Tag: DavidsTea

Posted on

DavidsTea’s Glitter & Gold

Glitter & Gold by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.90 for 50g

20151030-davidsteaglitterandgold1

First Impressions

Glitter & Gold is a very pretty tea. From the gold star sprinkles to the large sugar granules, it’s just a very pretty tea. When I first took a whiff of Glitter & Gold, I was intrigued. I can smell the cloves, it smells sweet, there’s an underlying scent of citrus that is almost like oranges, and the overall base of the scent is tea. All in all, it reminds me a bit when I’m baking a cake and adding in zest from some kind of citrus fruit. There are some vanilla tones to the fragrance, which makes the tea intriguing as a whole.

20151030-davidsteaglitterandgold2

The ingredients for this tea are: Chinese black tea, lemon peel, sugar sprinkles, sugar, cloves, natural & artificial flavouring. The tea definitely smells like its ingredients, aside from the vanilla (although that may be part of the natural & artificial flavouring, but vanilla is not mentioned on the website).

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Glitter & Gold in 96°C (204°F) water for 4-7 minutes.

First Taste

20151030-davidsteaglitterandgold3

The tea smells like cloves, lemons, and just an overall sweet aroma to the steeped tea. It’s a beautiful golden orange colour, like many black teas. The golden sprinkles didn’t fully dissolve in the 5-6 minutes that I steeped it for, I can still see remnants of golden star sprinkles in the tea filter I made up.

The taste is quite pleasant. It has a bit of an oily mouthfeel to it, which I would attribute to the sprinkles (there’s oils in the sprinkles!) but it isn’t bad. The tea is smooth, it has a great light lemon flavour to it and the cloves just add a nice punch of flavour to the tea itself. Because of the sugar and the sprinkles, Glitter & Gold is a sweet tea but it isn’t overly sweet – I would not put it in the same category as dessert teas. Glitter & Gold actually reminds me a lot of Pumpkin Chai, it has a similar flavour profile just less the pumpkin and add in the lemon. Delicious!

A Second Cup?

Glitter & Gold did alright with the second steeping, which I did for about 7 minutes. It’s still got a sweetness to it with the light lemon flavour coupled with the cloves. I quite enjoyed it, but it isn’t as fragrant as the first cup.

My Overall Impression

rating4

I loved DavidsTea’s Glitter & Gold. It’s a very pleasant tea with a great aroma. The lemon isn’t overpowering, but still present, and the cloves just add a great flavour to the tea itself. I think with the ingredients, this tea makes a great autumn/winter tea because it’s just reminiscent of the traditional smells of the season. Plus it’s just very pretty and it makes a delicious cup of tea!

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Posted on

DavidsTea’s Butterfly Jasmine

Butterfly Jasmine by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Flavoured
$19.90 for 50g

20151027-davidsteabutterflyjasmine1

First Impressions

This is an expensive tea. Especially when you consider the fact that it is a jasmine green tea (and I have reviewed a few other ones since beginning One More Steep that are considerably less expensive). That said, Butterfly Jasmine has a lovely name. I originally got my 50g of Butterfly Jasmine as part of DavidsTea’s Frequent Steeper program. For every 100 points you earn per quarter, you get 1 Frequent Steeper reward – which is 50g of any one loose leaf tea. As each dollar you spend earns you one point, the more you spend, the more rewards you get. I tend to choose the more expensive teas when I’m choosing my rewards, mostly because I usually can’t justify it otherwise. And now back to the tea…

20151027-davidsteabutterflyjasmine2

Butterfly Jasmine is a green tea, the ingredients are: Chinese green tea from Fujian Province scented with jasmine petals. The description for the tea states that the “leaves are hand-shaped in the form of small butterflies”. I don’t really see it, mostly because the imagery I think of when thinking butterflies is an insect with wings. However, the tea leaves are manipulated by hand, they’re uniform in size and shape. The aroma from my bag is very floral – the jasmine scent isn’t too over whelming but its presence can definitely be noted. It has a sweet undertone to the floral scent, and it’s very pleasant.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Butterfly Jasmine in water that is 85°C (185°F) for 3-4 minutes. Because I expect the butterflies to unfurl and to expand when steeping, I opted to not use my Perfect Spoon to measure out a full spoonful – instead I filled the spoon about half way, which worked out to seven butterflies for my cup of tea.

