Tag: DavidsTea

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DavidsTea’s Lychee Bellini

Lychee Bellini by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Lychee Bellini was one of those purchases made on a whim, and also because I was quite hopeful that it would be similar enough to another lychee flavoured black tea blend from DavidsTea that’s long been discontinued (Peachy Lychee). Lychee is a great little fruit – super sweet, floral, with such a juicy flesh to the fruit. It’s so good. But this isn’t a lychee fruit, it’s Lychee Bellini and it is a black tea blend. It comes in a very familiar silver pouch – sealed, resealable, with a navy blue label on the front with the white text. I’ve mentioned before not being a huge fan of the small print… I’m still not a fan of the small print, but what’s a girl to do?

The smell of the dry leaf is amazing. It’s fruity with some fun things that I can pick out – like the pineapple and lychee! It’s definitely fruity, reminds me of a tropical punch – very inviting, very eager to try it. A bit sad that there’s no peach in it so I can pretend it’s a Peachy Lychee dupe. Lychee Bellini consists of: apple, black tea, mango, pineapple, hibiscus, strawberries, lychee granules, natural and artificial flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Lychee Bellini in 95°C (200°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I opted to follow the steeping directions and did a steep for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Lychee Bellini steeps to a deep pink colour thanks to the hibiscus! It has a great aroma to it – very fruit and floral, I definitely taste the lychee in it! Which is great, because that’s the part that I was most looking forward to. The mango and apple are both noticeable as well, although I’m not sure if I really taste the pineapple or not. The black tea sort of lingers in the background, but that’s where I expected it to be given the other ingredients in the mix.

I also tried it iced as well and it’s pretty darn good too!

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Lychee Bellini, but found that the fruity flavours that I enjoyed with the initial steep weren’t very present in the first resteep. I would recommend steeping Lychee Bellini just the one time.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Lychee Bellini. I think it was pleasant when I tried it hot, but the fruity flavours really shined when I had it iced. This is definitely a tea to have iced in the summer, maybe with a splash of lemonade or a squeeze of a lemon wedge in there. I think if you were to sweeten it, I would recommend honey to help accent the sweetness of the lychee. Definitely not a dupe of Peachy Lychee, but it is a lychee black tea blend that stands out on its own.

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DavidsTea’s Tropic Tango

Tropic Tango by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Tropic Tango was an online exclusive that I had purchased a while ago from DavidsTea. Like quite a few people, I no longer super close to several retail locations, which honestly bums me out! But it just gives me an excuse to pick up exclusives that aren’t available in store since, why not? Tropic Tango comes in a familiar sealed, resealable silver pouch with a bright yellow product label across the front. The thing that really made me want to try it was the ingredients list when I read it (mostly because it includes mango and coconut and just sounds delicious).

Tropic Tango consists of apple, candied papaya, candied mango, hibiscus blossoms, natural flavouring, beetroot, carrot, coconut and cornflower blossoms. The ingredients are fairly identifable. Tropic Tango smells primarily like the coconut because it’s just such a strong aroma that it overtakes the other ingredients fairly easily – papaya and mango are just milder in comparison. I do smell the mango in the blend, but the papaya is definitely a bit lost compared to the coconut.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Tropic Tango in 95°C (200°F) water for 5+ minutes. I followed the recommended water temperature and did an initial steep of Tropic Tango for 7 minutes.

First Taste

Tropic Tango steeps to a really pretty peachy pink (although it is much deeper in my teapot!). It has a great coconut aroma to it. The flavour is sweet and fruity with just a hint of tartness. I really taste the coconut and mango, there’s some sweetness to it that likely comes from all the candied fruit and the apple. There’s a bit of an oil slick across the top, which comes from the natural oils of the coconut itself. The tartness I attribute to the hibiscus, and I think it’s lovely. This is definitely a blend made for having iced, and I’m looking forward to warmer temperatures as I start getting my iced tea pitchers on regular rotation in my fridge.

A Second Cup?

I did attempt to resteep Tropic Tango, but like most tisanes, Tropic Tango does fall a bit flat in the flavour department during the second steep with the same leaves. I would recommend Tropic Tango for just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Tropic Tango. The aroma of the dry leaf, the colour of the steeped tea, and the cup of tea that I got from this tisane was tasty – I think Tropic Tango will make a great iced tea for this summer and I’ll likely mix it with a splash of lemonade from some added freshness and brightness to help quench the thirst. The thing that really didn’t make this a favourite off the bat was the fact that the coconut was just so overpowering compared to the other tropic ingredients (papaya and mango) – I would have enjoyed it a lot better if the mango was more forward, either just being more plentiful in the ratio compared to the other ingredients, or just the coconut cut back on.

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DavidsTea’s Cream of Earl Grey Matcha

Cream of Earl Grey Matcha by DavidsTea
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$9.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Cream of Earl Grey Matcha was one of those purchases I did because I had decided to get the Earl Grey Matcha already so… why not? Full disclosure, I’m not a huge fan of most Cream of Earl Grey tea blends. I find there just to be something a little bit off about it that doesn’t make me enjoy it as much as I do a ‘plain’ Earl Grey blend. Which is a bit interesting, since I love trying out inspired by Earl Grey blends that have an assortment of other ingredients added into it (e.g. lavender, rose, orange). What can I say? I guess I’m occasionally a contradiction.

That said, I really do smell the Earl Grey in this Cream of Earl Grey Matcha. In comparison to Earl Grey Matcha, the bergamot is not as strong and there’s a bit of creamy or buttery quality in the aroma, which isn’t unexpected. Cream of Earl Grey Matcha consists of: cane sugar, matcha green, natural (cream, Earl Grey) flavouring. The colour is a nice spring green, there’s not a whole lot of sparkle in it despite consisting of cane sugar.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends whisking Cream of Earl Grey Matcha in 85°C (185°F) water. I followed the preparation instructions.

The nice thing about a matcha drink mix is that it easily mixes in heated water. You don’t necessarily need a fancy whisk to make it work.

First Taste

Cream of Earl Grey Matcha isn’t the prettiest green colour when mixed into heated water. It has a bit of yellow-green colour to it that reminds me an awful lot of pea soup. It does settle somewhat quick, which was surprising to me, and I needed to give it a stir to get the colour more uniform throughout. It was easy to suspend into the water though, and there were zero clumps despite not sifting the powder. The aroma is that of Earl Grey, the flavour is a creamy Earl Grey with some grassy undertones from the matcha, but the cane sugar is very prevalent and the sweetness does overpower the matcha throughout each sip. It’s definitely a sweet drink!

I couldn’t resist turning Cream of Earl Grey Matcha into a latte. It definitely helped it out a bit – adding even more creamy flavour and tempering down the sweetness that the cane sugar naturally brings to each cup. It made it more of a treat and made for a nice twist on a London Fog.

A Second Cup?

As Cream of Earl Grey Matcha is a suspension, there was no second preparation with the same powder.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Cream of Earl Grey Matcha. I was pleasantly surprised by Cream of Earl Grey Matcha, mostly because I’m not generally a fan of Cream of Earl Grey preparations. I found that the flavour to be nice, but I did find myself wishing for more of the bergamot to shine through over the cream notes in the drink. I greatly enjoyed it as a matcha latte, and definitely think that I would have it again as a latte drink over having it straight up, as I do think that the cane sugar was added with a heavy hand. Overall, I found it tasted like Earl Grey, with a big helping of cream and just hints of matcha throughout. It’d definitely be perfect for the match and Earl Grey fan with a huge sweet tooth.

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