Tag: DavidsTea

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DavidsTea’s Raspberry Mojito

Raspberry Mojito by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

I first smelled Raspberry Mojito and tried a sample in store, and I was intrigued from the get-go. It smells strongly of raspberries and mint, and with a name like Raspberry Mojito there’s very little else you’d expect – but that really isn’t the same with the ingredients. Raspberry Mojito is made up of: apple, raisins, hibiscus blossoms, carrot, beetroot, peppermint, lime, raspberries, rose petals, natural and artificial flavouring. Not quite what I was expecting when I first smelled this tea. Apple? Raisins? This is supposed to be a berry flavoured drink! Nonetheless, despite (in spite?) of the ingredients, I bought a small sample bag because the iced sample I tried in store was enough to get me wanting a bit more.

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Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping in “near-boiling water” for 4-7 minutes, as per the bag label. Their website classifies “near-boiling” as 90-95°C (194-203°F). I really do wish they kept with putting temperatures on their bags, rather than vague descriptions in hopes their tea drinkers know what to do. Then again, this is an herbal infusion – no bitterness from oversteeped tea leaves because there are no tea leaves.

First Taste

Raspberry Mojito steeps to a beautiful deep pink – most likely due to the hisbicus blossom, beetroot, and perhaps the rose petals. It has a very bright aroma of raspberries, with just the hint of mint. When tasting this tea hot, the raspberry is very much a front-and-centre ingredient that just kind of wows the taste buds. The mint comes in at the end of the sip, like an after taste with a fresh aspect. It’s quite enjoyable. I wound up icing the remainder of my pot of Raspberry Mojito, to have it iced. It makes for a fantastic iced tea, in my opinion.

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A Second Cup?

As Raspberry Mojito is an herbal infusion, I did not steep it a second time as I find those are always disappointing.

My Overall Impression

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I loved Raspberry Mojito. I find it a very refreshing drink (especially iced), as it does live up to the promise of its name with the bright raspberry taste and the minty notes to each sip. I would recommend this iced over hot, and perhaps even the addition of fresh citrus or berries to a pitcher if you’re making a big batch of it.

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DavidsTea’s Nepal Black

Nepal Black by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Straight
$10.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

Going to start off this review by saying that Nepal Black is really pretty. The dry leaves are huge (for the most part) with just the slightest twist in each leaf. They’re dark with some golden tips for some of the leaves, pretty indeed! The dry tea has a bit of plum in the scent, I find, along with some woody notes, and honey – it reminds me a lot of an Assam because there’s some malty notes in the fragrance of the dry tea. Even a small amount of this tea takes up a lot of volume in the bags – which helps to prevent leaves from being crushed and broken.

The ingredients for Nepal Black are simple: black tea from Nepal. Easy to remember, given the name of the tea.

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Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping in 96C water for 4-7 minutes. I steeped for about 4 minutes.

First Taste

Nepal Black steeps to a beautiful golden orange colour, and it smells just as the dry leaf did: a little bit of honey, some plum, and then rounding it out with some smokiness and woody notes. The little bit of honeyed taste to the tea makes it just a touch sweet and it does really well without the addition of sweetener (of course, you are welcome to add some to personal taste – I just find it sweet enough). It’s a very pleasant tea, I know a lot of the time when black teas are steeped in too hot of water or for too long, it ends up being very bitter – this is not the case for Nepal Black. Granted, I only steeped for four minutes, which is on the low end of the time range they offered.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped Nepal Black twice. The first resteep resulted in a very similar pot of tea as the first in terms of strength of the aroma and flavour. The second resteep was lacking the natural honeyed taste and the other mix of flavours were starting to wane. I would say that Nepal Black is good for one more steep only, although the second resteep is still an okay cup of tea.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved DavidsTea’s Nepal Black. One of the things that I really enjoyed about Nepal Black is the complexity of the tea in terms of the flavours that I can pick out from a straight tea. It’s enjoyable, it resteeps at least once well. There’s a great mixture of flavours that mingle well together on the tongue, and it is an overall just good cup of tea. I would recommend trying it if you’re looking for a black tea to add to your tea cupboard, I certainly like it and will definitely steep this one again.

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DavidsTea’s Monk’s Blend

Monk’s Blend by DavidsTea
White Tea, Oolong Tea, & Green Tea / Flavoured
$11.50 for 50g

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First Impressions

Monk’s Blend got me curious before I even smelled the tea because of the description on the DavidsTea website. Monk’s Blend is a blend of white, green, and milk oolong teas – which is interesting in itself as I’ve tried other teas called Monk’s Blend before, but those have always been flavoured black teas.

Monk’s Blend has this nice mixture of smells – there’s the light floral notes of jasmine, mixed with the smell that reminds me of heavy cream of butter. DavidsTea’s version of Monk’s Blend consists of white tea, milk oolong tea, jasmine green tea pearls, and natural milk flavouring.

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Preparation

DavidsTea’s recommendation for steeping Monk’s Blend is to steep in hot water for 4 to 7 minutes. According to the website (not the label), “hot” is 75-80°C (167-176°F). That steeping time is much too long (in my opinion). White teas should be steeped for 2-5 minutes, oolong for 2-3 minutes, and green teas for 1-3 minutes. I opted to do the first steep of Monk’s Blend for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Monk’s Blend steeps to a pale greeny-yellow colour in two minutes. There’s a really nice buttery quality to the smell that mingles well with the floral. I can definitely taste a grassy flavour, as well as sweet jasmine and the buttery cream from the oolong. The buttery quality to the flavour isn’t as rich as from Guangzhou Milk Oolong, but it is still quite rich and pleasant. It’s a mix of flavours that play well together and is a pleasant cup of tea. Steeping for two minutes resulted in a smooth cup of tea with no bitterness.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped this tea for an additional four steeps. The buttery cream flavour in the tea starts to wane with the more steeps done, but the floral and grassy components of the flavour are more prominent with subsequent steepings. I added an additional 30 seconds per steep. Monk’s Blend becomes a deeper yellow when you steep it for a longer period of time.

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My Overall Impression

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I liked DavidsTea’s Monk’s Blend. I found this tea to be very interesting – in part because it’s such an interesting mix of teas and because it isn’t a flavoured black tea like I was expecting from the name of the tea. I love the complexity in the flavours of this tea, you can definitely pick out the flavours that each tea base brings to the cup which is very enjoyable. I think that DavidsTea does need to correct the recommended steeping time for this tea, 4 minutes is far too long for most of these teas (but especially for the green tea). While allowing the jasmine green tea pearls to unfurl is important, allowing them to do so for far too long is a detriment to the tea itself. Nobody likes bitter tea, especially when it can be prevented! If you do try Monk’s Blend, I would recommend steeping for short periods of time, and do many steeps. It resteeps very well and can make many cups of tea from the same tea leaves.

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