a cave, eating gathered fruits" kind of ancient.  Deeply satisfying flavour, just keep in mind that it's not going to taste exactly like orange juice.  That is for other teas XD.


Food/Drink Pairings:  This is great first thing in the morning to kick-start your day.  It would cut well through any heavy meal, but is bright enough from the citrus to pair well with fish, too.  It also, because again of the citrus, goes well with most desserts, and works beautifully as a palate cleanser between courses.  Iced, with a little Grand Marnier or other citrus liqueur, I believe this tea would make an absolutely incredible and very "grown-up" cocktail.


Rating out of Six Tails:

5.5/6


Buy/Don't Buy

This is an amazingly versatile tea!