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DavidsTea’s Emerald Jade

Emerald Jade by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Straight
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Emerald Jade was another online purchase, in part because I was curious and because I’m a sucker for a traditional/straight green tea. Some of the straight teas that DavidsTea has sourced out have been some of my favourites, and it’s nice that they’re not too difficult to get my hands on. Emerald Jade comes in a sealed, resealable silver pouch with a green label on the front. I still find that the label is hit or miss for me, the print is just so small that I feel like anyone with any vision problems will just have issues reading it.

That said, Emerald Jade is described as an organic green tea from Hubei Province, China. The leaves themselves are quite dark in colour, very dark shades of green overall. The leaves are short and wiry. The aroma of the leaves are earthy and grassy, with just a hint of fruity sweetness.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Emerald Jade in 85°C (185°F) for 2 to 3 minutes. I opted to follow the recommended water temperature and do an initial steep of Emerald Jade for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Emerald Jade steeps to a pale yellow. It has a very mild aroma to it. There’s a slight grassy aroma to it, which I like. When sipped, I find that it has some soft grassy notes, and a bit of a nutty finish. There is a nice light sweetness to it, with hints of umami. Nothing too over the top, nothing that really punches you in the tastebuds with flavour, but nothing offensive about it either. I could see this easily being oversteeped, so mind your steep times.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Emerald Jade six times (seven steeps total), where I added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The tea became more of a golden yellow colour as I steeped, especially for the first two resteeps. The flavour got a bit more umami, a touch salty, and that nutty finish became more pronounced. It made for a nice cup of tea.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Emerald Jade. I found it just made for a very pleasant cup of tea. I loved the quality of the leaves – it was so easy to resteep and drink. Emerald Jade tasted pleasant, albeit fairly light on flavour for those who are more keen on stronger teas. Definitely a tea for someone who’s more used to straight/traditional green teas, I could see someone who’s fairly used to blends or teas with a more robust flavour profile to find this to be weak or boring. I personally found it lovely, and think it would be fun to experiment with cold steeping it.

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Dessert by Deb’s Marshmallow Crispy Square

Marshmallow Crispy Square by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.00 for 25g

First Impressions

Marshmallow Crispy Square came in my Dessert by Deb subscription box and this one is not a subscriber exclusive so you’re able to get it from her website. Coming in a shiny metallic pouch, Marshmallow Crispy Square can be seen through the clear plastic window. At first glance it looks like a genmaicha (a Japanese green tea with roasted/popped rice), but there’s a bit more to it than that.

Marshmallow Crispy Square consists of organic: green tea, popped rice, coconut, toasted coconut, and palm sugar. It definitely smells like a genmaicha – it has some great popcorn notes from that rice, and there’s the coconut for some added interest that just makes me want to try it out.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Marshmallow Crispy Square in 95°C (200°F) water for 5 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep with the recommended water temperature for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Marshmallow Crispy Square steeps to an orange-brown colour. It smells like a genmaicha. The flavour is sweet, has those familiar popcorn notes from the popped rice, a nice amount of umami from the green tea base, and then there’s the coconut. It’s not as forefront as I expected in the flavour profile, but I think that’s because the popped rice is so strong – which isn’t a bad thing! There is the natural sweetness from the coconut, and it has a nice flavour, just playing in the background and it adds a nice tropical pizzazz to the tea.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Marshmallow Crispy Square and found that the flavour wasn’t quite what it was in the initial steep. I found it to be less sweet, with less coconut notes and muted of the popcorn flavours. It was a decent resteep, but I prefer the initial steep much more overall.

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Marshmallow Crispy Square. While I didn’t really get the marshmallow notes, I definitely found the popped rice did a great job of providing the aroma of the iconic cereal in the treat. This is a lovely twist on a classic traditional Japanese tea, and as a fan of genmaicha it was a nice tea to drink. It does lovely as a hot tea, and I think it’d be nice iced (I do love an iced genmaicha!), I think the coconut would really shine in an iced tea preparation.

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DavidsTea’s Vanilla Bean Black

Vanilla Bean Black by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Vanilla Bean Black was one of those on-a-whim purchases I had (I feel like those have been happening more and more frequently with COVID-19). This black tea blend comes in a familiar silver sealed, resealable pouch. I like the classic teal against the navy blue that’s used for black teas, it’s nice! When I opened the packaging, I was first met with a nice whiff of vanilla – it definitely lives up to the name, at least in aroma.

Vanilla Bean Black is quite pretty. This blend consists of: black tea, coconut rasps, apple, bean peel, natural vanilla flavouring, white hibiscus blossoms, vanilla, and stevia extract. The coconut is noticeable once I got the dry leaf out of the packaging, the vanilla definitely takes centre stage though.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Vanilla Bean Black in 95°C (200°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Vanilla Bean Black steeps to a lovely light golden yellow. There’s a pleasant vanilla aroma to it that reminds me a lot of stepping into a bakery. It just has that pleasantness to it. I found it to be sweet, I could taste vanilla and the coconut in the background. The black tea base has a pleasant robustness to it that reminds me of the black tea found in breakfast blends. Just a hint of malt from the black tea that goes really well with the vanilla. Vanilla Bean Black has a nice amount of sweetness to it, which I think comes from the combination of apple and stevia, and I don’t find the usual weird aftertaste from the stevia, which is nice.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Vanilla Bean Black, and with a steep for 6 minutes, I found the flavour to be lacking. There’s only a mild amount of vanilla in the aroma of the tea and flavour in the tea. It’s not as enjoyable as the initial steep, so I would personally only do the one steep with the Vanilla Bean Black leaves.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Vanilla Bean Black. I found the flavour to be really enjoyable, and the flavour with all of that vanilla to be quite pleasant! I think it would have been nicer if it had resteeped better to get to have that flavour again. I liked the level of sweetness, and think adding some creamer would make this a nice dessert tea or a great addition to your at-home afternoon tea menu.

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