Category: Review

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DavidsTea’s Unicorn Dream

Unicorn Dream by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

I snagged a pouch of Unicorn Dream for one reason or another, it comes in a sealed, unsealed silver pouch with a bright yellow label. While yes, this is a fruit infusion and much more better suited for a spring or summer day, I’m drinking it in January because…. why not? The aroma of Unicorn Dream is sweet, lightly fruity with coconut and lemongrass. It’s really quite pretty to look at – what with the beautiful florals in the blend.

Unicorn Dream consists of: apple, hibiscus blossoms, coconut, lemongrass, artificial cotton candy flavouring, marshmallows, bean peel, heart sprinkles, candied pineapple, unicorn sprinkles, sugar pearls, butterfly pea flowers, candied papaya, mallow blossoms, dwarf everlast blossoms, rose, raspberries, sunflower blossoms, and stevia extract. The sprinkles are really fun though – hearts and unicorns – and the unicorns in particular are cute.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Unicorn Dream in 95°C (200°F) for 5 plus minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 7 minutes.

First Taste

Unicorn Dream steeps to a nice purple colour. The aroma reminds me of cotton candy, and flowers. The taste is an interesting mix of sweet, fruity, coconut, lemongrass, and cotton candy. It has a fun colour, and because of the ingredients, it’s really quite sweet – almost too sweet. I find it has a slight aftertaste from the stevia that is noticeable when the tisane is hot (pouring it over ice helps temper that aftertaste though).

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Unicorn Dream, but it didn’t stand up to being resteeped with poor flavour the second steep. I would recommend steeping Unicorn Dream just the once.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Unicorn Dream. The sweetness and flavour of Unicorn Dream is fun, fruity, and has some fun cotton candy goodness in it. I would highly recommend this one as iced instead of hot, because the flavours just go better as an iced drink instead (plus, it helps with that obvious stevia taste…). The colour though, is fun, and I think if you have kids who like seeing colour change (hello, butterfly pea flowers) when you add citrus, it’ll be neat for them to see.

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Dessert by Deb’s Maple Chai Sticky Buns

Maple Chai Sticky Buns by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.50 for 25g

First Impressions

Maple Chai Sticky Buns came as part of my bimonthly subscription box from Dessert by Deb. This black tea blend came in a bright shiny purple metallic pouch with a white and black label. The blend itself is quite pretty, and you can see it through the clear front of the pouch. The aroma of Maple Chai Sticky Buns is primarily cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. It has that heavy spice flavour that you expect to find in a chai blend, with hints of maple syrup throughout.

Maple Chai Sticky Buns consists of certified organic: black tea, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, Canadian maple, cardamom, honey, bee pollen, and calendula petals. It makes for a very pretty blend, what with the pale green of the cardamom and the bright yellow from the calendula petals.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Maple Chai Sticky Buns in 212°F (100°C) water for 5 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of 5 minutes.

First Taste

Maple Chai Sticky Buns steeps to a nice golden orange. The aroma is strongly ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, with hints of maple throughout. It makes for a smooth cup of tea, with a nice level of sweetness that I imagine comes from the honey and maple syrup. The black tea base lends itself well to the chai blend, because it has a light touch of astringency that balances well against the sweetness from the honey and maple syrup, and also the heat from the warm ingredients (i.e. ginger).

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Maple Chai Sticky Buns once (second steep), adding an additional 30 seconds for the subsequent steep. The flavour is best with the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Maple Chai Sticky Buns. This black tea blend has a great aroma, with those warming spices that you expect to find in a chai blend. The maple adds a nice level of sweetness, I think what would really make me think more of baked goods (sticky buns) would be perhaps some vanilla extract or vanilla bean in it. The flavour profile makes it a nice autumn/winter tea, and chai makes for a nice tea latte option.

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Teakan’s Zhengshan Xiaozhong

Zhengshan Xiaozhong by Teakan
Black Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 65g

Zhengshan Xiaoshong is part of Teakan’s Volume 5 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Zhengshan Xiaoshong makes up 10g of the 65g kit.

First Impressions

Zhengshan Xiaozhong came as part of the fifth Exploration Kit from Teakan, and this black tea came in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch with the usual (from Teakan) minimalistic white and black label. This black tea comes from Wuyishan, Fujian, China and was harvested in spring 2021. Zhengshan Xiaozhong, also known as lapsang souchoung, is known for being a smoked black tea that often reminds people of a campfire – this one is unsmoked so it lacks that camp fire quality.

The leaves are wiry, and deep shades of dark green to brown to deep, deep black. The aroma of the leaves is floral, woodsy, it reminds me of a walk through a local park that has a lot of cedar and hemlock. It has a lovely aroma, and it’s quite inviting with the floral notes. I definitely prefer the aroma of this tea to a traditional smoked lapsang souchong. Interesting enough, lapsang souchong – a traditionally smoked tea, is banned in Europe due to the smoking process adding a residue to the tea (but that’s also why there’s lapsang souchong produced with smoke flavouring).

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Zhengshan Xiaozhong in 90°C (194°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes (or 30 seconds for gongfu steeping). I opted to do an initial steep for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Zhengshan Xiaozhong steeps to a golden orange. The aroma is floral, woodsy, and almost a bit mossy. It reminds me still of a walk in a park, surrounded by trees. The flavour of this black tea is floral, lightly sweet, woodsy – just like the way it smells. It has a nice smoothness to it, no bitterness, and there’s a pleasant light astringency at the tail end of each sip. I find the mouthfeel pleasant, the floral flavour really shines through.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Zhengshan Xiaozhong five times (six steeps total), adding 30 seconds for each subsequent steep.  The tea does really well with resteeps, and has a great flavour profile that stays consistent for each steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Zhengshan Xiaozhong. This black tea tastes delicious, and does well with resteeping. I find the flavour is great – the floral and woodsy flavour just holds up well. I also greatly prefer the unsmoked variety of a lapsang souchong, mostly because some varieties taste very strong and make me think I’m drinking liquid smoke. The floral notes are pleasant, sweet, and I would highly recommend resteeping this unsmoked lapsang souchong.

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