Category: Review

Posted on

24 Days of Tea: Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

20161206-davidsteacoffeecake

First Impressions

Coffee Cake smells like what you’d expect a tea called Coffee Cake to smell like – like its namesake. Interestingly enough, there isn’t actually any coffee in the ingredients list. Coffee Cake is comprised of: black tea, candied fruit, pineapple, natural and artificial flavouring. I do love black tea, but the smell of coffee in general makes my stomach turn so I won’t be giving this one a try.

20161206-davidsteacoffeecake1

My Overall Impression

1cup-2

I did not try DavidsTea’s Coffee Cake, so I can’t give it a proper rating. I’m aware that there isn’t actually any coffee or coffee beans in this tea blend, but I just find the smell of coffee overall off putting on a good day, so I’m not able to try it for fun. If you gave Coffee Cake a try, comment below with your thoughts on it!

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

Posted on

24 Days of Tea: Organic Serenity Now

Organic Serenity Now by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

20161206-davidsteaorganicserenitynow

First Impressions

Day 4 of the 24 Days of Tea advent calendar is Organic Serenity Now. It’s a very, very, very floral and fruity smelling tea. This is not something that I would have necessarily picked out for myself, mostly because of the overly sweet combination flowers (in particular lavender) and fruit. I can see the lavender buds, the dried fruit, and other dried flowers.

20161206-davidsteaorganicserenitynow1

The ingredients in Organic Serenity Now are: currants, rosehips, lavender, spearmint, blueberries, quince, apple, hibiscus, rose petals, strawberries, natural rose water, and strawberry flavouring.

Preparation

The packaging from the 24 Days of Tea recommends steeping Organic Serenity Now in “near-boiling water” for 4 to 7 minutes (this is the same as what is stated on the product page on their website). Near-boiling water is 90-95°C (194-203°F), I used the “French Press” option on my Breville IQ Kettle, and I steeped the Organic Serenity Now for about 6 minutes.

First Taste

Organic Serenity Now steeps to a deep pink. There was quite a bit of debris from the tea at the bottom of my mug even with using a stainless steel tea infuser, so I would recommend using a tea filter instead if you’re not one for having ‘stuff’ in your tea.

20161206-davidsteaorganicserenitynow2

Organic Serenity Now has a very strong floral smell to it that leans heavily towards lavender. I found that it has a very strong lavender taste to it that overpowers the other ingredients in this mix. I ended up pouring out half of the tea that I had steeped.

20161206-davidsteaorganicserenitynow3

A Second Cup?

I generally do not resteep herbal infusions, I did not resteep Organic Serenity Now.

My Overall Impression

1cup-2

I didn’t like DavidsTea’s Organic Serenity Now. There is just something off-putting about a mug full of tea that smells like and tastes like lavender. I generally associate lavender with fancy soaps, not with my teas.

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

Posted on

24 Days of Tea: Genmaicha

Genmaicha by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Straight
$6.98 for 50g

20161206-davidsteagenmaicha

First Impressions

Genmaicha has been on my list of “teas to eventually buy and try”, so I was pleased as punch that it was in the DavidsTea’s 24 Days of Tea advent calendar as day 3. The dry leaf has a salty and vegetal quality to it, and I can smell the roasted rice as there’s a distinct rice smell to the tea itself.

20161206-davidsteagenmaicha1

Genmaicha is filled with popped rice, I didn’t see the green tea leaves at first! The tea leaves are generally small and broken, which is a bit disappointing. Genmaicha is made up of: steamed green tea from Japan, and roasted and popped rice.

Preparation

The steeping instructions for Genmaicha are to use “hot water” and to steep for 2 to 3 minutes as per DavidsTea’s website. On the packaging, it says to steep for 3 to 5 minutes. Drastically different steep times! I opted to steep for less, and my initial steep of Genmaicha was for 2 minutes. DavidsTea considers “hot” water to be 75-80°C or 167-176°F.

First Taste

20161206-davidsteagenmaicha2

Genmaicha steeps to a very pale yellow, the tea has a salty and vegetal aroma that reminds me a lot of seaweed snacks! It smells very much like how it did prior to steeping, which is always a good sign. After letting the tea cool just a smidge, Genmaicha has a tasty but salty vegetal flavour to it. There’s this slight crispness to the flavour that is difficult to describe. I found it very enjoyable and not bitter at all when steeped for 2 minutes. I feel that 5 minutes for an initial steep would be overkill.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Genmaicha twice. The second time around, it was very much like the first. I found the third steep, that there was this added sweetness to the tea that wasn’t there before. The subtle change in the flavour profile was enjoyable.

20161206-davidsteagenmaicha3

My Overall Impression

rating4

I loved DavidsTea’s Genmaicha. There’s just something enjoyable about a flavourful cup of tea, which is what Genmaicha was for me. I found the salty and vegetal flavours to be enticing, and it’s overall a very good cup of tea. I would not recommend following the steeping instructions for this tea based on the packaging (which is highly unfortunate!) as 5 minutes is generally far too long for a green tea.

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