Tea Time Thursday: Black Tea: Orange Pekoe

Black Tea: Orange Pekoe

Ingredients: Black tea from Sri Lanka and India

     

     OKAY. I officially have taste buds back after a horrible cold/flu/sinus death. So back to Tea Time!! 

     Orange Pekoe is a complete misnomer. It doesn't actually have any orange flavoring whatsoever so just be forewarned if you're expecting this to taste like a Terry's Chocolate orange or something. It's actually a grading system reserved for the 'finest of black teas'. 

     But in this case....I kind of doubt that. Tea from David's usually has a very noticeable scent when you open the packaging, this one I really didn't get a whiff of anything. No deep earthy smell, nothing. 

     I love my black teas plain - no sugar added. Especially with an orange pekoe which should have a hint of bitterness and a slight earthy sweetness to it. But this one was really nothing special unfortunately. After steeping for the appropriate time and temperature it just wasn't wowing. It was drinkable, but there wasn't much bitterness or a sweet finish. Basically it was hot water with a hint of your basic black tea. 

Overall: 2/5 Tepid Cups of Tea

I'm seriously not going to remember this tea after I finish writing this.

Tea Time Thursday: Oolong Tea: Happy Kombucha

Oolong Tea: Happy Kombucha

DAVIDsTEA

Ingredients: Oolong tea, pineapple cubes, mango cubes, mango, pineapple, Kombucha Powder, safflower petals, artificial flavouring.

     After a long hiatus I'm finally back to doing Tea Time Thursday, and I was lucky enough to get a few DAVIDsTea samples in the mail from Karen at For What It's Worth reviews and this first one that I decided to try was the perfect mid winter pick me up (it's been -30C/-22F for the past week *burrrr*). 

     I had no idea what Kombucha is...so I Googled it and came up with this explanation: a symbiotic relationship of Yeast and Bacteria that ferments in a sweetened tea - could be slightly alcoholic but then I came up with this conflicting search that it might actually be dried kelp which makes just as much sense. Either way I think these might turn normal people off this tea, but the good news is that it's DELICIOUS! If there is yeast/bacteria (which is likely probiotic and good for you anyways) or kelp I couldn't even tell that it was in there. 

     The Oolong's earthy bitter flavor is prominent but tempered by the sweetness of all the dried fruit. Together it kind of tastes like the Trident Wild Strawberry and Tangy Citrus Layers gum (I don't know why all these teas taste like some kind of gum to me, I chew a lot of gum apparently). No sugar is required (it's too sweet if you do) and it's much better hot than cold. Just be sure not too over-steep this tea or it will become bitter and leave that weird coating in your mouth from the tannins. 

Overall: 4/5 Hot Cups of Tea

This is delicious sipping tea that I don't think I'd ever get tired of, right up there with Pineapple Oolong.

David's Tea markets this as a hippy/hipster resurgence tea so...mellow out dudes?

     

Tea Time Thursday: Green Tea: Movie Night

Green Tea: Movie Night

Ingredients: Apple, Sencha-style green tea, popped corn, artificial flavouring.

     

     You know when you pop a fresh bag of popcorn, or when you walk into the theatre and that instantly recognizable scent of buttery popcorn hits you - that's what you get when you get a whiff of this. When brewed it keeps a light crisp flavour, and it's sweetened with the apple. Although I'm pretty positive that the popcorn doesn't actually do anything but absorb water, and that most of the popcorn taste comes from the artificial flavouring. 

     I'm not the biggest fan of popcorn. It and my teeth just do not get along. But when it's hot and fresh like the first few minutes of this tea it can be a a great treat when lightly steeped. I cannot stress this enough, I left it took long and the fake popcorn taste just overpowered it and because the flavour is so blatantly faked, mixing it with green tea just made it strange. This tea is definitely something that needs to be enjoyed hot, once it got cold I couldn't stand it - it nails the smell and taste of stale week old popcorn right on the head though. 

