Tag: DavidsTea

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DavidsTea’s Spiced Pumpkin

Spiced Pumpkin by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$7.50 for 50g

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First Impressions

What really excited me about reading the ingredients list for this tea is the delicious sounding ingredients! Pumpkin pieces, honeybush, cinnamon, cocoa shells, maple crystals and natural flavouring. The DavidsTea website tells me that this limited edition tea also has natural whipped cream along with pumpkin pie and maple almond flavouring. These ingredients are not on the label that was printed out at DavidsTea when I bought the tea, which is a bit disconcerting. So if you have any issues with dairy, be forewarned that this may not be the tea for you.

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When I opened the bag and took a big breath in, I can smell the cinnamon and a hint of maple and pumpkin. I don’t really smell anything that would scream ‘cocoa’ at me. It does smell like it would be a bit sweet, I’m really looking forward to trying this tea. I’m not usually very big on herbal teas/infusions – I like my blacks and greens! – but this one smells really good. I got a small amount of this tea just because it’s a limited edition tea and it’s new.

Preparation

DavidsTea has a recommendation for steeping in 96C (204F) water for 4 to 7 minutes.

First Taste

I steeped Spiced Pumpkin for close to 7 minutes mostly because I forgot about it. While it was steeping, there was this beautiful spicy cinnamon aroma from the tea. It’s very pleasant and reminded me quite a bit of pumpkin pie, which I personally really love so I was quite looking forward to the tea. As you can see from the photo, I was using a tea bag filter – the tea filters I currently use are from DavidsTea as I have two packets that came in sets of loose teas.

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It smells amazing, Spiced Pumpkin is a beautiful orange-brown colour. It isn’t particularly spicy at all in terms of flavour, I definitely can taste cinnamon and pumpkin, it’s a very smooth tea. No bitterness, no astringency. I find that the aroma doesn’t quite match the taste though, it definitely smells like pumpkin pie spices but it doesn’t quite taste like it though. I wish it tasted a bit more like it smells, almost like a poorly fulfilled promise.

A Second Cup?

Most herbal infusions don’t do well with steeping again – Spiced Pumpkin is no exception.

My Overall Impression

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I thought that DavidsTea’s Spiced Pumpkin was just okay. It smells amazing, but the taste just doesn’t do it for me. If the taste had been a better match for the amazing fragrance from the tea as it steeped, I would have given it a higher rating. It’s a decent tea, but the taste compared to the pumpkin pie smell was just a let down overall. I think it would do a lot better if it had a stronger spice taste to it – perhaps some nutmeg. It’s an alright tea and it does okay as a pumpkin tea in general – just doesn’t hit all the pumpkin spice notes for me.

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DavidsTea’s Pumpkin Chai

Pumpkin Chai by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.50 for 50g

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First Impressions

I’m a big fan of nice quality tea bags (for storage) – especially like the ones from DavidsTea that keep the air and light out of the bags. One of the nice things about DavidsTea is that they’re usually quite willing to make up little bags of teas if you just want to try something – I think the smallest bag I’ve ever had weighed out was 10g. Pumpkin Chai is one of their seasonal teas and it’s been brought back for several years in a row, according to the internet. It’s quite a sweet smelling black tea. I can definitely smell the cinnamon and it reminds me a lot of pumpkin pie in a way.

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The ingredients include: black tea, cinnamon, cloves, caramel, carrot, lemon peel, pumpkin candies, pumpkin flakes, natural and artificial flavouring. It also includes an allergen warning for milk and soy products. At first glance, I can see cute pumpkins sprinkles as well as pretty big pieces of cinnamon and the pumpkin flakes.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping in 96°C water for 4-7 minutes. As I love chai spicy, I opted to steep the tea until around the 6-7 minute mark.

First Taste

Pumpkin Chai smells really good when it’s done steeping. It smells like a mix of pumpkin spices and tea – which is a good thing given the name of the tea. It’s a beautiful red golden brown colour. When I take my first sip, I definitely get the feel of mouthcoating. The richness in the tea and the oily sensation may be due to the oils in the pumpkin candies. It’s not an off-putting sensation though, and I didn’t get a visible oil slick across the surface of the tea like I did with DavidsTea’s Birthday Cake. The cinnamon flavour is even more pronounced in the steeped tea than it was in dry format. I quite like it and I can see why Pumpkin Chai is popular enough to be brought back year after year. I am curious about how well this tea will do with one more steep because it does contain some ingredients that usually do not do well when steeped again (primarily candies and flavouring).

