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DavidsTea’s Tropic Tango

Tropic Tango by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Tropic Tango was an online exclusive that I had purchased a while ago from DavidsTea. Like quite a few people, I no longer super close to several retail locations, which honestly bums me out! But it just gives me an excuse to pick up exclusives that aren’t available in store since, why not? Tropic Tango comes in a familiar sealed, resealable silver pouch with a bright yellow product label across the front. The thing that really made me want to try it was the ingredients list when I read it (mostly because it includes mango and coconut and just sounds delicious).

Tropic Tango consists of apple, candied papaya, candied mango, hibiscus blossoms, natural flavouring, beetroot, carrot, coconut and cornflower blossoms. The ingredients are fairly identifable. Tropic Tango smells primarily like the coconut because it’s just such a strong aroma that it overtakes the other ingredients fairly easily – papaya and mango are just milder in comparison. I do smell the mango in the blend, but the papaya is definitely a bit lost compared to the coconut.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Tropic Tango in 95°C (200°F) water for 5+ minutes. I followed the recommended water temperature and did an initial steep of Tropic Tango for 7 minutes.

First Taste

Tropic Tango steeps to a really pretty peachy pink (although it is much deeper in my teapot!). It has a great coconut aroma to it. The flavour is sweet and fruity with just a hint of tartness. I really taste the coconut and mango, there’s some sweetness to it that likely comes from all the candied fruit and the apple. There’s a bit of an oil slick across the top, which comes from the natural oils of the coconut itself. The tartness I attribute to the hibiscus, and I think it’s lovely. This is definitely a blend made for having iced, and I’m looking forward to warmer temperatures as I start getting my iced tea pitchers on regular rotation in my fridge.

A Second Cup?

I did attempt to resteep Tropic Tango, but like most tisanes, Tropic Tango does fall a bit flat in the flavour department during the second steep with the same leaves. I would recommend Tropic Tango for just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Tropic Tango. The aroma of the dry leaf, the colour of the steeped tea, and the cup of tea that I got from this tisane was tasty – I think Tropic Tango will make a great iced tea for this summer and I’ll likely mix it with a splash of lemonade from some added freshness and brightness to help quench the thirst. The thing that really didn’t make this a favourite off the bat was the fact that the coconut was just so overpowering compared to the other tropic ingredients (papaya and mango) – I would have enjoyed it a lot better if the mango was more forward, either just being more plentiful in the ratio compared to the other ingredients, or just the coconut cut back on.

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Angry Alpaca’s Be Excellent To Each Other!

Be Excellent To Each Other! by Angry Alpaca
Black Tea & White Tea / Flavoured

I received Be Excellent To Each Other! as a gift as part of a tea swap for the holidays in December 2020 from the lovely Jann of Tea With Jann (check her out on YouTube!). As it was a gift, I won’t be looking up the price, but I will include the link to the company’s Facebook page so you can check out their other available tea blends as well as Be Excellent To Each Other!

First Impressions

Be Excellent To Each Other! came in a nice papery-feeling pouch that’s resealable and as a plastic liner layer. The front features a colourful label with beautiful artwork, while the back has a clear window to see the tea, information about the tea (ingredients, steeping instructions), information about the artist (“Still Lake Sunrise” by Ontario artist Stefan Hartman), as well as a sticker indicating that proceeds of the sale of the tea have been donated to an organization called Youth Project, which provides support and services to youth around issues of sexual orientation and gender identity. So much to unpack and read on the bag, which I’m more than happy to share with all of you.

Be Excellent To Each Other! is described by Angry Alpaca as a blueberry flavoured black & white tea. The tea itself is gorgeous – I love the very obvious difference between the tea leaves present in the blend. I can see the white tea, I can see the black tea, I can see some beautiful petals and berries in the mix. This tea smells like blueberries and reminds me of a blueberry jam – which I would really like to get some freshly made preserves right now for a warm oven-fresh scone… Be Excellent To Each Other! consists of all organic: black tea, white tea, blueberries, elderberry, calendula petals, cornflower petals, and natural essences.

