DAVIDsTEA

It’s new and it’s blue!

This past fall DT launched two new teas as part of a new line up superfood latte powders and now we have two more in the mix – this one and another called Ruby Cocoa. As with the other two powders, these were formulated specifically to be made hot with milk or milk alternatives – though of course there’s nothing that says you can’t make them straight up or in cold applications. Personally I love this one iced. It’s just not the official steeping recommendation.

Basically, for anyone who missed those tasting notes/teas or just doesn’t remember, all of these are powdered tisanes that incorporate different functional ingredients. The first two were inspired by Golden Milk and pumpkin spice blends. This one is a bittttt like a “Sleepy time London Fog”. Essentially, we’ve taken bergamot, vanilla, and chamomile extract and blend those on a base of butterfly pea flower and coconut milk powders. It’s very aromatic with a rich, creamy mouthfeel from the coconut milk (less so the taste of the coconut) and a more light to medium bodied citrusy Earl Grey like flavour. Some of my favourite things about this are that, despite it being a main functional ingredient, I can’t actually taste the chamomile in the blend – it’s great for people like me who aren’t the biggest fans of that taste even though they find chamomile to be relaxing. I also like that it’s just sweet enough without needing anything additional – but not so sweet to not leave room for a little additional sweetener if you want something richer. Vanilla agave is a nice touch, for some extra London Fog oomph.

Also, obviously, it’s a pretty shade of blue because of the butterfly pea flower. Definitely makes me Star Wars loving heart happy when I drink it. Very strong bantha milk vibes.

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 sample I always wanted to try from David’s!  Thanks so much, Cameron B!  I used half the sample, so about a teaspoon and a half.  The scent of the dry leaf is very true to the name!  The first steep was less thrilling than the scent…. the cappuccino flavor was there (not much vanilla) but it’s such a weak steep — not too much black tea in the blend itself, and I’m sure it isn’t strong anyway.  I liked the second steep better —  still plenty of cappuccino flavor, which I didn’t expect for the long second steep if it is mostly relying on added flavoring.  This blend is like the caffeinated version of Fireside Mocha, which is another one l like more for that added flavoring.  It fits if I’m craving cappuccino!   Thankfully, I didn’t notice rosehips AT ALL. Not bad, but not a cupboard staple.  This is why I love trying samples of teas I’m dreaming about. :D
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 7 min

Day 8 DAVIDs Tea Advent Calendar 2023

Ohhhh I needed something like this today. I hope I sleep after this and some yoga. May this help me through the night, help to minimize my plight. The peppermint, lemongrass, and chamomile blend well together. It smells really good and leaves a fresh feeling on my tongue.

Just a quick l’il tasting note for this guy!

If anyone here on Steepster did the DAVIDsTEA “24 Trips of Tea” advent then you might recognize this blend – it was added to the countdown on the 24th day and was exclusively solely to the advent.

It’s honestly a simple blend, but I quite enjoy it. Very brisk and full bodied black tea forward profile in that sort of “breakfast blend” style that has so much maltiness to it. Aside from that it’s just got a gentle touch of a sort of “cooked red fruit” or jammy pomegranate note. Very enjoyable on its own or, like most breakfast blends, with milk. Though personally I prefer it without the milk.

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.

TeaTiff TTB #19

The dry leaf of this blend is so fun with lots of colorful sprinkles and mini white chocolate chips! And I was happy to see that (unlike far too many of David’s Tea’s dessert blends) it didn’t include stevia on the ingredient list. While that meant I didn’t hate it, I unfortunately also didn’t love it. The flavor is quite one-note: straight-up sweet white chocolate that coats your tongue with the oily melted chocolate chips. And in my cup it was an unpleasant murky yellow color. Would probably be better as a latte, but it just isn’t interesting enough to try that.

TeaTiff TTB #10

I enjoyed this more than the Lemon Lullaby as a fruity bedtime tea, though it was a bit too floral for my tastes (I’m not the biggest fan of jasmine and didn’t realize it was in this blend when I picked it to try). The lychee flavor was really nice, though!

