Author: Michelle

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Hawaiian Islands Tea Company’s Pineapple Waikiki

Pineapple Waikiki by Hawaiian Islands Tea Company
Black Tea / Flavoured
$5.95USD for 36g (20 tea bags)

First Impressions

I received Pineapple Waikiki as a gift for cat-sitting while the cat’s owners were away in Hawaii (lucky butts!). Pineapple Waikiki is a flavoured black tea that comes in a colourful printed cardstock box. There’s a perforated opening at the front where you can slide out each tea bag by itself. The tea itself comes in individually wrapped tea bags. The packets are made of plastic, with the tea bags inside each one. The steeping instructions are on the individual packets.

Pineapple Waikiki is made of black tea and natural flavouring. I would hazard a guess that the flavouring is pineapple as the pineapple area is very strong – it smells fruity and sweet! It does a great job of representing pineapple.

Preparation

Hawaiian Islands Tea Company recommends steeping Pineapple Waikiki in boiling water (100°C/212°F) water for 1 to 3 minutes. My initial steep was for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Pineapple Waikiki steeps to a dark reddish orange colour. There’s a very bright pineapple aroma from the tea, which is nice. There’s a light sweet, fruity flavour to the tea. I found that the black tea base is a bit malty, with a mild astringency to the tail end of each sip. If this bothers you, I would opt to steep it for a shorter time (try 1 or 2 minutes). The pineapple flavour is very present in the steeped tea.

I would recommend trying this tea iced – perhaps even cold-steeping it since the pineapple flavouring make it ideal as an iced tea.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Pineapple Waikiki and found that it didn’t do very well on resteep. The pineapple flavour was very weak in the resteep. I would say that Pineapple Waikiki is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Hawaiian Islands Tea Company’s Pineapple Waikiki. The pineapple aroma and flavour in the dry leaf and steeped tea were just divine. I loved how inviting the tea is and how bright the tropical fruity flavours are in this black tea. I do wish that the tea did better on resteep, something that could be remedied with some dried candied pineapple pieces in the blend, perhaps? I think this tea would be great iced, and it’ll be fun to have it iced as the weather continues to warm up.

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Little White House’s Creme de la Earl Grey Tea

Creme de la Earl Grey by Little White House
Black Tea / Flavoured
$14.00 for 100g

First Impressions

Creme de la Earl Grey is the standard black tea that comes with the afternoon tea at Little White House (you can find my review of their afternoon tea service here), and the tea is also available for purchase if you want the opportunity to recreate the feeling of afternoon tea at home. Creme de la Earl Grey comes in a plastic pouch that is resealable with a gold tabbed wire. It isn’t air-tight, so I would up transferring the tea into an empty tea tin.

The dry leaf has a beautiful and inviting bergamot and vanilla aroma to it, with light floral notes in the background. Creme de la Earl Grey consists of: Assam and Ceylon black teas, vanilla, bergamot, flower blossoms, and flavouring.

Preparation

Little White House recommends steeping Creme de la Earl Grey in boiling water (100°C/212°F) for 3 minutes, then to stir, and steep for an additional 2 minutes (5 minutes total). I followed the steeping instructions for my initial steep.

First Taste

Creme de la Earl Grey steeps to a golden orange. There’s a very strong bergamot aroma that wafts up from the tea. There is a noticeable flavour of bergamot and creamy vanilla in the tea, as well as the flavours of the strong black tea base. There is a robust malty flavour and I found it to be pleasantly strong, like a breakfast tea.

I’ve had this tea as part of the afternoon tea service and I’ve had it both straight and with some additions added (sugar cubes, cream/milk). I opted to have it straight/plain at home, and found it to be quite enjoyable although I do think my favourite way to drink Creme de la Earl Grey is to have it with a touch of honey and evaporated milk.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Creme de la Earl Grey twice, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour of Creme de la Earl Grey stayed fairly consistent with each resteep, although the bergamot and vanilla flavours do get a bit weaker with each steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Little White House’s Creme de la Earl Grey. I found the flavour of this Earl Grey blend to be quite pleasant, and the strong creamy vanilla notes really set it apart from other Earl Grey blends. I liked the tea plain, but I enjoy it best when made with cream and sweetener (local honey is always a good choice!). Creme de la Earl Grey is a great tea choice if you’re having afternoon tea at home.

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DavidsTea’s Rose Matcha

Rose Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Rose Matcha was one of my online purchases when I put in an online order a couple months ago. The nice thing about purchasing the tea online is that you get the fun coloured label on the bag – but it’s also difficult to read with the white print on the light green background. Rose Matcha comes in a sealed, resealable pouch.

Rose Matcha is described as being a ‘drink mix’, which isn’t too surprising when you consider the fact that matcha is not the first ingredient listed for this tea. The matcha blend powder is a bright green, with vibrant grassy and rose notes. Rose Matcha consists of: cane sugar, matcha green tea, and natural rose water flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends using 5 to 7 matcha spoonfuls of Rose Matcha per cup (16oz/475mL) and to use 85°C (185°F) water and to whisk it. I opted to use 2 matcha spoonfuls for my matcha bowl and I did use water that was 85°C (thanks to my handy variable temperature kettle). I sifted the powder into my bowl and then added the water and whisked it.

1 matcha spoon from DavidsTea is equivalent to ½ teaspoon.

First Taste

Rose Matcha whisks to a olive green colour. There’s a sweet, floral/rose aroma from the whisked matcha. It has a very floral flavour to it – which is great if you love the taste of roses. The matcha base provides light grassy notes in the background. I do find Rose Matcha to be on the sweet side, I would prefer it to have a bit less sugar. Rose Matcha is a great candidate for making into a matcha latte as the milk would help temper the sweetness. It isn’t as perfumey as I thought it might end up being, especially considering how floral the dry matcha powder was.

A Second Cup?

Like with all matchas, Rose Matcha cannot be resteeped as all of it is drunk following the initial preparation.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Rose Matcha. I thought it had some great floral notes, and I did enjoy the fact that I could still taste the matcha base despite the cane sugar and rose water in this blend. I do wish that it had less sugar though, as I find it to be very sweet (and I have a huge sweet tooth!). I’ll definitely be having this one as a matcha latte in the future – and think it’d be great iced as well!

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