DAVIDsTEA

I dug deep in the tea drawer and came across this little tin left over from an advent calendar. One of my all time favorite teas is Cranberry Pear by David’s. It is no longer available. This one is certainly not that one. It’s not at all bad. A little sweeter than I like maybe, but nice enough to drink on a quiet evening with a good book.

Herbal and Decaf Traveling Tea Box, Summer 2025.
Cherry Cider. DavidsTea.
This bulk material (relatively large chop having the texture of Grape Nuts cereal) was packed in a zipper-sealed mylar bag. I prepared the tisane as directed: 1 round tsp. steeped in a stainless steel micropore infusion basket with 8 oz. 200°F alpine spring water for 5 min. The dry blend had the aroma of dried montmorency cherries, like the ones in my pantry, while the infused liquor gave the same scent complemented by additional floral and fruit notes. The flavor burst in my mouth with tart, sour, slightly sweet fruit juices, undoubtedly reflecting the apple, hibiscus, and cider vinegar mingling with the cherry content. So many ingredients here! Really a terrific blend, but even more enjoyable after I further sweetened it with a spoonful of sugar. Not medicinal! It was warming and fulfilling while hot, and became refreshing when cool. I’m so glad to be able to drink this, after having been teased many months ago by @AJRimmer’s tasting note! I now see that @Roswell Strange had posted some informative (and accurate) comments in her several tasting notes of many moons ago. I find the lingering aftertaste to give me cravings for another cup of this, which I shall undertake when I get a chance. Well done, DavidsTea team! I will recommend this to those not put off by hibiscus notes (which are only a minor part of the flavor here), and rate it as 89, mainly because—although I enjoy the tannins developed by fresh apple cider— I prefer to save vinegar notes for heavier savory foods, rather than beverages.

TTB! This was okay cold! It was herbaceous and not something I would really seek out.

Today is cold and rainy, so I made a cup of fruity tea to brighten my mood. This was one of the few teas I grabbed (too little of) on my trip to Canada a couple weeks ago. One thing that I will mention about going to DavidsTea in-house is that you’re not restricted to 50g or too much of any tea…However, with that said, this was one of those teas I should’ve went with my gut instinct on and bought 50-500g versus 20g! I’ll note a grabbed 20-25g of most of my teas to get a nice sampler of their tea wall to try at home.

There are layers to this cup – a subtle tartness from the cranberry and hibiscus, a touch of acidity from the orange, refreshing “summery” sweetness, and possibly the cure for my seasonal melancholy. I will note to grab more of this online, if it’s available, once I’m ready for more tea; however, if it’s sold out, I’ll always have this cup + a few more until it’s gone.

So this tea actually came out maybe close to a month ago? I’ve put off doing my tasting note for it because it’s a blend with mushrooms (reishi) in it, so I’m actually allergic to it. However, y’all know the deal. I drink the mushroom teas exactly ONE time once they’ve officially launched to capture a sense memory in my flavour library – but in a controlled way. Day off work, keeping things low key. A few sips and then spit out. No swallowing. It just took a while for a good day like that to come up…

Anyway, personal gripe with mushrooms aside, I think this is a very cool blend! When I started working on it, I was really inspired by ayurveda and the focus on the connection between the mind and body. So, I wanted to hone in on ingredients that supported both. Adaptogenic reishi for letting for of stress and finding mental clarity, and soothing spices like turmeric and ginger that are more anti-inflammatory in nature and have the potential to help release physical tension in the body. Overall, creating something relaxing, spiced, and just… grounding.

We went with white tea because there was just something nice about how it really let the taste of the spices themselves really shine through super distinctly. Plus. just a bit of caffeine was nice since a lot of the time people want something relaxing but not necessarily caffeine free or sleep inducing. You ever start to feel a migraine come on after a particularly painful morning meeting? Yeah, a cup of something to help you unwind from the clenched jaw from that corporate poker face is exactly what I’d be looking for. I still have a long day ahead of me, though!