Inkling Advent Day 25. This smelled so good in my steeper! It tastes like a black tea with creme, so I’m not sure what the name is for. It’s quite a pleasant one though! The creme flavor is pretty fake, but I still really like it. I don’t taste much else, but it’s good at what it does. I think it tastes best cold with milk. Thanks for an awesome end to a fun advent, Inkling!

Day 7 DAVIDs Tea Advent Calendar 2023

Obviously, I’m a bit off with my Advent Calendar. BUT this means I have teas to sample starting into the new year.

I loved the scent from this one prior to steeping. I’m glad I read the container because I didn’t realize it was a green. Steeped at 175 for 3ish minutes. All I smell is cloves. All I taste is cinnamon. I was hoping for a bit more orangeness. I also felt it left a strange aftertaste. Not bad and I would drink it again.

Also not a true sipdown because I have more bags, but this one is finished. I appreciate that I haven’t gotten sick of this blend yet. I think a lot of that has to do with the straightforward creamy vanilla profile. Simple, classic, ideal for a health blend.

Still drinking this one quite a bit! Lately I’ve been having it with fresh mint and almond milk. I was not sure whether the mint would work, but it actually works really well!

Another tea from a Canadian company today! This one has been in heavy rotation. I don’t know whether it’s actually helping my stomach, but it’s not hurting, and it’s just a very easy tea to have a cup of every evening. The creamy vanilla is pleasant on its own, makes a great oat milk latte, and lends itself readily to blending with other teas when I want to mix up the flavor profile. I got some vegan marshmallows in my order today, so I threw some maple vegan marshmallows in my vanilla parfait tea. Great combo. The marshmallows added just a bit of maple flavor to the cup, which was really nice. I’ll probably be doing that again.

I was a touch nervous about the Greek yogurt inspiration for this one, because I don’t like the tartness and acidity of Greek yogurt. Mostly I took a flyer on it because of the vanilla flavor and because my stomach’s been acting up so I’ve been trying to work more tummy-friendly foods/drinks into my diet. Thankfully it’s not tart or acidic at all! It’s just silky vanilla. There’s an almost apple-y note as it cools, but it doesn’t tip over into acidic.
I like the flavor of this, health benefits or not! And Kelly I think you made the right call going for a more “simple” flavor profile for a health tea. It’s the kind of flavor that lends itself to being enjoyable in a wide range of weather, being blended with other teas, being latted, being used as a base for a shake, etc. Which hopefully will make it easier to drink consistently!

TTB sample! I love it! I don’t taste anything that reminds me of bourbon, which is not a flavor I enjoy. I do however taste a lot of brown sugar. With milk, this is so tasty! I wish there had been more left in the packet! It’s so desserty and lovely.

TeaTiff TTB #9

The dry leaf of this one has such a unique look! I’ve never seen oblong “pearls” like this. Steeped, the flavor is also quite unique…kind of like a mix between white tea and black tea. It’s richer and maltier than a white tea, but has that distinctive white tea flavor that always reminds me of hay. It also seems like it would resteep quite a few times! This isn’t necessarily my cup of tea, but I can tell it’s high quality and I hope someone else loves it.

TeaTiff TTB #4

I had a cup of this before bed last night and I did sleep quite well, so props to the medicinal aspect! The flavor, however, was nothing to write home about. It reminded me of a something from Yogi or Traditional Medicinals…more focused on health benefits than flavor. Rather than the strong lemon flavor I was hoping for, I got muted lemongrass alongside other herbaceous flavors I couldn’t quite identify (probably the valerian and vervain?) and a strong blast of licorice root. Not something I’d drink again, but I’m sure it’s someone’s cup of tea!

One of the teas I drank on the weekend after getting back from WTE. I was just so wiped out from the past week that I wanted nothing more than the relax, binge some good TV, and drink soothing teas. Though there are other DT “lemon ginger” blends I prefer over this one because they’re a little more zesty and citrus forward, this ended up being pretty on the nose for that more soothing, herbaceous and spiced kind of self care moment I was seeking. Very ginger forward with a pleasant, warming heat and then that nice lemongrass and lemon oil sort of finish.

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 last new loose leaf tea from the Wellness Wonders collection!

This is probably my personal least favourite, but just because ginger and I have such an extremely love hate relationship.

