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Dessert by Deb’s Lavender Coconut Macaron

Lavender Coconut Macaron by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$16.00 for 75g

Lavender Coconut Macaron is an exclusive blend for Dessert by Deb subscription subscribers and is available for purchase by subscribers only at this time.

First Impressions

Lavender Coconut Macaron came in a sealed, resealable pink pouch with a very familiar colourful label on the front. This is Tea Society Club exclusive, which is a great little perk of being a subscriber to the Dessert by Deb subscription box (which basically means I get a present to myself from myself every two months with some cool tea blends).

Lavender Coconut Macaron consists of all organic: green tea, lavender, coconut, toasted coconut, and palm sugar. The aroma is really strongly lavender with a hint of toasted coconut in the background. Lavender is such a strong and forward ingredient, and I really like it – it’s one of my favourite starring blend ingredients. This is definitely a floral-forward green tea blend so if you’re not a fan of floral or lavender in particular, it’s probably not the blend for you. For me, I love lavender, so I’m pretty happy with the delicate aromas, the feminine and delicate feel to the blend with the lavender heavy mix.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Lavender Coconut Macaron in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to follow the water temperature recommendation and did an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Lavender Coconut Macaron steeps to a pale yellow colour. It’s very lavender forward in the aroma from the steeped tea. The flavour is first and foremost lavender – very floral notes, and it has a nice sweetness to it, with the toasted coconut as an undertone. I don’t really taste the green tea base, and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that the lavender and coconut being so strong.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Lavender Coconut Macaron twice, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour wasn’t as floral as I enjoyed in the initial steep, so I preferred the initial steep the best.

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Lavender Coconut Macaron. I really enjoyed just how strong the lavender is, how forward such a delicate feeling flower is in this green tea blend. While I couldn’t taste the green tea base very well, I found that the toasted coconut did really well against the lavender and it really just makes for a lovely cup of tea. It’d be a great addition to an afternoon tea line-up just for the delicate floral notes, and I think it’d be great iced with a splash of lemonade to really amp it up and make it into a great summer iced tea.

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DavidsTea’s Mango Matcha

Mango Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Mango Matcha is a matcha drink mix from DavidsTea. It came to me in the mail in a sealed, resealable pouch. Firstly, I’d like to address the change in the labelling from DavidsTea. I found that the teal of the DavidsTea branding to be a bit difficult to read from the green background – along with the white text on the green background (but not as difficult as the teal on green). I’m no longer surprised by the fact that Mango Matcha has sugar as the first ingredient, because I’ve gotten used to that now and am a little bit less annoyed by the presence.

Mango Matcha is a lovely spring green colour, with a hint of sparkle from the sugar. The aroma is strongly mango with a bit of grassy undertones. Mango Matcha consists of: cane sugar, matcha green tea, natural mango flavouring with annatto extract.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends repairing Mango Matcha in 85°C (185°F) water with a whisk. I followed the temperature recommendation and whisked it directly in my cup. The nice thing about the DavidsTea matcha drink mixes is that you don’t have to sift the powder first because it dissolves quite easily.

If you’ve never made matcha before, I’ve got an article for you that discusses The Basics of Preparing Matcha.

First Taste

Mango Matcha whisks into a nice deep forest green. Not a whole lot of frothy bubbles regardless of how much I tried, but it’s a vibrant green with a very strong mango aroma from the whisked up powder. I found it to be quite sweet, strong mango flavours, with subtle grassy notes in the background. It’s a pleasant drink hot.

I did end up adding some milk to it (organic soy milk) to make it to matcha latte – it helps cut the sugary sweetness down significantly, while adding a nice level of creaminess to it and the mango isn’t muted at all.

A Second Cup?

As a matcha is a suspension, there were no second steeps at all.

My Overall Impression

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I loved and liked DavidsTea’s Mango Matcha. I liked it hot and plain – but the sugary sweetness was just a bit too much for me, even though I have a really strong sweet tooth. The addition of soy milk really helped to lower the sugar content down a bit, just by adding a little something to help cut the sweetness level. I think Mango Matcha would be great if you like a super sweet drink, but definitely utilize this as a latte base if you’re wanting something that’s got some good mango flavour, a nice grassy background, but not too sweet. Matcha latte is definitely the way to go with this one.

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Sunny M’s Cascara Tea

Cascara Tea by Sunny M
Herbal Infusion / Straight

Sunny M has provided me with Cascara Tea for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Fun fact, Cascara Tea is not a tea at all – it’s a tisane! It’s also called coffee cherry tea, and is made from the dried skin of the coffee fruit. Inside of the fruit is where you find the actual coffee beans themselves – but that’s a story for another day. Cascara Tea came in a sealed, resealable pouch from Sunny M with some information about the product. I did a search for Cascara Tea on the Sunny M website and it’s not currently available. But no matter, that’s what the internet is for, right?

Cascara Tea is from the Costa Rica Sonora Estate, it’s a nano lot and only consists of cascara. The aroma of Cascara Tea is a bit like a roasted chocolate aroma, with a hint of fruity sweetness. It’s definitely intriguing! And check out the look of the dry leaf itself – the tisane consists of these pieces of the dried coffee cherry fruit skin.

Preparation

No preparation information from Sunny M available at this time, but I opted to steep in 93°C (200°F) water for 5 minutes. 200°F is the ‘French Press’ temperature setting on my variable temperature kettle.

First Taste

Cascara Tea steeps to a orange-brown colour. It’s clear, has a nice aroma to it that reminds me a bit of chocolate and fruitiness, which is appealing. There’s a nice smoothness to it, with a slight bitterness at the tail end of each sip. I find that it has a thickened mouthfeel to it, which is smooth, and has a great flavour to it – I find it to be a blend of chocolate-notes, with some fruity notes that remind me of a bit of currants and rosehips. The sweetness that I find in this cup is really nice and pairs well with the flavour of currants.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Cascara Tea and found that it tasted like a very watered down version of the initial steep. I’d recommend sticking to the initial steep for Cascara Tea for maximum flavour and to leave it with a pleasant taste in your mouth.

My Overall Impression

I liked Sunny M’s Cascara Tea. I found it to be really pleasant, and was nothing like coffee (bonus!). The chocolate notes and the fruity flavours that remind me of currants made for a pleasant cup to drink. I did find some hints of bitterness at the tail end of each sip, but it wasn’t enough to keep me from finishing the cup. Cascara Tea has a really nice smoothness to it, that I think is enjoyable as an alternative to coffee if you’re trying to get away from it – since cascara does naturally contain caffeine, but not as much as coffee.

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