Tag: 24 Days of Tea

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24 Days of Tea: Sleigh Ride

Sleigh Ride by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

I wasn’t sure what to think when I pulled out day 18 of the 24 Days of Tea and saw that it was Sleigh Ride. I’m 90% sure that I’ve tried it in store before, but it’s hard for me to remember since I’ve sampled so many teas in the past. The first thing that I thought when smelling the dry tea is that it smells like the red heart cinnamon candy that is very commonly found around Valentine’s Day. Sleigh Ride has that spicy cinnamon smell to it, and I can’t really make out the rest of the ingredients.

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Sleigh Ride is a mix of: apple, hibiscus blossoms, pineapple, papaya, beetroot, cinnamon, raisins, coconut, roasted almonds, popped rice, natural and artificial flavouring.

Preparation

The recommendations for Sleigh Ride are to steep in near-boiling water (90-95°C/194-203°F) for 4 to 7 minutes. I steeped for about 5 minutes. Sleigh Ride is a fairly bulky tea with its ingredients, I used the entire tin to steep my cup of tea.

First Taste

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Sleigh Ride steeps to a beautiful deep pink that reminds me a lot of Bear Trap or Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait. There’s a very strong cinnamon smell to this tea, and it tastes like cinnamon as well. There’s a mix of sweet fruity flavours and some sourness to it as well. The sour notes aren’t very pleasant. Sleigh Ride is weird to me, because some sips tastes like apple cinnamon and that’s just delicious, the others are just sour and tart and makes me unhappy. This isn’t something that really evokes the feelings of winter or snowy days to me, which is what I think they were trying to aim for with a name like Sleigh Ride.

I did add some sweetener to this one (honey) and it does help to temper that sourness that I’ve tasted in the tea.

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A Second Cup?

I don’t resteep fruit infusions, Sleigh Ride wasn’t an exception to that rule.

My Overall Impression

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I didn’t like DavidsTea’s Sleigh Ride. The sourness to this tea isn’t pleasant. Perhaps it’d be better as an iced tea? I find that the sour notes don’t help to endure me to this tea, and I think there have been better fruit infusions in the 24 Days of Tea calendar so far.

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24 Days of Tea: Chocolate Covered Almond

Chocolate Covered Almond by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

The name of day 17 of the 24 Days of Tea calendar shares its name with a tasty snack – Chocolate Covered Almond! The tea smells like you’d expect – I can smell chocolate and I can smell almonds, so already the dry tea is a win in matching the fragrance to what I expect from the tea. I was half expecting this one to be a fruit/herbal infusion, but it’s actually a black tea and yerba mate blend. Definitely not a tea that you’d want to have late in the day or before bedtime.

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Chocolate Covered Almond is made up of: cocoa nibs, roasted carob, black tea, almonds, yerba mate, sugar, natural and artificial chocolate and cream-almond flavouring.

Preparation

Like most of their black teas, DavidsTea recommends steeping Chocolate Covered Almond in near-boiling water (90-95°C/194-203°F) for 4 to 7 minutes. I steeped mine for close to 4 minutes.

First Taste

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On first glance, Chocolate Covered Almond has a beautiful golden orange liquor. The smell that first comes to me is the malty tones from the black tea base – yum! There is a thin oil film on top of the tea, from the chocolatey ingredients in this tea blend. There is a pleasant mouthfeel with the oil though, it’s thin enough that it isn’t overwhelming or completely coating the mouth. I can taste the almonds, and some of the malty flavour of the black tea. I can smell more chocolate than I can taste. The chocolate flavour is watered down.

There this almost alcoholic taste to the tea as an aftertaste, and I’m not quite sure how I feel about it just yet.

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A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Chocolate Covered Almond – this is something that I would not recommend

My Overall Impression

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I thought that DavidsTea’s Chocolate Covered Almond was just okay. It didn’t quite remind me of chocolate covered almonds, but I wish that it did. There’s the watery chocolate flavour and the almonds are there, there’s just that odd alcoholic aftertaste to each sip that I don’t quite enjoy too much. I think this tea would benefit from having a little bit of sweetener and perhaps some milk. Milk would add some creaminess that you’d expect from a chocolatey tea, and probably help with bringing that chocolate almond taste to the forefront in the flavour profile of each sip.

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24 Days of Tea: Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait

Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

I was excited to see Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait as the tea of the day for day 16 of the 24 Days of Tea advent calendar because it’s one of those teas that I’ve always wanted to try, but hadn’t gotten around to buying just yet. There’s this amazingly sweet and fruity smell to this tea that mingles well with the natural tartness of the rhubarb that I can make out. It essentially smells like strawberry rhubarb pie filling, which I think is just delicious.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait is made up out: apple, hibiscus, raisins, carrot, yoghurt bits, beetroot, strawberry, rhubarb, and natural and artificial flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait in near-boiling water (90-95°C/194-203°F) for 4 to 7 minutes. I wound up steeping the entire tin’s worth of tea for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait does not disappoint in the colour department as it steeps to a beautiful deep pink. There’s a nice natural sweetness to the tea that is well balanced with the tartness from the hibiscus and the rhubarb. The flavours of strawberry and rhubarb are both well represented in this tea, and it tastes exactly like one would expect with the name of the blend. It’s quite enjoyable.

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Because Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait is so fruity, I think it would make an excellent iced tea or tea pop candidate. I wound up putting some ice cubes into my cup and I’m pleased to say that it makes a great iced tea. If it’s a bit too tart for you, I would add some sweetener to it prior to cooling it down (honey or agave would be a great choice!).

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A Second Cup?

I don’t resteep herbal or fruit infusions, so I did not resteep Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait.

My Overall Impression

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I loved DavidsTea’s Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait. I can definitely see why it’s considered a Fan Favourite out of their whole tea collection. I greatly appreciate the fact that the smell of tea before and after steeping is very similar, and it tastes as expected. It has a great flavour to it, the tartness leads to some mouth puckering that isn’t unpleasant. This is definitely a blend that would be best suited as an iced tea or a tea pop, but it is still good as a hot cup of tea. I think that Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait would be good year-round, and I may need to get my hands on some more now that my tin is emptied.

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