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DavidsTea’s Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine

Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Flavoured
$7.75 for 50g

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First Impressions

Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine is the third rainbow tin I purchased when DavidsTea had the buy-2-get-1-free promotion (the former being Cream of Earl Grey and Birthday Cake). I picked this one because I knew I loved jasmine green teas, so how could I go wrong?

Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine comes in a sturdy metal tin in a bright almost green grass kind of colour. The tea itself comes in a resealable bag, which I greatly appreciate. The leaves themselves aren’t very large, but are decently sized enough that it isn’t like the tea leaf dust that comes in some prepared tea bags. It smells amazing though, there’s quite a strong jasmine scent to the tea, but it is overpowering and I can definitely still make out the tea smell.

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This tea has the following ingredients: Chinese green tea from Jiangxi and Fujian Provinces, scented with jasmine flowers. Additionally, the tin boasts that the tea is fair trade certified, USDA organic and Canada organic – just in case you missed the word ‘organic’ in the name of the tea itself.

Preparation

For preparing this tea, DavidsTea recommends using water that is 80C (176F) and to steep for 2-3 minutes. I opted to steep around 2 minutes.

First Taste

The jasmine scene is beautiful when the tea is steeping, and when the tea leaves are removed. There is something distinctly floral about this tea, as one might expect from a jasmine green tea. The tea itself steeps to a yellow-brown colour. The flavour of Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine is quite good, it’s a very smooth tea and I noticed no bitter taste to it. Green teas in general often run the risk of being better if steeped for too long or steeped in water that is too hot – all that bitterness is sure to ruin a cup! Luckily, I watched the clock for this one and I really enjoy it. Because it is a straight tea, I’m looking forward to trying it for one more steep!

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A Second Cup?

Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine does not disappoint on steep #2. I would even say it tastes better for cup two than it does for cup one! The flavor is a lot more smoother, and there’s even a light sweetness to the tea that wasn’t there before. It also does quite well for steeps three and four.

My Overall Impression

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I loved DavidsTea’s Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine. It’s not an overly complex tea, but that is what makes it a good tea. It does well when resteeping, the flavour improves, and it’s tasty. While I do love it (and will likely restock my tin when it empties), it is not economical compared to other jasmine green teas. For instance, this tea is $10 for 85g (or $7.75 for 50g if buying loose) when the first tea I reviewed for One More Steep was for Stassen’s Jasmine Green Tea that was $6 for 150g. In my opinion, the quality of the tea is definitely higher for DavidsTea’s Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine, but is it 3x the quality? That’s a little bit more iffy. I love my teas, but it is a bit of a luxury to afford pricier teas. I do really love the Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine though, and I do believe that it resteeps a lot better than Stassen’s.

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Teavana’s Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls

Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls by Teavana
Green Tea / Flavoured
$14.98 for 2oz

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First Impressions

This is a tea that I got from my sister, which she got from the Starbucks-Teavana rewards program as a perk from being an avid Starbucks patron. Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls are rather cute! They’re small rolled pearls of tea leaves that come packaged in a standard Teavana bag with wire tabs closure. The smell is amazing – as a fan of jasmine, the floral scent is very inviting. If you’re not into jasmine-scented teas, this would not be a tea for you.

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Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls isn’t a tea complicated by a long list of ingredients, it consists of green tea that has been scented with jasmine blossoms. The page for this tea on the Teavana website boasts that the tea pearls are made up of three leaves each, and hand rolled – as all pearls are. The scent that the dry leaf gives of is floral with a hint of sweetness that I find many jasmine scented teas often have.

Preparation

Teavana recommends steeping Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls in 79°C (175°F) water for 2 minutes (Teavana’s website states 3 minutes for recommended steeping time).

First Taste

I steeped 6 pearls in the water for about 2 minutes. This tea steeps a very pale colour, it is almost as if the tea is tinted a little bit of a yellow. It has a beautiful light, clean, floral scent. Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls has a light, sweet taste to it. The jasmine provides a nice floral taste, the tea itself is quite nice. It’s smooth, no bitterness at all, it has a very subtle flavour that isn’t too aromatic as some jasmine teas can be. It’s very pleasant and makes for a nice cup of tea. (Also, if you leave the cup for too long, it’s quite pleasant cold too!)

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A Second Cup?

Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls steeps for a second time fairly well – the flavour is still very good and matches up with the first cup. On the third steep, tea begins to lose some flavour and is more like flavoured water.

My Overall Impression

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I loved Teavana’s Jasmine Dragon Phoenix Pearls. On the surface, it seems like such a simplistic tea, but the taste of this jasmine green tea is delicious. It’s subtle, understated, and smells of jasmine but isn’t overwhelming. I quite loved each cup of this tea I had because it’s delightful. Because the aroma and taste of this tea isn’t particularly strong or commanding, it’s nice to have with a snack of some sort as it doesn’t distract from what you’re eating.

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DavidsTea’s Peanut Butter Cup

Peanut Butter Cup by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$7.50 for 50g

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First Impressions

I should really preface this review with the fact that I love peanut butter cups – in regular form, in mini form, in ice cream form. This tea had a lot to live up to with a name like peanut butter cup. Luckily, when I first smelled the tea I was instantly reminded of the smell of peanut butter cup. It also smells a bit like vanilla, the chocolate smell is very obvious and the peanut butter, mmm! Gotta love peanut butter. Oddly enough, the list of ingredients does not actually include peanuts or peanut butter.

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The tea consists of: apple, cocoa, almond, chocolate, safflower, artificial flavouring. Contains almonds and soy & may contain milk.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Peanut Butter Cup in 96°C (204°F) water for 4 to 7 minutes. I wound up steeping for close to 7 minutes.

First Taste

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Peanut Butter Cup smells just as delicious as it is steeping as when it’s in the pouch. The surface of the tea does have some oil, as expected from the chocolate that would have melted when steeping. The tea itself does have an oily mouthfeel to it, thank you chocolate, and the taste isn’t quite as close to a peanut butter cup as I would have wanted it to be with the amazing smell pre- and post-steeping. The peanut butter flavour is light, and while I couldn’t smell the apple previously there is the tart taste of apple in the tea when having a sip. It is a little bit sweet, what with the sugars from the chocolate and the apples themselves, but the flavour of the tea doesn’t quite match up with the aroma of the tea itself.

A Second Cup?

Peanut Butter Cup does not do well with a second steeping, I would not recommend that you try steeping it again at all.

My Overall Impression

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I thought that DavidsTea’s Peanut Butter Cup was just okay. It didn’t really live up to my expectations, what with the smell and the name and the hype that I read online about this tea. I think I may try it again in the future either steeped in milk to make a latte, or mixing it with some hot chocolate mix to amp up the flavour just a touch. As a tea by itself, steeped according to the recommendations by DavidsTea, it just didn’t meet the expectations. Flavour wise, it is okay, but it just needs a little something more. I would have it again, but not hoard it in my tea stash.

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