Tag: DavidsTea

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DavidsTea’s Grand Cru Matcha

Grand Cru Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Straight
$24.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Sometimes I like to pat myself on the back for actually remembering to post about matcha on a Monday for #matchamonday – although I am aware that I may be the only one who cares about this. Grand Cru Matcha from DavidsTea is one of the pricier matcha options from this Canadian tea company, I actually got mine through the Frequent Steeper program ($100 in purchases → 100 points → 50g of any one tea, with some exceptions).

Grand Cru Matcha comes in a sealed, resealable foil bag. Because it came with an online order, instead of me going out to the closest local retail location, it came with a coloured printed label. Grand Cru Matcha is a lovely bright green powder, it has a strong grassy aroma to it. This straight matcha consists only of matcha green tea from Nishio, Japan. A little internet search tells me that Nishio is the largest producer of matcha in Japan.

Preparation

The packaging for Grand Cru Matcha recommends steeping tin hot water, and preparing with a whisk. On the product page of DavidsTea’s website, the recommendation is to whisk the matcha with 75°C (170°F) water. The lowest temperature my Breville IQ Kettle goes to is 175ºF, so I allowed the water to cool for approximately 5 minutes before whisking.

First Taste

How I typically prepare matcha is to sift the powder, and then whisk with a small amount of water. After it’s well whisked with a frothy top, I add water to thin it out since I don’t like my matcha too thick tasting. When photographing for this review, I forgot to take a photo of the matcha when it still had to froth, so instead I have a photo of after adding water to thin it out.

Grand Cru Matcha is a darker green once whisked. The aroma from the matcha is mostly grass with some vegetal notes. The flavour of Grand Cru Matcha is a mix of salty, grassy, vegetal flavours (reminds of me spinach, to be honest!), with some umami notes. There’s a pleasant smoothness to this matcha that makes it goes down easy.

If you’re not a fan of the umami/salty notes, you can always add a bit of sweetener when turning this into a matcha latte. I’ve also seen some posts online about mixing Grand Cru Matcha with some lemonade for a bit of a summery drink!

A Second Cup?

Grand Cru Matcha, like other matcha, is a suspension, so there are no repeat steeps!

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Grand Cru Matcha. There was something zen-like about the process of me preparing this matcha, and then drinking it was a little adventure in itself. I love the act of sifting and whisking matcha, it’s just a lot more involved than simply steeping a cup of tea – although there’s nothing wrong with that either. Grand Cru Matcha has a lovely flavour balance of grassy, umami, and vegetal notes that I think a lot of people who enjoy matcha would like. It is on the pricier end of DavidsTea’s tea selection, so it may be a good idea to get to a store to get a smaller amount or use a redemption reward on it!

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DavidsTea’s Organic Vanilla Chai

Organic Vanilla Chai by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$8.50 for 50g

First Impressions

Organic Vanilla Chai came up as listed on the DavidsTea website as an online exclusive, which of course meant that it somehow wound up in my shopping cart when I was putting in an order. Described as “warm vanilla comfort”, I was intrigued about the Organic Vanilla Chai because I really like vanilla and I also really like chai. There is something warming about a good cup of spiced chai and I really did have high hopes for it when I picked it.

Like most of the online tea offerings from DavidsTea, Organic Vanilla Chai came to me in a sealed (resealable) foil bag with a printed label that had all the information needed on it. If you’re familiar with some of the older label styles, you’ll notice some slight changes to it. The tea itself smells sweet, I can smell the cinnamon with licorice root with some mild vanilla undertones. I really do wish that the vanilla was stronger, especially given the name of the tea. I cannot smell the ginger, which is a bit of shame since that’s usually such a strong flavour.

