Category: Review

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DavidsTea’s Forever Frosty

Forever Frosty by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Forever Frosty piqued my interest because it’s a winter/seasonal version of Forever Nuts – which is a long-time fan favourite (and if you want to see some seriously poor tea photography, you can check out my 2016 review of Forever Nuts!) and a tisane that I enjoy usually as a latte. Which, of course, meant that I was curious enough to pick up a bag to give it a try.

This is a curious blend that came in a sealed, resealable silver pouch. A very familiar bright yellow label adorns the bag and gives you all the necessary information about the blend. I highly recommend giving it a good shake before scooping some out to steep because all I saw when I first opened the bag were huge candied almonds and large slices of dried oranges. Not very appealing! Forever Frosty smells like cinnamon and oranges, which is nice, but doesn’t really make me think of Forever Nuts. Surprisingly, I don’t really smell almonds. Forever Frosty consists of: apple, candied almonds, almonds, orange slices, marshmallows, cinnamon, beetroot, coconut flakes, orange peel, cloves, artificial sweet roasted almond, and natural orange flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Forever Frosty in 95°C (200°F) water for 5+ minutes. I opted to follow the steeping instructions and I did an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Forever Frosty steeps to a very bright pink, a lovely colour from the beetroot. It has a very sweet, orange aroma to it with hints of cinnamon mingling in the background. I don’t really smell or taste almonds, which is unfortunate because that’s one of the key components of Forever Nuts. The colour is significantly brighter, in my opinion, than the pink of Forever Nuts. I do find there’s a bitter component to the blend though, which isn’t very pleasant. Sweet, bitter, orange, and cinnamon – with the cinnamon being the real wintery flavour that I can make out in the tisane.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Forever Frosty, but it didn’t really improve matters and just resulted in a fairly weak drink. I would recommend Forever Frosty for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like DavidsTea’s Forever Frosty. I think it was a very valiant attempt at a seasonal take on the perennial favourite Forever Nuts, but I don’t think it quite captured enough of the essence of Forever Nuts or the season, which is unfortunate. I was really hoping that the flavour and aroma of the almonds would come out more, especially since almonds appear in the ingredients three times.

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Dessert by Deb’s Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf

Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$16.00 for 75g

Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf is an exclusive blend for Dessert by Deb subscription subscribers and is available for purchase by subscribers only at this time.

First Impressions

Another Monday, another blog post! This time it’s Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf, which is an exclusive blend for subscribers of the Dessert by Deb subscription boxes. Just a fun little perk for being a member of this club, which I think is pretty neat! Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf came as part of the first box of the subscription (December).

This black tea blend came in a sealed, resealable silver pouch. The label on the front tells me as much information as I really need, and I quite enjoy the fun colours of the Dessert by Deb design. The aroma of the dry leaf is primarily that of chocolate, vanilla, ginger, and nutmeg to me. Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf consists of organic: black tea, vanilla, ginger, cacao nibs, dark chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, brown sugar, maple, honeybush, and nutmeg. Quite an assortment!

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I initially did a steep for 4 minutes, but noticed that not all of the dark chocolate had dissolved so I allowed it to steep for the full 6 minutes.

First Taste

Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf steeps to a nice golden orange colour. I did notice the oils floating on top of the tea, which is to be expected from any tea blend that has chocolate as an ingredient (or sprinkles, for that matter). The aroma is quite mild to me – it smells like both ginger and chocolate. The flavour isn’t as strong as I was expecting it to be, especially with all of the spices. I found the flavour to be lightly sweet – I can taste the ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. I can’t really taste the vanilla – although I can smell it. There are hints of chocolate in the steeped tea, and I taste it a little bit – I do wish that I could taste more of it.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf, but found the flavour to be more mild than the initial steep. I would recommend steeping Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf just the one time.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Dessert by Deb’s Chocolate Gingerbread Loaf was just okay. I think part of this was because the flavour just wasn’t as strong as I was anticipating it to be. I would have liked if the chocolate and ginger flavours and aromas were stronger, just to be better tasted and smelled because of the fact that they’re part of the name of this blend. I did enjoy drinking the tea, but it wasn’t what I was expecting from the name. I think this could pair quite well with an afternoon tea, as it has some nice flavours that would balance well against desserts – especially if you’re serving any spiced cakes or miniature pies/tarts.

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DavidsTea’s Organic David’s Chai

Organic David’s Chai by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Organic David’s Chai comes a fairly familiar looking bag by now – sealed, resealable, silver pouch. The dark blue label on the front helps to identify it at a glance as a black tea (not going to lie, I do like colour coding my teas because it just makes it easier to organize…). David’s Chai is described as a warm & spicy classic. I’m as much of a fan of chai as the next girl, so lets get this started!

The aroma from the dry leaf is lovely – plenty of spicy notes and I can make out the majority of the ingredients. I can really smell the cinnamon and ginger. David’s Chai consist of organic: black tea, ginger, cinnamon, anise, star anise, cardamom, black pepper and clove buds.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Organic David’s Chai in 95ºC (200ºF) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I opted to follow the steeping instructions and did an initial steep of 5 minutes.

First Taste

David’s Chai steeps to a really pretty golden brown colour. The aroma is warming with all those spice notes wafting up from my fancy mug. It’s quite inviting, which is one of the things I love about a nice chai. The flavour is a lovely blend of all the spices – although I can make out the ginger, cinnamon, star anise and cardamom specifically. It has a nice smooth texture to it, spicy notes and really warms me up from the inside out.

I could see this being a lovely chai blend candidate for getting that infamous double boil preparation on the stove top for a more traditional chai preparation method.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped David’s Chai once, for 6 minutes. I found the flavour to be pleasant, but not nearly as warming as the initial steep. I would personally do just one steep of David’s Chai but I could see some people enjoying a second steep of the same leaves.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Organic David’s Chai. I found to be quite a pleasant experience from the dry leaf, to inhaling the aroma of the steeped tea, to drinking it. The blend of spices was quite nice and enjoyable, which is what really made it delicious. I would recommend adding sweetener if you prefer your chai a bit more sweet as it isn’t very sweet (I personally would use honey, but agave or granulated sugar would work just as well).

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