Category: Review

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Dessert by Deb’s Strawberry Cake Roll

Strawberry Cake Roll by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.50 for 25g

First Impressions

Strawberry Cake Roll is a green tea blend that came in a pale pink metallic pouch that’s sealed and resealable. This blend is part of Dessert by Deb’s Japanese & Asian Patisserie collection. I can’t remember if it came as part of my bimonthly box or not, but I think I purchased it since it’s a 75g pouch versus the usual 25g bag. The colourful polka dot label graces the front of the packaging.

Strawberry Cake Roll consists of organic: green tea, strawberry and papaya pieces, natural strawberry flavour, coconut, Canadian maple, and freeze-dried raspberries. The aroma of Strawberry Cake Roll is very much that of strawberry, with hints of coconut and a touch of sweetness. It really is a beautiful blend though, I really think the varying colours in the blend is a treat – from the yellow, white, red/pink, and green. It’s a visual treat for the eyes.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Strawberry Cake Roll in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 to 5 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Strawberry Cake Roll steeps to a light yellow. The aroma of Strawberry Cake Roll after steeping is similar to the dry leaf – strawberry/berries, and coconut. The flavour of Strawberry Cake Roll is primarily fruity sweetness, with the emphasis on berries, and the brightness of the coconut throughout. The sweetness isn’t too much, in spite of there being Canadian maple in the blend. I’m actually quite happy that it’s not too sweet, because it does give the option of adding your own sweetener to the teapot.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Strawberry Cake Roll once, adding an additional 30 seconds for the first resteep. I found that the flavour wasn’t as strong as I would have liked, especially compared to the initial steep that was so flavourful in comparision.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Strawberry Cake Roll. This green tea blend was a treat for the eyes, and the rest of the senses as I got to enjoy it from dry leaf to steeped tea. The light sweetness and fruity flavour from the tea is lovely hot, but I imagine the berries lend itself well to making it into an iced tea, so I’m really looking forward to warmer weather so I can pour this over a cup of ice to enjoy.

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Teakan’s Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin by Teakan
Oolong Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 65g

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin is part of Teakan’s Volume 5 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin makes up 15g of the 65g kit.

First Impressions

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin came as part of the Volume 5 Exploration Kit. This oolong tea comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch. There’s a simplistic white and black label folded over for the front and back. This particular oolong comes from Anxi, Fujian, China, and was harvested in spring of 2021.

The leaves are dark, very deep brown with hints of green throughout. The aroma has a strong nuttiness from the roasted component, with a fruity undertone that strongly reminds me of plums. It has a nice aroma, I don’t really get much of a charcoal feel to it, but the roasted nuttiness does come through in the aroma of the dry leaf.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin in 96°C (205°F) water for 2 minutes 30 seconds for western style steeping, and 45 seconds for gongfu style steeping.

I opted to do an initial steep of Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin in the western style of steeping for 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

First Taste

Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin steeps to a golden orange, very clear, and has a nutty aroma. On first taste, I get the nuttiness, an astringency, and just a touch of fruitiness that reminds me of plums, but the nuttiness is much stronger. The astringency leads to a dry mouthfeel, but there is no bitterness. I find the astringency and that dry mouthfeel makes me want to drink more, just to quench that thirst that it creates. It has a pleasant flavour though, with just the tiniest hint of sweetness.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin a total of six times (seven steeps total with the same leaves), and added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I kept with the same steeping method and water temperature and I found that the flavour stayed fairly consistent. I found it to remain lightly astringent with plum-notes throughout, along with that dry mouthfeel at the end of each sip.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I saw the name Charcoal Roasted Tie Guan Yin, but I don’t think this was it. I was pleasantly surprised in the fact that it was had more roasted notes than what I had assumed it would be like, which would have been something closer to a lapsang souchong (and honestly, not one of my favourite types of tea) because I saw charcoal and thought smokey. The nutty flavour carries through well, and the plum notes really carry with each steep. I would highly recommend resteeping this oolong as much as possible.

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Dessert by Deb’s Thai Banana Cake

Thai Banana Cake by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.00 for 25g

First Impressions

Coming to me as part of the bimonthly Dessert by Deb subscription box (no longer available! The subscription box, not the product itself – you can put together a box of goodies yourself via the Dessert by Deb website), and is in the brightest berry pink metallic pouch. I’ve never had a Thai banana cake, so I really can’t tell you if it resembles the actual dessert. I know what banana bread smells and tastes like, but somehow in my mind cake ≠ bread, so I’m going into this review with no existing ideas of what I’m supposed to find in this organic tea sample.

The blend is pretty – I can see the coconut, black tea base, banana chips, and lemongrass. The aroma is strongly coconut and lemongrass – probably because both of those ingredients are quite strong in comparison to bananas. Thai Banana Cake consists of certified organic: black tea, natural banana flavour, bananas, toasted coconut, and lemongrass. It’s pretty. I’m not overly familiar with Thai tea products, or banana cake, but it smells like a lemongrass blend and I can smell the coconut. It’s inviting, doesn’t remind me of banana bread, but that’s okay!

Preparation

No preparation instructions on the sample, but on the Dessert by Deb’s website I found the following recommendations: steep in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes. The website also recommends preparing as a tea latte.

First Taste

Thai Banana Cake steeps to an orange, with little bits of tea dust that escaped the stainless steel infuser that I had used. The aroma is Thai Banana Cake is primarily lemongrass and coconut, with just a touch of oil across the surface of the steeped tea – I imagine that comes from the toasted coconut. The flavour is primarily lemongrass, coconut, and hints of astringency from the black tea base. There’s a slight sweetness, but I find that it’s not very banana-forward or banana-heavy. I found myself wishing for more banana flavour to get that banana cake feel to it.

A Second Cup?

I did attempt to resteep Thai Banana Cake, adding an additional 30 seconds for the subsequent steep. I found the first resteep was primarily lemongrass, with hints of coconut, and the black tea base with the touch of astringency. I didn’t particularly enjoy it, because it was further lacking the flavours that I was hoping for. I wouldn’t recommend Thai Banana Cake for another steep.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like Dessert by Deb’s Thai Banana Cake. Allow me to preface this with the fact that I didn’t get a lot of banana flavour in my cup of tea, I received a sample and that can be influenced by how well the blend was mixed or how well I redistributed the ingredients in the sample pouch. I liked the lemongrass and coconut combined with the black tea base, and would have rate it higher, if I hadn’t been expecting banana in the blend, along with the sweetness that one would expect from dried fruit. I think a heavier hand with the banana (chips or flavouring, or both!) would result in a more banana-esque flavouring (and more hearts).

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