Organic Vanilla Chai consists of cinnamon, black tea, licorice root, ginger, vanilla with natural vanilla and cream flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Organic Vanilla Chai in 95°C (200°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions for the initial steep and steeped Organic Vanilla Chai for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Organic Vanilla Chai steeps to a reddish orange. The aroma of the spices in this chai blend become much more obvious once the tea is steeped. I found that the fragrance of the vanilla to be soft compared to the spices, which is to be expected. On first taste, I do notice that tea is just not as sweet as I was expecting. The dry leaf had a very sweet smell, while the steeped tea wasn’t very sweet. I can taste the spices – the cinnamon, licorice root and ginger are very obvious. I like that there’s the noticeable warming qualities from the cinnamon and the ginger, and the vanilla is a bit of an aftertaste since the spices are quite strong. I found that the tea overall had a pleasant creaminess to it that makes me think that it needs added cream.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Organic Vanilla Chai twice, adding an extra 30 seconds per subsequent steep. I found the first resteep to be fairly close to the initial steep, while the second resteep barely had any spice flavour at all. I would say that Organic Vanilla Chai is good for just one more steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Organic Vanilla Chai. I think this black tea blend is a great candidate for a tea latte, and could really benefit from a touch of sweetener and cream to really accentuate the cream flavouring in the tea and to also boost the flavour of the vanilla. I found the flavour balance to be quite good, the initial steep was enjoyable for me. The one thing that I do wish is that the vanilla flavouring was a bit heavier handed, it’d be nice if the creamy notes from the vanilla was stronger and I think it would have definitely played off of the cinnamon or ginger really nicely to balance with the warming spices.

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DavidsTea’s Candy Cane Crush

Candy Cane Crush by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Candy Cane Crush is one of those teas that DavidsTea fans always seem to pit against Santa’s Secret – which, to be fair, they’re both kind of similar. Black tea blends, heavy peppermint influence, fun shaped sprinkles. While it may seem like it’s CCC vs. SS every December, I am solidly a fan of both – although I fell in love with Santa’s Secret first. Candy Cane Crush was purchased at a local retail location, and it came in a resealable foil pouch. The aroma of this tea is primarily that of peppermint and chocolate – basically everything I love about the holidays in a tea (especially the peppermint!).

Candy Cane Crush consists of: black tea, white chocolate chips, peppermint candy, snowflake candies, cane sugar, peppermint, natural flavouring. For those who need to know, this black tea blend consists of milk and soy – likely found in the white chocolate chips, and possibly the candies as well.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Candy Cane Crush in 95C (200F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I followed the water temperature suggestion, but steeped this tea for 7 minutes (which is when the white chocolate and peppermint pieces had fully dissolved, this may vary for you).

First Taste

Candy Cane Crush does not steep to an attractive colour, there is really no sugar coating it. The tea is a cloudy light brown, with visible droplets of oil floating on the surface. This is due to the oils in the white chocolate and candies – which is perfectly harmless, but it doesn’t make for a very pretty cup of tea unfortunately. The aroma is pretty much all peppermint, which shouldn’t be a surprise given the ingredients. The flavour is a nice balanced mix of white chocolate creaminess and the peppermint. It reminds me a lot of having a brownie with some crushed candy canes on top.

Candy Cane Crush is very pleasant (and sweet!) when had on its own, but I do make this tea into a tea latte but adding some frothed milk (via my jar frothing method). I find that Candy Cane Crush on its own is almost too sweet for me, so adding some milk to it helps to add a level of creaminess to the tea while also tempering the sweetness. I’ve seen this tea offered in-store as a blend with hot chocolate (which is delicious, by the way), and I think it would pair well with egg nog for an egg nog latte (just sub milk for egg nog) for an extra bit of festive kick!

A Second Cup?

Candy Cane Crush does not resteep well. If you steeped the tea fully the first time (meaning that the white chocolate, sprinkles, candy all dissolved), it really lacks in peppermint and sweetness if you attempt a resteep and it’s a weak reminder of what it could be like. I would say that Candy Cane Crush is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Candy Cane Crush. It’s one of my holiday go-to black teas when I’m in the mood for some holiday cheer. I like this tea best as a tea latte, because I find it a bit too sweet plain (coming from someone with a huge sweet tooth, I think that’s saying something!). It really does well as a latte, and you can really play around with different dairy products and adding some sprinkles on top. This is an incredibly festive tea, and It really helps you get into the mood for the holidays.

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