Taste wise, this isn’t really a super sweet tea at all. Much more peppery with that back of your throat tickle from the earthy ginger and turmeric – and I swear that’s not just me describing an allergic reaction. I’d call it like a cross between Super Ginger and Turmeric Chai, maybe with a few elements of Ashwagandha Chai. Very aromatic. I also wanted to honor the original Ayurveda inspiration, so to keep this as pure as possible we didn’t add any flavourings or oils to it.

But can I tell you my personal favourite thing about this tea? It’s the name. It took a very, very long time to come up with something that spoke to both the flavour/style of the tea and the wellness side. We didn’t only want to call out that it was a chai because there was a lot of care that went into why these specific spices and other functional ingredients were selected, but we also didn’t want to only focus on the relaxation component because it does have a bit of a spicy kick and we want to make sure that was clear from the get go. In this end we got this wonderful double entendre of “try to unwind” and “a chai to help you unwind”. I was quite proud when I thought of it!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Adding to the overarching theme of nostalgia and holiday baking, we released this tea earlier this week as part of this year’s holiday collection!

I had a fun time working on this blend. Quite often the flavours that seem the “simplest” and are based on actual foods/desserts are the hardest to develop because people have such clear ideas of what they should taste like in their head. It’s a fun challenge of tweaking to dial in the right notes. I know that taste will always trump visual, but I think the little pastel blue sprinkles are such a cute touch. I’m personally a big sprinkle critic and think that adding sprinkles purely for aesthetic is a bit tacky, but in this case I feel like a sugar cookie blend would feel incomplete without that visual accent. Plus, it’s so rare to have a tea with a blue colour in the dry leaf that isn’t cornflower or butterfly pea flower. Visually, it’s a refreshing break up from all the other holiday blend. Bonus that they’re entirely naturally coloured.

And speaking of flavour… in this case, we were really going for those grocery store style sugar cookies that are super soft and disc shaped, with a thick layer of creamy vanilla flavoured icing on top. I think using the green tea base was really smart because it adds some body but still allows for this really delicate sweetness and buttery taste and mouthfeel to come through in a way that a more brisk base like a black tea wouldn’t allow as easily. There’s definitely that pillowy kind of dough note with hints of cakey almond and creamy, smooth vanilla buttercream.

But, honestly, maybe the best and wildest part of this blend is that when you add a splash of milk or latte this it really starts to taste like dunkaroos frosting in such an incredibly nostalgic sort of way. For a few weeks everyone in our office was just OBSESSED with this blend because of that quality.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

A couple new teas up on the website this week, including this straight hibiscus. For now it’s only online but it should be in all the stores around the middle of the month. We have carried straight hibiscus before (called Simply Hibiscus) and this is very similar to that, but sourced from a new origin. Specifically from Egypt instead of Burkina Faso.

I know hibiscus is a polarizing ingredient/flavour, so straight hibiscus is definitely not something I’d recommend to anyone who’s got a sensitivity to that bold, bracing tartness. However, as far as straight hibiscus goes I do think this is a very nice one. I saw someone describe it as “violently tart” earlier today and I couldn’t agree more. It packs a very, very bright and lively punch of pucker inducing tartness but with these wonderful berry undertones to it. Almost like blackberries!?

Personally I’d really never drink straight up hot hibiscus, though with the right mood you might catch me having plain hibiscus as a cold brew or iced tea. Where I think this tea really shines, however, is when you use it as a component to create recipes. For example, as a base for an agua fresca or sorrel. Carbonate it and add some lemonade and you have a really refreshing hibiscus lemonade that can be sweetened to taste. Toss in a bunch of spices like clove, cinnamon, and anise and you can make a pretty awesome mulled wine-like beverage too. And with the holidays coming up now is a great time to give that a try. It’s just a really fun tisane to play around and get creative with!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

This tea is quite good and does live up to the name! The rooibos base is prefect for this blend because it supports the sweeter flavors so we’ll and you do taste it a bit on the back end and it’s not completely covered up. As for the chai flavor, it is actually there! A lot of DTs flavored chais tend to be cinnamon heavy and not really a chai (smores chai for example although I love that one). This one is definitely chai though! I get a little mix of cinnamon, ginger and cloves and then a heavy sweetness that does actually taste like candy corn! It’s got that cloying caramely/vanilla note that sticks to the tongue that I often associate with candy corn which I was pleasantly surprised by! Just like real candy corn, this is not the kind of flavor profile I would reach for daily, but it is so fun for Halloween when my sweet tooth comes around! I made some for my boyfriend when we did a scary movie night and he loves it too.