First Taste

Butterfly Jasmine steeps to a beautiful golden yellow colour. The aroma of the tea is very enticing – there’s the floral scent of the jasmine, as one would expect, but it does have a sweet undertone to it that isn’t over whelming the overall fragrance of the tea itself. The taste? It’s floral and sweet, the taste definitely matched my expectations that were raised by the aroma of the dry leaf and while it was steeping. The tea itself is very smooth, there are no bitter notes to the tea at all, I find it really enjoyable. As a non-herbal tea, I just really wanted to see how it would hold up for one more steep…

20151027-davidsteabutterflyjasmine3

A Second Cup?

The second steep went great! (And so did the third…) The taste of the tea remains quite close to the original steeped cup of tea, Butterfly Jasmine holds up well. By the third cup, the taste was starting to wane from the first two cups, but it was still drinkable. I found all three cups made from the same seven butterflies to be very enjoyable.

My Overall Impression

rating4

I loved DavidsTea’s Jasmine Butterfly. It’s a beautiful tea that has an amazing fragrance and flavour. The only thing that really holds me back from going “Yes, go buy it!” is the fact that it is quite expensive. I almost wish it wasn’t such a great tea because then I wouldn’t want to buy more for my stash when I run out. If you can get it for free (either through the Frequent Steeper rewards program, or another promotion), I would definitely recommend redeeming for it. A little goes a long way with this tea, and it has the added bonus of resteeping well for a green tea. I think it’s worth having a little bag of Butterfly Jasmine around, it has fantastic flavour and it’s an excellent jasmine green tea. It is a luxurious tea, as far as price goes, but it really is wonderful. If you can afford the splurge, or if you just want to pick up a small bag while you’re in store, I’d recommend giving this one a try.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Posted on

DavidsTea’s Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine

Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Flavoured
$7.75 for 50g

20151016-davidsteaorganicsilkdragonjasmine1

First Impressions

Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine is the third rainbow tin I purchased when DavidsTea had the buy-2-get-1-free promotion (the former being Cream of Earl Grey and Birthday Cake). I picked this one because I knew I loved jasmine green teas, so how could I go wrong?

Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine comes in a sturdy metal tin in a bright almost green grass kind of colour. The tea itself comes in a resealable bag, which I greatly appreciate. The leaves themselves aren’t very large, but are decently sized enough that it isn’t like the tea leaf dust that comes in some prepared tea bags. It smells amazing though, there’s quite a strong jasmine scent to the tea, but it is overpowering and I can definitely still make out the tea smell.

20151016-davidsteaorganicsilkdragonjasmine2

This tea has the following ingredients: Chinese green tea from Jiangxi and Fujian Provinces, scented with jasmine flowers. Additionally, the tin boasts that the tea is fair trade certified, USDA organic and Canada organic – just in case you missed the word ‘organic’ in the name of the tea itself.

Preparation

For preparing this tea, DavidsTea recommends using water that is 80C (176F) and to steep for 2-3 minutes. I opted to steep around 2 minutes.

First Taste

The jasmine scene is beautiful when the tea is steeping, and when the tea leaves are removed. There is something distinctly floral about this tea, as one might expect from a jasmine green tea. The tea itself steeps to a yellow-brown colour. The flavour of Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine is quite good, it’s a very smooth tea and I noticed no bitter taste to it. Green teas in general often run the risk of being better if steeped for too long or steeped in water that is too hot – all that bitterness is sure to ruin a cup! Luckily, I watched the clock for this one and I really enjoy it. Because it is a straight tea, I’m looking forward to trying it for one more steep!

20151016-davidsteaorganicsilkdragonjasmine3

A Second Cup?

Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine does not disappoint on steep #2. I would even say it tastes better for cup two than it does for cup one! The flavor is a lot more smoother, and there’s even a light sweetness to the tea that wasn’t there before. It also does quite well for steeps three and four.

My Overall Impression

rating4

I loved DavidsTea’s Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine. It’s not an overly complex tea, but that is what makes it a good tea. It does well when resteeping, the flavour improves, and it’s tasty. While I do love it (and will likely restock my tin when it empties), it is not economical compared to other jasmine green teas. For instance, this tea is $10 for 85g (or $7.75 for 50g if buying loose) when the first tea I reviewed for One More Steep was for Stassen’s Jasmine Green Tea that was $6 for 150g. In my opinion, the quality of the tea is definitely higher for DavidsTea’s Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine, but is it 3x the quality? That’s a little bit more iffy. I love my teas, but it is a bit of a luxury to afford pricier teas. I do really love the Organic Silk Dragon Jasmine though, and I do believe that it resteeps a lot better than Stassen’s.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.