Category: Review

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Nittoh Tea’s Royal Milk Tea

Royal Milk Tea by Nittoh Tea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.99 for 140g (10 x 14g sachets)

First Impressions

Always one to look for new tea to try, I found this at a local grocery store and knew that I had to try it. After all, milk tea is one of my favourite ways to enjoy tea (check out my recipe for Hong Kong-Style Milk Tea if you want to DIY this and control the amount of sugar in your milk tea). The packaging is bright, with strawberries all over, and came with ten sachets.

Each sachet is bright red, and has 14g of powder in it. Royal Milk Tea consists of: sugar, skimmed milk powder, dextrin, palm oil, black tea extract, whole milk powder, butter oil, milk protein, strawberry powder, black tea, salt, artificial flavour, lactic acid, and soy lecithin. The aroma of the Royal Milk Tea powder when I opened it reminded me very faintly of strawberry – otherwise it didn’t have much of an aroma.

Preparation

Nittoh Tea recommends preparing Royal Milk Tea with hot water. I opted to use 100°C (212°F) water to mix, but the packaging does say to use 120mL of water per one sachet.

First Taste

Royal Milk Tea mixes up well, to a pale brown of milk tea. The aroma is strawberry, black tea, and milk. The flavour itself is sweet, strawberry, with black tea in the background. The strawberry flavour is strong, and the sweetness is almost too much. I think I would choose to water it down even further instead of only using 120mL of water because it’s just so sweet when prepared as suggested. Interestingly enough, each sachet is 14g, but each sachet consists of 9g of sugar! So probably not the most ideal of prepared tea mixes.

A Second Cup?

As Royal Milk Tea is a tea mix, there were no second steeps or preparations with the same tea.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Nittoh Tea’s Royal Milk Tea was just okay. The strawberry flavour was surprisingly good, and didn’t taste as artificial as I was initially expecting. The sweetness though was something that I could have done without – I find it very sweet compared to the milk tea that I make for myself from scratch. I do think the strawberry flavour works really well with the black tea base, and it’s a convenient option for those who want milk tea on-the-go. I will likely end up taking the rest of the sachets to work to drink when I have the opportunity, but I don’t think it’ll be an at-home staple.

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Dessert by Deb’s Strawberry Jam & Toast

Strawberry Jam & Toast by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.50 for 25g

First Impressions

Strawberry Jam & Toast came as part of my bimonthly subscription box from Dessert by Deb. This green tea blend came in a pale gold metallic pouch, that’s sealed and resealable. Strawberry Jam & Toast is part of the Little Country Kitchen Collection, and the packaging has a colourful polka dot label.

Strawberry Jam & Toast smells of toasted rice and berries. It reminds me a lot of a genmaicha with a berry twist. Strawberry Jam & Toast consists of organic: green tea, natural strawberry flavour, popped roasted rice, strawberry & papaya pieces, freeze-dried raspberries, rosehips, and hibiscus. It’s a very pretty blend, with many bright colours! I enjoyed looking at it and seeing the lovely colours in the pouch.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Strawberry Jam & Toast in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 to 5 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 4 minutes, I try to avoid oversteeping green teas when I have the ability to.

First Taste

Strawberry Jam & Toast steeps to a pinkish orange hue, the aroma of this green tea blend is primarily strawberry and other berries. There’s a pleasant sweetness from the steeped tea, that isn’t overly sweet. There’s a good amount of strawberry flavour, and the popped rice in the blend makes me think of a genmaicha – and does remind me of toast. It lacks the sweetness needed to make me think of jam, but I do think it has a great strawberry/berry flavour.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Strawberry Jam & Toast, but found that the flavour to be watered down compared to the initial steep. I would recommend Strawberry Jam & Toast to the initial steep for maximum flavour enjoyment.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Strawberry Jam & Toast. The flavour reminds me a lot of a genmaicha with strong berry flavours that do very well when steeped. I really enjoyed how the strawberry plays with the popped rice. It makes for a smooth cup of tea – with no bitterness, no astringency. This is another blend that I’m looking forward to having when it’s hot out, because I imagine that the fruity flavours will do well with being iced. The strawberry really shines through in this tea.

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DavidsTea’s North Star

North Star by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

I purchased North Star at the same time as purchasing the 2021 Advent Calendar from DavidsTea, without knowing that it was part of the advent calendar. North Star was day 6 of the 24 Days of Tea, and I tried it before opening this pouch of tea.

First Impressions

North Star came in the familiar silver pouch from DavidsTea, with a bright yellow sticker to indicate that it’s an herbal infusion (tisane). What had attracted me to trying this one out is because I saw the star sprinkles and just thought it was pretty and worth giving a try. Orange being present doesn’t hurt either!

North Start consists of: sugar, orange peel, nana mint, brittle, white star sprinkles, natural flavouring (orange and vanilla), lemongrass, orange, moringa leaf, orange blossom, and spinach. Spinach (in my opinion) has no place in my tea or tisanes, but here we are. It really is quite pretty to look at. The sugar crystals are massive, in comparison to everything. The orange peel is large, the white star sprinkles are beautiful. North Star primarily smells like oranges, vanilla, and lemongrass.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping North Star in 200°F (95°C) water for over 5 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of seven minutes.

First Taste

North Star steeps to a lovely yellow colour, it’s got a bright citrus aroma to it. The taste of this tisane is strongly orange and vanilla, with hints of mint. I don’t get a lot of that minty flavour, although I wish it was stronger since this is meant to be a winter tisane. The level of sweetness is very strong, probably due to the sugar crystals and sprinkles. The orange is quite strong though, and what I do get of the vanilla reminds me of an orange creamsicle, but somehow even more sweet.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep North Star, but found that the flavour was lacking in comparison to the original steep. I would recommend North Star for just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that DavidsTea’s North Star was just okay. The mix of orange and vanilla is an interesting combination, but I found myself wishing that the mint was a stronger flavour in the tisane. The level of sweetness in North Star is strong, I found myself wishing that it was less sweet – but what can you do? I had this tisane hot, but found it quite sweet and fruity, so I imagine it would do well being iced instead during the spring and summer – no sweetener needed.

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