I’m always fairly active on steepster but it’s been ages since I’ve actually logged on and reviewed something. My mom gifted a few bags of this for Christmas (I think 3?) because it was on sale but I had never tried it before since DT stores are closed in the states and when I make purchases I typically only stock up on teas that are already my faves. But oh my word this tea is utterly divine! I’ve been drinking it all year and finally reached the end of my first bag today :( I will really have to savor the last two bags and pray that DT brings this one back next summer (I think this was from their 2024 collection and I can’t remember if they offered it this summer or not!) So anyways this tea is so good that I was inspired to write a review!

I really don’t CRAVE fruity iced teas outside of the summer months unless I’m really in the mood for it but wow is this tea different. I’m currently in my campus library sipping this on a blustery october day and it’s just perfect . The base for this tea is perfect. It’s a NICE, almost malty black tea blend, very bold but the perfect balance with the other flavors so that one doesn’t overpower the other. It tastes like you took this black tea, steeped it, and melted a rocket pop directly into it. The flavor is so spot on. It is nice and sweet without being cloying or masking the tea, and you get a nice fruit flavor. I would say the blue raspberry is most prominent and then you get a nice support from the cherry. I’m not sure how much lemon I’m getting but I do get a tiny citrus zing at the end, it’s just not as strong as the other flavors. My first time making this I just did it traditionally iced, but my favorite way to make it is to cold brew, stick it in the fridge for 24 hours, and you have a bold, sweet, tea that tastes exactly like a rocket pop. I think im gonna try it with a squeeze of lemon juice next time and see if that ups the lemon flavor! But honestly it doesn’t even need that, it is just perfect as is.

Last up of the new teas from last week is this one!

Unlike the other two that just came out (Carrot Cake & Choco Pistachio) which were blends I developed, this one is just pure spearmint. We’ve actually carried straight spearmint before many, many years ago – this one is very similar, just grown/sourced somewhere else.

We decided to bring it back since it’s something we get pretty common in store requests for, I think largely due to how it’s trending in the wellness space right now for helping people with conditions like PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) better regulate hormone imbalances. Of course, there are other “benefits” to spearmint tea too like helping with digestion or relaxation but it’s also just a delicious tasting infusion. I know I personally like spearmint tea as much (if not more) than peppermint tea, and I’ve been reaching for this one pretty often in the evenings as a tasty way to wind down for the night. I definitely appreciate that cool, crisp sweetness.

Hot is my preferred way to drink this, but I did have it cold brewed this past week and that was very fresh feeling too. Adding a pinch to a fruity blend would probably instantly create a mojito vibe that I think would by very appealing to ice or cold brew.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Another of the new teas from this past week!

I know I say it a lot (because I’m super biased), but I love this tea. I have spent literal years working on this blend. Five, in fact. We began trying to develop a new carrot cake tea before the pandemic and since then I have tried DOZENS of iterations of this tea before we landed on this one. My perfect carrot cake blend.

I won’t get into all of the pains of why the development took so long, but some of the spark notes are that we were VERY critical about making sure with got the combination of spices correct, along with an appropriate frosting note that evoked the creaminess and slight tang of the cream cheese frosting that is so signature to actual carrot cake. There were other things too. Like, we wanted a gorgeous visual for the blend, which I think we achieved with the stunning shredded carrots that were used and the little white frosting pieces that create beautiful pops of orange and white against the darker, more “brown” base of tea and spices.

