Tag: DavidsTea

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DavidsTea’s 9 Berries

9 Berries by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

As the weather turns a bit cooler, I’m torn between a love for fruity infusions, and things with a bit more spice (chai spice blends, I’m looking at you!). 9 Berries comes in a familiar silver pouch that’s sealed and resealable, a bright yellow label on the front. There was no indication about enjoying this tisane as hot or iced, so I opted to try it hot because the weather outside was grey, rainy, and windy when I finally had the opportunity to sit down and try it.

9 Berries contains organic: elderberries, aronia berries, hibiscus, juniper berries, sweet blackberry leaves, chicory root, strawberries, black currants, sea buckthorn berries, natural berry flavouring, raspberries, goji berries, and blueberries. And if you’ve been counting, it really is nine berries in this blend (creative naming or just phoning it in?). The aroma of the blend is very fruity, as one might expect. It reminds me a lot of that ‘mixed field berry’ aroma from a jar of jam. Just very fruity, sweet, and inviting.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping 9 Berries in 95°C (200°F) water for 5+ minutes. I opted to follow the recommended water temperature and do a steep for 7 minutes.

First Taste

9 Berries steeps to an amazingly dark shade of reddish pink. From all the berries involved in the blend, it’s no wonder that the tisane is such a deep colour. The aroma is purely berries – just a rich, fruity aroma with plenty of sweetness to go around. It definitely has the aroma of a berry fruit punch, and it even tastes like one! However, it is not as sweet as one might expect. While there is some natural sweetness that comes out of the steeped fruit, it lacks the amount of sugar that one might find in jam or honey, although it certainly wouldn’t hurt to add your own (sweetener, that is). There is a considerable about of mouth pucker that happens when drinking 9 Berries. A lot of it definitely has to do with the hibiscus – there’s a nice amount of tartness in the tisane. It goes nicely with the fruity flavours from all the berries though – it reminds me of biting into a not quite fully ripen berry.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped 9 Berries once, adding an additional 30 seconds for the subsequent steep. I found that the berries didn’t quite resteep nearly as well as I would have liked. It lacks that punch of flavour that was so present in the initial steep. I would recommend 9 Berries for just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s 9 Berries. I found that the flavour to be really enjoyable with a great amount of fruity flavour and just enough sweetness to really make it tasty. I would recommend adding sweetener if you like having sweet fruity tisanes. Also blending it with some lemonade – just a splash to accentuate the tartness from the hibiscus would be just stellar. Having it iced might be a good idea too, although I quite enjoyed having it hot – just made for a nice cup of tisane on a cold day.

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DavidsTea’s Golden Lily

Golden Lily by DavidsTea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$16.48 for 50g

First Impressions

Golden Lily is an oolong tea that was part of an online order I made with DavidsTea. This tea comes in a familiar silver bag that comes sealed and is resealable with a dark blue across the front (and yes, in certain lights I imagine that teal blue lettering with a darker blue background to be difficult to read – I really don’t think it’s very friendly for anyone with vision issues). That said, it’s familiar to me, so I’m a bit used to it by now.

Golden Lily is an organic oolong tea from Thailand, and according to the label is certified organic by the USDA and Canada Organic. The leaves are a variety of shades of green and brown, with very tightly bunched leaves. The aroma is floral with just a subtle hint of sweetness.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Golden Lily in 90°C (195°F) water for 4-5 minutes. I opted to steep with the recommended water temperature and did a steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Golden Lily steeps to what I could best describe as a light golden yellow. The aroma of tea has a nice amount of floral notes, with something that reminds of butter. Drinking Golden Lily is quite pleasant as well – I found floral notes mingling along with creamy flavours, stone fruit that reminds of apricots, and just a hint of grassy freshness. The tea itself is smooth with no astringency or bitterness when steeped with the recommended steeping time and temperature of water.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Golden Lily a total of seven times, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The tea became more darker in golden colour, and had a great buttery flavour that became more deep as I steeped. The flavour is really nice and stays fairly consistent with each steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Golden Lily. While Golden Lily is not the least expensive oolong I’ve tried, I find that the ability to resteep the leaves successfully and the amount of flavour that you get from these gorgeous leaves more than makes up for it because of the quality of the leaves themselves. I would highly recommend resteeping these leaves, as you get a lot more tea out of it and more bang for your buck. The flavour of these leaves are pleasant with a great amount of floral flavour that I really enjoy and would be happy to drink this at any time of day.

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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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