Category: Review

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Teavana’s Silver Needle

Silver Needle by Teavana
White Tea / Straight
$17.98 for 2oz

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First Impressions

This was a Starbucks/Teavana reward that my sister picked up at Teavana. Unfortunately, she had asked for a different silver needle tea and wasn’t aware that they had given her a different one until she had gotten home – disappointing, to say the least.

Silver Needle is a straight white tea, it has a very light floral scent to it that is quite subtle. It has some grassy qualities in the dry leaf – you can definitely tell by looking at the tea leaves why the tea is referred to as ‘silver needle’. The pale silver-white down on the tea leaves is soft to the touch, and the leaves are a decent size.

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Preparation

Teavana recommends steeping Silver Needle in 175°F (79°C) water for 4-5 minutes.

First Taste

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Silver Needle is an amazingly pale tea, it steeps with a light yellow colour after about 4 minutes of steeping time. The aroma is much like the dry tea – grassy, a little bit of floral notes. The taste is very subtle, but it tastes just like it smells. The mark of a true straight tea, it’s quite nice to have a tea that tastes the way it smells. There’s a lightness to this tea that is enjoyable. While the taste doesn’t bowl you over, it’s still quite good and it’s one of those teas better suited for a mellow or lazy day.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Silver Needle several times. The Teavana website states that it can be steeped for 3 to 5 times. I steeped it for a total of 5 times – adding an extra 30 seconds for each steep. It still has this amazing lightness that I enjoy, the flavour remains subtle but present the entire time. The colour of the tea gets a little bit darker with each subsequent steep – it turns into a golden yellow.

My Overall Impression

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I loved Teavana’s Silver Needle. The tea itself was good – the smell of the dry leaf matches the steeped tea, the taste doesn’t disappoint. There’s a lightness to the tea that is enjoyable, and steeping to the recommended time results in a tasty cup of tea. It really is the type of tea that you need to be able to sit down and enjoy, not rush through. I am disappointed with Teavana’s customer service, given that my sister had asked for a different silver needle tea to use her Starbucks/Teavana reward on and was given this one instead.

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DavidsTea’s Monk’s Blend

Monk’s Blend by DavidsTea
White Tea, Oolong Tea, & Green Tea / Flavoured
$11.50 for 50g

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First Impressions

Monk’s Blend got me curious before I even smelled the tea because of the description on the DavidsTea website. Monk’s Blend is a blend of white, green, and milk oolong teas – which is interesting in itself as I’ve tried other teas called Monk’s Blend before, but those have always been flavoured black teas.

Monk’s Blend has this nice mixture of smells – there’s the light floral notes of jasmine, mixed with the smell that reminds me of heavy cream of butter. DavidsTea’s version of Monk’s Blend consists of white tea, milk oolong tea, jasmine green tea pearls, and natural milk flavouring.

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Preparation

DavidsTea’s recommendation for steeping Monk’s Blend is to steep in hot water for 4 to 7 minutes. According to the website (not the label), “hot” is 75-80°C (167-176°F). That steeping time is much too long (in my opinion). White teas should be steeped for 2-5 minutes, oolong for 2-3 minutes, and green teas for 1-3 minutes. I opted to do the first steep of Monk’s Blend for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Monk’s Blend steeps to a pale greeny-yellow colour in two minutes. There’s a really nice buttery quality to the smell that mingles well with the floral. I can definitely taste a grassy flavour, as well as sweet jasmine and the buttery cream from the oolong. The buttery quality to the flavour isn’t as rich as from Guangzhou Milk Oolong, but it is still quite rich and pleasant. It’s a mix of flavours that play well together and is a pleasant cup of tea. Steeping for two minutes resulted in a smooth cup of tea with no bitterness.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped this tea for an additional four steeps. The buttery cream flavour in the tea starts to wane with the more steeps done, but the floral and grassy components of the flavour are more prominent with subsequent steepings. I added an additional 30 seconds per steep. Monk’s Blend becomes a deeper yellow when you steep it for a longer period of time.

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My Overall Impression

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I liked DavidsTea’s Monk’s Blend. I found this tea to be very interesting – in part because it’s such an interesting mix of teas and because it isn’t a flavoured black tea like I was expecting from the name of the tea. I love the complexity in the flavours of this tea, you can definitely pick out the flavours that each tea base brings to the cup which is very enjoyable. I think that DavidsTea does need to correct the recommended steeping time for this tea, 4 minutes is far too long for most of these teas (but especially for the green tea). While allowing the jasmine green tea pearls to unfurl is important, allowing them to do so for far too long is a detriment to the tea itself. Nobody likes bitter tea, especially when it can be prevented! If you do try Monk’s Blend, I would recommend steeping for short periods of time, and do many steeps. It resteeps very well and can make many cups of tea from the same tea leaves.

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Steeped Tea’s Pineapple Orange Cooler

Pineapple Orange Cooler by Steeped Tea
Fruit Tea / Flavoured
$8.00 for 50g

I received a bag full of Steeped Tea samples via a craft swap that I participated in, this is one of those samples.

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First Impressions

Pineapple Orange Cooler has an interesting smell to it. It reminds me of roses, citrus, and hibiscus. I had two sample tea bags/triangles, so I popped them both into my tea pot. I opted to do this because the triangles are less than half-filled with the tea (it didn’t seem like much at all!). The tea itself has nothing that is actually from the tea plant – the ingredients are dried apple pieces, rose hip, natural dried orange, hibiscus petals, and natural flavours. While oranges may be par of the ingredients, pineapples are no where to be found. I also can’t smell pineapples either, so I’m curious about how this tea will wind up tasting. I really like pineapples, which is why I picked out this one to sample next.

Preparation

The directions provided on the sample are to steep for 4-5 minutes in boiling water, which is exactly what I did.

First Taste

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The tea steeps to a really nice dark pink, thanks to the hibiscus petals. It has an interesting smell to it – the fragrance has a hint of orange and a lot of the hibiscus floral notes to it. The taste is very interesting – there’s a tartness to it that I attribute fully to the hibiscus. It’s almost sour, it’s so tart. I don’t particularly find that it tastes like pineapples, but it does have some citrus notes to it. I don’t particularly like this tea when it’s hot, so I allowed the pot to cool before trying it again.

At room temperature (and with ice!), Pineapple Orange Cooler is quite refreshing. I still don’t taste the pineapple that’s allegedly in here, but the light citrus notes mingling with the strong hibiscus taste is quite nice.

A Second Cup?

I generally do not resteep herbal/fruit infusions, it never tends to end well – this was no exception.

My Overall Impression

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I thought that Steeped Tea’s Pineapple Orange Cooler was just okay. I’m really disappointed that there wasn’t a stronger pineapple or orange presence in this drink. There was no pineapple to be had in the ingredients, in the smell, and in the taste. There was some citrus notes, but it could have been stronger, that’s for sure. I think that the Pineapple Orange Cooler works amazingly well as an iced tea, and I would definitely recommend having it cold. While it is tasty, I don’t think it’s something that I would want to necessarily keep a stash of in my tea collection, there’s other (better!) fruity drinks out there and the lack of pineapple is a bit of a sore spot since I like pineapple.

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