Dessert by Deb

Edit Company

Recent Tasting Notes

72

This was very kindly included as a sample in a recent order with Deb. This is actually better than I expected, and I’m glad I got to try it. The strawberry flavoring very much reminds me of strawberry Nesquik- super sweet creamy strawberry. Not getting any of the intense coconut or maple flavors that can sometimes overwhelm Deb’s blends.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

I think this is probably my least favourite hojicha blend that I’ve tried for Deb so far. The hojicha itself is so lovely with toasty roasty popcorn flavours – sans butter. The thing that detracts is the apple note itself. It’s not unpleasant, but it just taste very flat and a bit of bordering on stale dehydrated apple slices. Just lacking any life to the aroma or flavour. I think I need to try this was something like agave or honey – maybe the sweetness will carry the flavour enough to give it just enough sparkle to make this a little more appetizing to me.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

This was neither overwhelming or underwhelming. Just kind of “whelming”, if you will. The hojicha is nice; it’s a pleasant light to medium roast with some brassy mineral notes to it in addition to that charred nuttiness. The apple is present, but a little flat – definitely tastes me of dehydrated apple slices than a more caramelized and rich “baked apple” flavour. I got a hint of the spice and a faint taste of maple. I think with some doctoring up I could make this into a very nice cuppa, but as is there are elements that just seem to be lacking some life.

Evol Ving Ness

Haha—middle whelming then

gmathis

I like middle-whelming. As Sheldon and Amy would say, “Let’s make that the word of the day!”

Evol Ving Ness

I’m writing it down. Such an appropriate word for the type of tea it describes.

Cameron B.

Sometimes you just feel whelmed. XD

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

59

Coconut. So much coconut. It does taste kind of like a danish, but a coconut danish. Not getting any pumpkin, and not really getting any pumpkin spice either.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

81

Placed a small fall order with Deb, which arrived yesterday. This is a tasty flavored hojicha, but not quite pumpkin. I guess that makes sense, as there is nothing that would give it a squashiness, just a pumpkin spice flavor. That’s basically what this is- a cinnamon hojicha. Tasty, but not something I need to get again.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

76

This is a nice example of a chai. I can’t recall specifically tasting maple, per se, but it fits my chai preferences pretty well, apparently (not overly heavy on the cinnamon or ginger, good dose of cardamom). Not a repurchase but I’ll enjoy what I have, possibly as a latte.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

As always, oof this is a lot of lavender! However, I happened to be in a mood where I was really craving lavender so that worked to my advantage on this occasion. It’s very aromatic and heavy and just intense – but also a little soothing and, as the tea cooled, more of the sweet nuttiness and body of the almond came through the sort of offset the lavender that was building on my palate. Still, very much however, a lavender first sorta blend.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

I really debated quite heavily if I wanted to order this tea or not, but in the end I decided I would be more frustrated by not trying it and having the taste be this big question mark for me than I would be by buying it and not loving it. Now to be fair I did let my mug steep for much longer than I had initially intended, but my main reservation was that it would be too much lavender since Deb seems to have a really liberal hand when adding lavender to her teas and… well, it’s kind of too much lavender.

It’s just so thick and floral that the heady notes of pungent lavender are really covering everything else except for the briskness of the black tea. I will do my best to not make a snap judgement since my steeping of this mug was not what I’d intended it to be. However, it’s a bit disappointing. Still, better (at least to me) than not knowing.

Kittenna

I read your review after writing mine and agree – this might be a bit too much lavender for a tea that’s supposed to have other flavours!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Cold Brew Sipdown (2305)!

This is definitely one of my favourite Deb blends, so it’s a little bittersweet to be finishing it off. I’m not even sure if she’s still carrying this tea, so who knows if a restock would be possible. The cold brew, though? Just delicious. This tea really tastes a lot like Coffee Crisp chocolate bars to me, and that especially comes out when brewed this way. I’m not the biggest coffee fan, but I do really love a good Coffee Crisp. It’s the perfect balance of chocolate, wafer, cream, and coffee. Light and airy, but not weak. Definitely does have a tiramisu-like quality to it but the Canadian nostalgia of scarfing down mini Coffee Crisps after Halloween wins out.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

I once again found myself pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this mug of tea. It’s really full bodied and rich, and the notes of slightly roasted earthy coffee with decadent cocoa and a hint of coconut and cream are very pleasant to me. Ironically, I think the thing that prevents it from being particularly Tiramisu-like in my mind (though, I think all the key flavours are at the table individually) is how much the roast of the coffee comes through and how it’s not actually that sweet. I mean, it is sweet but not actual Tiramisu/cake level of sweet. It’s very good though, and shockingly I kind of feel like this is something I would buy again next time I place a Dessert By Deb order.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

It’s growing on me.