Overall: 2/5 Cups of Tepid Tea

It was okay for the first few sips, but then the novelty wore off and just got worse as it got colder. I'll give them props for ingenuity but it's definitely not one I want to repeat again.

Tea Time Thursday: Black Tea: Toasted Marshmallow

DAVIDsTEA

Black Tea: Toasted Marshmallow

Ingredients: Black Tea, Marshmallows, Brittle candy, cinnamon, allspice, roasted Kukicha green tea & natural flavoring

     The last of the fall long weekends are quickly passing by, everyone's making their last trips to the lake and to camp. When we go camping there's always a cozy fire to snuggle up next to and where there's fire there's always marshmallows! Deliciously gooey when heated up and perfectly paired with chocolate. I don't think that I've ever successfully 'toasted' a marshmallow....mine usually come out as a flaming ball of molten sugar that everyone deftly dodges when I'm around. So I guess I'll have to settle for Toasted Marshmallow Tea instead!

     The mingling of green and black tea make a neutral and refreshing base for the spices to really come to life. But what really makes this tea is the delicious nutty brittle pieces and marshmallow that sweeten the tea perfectly! But this tea is even better when infused in steaming hot milk (latte style)and topped with a few extra marshmallows.

Overall: 5/5 Steaming Hot Cups of Tea!

This is a campfire snuggle staple!

Tea Time Thursday: Black Tea: Love Tea #7

DAVIDsTEA

Black Tea: Love Tea #7

Ingredients: Chinese Black Tea, dark chocolate, freeze dried strawberry, red rose petals, natural and artificial flavoring.

    I think I'm utterly in love with this tea...and that might be the tea working its magic. It has everything stereotypically associated with love; the chocolate, strawberries and red roses, but damn if it doesn't work! 

    Immediately you can taste the dark chocolate melting in your mouth, and mingling with the sweetness of the strawberries. Then you get that distinctive scent of roses brought forward with the bitterness of the black tea. It's absolutely perfect on its own - no additions necessary. 

    With a medium caffeine content, it's a great compliment to sip with a pancake or waffle breakfast, or with dessert after a romantic supper with your significant other... who knows maybe the tea will work its magic? 

Overall: 5/5 Steaming HOT Cups of Tea!

Loved it! Chocolate, caffeine, strawberries and roses - what more could a girl want?

Tea Time Thursday: Rooibos Tea: Orange Blossom

DAVIDsTEA

Rooibos Tea: Orange Blossom

Ingredients: Rooibos, currants, orange peel, orange blossoms, vanilla pieces, marigold blossoms, safflower petals, artificial flavouring

     When I think Bubble Gum, I'm instantly transported back to my youth, and chewing on massive pieces of pink sticky rubber like a cow chewing cud (it wasn't pretty), but it sure was fun! That's what Orange Blossom tea brings to mind. It tastes and smells exactly like classic Wrigley's brand Extra gum, in "original" flavor. 

     Mouthwatering sweet rooibos goes perfectly with the mix of flowers, the zest of the orange and the sweetness of the fruit and vanilla blend together to create this uplifting tea that makes you wonder if you're not chewing gum. There's no milk, or sugar required to enjoy this one! Although, like most rooibos teas, I found that it was best to leave the teabag in the cup while drinking so that the flavor really gets to infuse.

     I'm pretty sure my love of this tea is probably because I loved that gum so, but for me it's a pick me up kind of tea that's great hot or cold! This is a must have on hand at all times kind of tea for me. 

Overall: 5/5 Steaming HOT Cups of Tea

It kind of reminds me of Willy Wonka's Gum that was a 4 course meal, but reversed...and in the form of Tea...