I think the function is fairly obvious from the name. Similar to David’s Detox we added ingredients like blue spirulina and nettle leaf to support that function. Ginger too, obviously. Actually, a lot of ginger – I personally find this a little spicier and more intense and aromatic than Super Ginger. It’s actually a bit of a lemon ginger blend as well, as there’s a decent amount of lemongrass and organic lemon oil in the blend too. More emphasis on the ginger, though…

Though the blue spirulina contributes a bit to the colour of the tea, most of the teal blue hue is from butterfly pea flower. This is the first time I’ve gotten to work with organic butterfly pea flower. It was tricky to sustainably get a hold of organic butterfly pea flower with the demand for BPF being as high as it is. I think when butterfly pea flower started blowing up as an ingredient we all sort of though it was a fad and would shortly fade away, but that’s just not happening. I think people just like the idea of blue tea too much, and this is an ingredient that’s not going anywhere any time soon.

Though I think people will probably mostly drink this hot (it’s good with honey), I think my favourite way I’ve tried it was actually as a tea pop. It’s got an almost gingerbeer sort of vibe to it, and the touch of lemon is nice too!

…and with Morning Detox and David’s Detox both part of the core assortment, we’ve essentially now got a morning, noon, and night little trio of teas – which I know some people will care about and some will roll their eyes at. Detox teas are always super polarizing.

It’s still a nice ginger and lemon blend though, regardless of the name.

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.

Cold Brew!

This has easily become one of my favourite teas to make iced/cold brewed so far this year. I just think the balance of tartness, sweetness, and floral notes is really well done and fits so many different kinds of moods – and though I am not someone who puts a ton of weight behind functional claims I also feel like it can’t hurt to take advantage of the elderberry in the blend for that potential immunity boost it offers. I mean it taste like purple berries in, IMO, the best kind of way!

Sadly this was a less popular tea from the wellness collection though the people who did buy seem to have enjoyed it, at least based on our website reviews. That just means more for me for longer I guess. I’ve topped up my own tin of it a few times now and I’m about at a point where I need another refill.

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.

Iced!

This is the tea that I made to drink during this past week’s board game night! I think I need to bring more of this home because it’s really become one of my favourite iced teas lately. Those deep purple and slightly floral elderberry and hibiscus notes are so different from anything else in my stash right now, and it’s a great balance of flavours. Not too sweet, not too tart, not too floral – just enough of all three.

The game this week was Septima! It has this sort of “Dark Academia” vibe to it and is themed around witches with three different sort of win paths you can take: brewing potions to heal villagers, expanding your spell book, and helping save other witches on trial. It was my first time playing, and I actually won! Really, really good game.

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.

Iced Tea!

A few days ago right at the start of when I thought I might be getting sick I ended up making a giant iced mug of this. I figured the elderberry couldn’t hurt, and regardless those deeper purple and jammy berry notes with the hint of tartness were exactly what I was craving in the moment. So good iced! Very different from any of my other berry blends from DT as well…

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 new one from the Wellness Wonders collection!

In terms of flavour this is probably my personal favourite of the new blends in this collection. Elderberry can be tricky to work with since it’s pretty pungent and intense and can sometimes come off as medicinal. However, during the development stage of this tea, people were so consistently surprised and impressed with how pleasant and approachable the tart yet jammy berry flavour was. Just a bit of tangy, acidic and bright hibiscus at the top of each sip before relaxing into a deeper, “purple berry” sort of flavour with a mild floral undertone from the elderflower. I know kombucha can be polarizing because of its vinegar-y funk, but I think this is just enough of a nod to that flavour to be accurate to the namesake without going full funk. It’s just refreshing and balanced!

In terms of function the stars here really are the two namesake ingredients: elderberry for immunity and kombucha powder for gut health/digestion. With how prominent an ingredient elderberry has become for its association with immunity I found it weird we didn’t have a tea where that was the star ingredient, so that was the initial spark of this blend.

Just because that was the initial inspiration doesn’t mean it’s not also just a delicious tea regardless of whether you care about functional benefits or not. I’ve been drinking this tea a lot but hot and iced. Mostly iced or cold brewed, if I’m being honest. It’s got a rich and refreshing flavour and great natural sweetness. I also avoided using ingredients like candied fruit and stevia. Without getting into the stevia debate, I know that both can be polarizing for different reasons – especially candied fruit when it comes to blends meant to support wellness. Since I really believe this tea can be a good fit for all different types of consumers, I really wanted to develop it without either – and I think it came out great!

