24 Days of Tea: Forever Nuts

Forever Nuts by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

Oh, Forever Nuts – one of my favourite pink teas. I posted a review of Forever Nuts back in January 2016, so I won’t be going in depth on this tea again. There has been an increase in price, and I used the entire contents of the little advent calendar tin for my cup of tea because of the large pieces of this herbal tea mix.

Forever Nuts is made up of: apple, almonds, cinnamon, beetroot, and artificial flavouring.

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Preparation

The preparation for Forever Nuts is to steep in near-boiling water for 4-7 minutes (same for both packaging and online product page), where near-boiling water is 90-95°C/194-203°F.

First Taste

I quite enjoy Forever Nuts, it’s not my first time trying it. I love the fact that it turns a surprising shade of pink and there’s a heavy fragrance. I’ve noticed that this little tin has more almond smell to it than when I’ve previously steeped Forever Nuts. I think it may be because the tin had more almonds in it compared to other ingredients.

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I find Forever Nuts to have a sweetness to it, so I don’t bother adding any sweetener to it. However, my favourite way of preparing Forever Nuts is as a tea latte. I have a tutorial on here about how to make tea lattes at home without fancy equipment.

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A Second Cup?

I do not resteep herbal infusions, Forever Nuts is not an exception.

My Overall Impression

3cups-2

I liked DavidsTea’s Forever Nuts. From the colour to the flavour, it’s clear why Forever Nuts is considered to be a DavidsTea Fan Favourite when it comes to their extensive tea wall. The one thing that really keeps it from being a 4 cup rating for me is the fact that it’s not a tea that I reach for or think about enough to want to keep it in constant rotation in my tea stash. It is a fantastic blend though, and I like keeping a little bit of it around because it’s such a fun tea to have on hand to offer to guests.

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

24 Days of Tea: Apple Cider

Apple Cider by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

For Day 6 of the 24 Days of Tea advent calendar, it was Apple Cider. I really quite like apple teas, one of my favourites is Honeycrisp Apple. Apple Cider, on the other hand, smells like apples and vanilla icing – the kind you can buy in can that comes premixed so all you have to do is slather it over a cake. The tea mix in this little calendar tin is chock full of apple pieces, and despite the vanilla icing smell to it, I’m eager to give it a try.

Apple Cider is made up of: apple, apple pomace, sweet blackberry leaves, apple flavouring, artificial vanilla and cream flavouring.

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Preparation

The calendar packaging suggests steeping Apple Cider in near-boiling water for 4 to 7 minutes, which does match what it says on the product page. Near-boiling water is 90-95°C (194-203°F). I steeped Apple Cider for 6 minutes.

First Taste

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Apple Cider steeps to a nice golden yellow colour, and there is this sweet apple aroma that wafts up from my cup that is quite enjoyable to just inhale. For the apple infusion itself, I find that it has a great sweet apple taste. The one thing that I find very lacking in it is the spices. When I think of apple cider, I often think of mulled apple cider so I was really hoping for some cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in the flavour profile. This Apple Cider is sadly lacking in all of that and I do wish that I had steeped it with some cinnamon to give it more of a mulled apple cider flavour.

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A Second Cup?

I do not resteep herbal infusions.

My Overall Impression

3cups-2

I liked DavidsTea’s Apple Cider. It has a great sweetness to it that doesn’t taste artificial, and the apple flavour itself is quite tasty. If it had more of the spices that I associate with apple cider, I would have given it a higher rating. It’s not a bad version of apple cider, but it isn’t quite what I was expecting (or hoping for).

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

24 Days of Tea: Organic Serenity Now

Organic Serenity Now by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

Day 4 of the 24 Days of Tea advent calendar is Organic Serenity Now. It’s a very, very, very floral and fruity smelling tea. This is not something that I would have necessarily picked out for myself, mostly because of the overly sweet combination flowers (in particular lavender) and fruit. I can see the lavender buds, the dried fruit, and other dried flowers.

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The ingredients in Organic Serenity Now are: currants, rosehips, lavender, spearmint, blueberries, quince, apple, hibiscus, rose petals, strawberries, natural rose water, and strawberry flavouring.

Preparation

The packaging from the 24 Days of Tea recommends steeping Organic Serenity Now in “near-boiling water” for 4 to 7 minutes (this is the same as what is stated on the product page on their website). Near-boiling water is 90-95°C (194-203°F), I used the “French Press” option on my Breville IQ Kettle, and I steeped the Organic Serenity Now for about 6 minutes.

First Taste

Organic Serenity Now steeps to a deep pink. There was quite a bit of debris from the tea at the bottom of my mug even with using a stainless steel tea infuser, so I would recommend using a tea filter instead if you’re not one for having ‘stuff’ in your tea.

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Organic Serenity Now has a very strong floral smell to it that leans heavily towards lavender. I found that it has a very strong lavender taste to it that overpowers the other ingredients in this mix. I ended up pouring out half of the tea that I had steeped.

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A Second Cup?

I generally do not resteep herbal infusions, I did not resteep Organic Serenity Now.

My Overall Impression

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I didn’t like DavidsTea’s Organic Serenity Now. There is just something off-putting about a mug full of tea that smells like and tastes like lavender. I generally associate lavender with fancy soaps, not with my teas.

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