And if you like DAVIDsTEA, I'm celebrating 100 followers with a Tea and Book Giveaway HERE 

Tea Time Thursday: Black Tea: Pumpkin Chai

DAVIDsTEA

Black Tea: Pumpkin Chai

Ingredients: Black tea, cinnamon, cloves, lemon peel, squash, carrot, caramel bits, pumpkin candies, natural and artificial flavoring. 

The temperatures are dropping, the leaves are changing color and Halloween stuff is starting to pop up everywhere. I feel that this following picture expresses one of the most prominent parts of fall: 

Today's post will make no exception to this photo. Chai style tea is my go to tea for winter. I get the caffeine from the black tea, warmth from the spices and there's even pumpkin shaped sprinkles of awesomeness in this tea! The spices aren't overpowering in this tea, but it does mask the bitterness of the black tea perfectly. The sprinkles and caramel add just the right amount of sweetness - so no sugar was necessary. But what I love doing is infusing milk with the tea for a Pumpkin Chai Latte! It was perfect served with these this week:

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins - they were soooo delicious and moist!

(Recipe Here). Mine definitely didn't turn out as pretty, and next time I would put the cheese mix in first, then pumpkin on top so it mixes better. But these two were the perfect treats to kick off fall this week! 

Overall: 5/5 Steaming Hot Cups of Tea!

I love pumpkin spice flavored everything...I'm pretty crushed when spring comes and these go away for another year. So I better enjoy these for as long as I can! 

Tea Time Thursday: Herbal Tea: Goji Pop

DAVIDsTEA

Herbal Tea: Goji Pop

Ingredients: Apple pieces, goji berries, hibiscus blossoms, rosehip peel, honeydew melon cubes, marigold petals, artificial flavoring.

     When you smell this tea it's like a deliciously sweet but slightly tart Starburst candy. DAVIDsTEA pitches this as a kid friendly tea, especially if served cold in the summer and I can definitely see how it'd be appealing in its bright pink appearance and alluring scent.

     Unfortunately, I couldn't be swayed. I tried this three times JUST to be sure. Hot, cold, with sugar, without - nothing would work for me. While there was a natural sweetness to it, the artificial citrus added to it seemed to take over and that's all I could taste. It was SO sour, my cheeks actually puckered. Adding sugar tamed it a bit, but it was still pretty prominent and I just couldn't get more than a few sips in. It was definitely better iced, but for me I just couldn't do it. 

Overall: 2/5 Tepid Cups of Tea.

I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't.

Tea Time Thursday: Black Tea: Organic Buttered Rum

DAVIDsTEA

Black Tea: Organic Buttered Rum
Ingredients: Black tea, coconut flakes, vanilla beans, cornflower petals, organic and natural flavouring. 


    
     





     

     With fall quickly approaching I can't think of anything that warms the soul more than rum. Sadly while this tea contains no alcohol (you can always add some....) it still warms you right up!
     The coconut and vanilla blend perfectly for a sweet but slightly nutty flavour. But when mixed with the bitterness from the black tea you get a nice buttery taste. It reminds me of those Danish Butter cookies? If you've ever had them. I have a feeling this tea would go perfect with those cookies!
     While I found sugar wasn't necessary, milk definitely was! It completed the creamy buttery aspect of the tea's namesake. This tea worked best when I just infused it in milk on the stove top and skipped on adding the water. 

Overall: 5/5 Steaming Hot Cups of Tea! 

This will definitely be a staple tea for me. I feel like it'd be perfect to sip while reading Harry Potter (it reminds me of butter beer - but you know less diabetes inducing. 

Tea Time Thursday: White Tea: Mango Madness

DAVIDsTEA

White Tea: Mango Madness

Ingredients: Apple pieces, white Bai Mu Dan tea, orange peel, pineapple cubes, mango cubes, orange slices, freeze dried tangerine pieces, safflower petals, freeze dried strawberry pieces, marigold blossoms, artificial flavouring.






