Author: Michelle

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Tea By C’s Dragonwell Green

Dragonwell Green by Tea By C
Green Tea / Straight
$10.00USD for 1oz

Tea By C has provided me with Dragonwell Green for the purposes of writing an honest review.

If you head over to my Instagram page (@onemoresteep), I’ve partnered up with Claire from Tea By C for a giveaway! The winner will receive a Starter Kit, which is the first box of a tea membership. Giveaway is open until October 9th 2019, winner announced October 10th 2019.

First Impressions

This is the first of a trio of tea reviews featuring products from Tea By C – C being Claire. Tea By C is a California based tea company and she first reached out to me to see if I would be interested in trying out her product (of course, the answer was yes!). She sent me a trio of customer favourites/best sellers and I’m so excited to be sharing the first review. This is Dragonwell Green, which is a loose leaf tea that came in a kraft paper pouch that’s resealable. The label on the front provides information regarding ingredients, steeping instructions, as well as caffeine level. The bag includes the URL for the product page (as well as a handy QR to scan), the weight of the package, as well as the mailing information for Tea By C.

Dragonwell Green also came with an info card which includes information of the harvest (location, time, and year), health benefits, tasting notes, steeping recommendations, how the tea was prepared/roasted, as well as the Dragonwell mythology. The leaves themselves are beautiful, long, and flat. They consist of varying shades of green from a yellow green, to bright green, to olive. The aroma is very light – I would say it reminds me primarily of freshly cut grass.

Preparation

Tea By C recommends steeping Dragonwell Green in 170-180°F (77-82°C) water for 30 seconds to 1 minute. I opted to steep at 175°F (79°C) for 1 minute.

First Taste

Dragonwell Green steeps to a very pale yellow. I found it to have a grassy, buttery aroma to it. The flavour of the tea is pleasant – I found it to have a nice sweetness that isn’t too overwhelming, as well as some grassy flavours and there is a buttery creaminess to it. I didn’t taste any almonds though, which was mentioned on the info card, but I did enjoy the flavours that I did taste. There’s a nice crispness to the tea that I think would lend itself nicely to being had as an iced tea.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Dragonwell Green three times (four steeps total with the same leaves), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. Tea By C suggests that the leaves can been steeped 2 to 3 times. I found that the colour got more golden yellow with the first two resteeps, and got lighter with the third. The flavour remained very similar to the initial steep, I found that the grassy notes got a bit lighter and the creaminess from the buttery quality of the flavour got stronger. It stayed quite pleasant throughout.

My Overall Impression

I loved Tea By C’s Dragonwell Green. I’ve been a sucker for a good Dragonwell for a while now, and this one just really ticked off all the boxes for me from the beautiful dry leaf, to the first cup, to the multiple steeps of the same leaves (successfully, might I add!). I really enjoyed the whole experience from reading the informational card and having some tasting notes to look for while making this tea, and I just really enjoyed the flavours that I got out of this green tea. It was really nice to be able to get the information about this tea (location & harvest month and year), it was an added bonus to get that much information about the tea.

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Dessert by Deb’s Coconut Maple Custard

Coconut Maple Custard by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.00 for 50g

First Impressions

Coconut Maple Custard came in a now-familiar packaging – a matte white foil bag that’s heat-sealed and resealable (so important for tea storage!). The colourful label on the front gives me information about the all organic ingredients and how to steep it. Simple and the point, which is always nice.

Coconut Maple Custard smells like cake and coconut – there’s some strong vanilla notes in this blend! I don’t really smell maple, but there is something in there that smells sweet. Coconut Maple Custard consists of certified organic: black tea, vanilla, Canadian maple, coconut and palm sugar. I love how visible the ingredients are in this blend (and how much it smells like cake!).

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Coconut Maple Custard in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Coconut Maple Custard steeps to a golden red colour. There’s some mild amounts of oil floating on the surface, which I attribute to the coconut. The aroma of the steeped tea is mostly the vanilla and coconut, which is pleasant. The flavour of this black tea blend is a mix of coconut, vanilla, sweetness, with light maple syrup notes in the background. It’s quite pleasant and there’s a bit of robustness in the black tea base that reminds me of a breakfast tea.

I did try it with a bit of evaporated milk, just to make it taste even more like a dessert. I think maple syrup would be a good sweetener option for this tea to help amplify the maple flavour.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Coconut Maple Custard once and found that the flavour wasn’t that great compared to the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Coconut Maple Custard. I thought that the flavour profile was really forward with the coconut and vanilla, and it did make me think of a dessert (more cake than custard, but I attribute that to the vanilla notes). I liked the sweetness in the blend, and found that the maple was hiding on me in the dry leaf but I was able to taste it in the steeped tea. I would recommend adding a touch of evaporated milk or cream, and perhaps some maple syrup to sweeten it – it helps amplify the flavours and also make it even more dessert-like! But you can always opt to omit the maple syrup if you’re trying to be good.

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DavidsTea’s Nepal Green

Nepal Green by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Straight
$12.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Nepal Green was a purchase made on a whim one day when I wanted to get up the $50 minimum for free shipping (because when it would have equaled out the cost of the tea vs. paying for shipping, tea always wins). So I picked Nepal Green because, surprise!, it’s a straight green tea that I somehow haven’t tried before from DavidsTea. The tea came in a sealed, resealable, matte silver pouch with a familiar label on the front. The leaves themselves are wiry, I found them to be a mix of dark green with white downy leaves. It’s quite a pretty tea. The aroma is grassy, vegetal, and mildly fruity.

Nepal Green is an organic green tea from Hile-Dhankuta, Nepal. This straight green tea is from the Jun Chiyabari tea garden which has sustainable farming practices, and 80% of its are women – facts from the DavidsTea product page.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Nepal Green in 185°F (85°C) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I opted for an initial steep of 2 minutes.

First Taste

Nepal Green steeps to a very pale yellow. The aroma is lightly sweet and a bit grassy. The flavour of Nepal Green is a pleasant blend – there’s some sweetness, a freshness that reminds me of corn on the cob, as well as some grassy notes and bit of nuttiness at the tail end of each sip. It’s far more complex in the flavour profile than I was expecting, but it’s definitely tasty.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Nepal Green five times (six steeps total with the same leaves), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The tea got darker and became more of a golden yellow by the second resteep. The flavours deepened and were just more amplified from the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Nepal Green. I found the tea to be pleasant and tasty, plus the leaves resteeped quite well! I liked the fact that DavidsTea is able to share that this tea came from a single origin source that has organic and sustainable farming practices, while being a leader on the local level. The flavour of this tea is nice, and I drank it hot and thought it was just very pleasant. I think the flavours would translate well if cold steeped or iced, but as the weather cools in my area, I’ll be continuing to drink it hot.

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