Author: Michelle

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Tea Side’s 2016 Moonlight White Tea

2016 Moonlight White Tea by Tea Side
White Tea / Straight
$9.00USD for 50g

Tea Side has provided me with 2016 Moonlight White Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

I received 2016 Moonlight White Tea from Tea Side in a silvery foil package (not resealable, which is unfortunate!). The leaves are big, they look like they were just laid out to dry and then were scooped up into the package. There’s some visible downy feathers on some of the leaves, which vary in shades of brown.

2016 Moonlight White Tea has a very subtle floral aroma to it, and it’s fairly obvious that there aren’t any other ingredients in with this tea. As per the Tea Side website, the 2016 Moonlight White Tea was harvested in Thailand at 1200m above sea level from tea plants that are between 300 and 500 years old.

Preparation

I couldn’t find any steeping instructions for 2016 Moonlight White Tea, so I opted to steep in 85°C (185°F) for 2 minutes. If you’re ever stumped for trying to figure out how long to steep a tea for and in what temperature, check out my steeping guide! And if you’re steeping a tea blend (e.g. white and green tea), always opt for the temperature and length of time that is less.

First Taste

2016 Moonlight White steeps to a beautiful light golden yellow. I found the aroma to be floral, which did match the flavour. There’s a light floral flavour with a smooth texture. This white tea is easy to drink with the slight sweetness that lingers in the mouth. I think it would pair well with each sweet or savoury dishes with how clear it tastes.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped 2016 Moonlight White Tea a total of 5 times, adding an extra 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour intensified for the first resteep and then slowly started to fade with each steep. The colour of the tea became more of a deep golden yellow for the first two resteeps.

My Overall Impression

I loved Tea Side’s 2016 Moonlight White Tea. I found the flavour to be really enjoyable, and the white tea resteeped really well and kept a good flavour throughout the steeping session. The floral notes and the light sweetness throughout really made for an enjoyable steeping session, and the fact that the leaves resteeped so well was a nice touch and really showed off the quality in the tea leaves.

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DavidsTea’s Perfect Tumbler

Perfect Tumbler by DavidsTea
Stainless Steel & Plastic / 20oz (591mL)
$18.00

First Impressions

I picked up the Foxy Perfect Tumbler at my local DavidsTea because I saw the fox design and absolutely loved it. One of my current favourite stuffed animals is a giant fox that my boyfriend bought for me, so I just had to get the tumbler. DavidsTea has had these Perfect Tumblers for a while now, but this is my first one.

The Perfect Tumbler is a double-walled stainless steel cup with a plastic lid that fits snug on top that opens and closes with a slide, which comes apart for easy cleaning with little clips. The drinking hole is large enough to put a stainless steel straw in, as the cup is designed for both use with hot and iced teas. The Perfect Tumbler is not dishwasher or microwave safe. While designed for people on the go (it fits into my car’s cup holders quite easily), it is not leak proof.

Preparation

I gave my Perfect Tumbler a wash by hand in warm, soapy water prior to my first use.

First Use

I steeped tea directly in the Perfect Tumbler (for those curious, I made hot Hong Kong-style milk tea in it). The outside of the cup is cool to the touch, thanks to the double-walled design. The lid fits on easily and the slide works as expected – there’s a rubber bit that helps keep the slide from opening and closing by itself. Not exactly rocket science to figure out how to use it, and it does hold a very decent amount of tea. Because I had made hot tea in it, I set it aside with the lid on and found that my tea was still hot an hour later.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Perfect Tumbler. I really like the Foxy design, and the overall shape and design of this mug. I can appreciate that it’s not leak proof, based on the design, but do think that some people might be turned off from buying it because of that. If you’re an office worker or want a cup for your home office, this might be a nice alternative to a regular old mug. I did read online that some people had issues with the finish on their Perfect Tumblers (either this one or other designs). I haven’t had any issues yet with the finish being scratched, but I’ve only used it a handful of times so far and it’s held up pretty well with being hand washed.

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Tazo Tea’s Chai Pumpkin Spice Latte Concentrate

Chai Pumpkin Spice Latte Concentrate by Tazo Tea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$3.29USD for 1 carton (31 fl oz/946mL)

First Impressions

When I saw it on the shelf at Target, I knew I had to buy it to try it out! (Side story: Target used to be in Canada, folded very quickly due to money/bankruptcy issues/not paying their suppliers and was, in short, run very poorly in comparison to the American version of the company – so we no longer get Target in Canada so I had to go when I went down last weekend!) I can find the regular Chai Latte Concentrate from Tazo Tea here in Canada, but I’ve never tried the Chai Pumpkin Spice version and I’m not sure if it is available in Canada at all (a quick search through the usual places where I can find the regular Chai Latte concentrate came up empty for the Pumpkin Spice version).

Chai Pumpkin Spice Latte Concentrate comes in a carton with a twist off/on cap. If you’re not drinking the entire thing in one go, it does need to be refrigerated and then it’s good for one week/seven days after opening it. It does seem to have a fairly long shelf life though (the best before date on my carton is June of 2020).

The black tea concentrate is a dark reddish brown that is a bit cloudy. The aroma is quite strong of spices – I can definitely make out cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon. The ingredients in Chai Pumpkin Spice Latte Concentrate are: “an infusion of (water, black tea, black pepper, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, natural flavours), cane sugar syrup, honey, ginger juice, natural flavours, and citric acid”.

Preparation

Tazo Tea recommends shaking the carton, and then mixing equal parts concentrate to milk (or dairy alternative of your choice). It can be had either heated (stove top, microwave, etc.) or poured over iced if you’re wanting an iced Chai Pumpkin Spice Latte. I measured out equal parts of the concentrate and 1% milk and had it in a glass mug, heated via the microwave.

First Taste

The aroma from the blend of concentrate and milk reminds me a lot of the regular Chai Latte concentrate. There’s definitely the aroma of the warming spices in there, which is really quite pleasant. I can make out the ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom aromas. The one thing that really hit me when I tasted it was how sweet it is. I think as I finish off this carton, I would mix a bit more milk to concentrate to help temper down how sweet it is (and this is coming from a girl who likes her sweets!). There’s really no pumpkin flavour at all, but the spices that I would expect to find in a pumpkin pie are definitely present and very flavourful, albeit accompanied by a lot of sugar. The black tea base is mostly covered up by the spices in the blend, along with the cane sugar syrup and honey.

As an aside, the original Chai Latte concentrate has nearly identical ingredients to the Chai Pumpkin Spice Latte Concentrate (this one is missing vanilla extract) and has less sugar (16g per ½ cup versus 21g per ½ cup).

My Overall Impression

I thought that Tazo Tea’s Chai Pumpkin Spice Latte Concentrate was just okay. It was really fun to try from a novelty perspective since it is the season for pumpkin spice all the things. The spice blend is on point for what I expect from something that’s supposed to taste like pumpkin spice, it was just on the side of too much sweet for me when prepared the way that Tazo Tea recommends. I think it’s quite concentrated (and very sugary) and will cut the concentrate with more milk in the future (probably a 1:2 ratio instead of 1:1). However, it does make for a nice novelty drink and I will happily finishing the rest of the carton up before the week is up!

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