     This tea...so delicious. I'm not sure how much it qualifies for a tea. It's more like a herbal tisane with a hint of tea. Which is what white tea is primarily used for, as a base and enhancer for more fruity teas. When I first opened up this tea all I saw was the copious amounts of fruit included, big huge you-can't-miss-it kind of chunks. It smells heavenly, like you're on a tropical island with a fruity margarita in hand and you're just enjoying the sun and the sounds of the surf. 

     When I first brewed it, my first thought was that it was okay, nothing great about it. But it wasn't until the second cup, when the fruit had a chance to rehydrate and plum back up that I really fell in love with it. I could pick up the sweetness of the fruit, the zest from the orange and tangerine and the floral flavor from the flowers and tea. It came together so perfectly that sugar was definitely not needed. This was equally amazing hot or cold - so no tea went wasted. But the strength in the flavor started tapering off at about the 5th brewing, so it's probably good for one big, long steeped pot of tea. 

     What this tea really reminded me of was Tropical flavoured skittles. One of each color of the tropical rainbow in your mouth at the same time!

Overall: 4/5 Hot Cups of Tea!

It's a delicious afternoon pick me up if you're looking to fulfil your sweet tooth craving!

Tea Time Thursday: Green Tea: Japanese Sencha

DAVIDsTEA

Green Tea: Organic Japanese Sencha
Ingredients: Japanese Green Tea from Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan 









With some research, Japanese Sencha differs from Chinese Green Tea through its processing. In Sencha, the leaves are steamed when still fresh to prevent oxidation, rolled and then heat dried (Wiki).

The DAVIDsTEA version is prepared in this way, upon inspecting the leaves I could see the care that went into rolling and preparing each leaf. When I steeped the tea, the liquid came out a nice golden green color, which evidentially is an indicator of high quality Sencha. 

The tea has a bold floral green vegetation flavour that lingers pleasantly on the palate. I prefer my Sencha plain and hot, it's a perfect refreshing beverage that goes down smooth. 

Overall: This Japanese Sencha is definitely what tea is all about, it's tea in its most basic and flavourful form. Definitely give it a try! 

Tea Time Thursday: Rooibos Tea: Mint Chocolate Rooibos

DAVIDsTEA

Rooibos Tea: Mint Chocolate Rooibos

Ingredients: South African rooibos, peppermint, chocolate bits, vanilla, chocolate mint flavouring.





    
    This tea was strangely familiar, because it tastes pretty much exactly like Read My Lips with its minty chocolatey-ness. Except the rooibos tea makes it sweeter, softer and lets the mint through a bit more. It also doesn't form as complex of a taste with the bitterness of black tea and the spice from the peppercorns. But I was kind of disappointed in the repetition in flavour, and if it has to come down between the two types of mint chocolate tea Read My Lips was way better. Although it is a good alternative if you're looking for something without caffeine. 

Overall: 3/5 Drinkable Cups of Tea.

It's okay, but I felt like I've been here already. But it's a great after dinner without the caffeine buzz before bed kind of tea. 

Tea Time Thursday: Oolong Tea: Pineapple Oolong

 

DAVIDsTEA

Oolong Tea: Pineapple Oolong
Ingredients: Tie Kwan Yin Oolong, Pineapple, Apricot, natural flavouring.


     





     The type of Oolong tea I'm used to is a heavily oxidized tea which results in a deep reddish brown color and more bitter earthy taste when brewed. But the Oolong used in this one has minimal oxidization, so when brewed it ends up looking like a light green tea. It also gives it a more floral and crisp flavor. 
     When I first smelled this tea, the dried pineapple and apricot gave it a sweet candy like aroma. Actually if you've ever eaten dried pineapple or apricot it's exactly like those. The fruit make it sweet enough that I didn't think it was really necessary to add anything else. But the candy like smell kept hinting at something familiar and I couldn't quite recall it until I was reading and suddenly it came to me. It tastes like those chalky Pop-eye candy sticks that you can only get at Halloween! Which I absolutely love!
     With Oolong tea I usually keep reusing the tea leaves (re-steeping), it's said that after each subsequent steeping the flavor gets deeper and more aromatic and it's definitely true with this tea. What's really surprising about this tea is it's perfect hot or cold - but it's really really good cold, or if carbonated water was added it'd kind of be like White Tea Raspberry Canada Dry (Gingerale)! It's a great sipping, reading tea for out on the deck. 