And of course some people might remember Carrot Cupcake, the rooibos blend we carried prior to 2019/2020. Even though people seemed to have an interest in a carrot cake blend, that one definitely had some common points of criticism: sometimes it was too fruity/apple-y tasting and it was also really sweet/cloying with a jarring amount of licorice root. So, while this blend is NOT meant to be a recreation of Carrot Cupcake we did want to take all of those customer comments into consideration when crafting this one…

The tea base here is a combination of pu’erh and black tea. That gave us a really rich, full body that takes milk super well. The pu’erh is also so grounding with a comforting, natural earthiness that supports that sweet, clean earthy taste of the actual carrots. What we found when we went full pu’erh was that it was a bit too earthy and intense though and that the strength of the base actually detracted from some of the key flavours. So, getting the balance here was tricky but, imo, had some big payoff.

Picking the spices was import. There are some that are very classically included in traditional/homebaked carrot cake, and we wanted to be sure to keep the focus on those ones. Nutmeg and allspice in particular. But there’s also cinnamon, ginger, and just a tiny hint of clove. Nothing that deviated from what could be reasonably expected in actual carrot cake.

Despite the frosting inclusions, it’s not actually a super sweet tea at all. There is some sweetness, but mostly it’s a undercurrent of creaminess that nods to frosting without making the whole mug that profile. Similar to something like Pumpkin Chai or Santa’s Secret, we wanted to keep the profile a touch more tea forward and still leave room for people to add their own sweetener if they want more.

I’d honestly recommend this to fans of blends like Cardamom French Toast, Brown Sugar Bourbon, S’mores Chai, or the ones I mentioned just above this. It took so long to finish this blend, but I really think it was worth all the effort. It’s such a wonderful, cozy sweet and spiced balance that I hope so badly becomes the Autumn classic it deserves to be.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Made myself a little teacup of this when I got into the office today! It was smooth, very creamy and wonderfully nutty tasting. Definitely made me think of pistachio butter or pistachio cream, like is used in different types of pastries. With a milk chocolate twist, though!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

After a bit of a dry spell with no new tea releases, we’ve released quite a lot in the last month or so… including three new ones from last week!

This is one of the three, and if you’ve spent any time on TikTok in the last few months you might notice that the flavour of this tea is pretty similar to a very viral food fad/trend that kind of took the internet by storm: Dubai Chocolate.

The reality is actually that I was working on a new pistachio blend before the obsession with the pistachio and kataifi filled chocolate bar was everywhere. So, it was kind of wild how this one timed out – and you can’t fault us for leaning in a bit while the trend is still alive. Honestly it is kind of like the chocolate bar, though I would call this a pistachio tea first and a chocolate tea second. The chocolate note is distinct, but if you’re comparing it to other DT chocolate blends like Hot Chocolate, S’mores Chai, or Chocolate Macaroon you might find yourself disappointing it’s not quite as richly chocolate-y tasting and dark/fudgy.

Instead, we focused on creaminess with more of a milk chocolate flavour that’s played up thanks to the use of milk oolong as the tea base. Very, very silky, smooth and buttery/creamy tasting in a way that I think benefits both the pistachio and chocolate flavours. If you’ve ever had pistachio spread, it’s a bit like that!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Tea sachets. This is the most granola smelling tea I ever had, it even had that nutty smell. The tea is weak, I used two bags for a mug and it still tasted like a very watered down apple cider with extremely faint apple and slight cinnamon.

I got them for one dollar (!) so I really can’t be mad. Would not purchase this at full price.

sold for $11/12 tea bags

https://davidstea.com/en-us/products/forever-nuts-tea-pack-of-12-sachets

One of the new chai from this fall!

As is maybe extrapolated from the name of this tea, the inspiration is really centered around cocktails. In particular, I wanted to create our own spin on an Old Fashioned. Something aromatic and classic feeling, with that whisky base and a hint of orange bitters. To that point, this blend is smooth and aromatic with just a hint of pithy, citrus bitterness to go alongside a surprisingly complex mix of spices – namely ginger and cardamom. That’s our “twist” on this classic cocktail. I wanted to focus on chai spice that added aroma and depth, but not necessarily heat.

