Tag: Herbal/Fruit Infusion

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DavidsTea’s Strawberry Colada

Strawberry Colada by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Strawberry Colada was a purchase I made during DavidsTea online sale. This fruity blend is a tisane, the aroma is bright and fruity – I can smell coconut, strawberry and pineapple. The pieces of fruit are huge and honestly seems like a lot of large chunks. The description suggests having it over crushed ice with rum.

Strawberry Colada consists of: hibiscus, rosehip shells, apple, pineapple, coconut, strawberry, natural and artificial flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Strawberry Colada in ‘near-boiling’ water for 4 to 7 minutes. I opted to steep in 100°C (212°F) water for 7 minutes.

First Taste

Strawberry Colada steeps to a very bright pink – a colour that I know and love from hibiscus. The aroma is very fruity. The flavour of Strawberry Colada is very strong – much like a punch to the taste buds with a mix of sweet, tart, and fruity. I enjoyed it hot, but I enjoyed it even more iced! The flavour is very strong when steeped for a solid 7 minutes.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Strawberry Colada, but found that it didn’t resteep well (which I’m not terribly surprised at given the fact that it’s a tisane).

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Strawberry Colada. I found the flavour was great – I enjoyed it the most when iced. I think it’d be a great tisane to have cold steeped (or hot steeped), and definitely would recommend it iced and perhaps with a splash of lemonade or soda water to bring more of a summer feel to it. The flavour is definitely quite intense and full of fruity flavour, and I think allowing it to steep for the full 7 minutes is the best course of action to get all of that flavour of it it since tisanes don’t often resteep well.

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DavidsTea’s Blue Lagoon

Blue Lagoon by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

First Impressions

I picked up Blue Lagoon on a whim during the Semi-Annual Sale on the DavidsTea website. It was on sale as the blend was being retired – and at the time of writing no longer available on the website, but I know there are a lot of Facebook groups where people resell bags of sealed tea… Blue Lagoon comes in the familiar sealed, resealable silver foil bag with a yellow label that gives me all the information about this tea.

On first sniff of this fruity blend, the first thing I think is that there is a lot of fruit in the mix. The aroma is very fruity, and the majority of what I can make out is the berries – blueberries specifically. Blue Lagoon consist of: candied pineapple, blueberries, lemongrass, elderberries, cornflower petals, natural and artificial flavourings. This fruit blend also consists of sulphites, which is used to help maintain shelf longevity in food.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping at 200°F (95°C) for 4 to 7 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 7 minutes.

First Taste

Blue Lagoon steeps to an interesting colour that I wasn’t quite expecting from a fruity infusion – a reddish brown. Honestly, it was a bit off-putting when I first came back to it after the long steep time. The aroma is very sweet and and fruity, which does match the taste of the blend. I can taste berries and pineapple, and a large amount of sweetness – it’s almost too sweet for me.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Blue Lagoon but found the second steep of the same leaves to be very watery and tasteless in comparison the initial steep. I would recommend Blue Lagoon for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that DavidsTea’s Blue Lagoon was just okay. Blue Lagoon stays consistent throughout for me – smelling and tasting fruity and sweet. I think it was just too sweet for me, even though I am a self-proclaimed sweet tooth. The colour was a bit off-putting, but it’s the sweetness that really killed it for me. I think this would be a great candidate to cold steep or mix with minimally sweetened lemonade, because the acidity would help balance against the sweetness from the candied pineapple and berries.

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President’s Choice’s Chocolatey Chai

Chocolatey Chai by President’s Choice
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$2.97 for 44g (20 tea bags)

First Impressions

I picked up Chocolatey Chai on a whim when I was grocery shopping and there’s a few reasons why this purchase is out of character for me. I haven’t purchased a bagged grocery store tea in a while and I tend not to like chocolate flavoured teas so I bought it, not sure why sometimes – but here we are!

Chocolatey Chai came in a cardstock box, the individually wrapped tea bags come in paper packaging. The aroma of the tisane is quite chocolatey with spices – which definitely make me think that the name is accurate. I ripped the tea bags open to take a look inside. Very tiny pieces all around. Chocolatey Chai consists of: roasted chicory root, carob pod, spices, cocoa shells, natural flavour, ginger root, licorice root, and cocoa.

Preparation

President’s Choice recommends boiling water (100°C/212°F) water, allowing the water to rest for 1 minute, and then steeping Chocolatey Chai for 3 to 5 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions and did a steep for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Chocolatey Chai steeps to a deep brown, with a slight oil slick on top. The flavour is a mix of slightly bitter, sweet, and spicy. I definitely get a ‘chai’ feel from this tisane blend – there was a pleasant warming sensation from the ginger and the other non-described spices. I think there is some cinnamon in there, and perhaps cloves? The image on the packaging seems to suggest this, and I do think I might be tasting that. I didn’t find the taste of the chocolate to be very strong, a heavier hand with the cocoa might be needed to have a strong chocolate flavour.

I did try Chocolatey Chai with some milk and found that it really made it creamier and reminded me more of a spiced hot chocolate.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Chocolatey Chai and found that the flavour was quite weak compared to the initial steep. I would recommend steeping Chocolatey Chai just the one time.

My Overall Impression

I thought that President’s Choice’s Chocolatey Chai was just okay. I think that the aroma of the dry leaf was more enticing than the steeped tisane. The spices came through nicely, but the taste of chocolate wasn’t strong enough for my liking – and I do like chocolate! I think that the tisane works much better with a bit of milk to make it more of a latte. I do wish the chocolate came through more, because it seemed present in the dry leaf and it’s one of the features of the tisane that I wanted to experience the most.

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