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.

Well, looks like the dashboard is back up – so this seems like as good a time as any to talk about DT’s newest collection, which launched a little less than a week ago…

I’ve worked on wellness teas before like Immunity SOS & Coffee Break, both of which are being refeatured in this collection. However, this is the first proper wellness “campaign” (ie. multiple teas in one release) where every single tea released is something that I developed. It’s sort of both a personal and profession milestone moment.

This tea in particular is probably one of the most interesting teas I’ve ever developed purely because the process was so significantly different than the normal development for a loose leaf tea. And why exactly was that? Without getting too deep into the nitty gritty, the tldr is that this tea was blended with added probiotics! It’s not actually the first time DT has released a probiotic boosted blend (anyone else remember Probiotea?) but it is the first time I’ve made one. It was actually a very surreal experience having the tables flip from being the one in store selling Probiotea to now re-imagining the concept. We did use the same strain of probiotics (GanedenBC30) since they’re just so well suited to tea because they’re shelf stable and heat resistant. Just really good at taking a beating and still doing their job – which is good because this blend is actually formulated with enough added probiotics that regular consumption of a 16 oz mug of it has noticeable digestive benefits.

I didn’t want to solely lean on the probiotics though, which is why I incorporated other gut-friendly ingredients like oat straw and chicory root, the latter of which is the ingredient with the highest naturally occurring inulin content – a water soluble prebiotic fiber. Part of why I liked working on this tea is because I feel like people are more ready for a blend like this now than they were when Probiotea originally released. It was still crazy cool and innovative back then, but talking about gut health and digestion was so taboo. It’s still kind of like that, but I feel like the consumer awareness and acceptance of that type of language has changed SO MUCH. We live in a world now where brands like BelliWelli go viral because of positive reception to slogans like “Hot Girls have IBS” and it’s not irregular at all to get targeted ads and product recommendations for shakes, yogurts, pills and other things promising to improve your gut health and help you poop better. More people know not just what probiotics are but also understand the differences between pre and pro and their individual importances.

In additional to all of that, I feel like I also got the added boon of knowing all the friction points people had with the original tea – probably the biggest of which was simply the flavour direction. It was a very minty profile with a lot of sarsaparilla. I liked it, but I remember people finding it almost tooth paste-like. The sarsaparilla was especially polarizing. So when I was trying to figure out the flavour profile of this tea I knew I wanted something that people would be more likely to routine around because probiotics are most effective when consumed daily and that was less polarizing overall. I took a lot of inspiration from Greek Yogurt (another probiotic) profiles, and that eventually led to the decision to just make this a simple, smooth and creamy vanilla flavour. It’s definitely not overly sweet or super rich, but I like the pureplay vanilla notes here. They come out more as the tea slightly cools or with a splash of milk. Personally, I’ve really been enjoying it as a late night cuppa – especially when I’ve wanted something just a little bit decadent but without being sugary and cloying. It’s just enough to satisfy those cravings (for me at least).

This is a long tasting note, I know. A lot of work went into this tea though, and I learnt a whole lot through the process. I know it’s a bit of an expensive blend (probiotics are not cheap y’all), but I personally think it’s worth it for the combination of function and flavour. Definitely looking forward to seeing what other people think, 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.

Peach flavour tasted artificial but I still liked it. A bit too sweet.

“Teas I drink in a day Friday 12/22/23” 5
MUG: DT tumbler 20 oz white with red/green/pink candy cane stripes
STYLE: cold brew
DRANK: evening time
NOTES: I had this teabag hot earlier in the week, cold steeped the tea bag in 12-14 oz water and then mixed with maybe 2-4 oz of left of that RMD. Obviously, the weather has been mild as I am still drinking plenty of cold brew. :)

Instagram post, pic 5 is packaging & 6 is picture with teas 4&5, @teawithjann vlogmas playing, snacks from @dessertbydeb box that arrived that day, and one my kids (my kitten Sherbet, one of my two girls): https://www.instagram.com/tiffanydrinkstea/p/C1Mj4I1Odn7/?img_index=6