Overall: 5/5 Cups of Steaming HOT Tea!

It's a major hit with me because I love pineapple, and I love Pop-eye candy sticks and this way I can get the taste without the horrible sugar overload.

Tea Time Thursday: Black Tea: David's Organic Breakfast

DAVIDsTEA

Black Tea: David's Organic Breakfast

Ingredients: Organic black tea from India (Darjeeling), China (Yunnan) and Sri Lanka (Ceylon).

    




      Black tea has just the right amount of caffeine to wake you up in the morning, so a blend of three kinds of black tea is the perfect morning tea. Each type of tea differs in how much oxidation, and what kind of flavoring is added to it in the processing.


     Darjeeling has less oxidation than most teas, so its a bit lighter and a bit more of a floral taste. Yunnan tea is sweet and Ceylon tea has a more citrus taste. 


     All blended together the tea has a unique flavour that changes from sweet to malty as you drink. It's a great companion to a sweet breakfast (there was a lot of jam and honey involved in my breakfast). 

Overall: 3/5 Cups of Drinkable Tea.

To me it's a standard black tea, nothing to really rave about. 

Tea Time Thursday: Green Tea: Dragon Pearls

DAVIDsTEA

Green Tea: Dragon Pearls

Ingredients: Chinese green tea from Zhejiang Province, Jasmine flavouring.

    In my family, formal dinner is always accompanied with tea. It’s usually Pu’erh or a Jasmine Green Tea in order to aid with digestion. So I’m no stranger to Jasmine flavoured green tea.

The green tea leaves have been individually rolled into a ball to preserve the flavour and when steeped they unfurl, it looks really neat, kind of like those flowering teas. This rolling method is reminiscent of Chinese Gundpowder tea, but when picking this kind of rolled tea its best to pick pearls with a lustre for the best quality - since this one is quite dull I can’t say much for its quality.

It has a great sweet green tea undertone with a more bitter floral flavour, I might have left it to steep too long (but this kind of tea is usually served with the leaves left in the pot) so the Jasmine flavouring got far too strong. It seems like they might have just used a concentrated Jasmine flavouring, as there are no actual Jasmine flowers present. I much prefer the the real flowers, they're pretty and they give the hint of Jasmine without being overpowering.

 Overall: 3/5 Cups of Drinkable tea.

It was okay, but it's not the best Jasmine green tea that I've had.

Tea Time Thursday: Flavoured Green Tea: North African Mint - Organic

DAVIDsTEA

Flavoured Green Tea: North African Mint - Organic

Ingredients: Organic: cardamom, peppermint, ginger, Japanese-style Hojicha green tea, licorice root, fennel, clove, black pepper.

Mint tea has to be my absolute favorite kind of tea. It’s so versatile in that it can be enjoyed hot, or iced, sweet or plain, or with a little bit of cream. But what I was really craving this week was menthol for my throat, but also something that would cool me in this insane heat wave that we’ve been having (it’s been 33-43C or 91-109F) for the past week with no A/C.

So North African Mint to the rescue! The green tea provided a nice floral tea base. But the peppermint made it crisp, refreshing, soothing and it also has a nice bite of spice to it from the ginger, cloves and pepper. It was perfect sweetened with just a touch of honey, and I could leave it until it cooled and still enjoy it. This was definitely my life saving tea of the week!

Overall: 5/5 Steaming HOT Cups of Tea! It’s green tea and mint, it’s simple and to the point and it was what I was expecting, I can’t really complain about it.