One More Steep is Back!

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I took an unexpected hiatus from tea blogging when I was moving (also a little bit unexpected, it all happened very quickly!). Since the last review (at the beginning of July!), I packed up my life, moved, and unpacked most of my life. Part of the problem was with the move is that my new place has one of those fancy glass top stoves and you’re only supposed to use flat bottom things on it, which meant that the old fashioned tea kettle was a no-no. I have since solved that problem by getting a (fancy) electric variable temperature kettle – I will have a review of that up shortly! In the mean time, my first review since Oh Canada! will be up tomorrow and one of my favourite spots in my new place is my tea cart because tea.

Thanks for reading!

DavidsTea’s Oh Canada!

Oh Canada! by DavidsTea
Rooibos Tea / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

Happy 149th birthday, Canada!

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First Impressions

Oh Canada! smells amazing. It smells exactly as one would expect a Canadian-themed tea to smell – like maple syrup. Somewhere along the way, maple syrup just became the thing that is associated with Canada. Sadly, this tea does not also smell like poutine, but the cute maple leaf candies sprinkled throughout the tea more than make up for that. I really enjoy smelling this tea, it doesn’t smell like the maple syrup “products” that are more water than syrup, it smells like the maple syrup I’m used to.

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Oh Canada! is made up of: red and green rooibos, honeybush, caramel, toffee, candy leaves, natural and artificial flavouring. For those with allergies or sensitivities, Oh Canada! has milk, soy, and almond in it.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends near-boiling water for 4-7 minutes. Those temperatures, according to their website, are 90-95°C (194-203°F). I steeped mine in just boiled water for close to 6 minutes.

First Taste

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Oh Canada! smells like strongly of rooibos, with hints of maple syrup and caramel after it has steeped. This patriotic rooibos steeps to a lovely reddish brown that I’ve come to expect from rooibos based teas. There’s a very pleasannt taste to it, but it is primarily rooibos rather than maple syrup and caramel. Despite the added sources of sugar (maple syrup, maple leaf candies), it isn’t very sweet.

I added a little bit of sugar into my cup of Oh Canada! and I found that the maple flavours became more pronounced with the addition of a sweetener.

A Second Cup?

Based on the nature of this tea and the use of flavourings and candies, I did not resteep Oh Canada!

My Overall Impression

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I thought that DavidsTea’s Oh Canada! was just okay. I love the idea on a patriotic, maple syrup tea more than I actually liked drinking Oh Canada! I really wanted to love it for all the reasons that I love Canada, but the fact remains that the rooibos base overpowers the maple syrup flavouring without additives on my part. I think this tea does well with the addition of a sweetener, and if you want to taste more of the maple flavouring I would recommend using a little bit of sweetener.

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

DavidsTea’s Mango Fruit Punch

Mango Fruit Punch by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

Mango Fruit Punch has an amazing smell when you first open up the package. It smells strong of mango, pineapple, with a touch of citrus and reminds me a lot of a fruit punch concentrate (the iced one that comes in a can). You can definitely see the pieces of fruit in this mixture and it smells so good! The problem that I do have with Mango Fruit Punch is that because of all the fruit, it is a bulky and heavy fruit infusion. I had bought 26g of Mango Fruit Punch and used about half of it to make a pot of tea (I use my Tea For One), which means that each cup is fairly expensive.

The ingredients in Mango Fruit Punch are: pineapple, mango, orange peel and slices, tangerine, safflower, marigold, strawberry, and artificial flavouring. I don’t smell the strawberry, but I do smell most of the other ingredients although mango really overpowers the pineapple.

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Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Mango Fruit Punch in 90-95°C (194-203°F) water for 4-7 minutes, as per their website page for Mango Fruit Punch. On the label that was printed for my bag of tea, it was 96°C water for 4-7 minutes. I steeped mine for 6 minutes.

First Taste

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Mango Fruit Punch steeps to a bright yellow. First off, I would recommend steeping this with a tea filter as I had used the metal basket infuser from the Tea For One and many small pieces from the fruit infusion wound up in the tea. Mango Fruit Punch smells strongly of mango, pineapple, and oranges. There’s a tartness to the taste of this fruit infusion, and there’s a mild sweetness to this tea that goes well with the mango and pineapple taste that is very much present in this. The orange isn’t as strong, which is a little disappointing considering I can smell it. There’s this watery juice quality to this tea, like if you were to take a carton of juice and mix it with some water to thin it out.

While the flavours are there, I don’t really like it hot (this may be because I also do not like warm juice). I cooled the rest of the tea in the fridge and found that it makes a delicious iced tea.

A Second Cup?

I did not resteep Mango Fruit Punch.

My Overall Impression

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I thought that DavidsTea’s Mango Fruit Punch was just okay. While it tastes great and makes a fantastic iced tea, I do think it is expensive given how heavy the tea is and how much you need per pot of tea. That said, Mango Fruit Punch is delicious and I think it would make for a nice iced tea treat, if you wanted an iced tea for special occasions. The tart and sweetness to Mango Fruit Punch makes it delicious to drink, and I would definitely recommend making it an iced tea rather than hot.

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