Tag: DavidsTea

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DavidsTea’s Vanilla Bean Black

Vanilla Bean Black by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Vanilla Bean Black was one of those on-a-whim purchases I had (I feel like those have been happening more and more frequently with COVID-19). This black tea blend comes in a familiar silver sealed, resealable pouch. I like the classic teal against the navy blue that’s used for black teas, it’s nice! When I opened the packaging, I was first met with a nice whiff of vanilla – it definitely lives up to the name, at least in aroma.

Vanilla Bean Black is quite pretty. This blend consists of: black tea, coconut rasps, apple, bean peel, natural vanilla flavouring, white hibiscus blossoms, vanilla, and stevia extract. The coconut is noticeable once I got the dry leaf out of the packaging, the vanilla definitely takes centre stage though.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Vanilla Bean Black in 95°C (200°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Vanilla Bean Black steeps to a lovely light golden yellow. There’s a pleasant vanilla aroma to it that reminds me a lot of stepping into a bakery. It just has that pleasantness to it. I found it to be sweet, I could taste vanilla and the coconut in the background. The black tea base has a pleasant robustness to it that reminds me of the black tea found in breakfast blends. Just a hint of malt from the black tea that goes really well with the vanilla. Vanilla Bean Black has a nice amount of sweetness to it, which I think comes from the combination of apple and stevia, and I don’t find the usual weird aftertaste from the stevia, which is nice.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Vanilla Bean Black, and with a steep for 6 minutes, I found the flavour to be lacking. There’s only a mild amount of vanilla in the aroma of the tea and flavour in the tea. It’s not as enjoyable as the initial steep, so I would personally only do the one steep with the Vanilla Bean Black leaves.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Vanilla Bean Black. I found the flavour to be really enjoyable, and the flavour with all of that vanilla to be quite pleasant! I think it would have been nicer if it had resteeped better to get to have that flavour again. I liked the level of sweetness, and think adding some creamer would make this a nice dessert tea or a great addition to your at-home afternoon tea menu.

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DavidsTea’s Rainbow Lemonade

Rainbow Lemonade by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Another purchase with the intention of making as an iced tisane. From the online DavidsTea store since the majority of the retail locations have been closed (including any of the ones that I frequented – there’s one left in British Columbia). Rainbow Lemonade comes in a sealed, resealable pouch with a bright yellow label on the front. I was mostly drawn to this one because of the name – I like citrus things so the idea of a lemonade tisane was intriguing.

The dry leaf essentially features a rainbow of ingredients – so brightly coloured and has a great citrus aroma. Rainbow Lemonade consists of: apple, pineapple, orange peel and pieces, natural raspberry flavouring, hibiscus, lemon peel, sweet blackberry leaves, natural orange flavouring, cornflower petals, raspberries, and natural flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Rainbow Lemonade in 95°C (200°F) water for 5+ minutes. I did an initial steep with the recommended water temperature for 7 minutes.

First Taste

Rainbow Lemonade steeps to a pretty peachy-pink colour. It has some great pink lemonade vibes to it. The aroma of the steeped tisane is very citrus, sweet, and fruity. I can taste the lemon, as well as getting a lot of sweetness from the fruit ingredients while there are some great fruity notes that are just a smorgasbord of flavours. The lemon and orange notes definitely pop the most, but I think the other ingredients play an important role in elevating it above a lemon tisane.

A Second Cup?

While I did attempt to resteep Rainbow Lemonade by adding an additional minute to the steep time, I didn’t find that the second steep was particularly good. It was just lack compared to the initial steep, so I would say that Rainbow Lemonade is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Rainbow Lemonade. This is definitely a strong contender for being made into a pitcher of iced tea because it has some great flavours and such a nice brightness to it. I enjoyed it better iced than hot, I didn’t particularly enjoy it hot – so I would recommend it on ice, even consider adding a splash of lemonade to it to really amplify the lemonade flavours and stretch it further.

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DavidsTea’s Caribbean Crush

Caribbean Crush by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Another “on a whim” online purchase, Caribbean Crush came in a sealed and resealable silver pouch with a bright yellow label on the front. The yellow certainly makes the teal easier to read, at least in comparison with other types of tea. I got it in part because I just hadn’t tried it yet, and I’m always game to try another fruity tisane in the summer time.

Caribbean Crush is a very chunky blend, as you can see from the image below. It smells like strawberry candy, which isn’t off-putting, but not exactly what I thought a tisane with a tropical sounding name would smell like. Caribbean Crush consists of: apple, pineapple, papaya, hibiscus, cranberry, and artificial flavouring (strawberry, cream, red fruit).

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Caribbean Crush in 95°C (200°F) water for 5+ minutes. I did an initial steep with the recommended temperature for 7 minutes.

First Taste

Caribbean Crush steeps to a very pale pink, like a pale pink lemonade colour. I think the colouring is because of the hibiscus, but I tried shaking up my bag and never got very much hibiscus in each spoonful so I think it was just poorly mixed because I was expecting a brighter pink after seeing other photos of this tisane online. That said, it has a bright fruity aroma to it – I can definitely smell the strawberry and pineapple notes after it’s been steeped. The flavour itself is mostly fruity with apple, pineapple and strawberry notes. It is fairly sweet, which is pleasant. I tried it first hot and then iced and would say that iced is much better – just lends itself to a crisper taste.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Caribbean Crush and found the flavour to be lacking across the board. I would recommend Caribbean Crush for just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that DavidsTea’s Caribbean Crush was just okay. While the dry leaf of Caribbean Crush smells fruity and fun, it doesn’t make me think of the tropics. I found the blend to be a bit poorly mixed in the pouch that I had received, which is why there wasn’t as much of a pop of pink colour as I was expecting. That coupled with the flavour which was a bit tropical, but not really quite what I was expecting, is partially responsible for the lower score. If I could guarantee the next pouch was better mixed with the ingredients, I’d give it a try again – it’s not bad as an iced tisane, just not what I was expecting.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.