Preparation

Angry Alpaca recommends steeping Be Excellent To Each Other! in 85°C (185°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. My initial steep ended up being for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Be Excellent To Each Other! steeps to a really pretty golden orange colour, and has a nice clarity to it. The aroma of the tea is both fruity-berry and floral. It’s definitely a “spring” or “summer” time tea to me because of those aroma notes. The flavour is just a little bit sweet – there’s a mix of floral, sweet, blueberries with something in it that makes me think of dried apricots. Be Excellent To Each Other! has a nice crispness to it that remind me of that first hit of bubbles from a sip of sparkling water.

A Second Cup?

I tried resteeping Be Excellent To Each Other!, but I found that the berry flavour was lacking in the first resteep which made me a bit disappointed. I would recommend steeping Be Excellent To Each Other! just the one time.

My Overall Impression

I loved Angry Alpaca’s Be Excellent To Each Other! I was smitten with the artwork, the fact that proceeds gets donated to a youth initiative, and the fact that the tea just smells and tastes good. I think this is definitely a ‘spring’ tea and I’m going to be having this iced very, very soon (perhaps even topped off with some sparkling water…). The blend of white and black tea with the berries really makes it tasty, and it’s not overly sweet so there’s opportunity to change it up a little bit to your liking.

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

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DavidsTea’s Cream of Earl Grey Matcha

Cream of Earl Grey Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Cream of Earl Grey Matcha was one of those purchases I did because I had decided to get the Earl Grey Matcha already so… why not? Full disclosure, I’m not a huge fan of most Cream of Earl Grey tea blends. I find there just to be something a little bit off about it that doesn’t make me enjoy it as much as I do a ‘plain’ Earl Grey blend. Which is a bit interesting, since I love trying out inspired by Earl Grey blends that have an assortment of other ingredients added into it (e.g. lavender, rose, orange). What can I say? I guess I’m occasionally a contradiction.

That said, I really do smell the Earl Grey in this Cream of Earl Grey Matcha. In comparison to Earl Grey Matcha, the bergamot is not as strong and there’s a bit of creamy or buttery quality in the aroma, which isn’t unexpected. Cream of Earl Grey Matcha consists of: cane sugar, matcha green, natural (cream, Earl Grey) flavouring. The colour is a nice spring green, there’s not a whole lot of sparkle in it despite consisting of cane sugar.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends whisking Cream of Earl Grey Matcha in 85°C (185°F) water. I followed the preparation instructions.

The nice thing about a matcha drink mix is that it easily mixes in heated water. You don’t necessarily need a fancy whisk to make it work.

First Taste

Cream of Earl Grey Matcha isn’t the prettiest green colour when mixed into heated water. It has a bit of yellow-green colour to it that reminds me an awful lot of pea soup. It does settle somewhat quick, which was surprising to me, and I needed to give it a stir to get the colour more uniform throughout. It was easy to suspend into the water though, and there were zero clumps despite not sifting the powder. The aroma is that of Earl Grey, the flavour is a creamy Earl Grey with some grassy undertones from the matcha, but the cane sugar is very prevalent and the sweetness does overpower the matcha throughout each sip. It’s definitely a sweet drink!

I couldn’t resist turning Cream of Earl Grey Matcha into a latte. It definitely helped it out a bit – adding even more creamy flavour and tempering down the sweetness that the cane sugar naturally brings to each cup. It made it more of a treat and made for a nice twist on a London Fog.

A Second Cup?

As Cream of Earl Grey Matcha is a suspension, there was no second preparation with the same powder.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Cream of Earl Grey Matcha. I was pleasantly surprised by Cream of Earl Grey Matcha, mostly because I’m not generally a fan of Cream of Earl Grey preparations. I found that the flavour to be nice, but I did find myself wishing for more of the bergamot to shine through over the cream notes in the drink. I greatly enjoyed it as a matcha latte, and definitely think that I would have it again as a latte drink over having it straight up, as I do think that the cane sugar was added with a heavy hand. Overall, I found it tasted like Earl Grey, with a big helping of cream and just hints of matcha throughout. It’d definitely be perfect for the match and Earl Grey fan with a huge sweet tooth.

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