Tag: Herbal/Fruit Infusion

Sleigh Ride by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

First Impressions

I wasn’t sure what to think when I pulled out day 18 of the 24 Days of Tea and saw that it was Sleigh Ride. I’m 90% sure that I’ve tried it in store before, but it’s hard for me to remember since I’ve sampled so many teas in the past. The first thing that I thought when smelling the dry tea is that it smells like the red heart cinnamon candy that is very commonly found around Valentine’s Day. Sleigh Ride has that spicy cinnamon smell to it, and I can’t really make out the rest of the ingredients.

Sleigh Ride is a mix of: apple, hibiscus blossoms, pineapple, papaya, beetroot, cinnamon, raisins, coconut, roasted almonds, popped rice, natural and artificial flavouring.

Preparation

The recommendations for Sleigh Ride are to steep in near-boiling water (90-95°C/194-203°F) for 4 to 7 minutes. I steeped for about 5 minutes. Sleigh Ride is a fairly bulky tea with its ingredients, I used the entire tin to steep my cup of tea.

First Taste

Sleigh Ride steeps to a beautiful deep pink that reminds me a lot of Bear Trap or Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait. There’s a very strong cinnamon smell to this tea, and it tastes like cinnamon as well. There’s a mix of sweet fruity flavours and some sourness to it as well. The sour notes aren’t very pleasant. Sleigh Ride is weird to me, because some sips tastes like apple cinnamon and that’s just delicious, the others are just sour and tart and makes me unhappy. This isn’t something that really evokes the feelings of winter or snowy days to me, which is what I think they were trying to aim for with a name like Sleigh Ride.

I did add some sweetener to this one (honey) and it does help to temper that sourness that I’ve tasted in the tea.

A Second Cup?

I don’t resteep fruit infusions, Sleigh Ride wasn’t an exception to that rule.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like DavidsTea’s Sleigh Ride. The sourness to this tea isn’t pleasant. Perhaps it’d be better as an iced tea? I find that the sour notes don’t help to endure me to this tea, and I think there have been better fruit infusions in the 24 Days of Tea calendar so far.

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

First Impressions

I was excited to see Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait as the tea of the day for day 16 of the 24 Days of Tea advent calendar because it’s one of those teas that I’ve always wanted to try, but hadn’t gotten around to buying just yet. There’s this amazingly sweet and fruity smell to this tea that mingles well with the natural tartness of the rhubarb that I can make out. It essentially smells like strawberry rhubarb pie filling, which I think is just delicious.

Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait is made up out: apple, hibiscus, raisins, carrot, yoghurt bits, beetroot, strawberry, rhubarb, and natural and artificial flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait in near-boiling water (90-95°C/194-203°F) for 4 to 7 minutes. I wound up steeping the entire tin’s worth of tea for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait does not disappoint in the colour department as it steeps to a beautiful deep pink. There’s a nice natural sweetness to the tea that is well balanced with the tartness from the hibiscus and the rhubarb. The flavours of strawberry and rhubarb are both well represented in this tea, and it tastes exactly like one would expect with the name of the blend. It’s quite enjoyable.

Because Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait is so fruity, I think it would make an excellent iced tea or tea pop candidate. I wound up putting some ice cubes into my cup and I’m pleased to say that it makes a great iced tea. If it’s a bit too tart for you, I would add some sweetener to it prior to cooling it down (honey or agave would be a great choice!).

A Second Cup?

I don’t resteep herbal or fruit infusions, so I did not resteep Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait. I can definitely see why it’s considered a Fan Favourite out of their whole tea collection. I greatly appreciate the fact that the smell of tea before and after steeping is very similar, and it tastes as expected. It has a great flavour to it, the tartness leads to some mouth puckering that isn’t unpleasant. This is definitely a blend that would be best suited as an iced tea or a tea pop, but it is still good as a hot cup of tea. I think that Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait would be good year-round, and I may need to get my hands on some more now that my tin is emptied.

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Bear Trap by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

First Impressions

It’s Day 12 of the 24 Days of Tea advent calendar and today’s tea is Bear Trap. Kind of an odd-sounding name for a tea, but I don’t come up with these names! It is a very sweet and fruity smelling mix, with some strong berry flavours. Aside from some dried leafy looking ingredients, this blend looks like it could be easily incorporated into some granola to be turned into a trail mix.

Bear Trap consists of: hibiscus, elder berries, rose hip shells, apple, papaya, lemon verbena, black currants, blueberries, strawberry leaves, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, morello cherries, and natural red fruit flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Bear Trap in near-boiling water (90-95°C/194-203°F) for 4 to 7 minutes. I steeped mine for close to 5 minutes.

First Taste

Bear Trap is a very pink tea, more so than Forever Nuts is. It gets to be a very deep, almost red, pink, and it steeps to have a very strong fruity/berry smell to it. It smells heavily of cherries, I think that the cherries overpower the other fruits in terms of who wins in the fragrance war. On first taste, Bear Trap is quite tart. There is a sweetness to the blend, but I think overall it leans towards being to the side of tartness. The taste of Bear Trap isn’t overly strong of cherries though, it tastes quite like a strawberry fruit punch might. I feel that Bear Trap would benefit a lot from some sweetener mixed in to calm the natural tartness that the hibiscus adds to this fruity infusion.

A Second Cup?

I did not resteep Bear Trap (I normally don’t with herbal/fruit infusions).

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Bear Trap. I think that Bear Trap is quite tart, although the fruity flavours are definitely present. This is a blend that would highly benefit from having some added sweetener (perhaps some honey to further trap some bears?). I feel that Bear Trap would make an excellent iced tea or tea pop (concentrated tea mixed with some carbonated water), and it would be a great summer time/warm weather drink. It’s tasty, but I don’t think it does well as a ‘winter’ drink.

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