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A Second Cup?

Surprisingly, Pumpkin Chai did okay on the second steep! It still has a pumpkin aroma and still tastes alright. It’s not as good as it was in the first steep, but it’s hard to expect the added flavouring to hold up for a second steep. I would not expect this tea to hold up very well for a third steep though.

My Overall Impression

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I loved DavidsTea’s Pumpkin Chai. The adorable pumpkin candies and the great smell and flavour make it a must-have for me. I can definitely see myself stocking up on a bit more of this tea in the near future to continue to have some great tasting pumpkin tea throughout the autumn. If you are interested in getting some Pumpkin Chai for yourself, do keep in mind that it is a limited/seasonal tea. I don’t think this tea is for everyone – if you’re not into sprinkles/candies in your teas, or you’re not a fan of artificial colours (because there is nothing naturally colouring those sprinkles to be a bright orange), I’d steer away from this one. I personally really enjoyed Pumpkin Chai though! And I’ve heard that it can be really good as part of a tea latte – as a fan of chai lattes I can see that being true, especially when you consider that chai is traditionally made with milk (or some milk and water) instead of straight water.

As an aside, the tea menu for DavidsTea’s fall 2015 collection has a recipe for “The Ultimate Pumpkin Chai” latte on the back that I will be giving a whirl soon – and writing about it!

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DavidsTea’s Organic Mother’s Little Helper

Organic Mother’s Little Helper by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$7.75 for 50g

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First Impressions

I received my Mother’s Little Helper as part of a DavidsTea gift set (it came with three teas and a travel mug) – the gift set that started my interest in tea. The container is nice and small. It’s a metal tin with a screw-on lid that has a clear window so I can see the tea without opening it. Of course, this exposes tea to light if you don’t put these tins in a box or cabinet. It is a very nice looking tea – there’s clearly flowers and lemongrass in there.

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Opening the tin, I can smell peppermint, it is very strong. Underneath the refreshing mint scent is lemongrass. This tea has an interesting blend of ingredients: peppermint, lemongrass hibiscus, rosehips, chamomile, valerian root, and cornflowers. It also has added peppermint flavouring. It’s a very nice calming mix, I quite like mint for that. Mother’s Little Helper is marketed as a calming tea to help people with unwinding. It definitely has the fragrance to sell that. As a calming, herbal infusion, it is naturally caffeine free.

Preparation

Steeping recommendations by DavidsTea is to steep in 96°C (205°F) water for 4-7 minutes.

First Taste

Steeped for 7 minutes, the tea is a beautiful deep pinkish red colour. The scent of peppermint and lemongrass is very obvious. With a sip, Mother’s Little Helper is minty – that peppermint flavouring is more than enough of a punch the senses. It’s a very relaxing tea, definitely caffeine free because I don’t get that energy I get from drinking other teas. It does have a certain flavour that I find makes my mouth pucker a bit – it’s likely the combination of the valerian root, the lemongrass, and the peppermint. I do find that it makes me feel relaxed (likely due to the valerian root). Valerian root is used in alternative medicine to treat insomnia, it’s no wonder it makes me feel relaxed!

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A Second Cup?

I hardly ever resteep herbal infusions. I did try with this one, the colour was not as deep and the flavouring just was not there. Mother’s Little Helper is really just good for one steep.

My Overall Impression

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I thought that DavidsTea’s Organic Mother’s Little Helper was just okay. Perhaps it’s because I don’t spend my days running after small children or have kids of my own, but it isn’t a tea that I will keep going back to in my tea stash. I think it does have great flavour and does live up to expectations of being a relaxing tea, but it isn’t something that I would necessarily want to have on a regular basis. I still have the rest of my little tin, but I won’t be dipping into it too often. For anyone looking for a really good night time tea, or just searching for a caffeine free herbal infusion, this is a nice one! It’s just not for me.

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