One of the cool ingredients in this blend is rum raisins. Even though what we’re trying to channel is whisky I think they add a beautiful complexity and authenticity in terms of capturing that alcoholic feeling. There is technically a TRACE amount of alcohol present in the creation of that ingredient, but it’s significantly less than anything that would be found in something like a kombucha, vanilla extract, or even what’s used as a carrier in most flavourings – and once you steep it with hot water it burns off. So, you’re getting less than 0.005% alcohol content in your steeped cup of tea. For that reason, we really liked this blend as a non-alcoholic spin on a cocktail. Something you could either drink in place of alcohol during, say, a holiday or new year’s party or that you could use as a base to add some alcohol to in order to make a tea cocktail.

I think most people will probably make this hot, which is of course fine. It’s very tasty that way, with an almost toddy-like quality because of the whisky flavours. However, obviously an old fashioned is served cold and because of that I’ve tried this tea a lot iced or cold brewed and it’s very good that way too – a bit more “authentic” to the inspiration. You could technically add milk to this without it curdling, as well, but personally I prefer it without.

Back when I was living in Saskatchewan I spent a lot of time in bars with some of my roommates, one of which was an Irish pub known for its extensive whisky collection. Even though I was not personally a big drinker of this cocktail, there’s a nostalgia to this cocktail for me as I was surrounded by friends and roommates who would go on and one about how to craft the perfect Old Fashioned. Most of those relationships ended poorly (largely because of the drinking), but I’d like to think that if they were to try this tea they would at the very least be amused by how I’ve worked to weave those two worlds of tea and craft cocktails together…

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Ooooo, I like this! It says to add 5-7 matcha spoons of this to your cup. I blended two into a half cup oat milk and it wasn’t quite enough. Doubled that and it was a little too much, but still good. This has a bunch of powdered coconut water in it, so it may have been okay to use water instead of oatmilk. The coconut water gives it a little sweetness. The turmeric adds a little warming spice. The matcha flavor is pretty faint. I like this! I wonder how easy it would be to recreate with turmeric and matcha.

My Mom and I finished off this older tea from my tea drawer. It makes a lovely latte on an autumn day. A dash of soy milk and a tiny bit of maple syrup for sweetness really takes it up a notch.

This ends up a bit savory, but still enjoyable. It reminds me of pumpkin ginger soup. I taste spices and earthiness. It’s pretty good cold in milk with extra sweetener.

We have a few new teas on the DT website this week, including this one that has been introduced to our “Garden To Cup” collection which is basically just straight and traditional teas. It makes sense – we’ve carried straight sencha, gyokuro, genmaicha, and matcha for years and years. So why not a kukicha!?

For people who may not be familiar with this style of Japanese green tea, it’s made from the upcycled/repurposed tea stems that were historically a biproduct of sencha and matcha production that were discarded. Sometimes they’re roasted similarly to hojicha, though in this case we went with a very green/unroasted form of kukicha. So, the green in the name describes not only the tea type but the greener style and taste of the tea.

Because this is made from stems, there’s a lot less caffeine overall so it’s a nice option for late afternoon and early evenings. And supposedly the stems also have a higher concentration of l-theanine, so you get more of that calm clarity. However, in full transparency, that’s not an element that I’ve personally done much digging into since it’s I find it less personally important to how/why I drink tea.

It’s still very nutty though with a mix of more oceanic and brightly grassy notes with some buttery elements to the finish. I personally prefer my kukicha a bit more toasty and golden, but I think this will be very approachable for fans of our Japanese Sencha and Gyokuro Yamashiro who are looking to expand their knowledge of Japanese style green teas without venturing too far away from the familiar flavours they already enjoy.

I think it’s always nice to see another traditional tea in the assortment, so I’m excited to see how other people react to this one!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

The flavors are a little mild compared to what I was expecting. I taste mostly matcha with occasional flashes of cinnamon. The final dregs really tasted like cinnamon bun at least! Tasty, just not too bold.

Cold Brew!

Not that anyone is asking me to, but I think I would have such a hard time picking a favourite tea I’ve worked on this year. This would for sure be a strong contender, though. It’s just soooo juicy, vibrant, and bright. The perfect jammy yet start cranberry in my opinion, with the freshness of the orange. Plus, when you cold brew it, you get more of the floral undertones from the oolong which add just a hint more complexity.

But really it’s the juiciness. I just don’t know the last time I had a blend THIS juicy.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.