I taste roasted coffee, cream, coconut, and chocolate all alongside a nice sweet and nutty rooibos tea base and when I take a sip with intention/mindfulness all of those flavours are lovely but very distinct from another. However, when I allow my mind to wander a little bit more and the lines between each flavour to blur and ‘fuzz into each other’ more it becomes, truly, like this delicious mix of Coffee Crisp meets, well, Tiramisu. Such a simple blend – but I just really dig it!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

I’ve seen this one on Deb’s site for a while but never felt compelled to order it since coffee isn’t really my forte, however she included it as a free sample in my last order and I’m glad she did because it surprised me in a very pleasant way! I do think I’d expected more cream/vanilla from a tiramisu tea but at it’s core all the flavours I think should be present for this profile are actually there in varying degrees and that’s not something I feel can be said for all of Deb’s blends.

Coffee is the strongest flavour and it’s a surprisingly roasty and woody tasting coffee as well, but I like the roast level a lot and I think it does a good job of offsetting some sweetness from the chocolate/cocoa and the naturally sweeter rooibos base. It’s also distinctly roasty without being aggressively so or overpowering all the flavours completely. The overall profile reminded me a lot of a Coffee Crisp chocolate bar!?

It’s good! And I could always add milk/make as a latte if I did want more creaminess.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

Sipdown! (37 | 446)

This was a yummy tea, with a nice natural-tasting dark berry flavor to it. I would say maybe dried or jammy blueberry? The sweetness melds well with the berry and gives it a pie or crumble filling-like taste.

I will say, I found the ginger to be a bit inconsistent. This cup is lovely, with a nice amount of warmth, but the last cup I had was a bit of ginger overload and the spiciness overpowered the fruit flavor. Regardless, I would consider ordering this one for the fall and winter months if it were still around… Oh well!

Flavors: Berry, Blueberry, Brown Sugar, Ginger, Jam, Spicy, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
Evol Ving Ness

Ah, a bit of redemption!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

I really like this one! It totally does remind me of a mixed berry crisp with a gingery spiced topping. It’s maybe blueberry-esque from the elderberry? But the slight tartness from the hibiscus gives a bit more dimension. It is sweet, but not overly so, and it doesn’t taste flat like a lot of the other maple-heavy teas tend to.

A shame that this is no longer around… :(

Flavors: Berry, Blueberry, Cinnamon, Elderberry, Ginger, Jam, Pastries, Spices, Sugar, Sweet, Tart

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

65

Sipdown! (18 | 427)

Not my favorite, but it’s not a bad tea. I’m mostly getting a butter rum sort of note along with the toasted rice in this last cup, and there’s less sugar which is an improvement. Still not something I would order but I’m glad to finish it off on a high note.

Flavors: Butter, Butterscotch, Grain, Rum, Sweet, Toasted Rice, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

65

I feel like I’ve had this same tea several times before from Deb… Butter Toffee Cream, Maple Butter Shortbread, Salted Caramel Pancakes? All sort of butter-caramel flavored with black tea and rooibos, with or without coconut. They’re not identical, but they all taste very same-y to me.

So this is very similar to the above teas, heavy on the butter and maple sugar with woody rooibos notes. The toasted rice does add something slightly different, but it’s also somewhat overpowered by all the sugary bits (this blend has maple crystals and brown sugar AND honey).

It’s too sweet for me, and I’m a bit bored of this flavor profile from Deb at this point. But thank you, Deb, for the free sample with my order!

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Butter, Coconut, Maple, Rooibos, Sugar, Sweet, Thick, Toasted Rice, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Evol Ving Ness

Omg, this sounds like a good tea to mix with another tea with different types of issues.

gmathis

Agreed. Thinning it out with a reasonable black tea sounds like a good idea.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Just looked over at my tasting note count and saw that this is my 14,000th tasting note. So, that’s a pretty cool milestone and also a little bit crazy to think about…

Sipped this earlier in the week. I brought it into the office to drink what feels like ages ago even though it was probably only a week or two back. I love the clean, straight forward lime flavour and the hint of umami from the matcha. The thing is that it just has such a thin body and light flavour that I found I rarely considered making it while at the office even though the bag was right next to me on my desk – I just constantly wanted something either bolder in taste or with much substance in texture.

It’s tough when you like a tea but it kind of only “works” in very specific circumstances/moods…

Leafhopper

Congratulations! Your tasting note count is truly impressive!

Martin Bednář

I agree with Leafhopper, and congrats for that number. Well, I assume you drink nothing but tea?

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Sipped on a lovely cup of Matcha Key Lime Pie and, since it’s finally starting to feel more like Spring, I actually enjoyed it outside too! I have to say, I have a particular fondness from Deb’s matcha dusted green teas – and that’s saying something as a person who doesn’t usually reach for green tea all that often! This one is light and bright, with just the perfect pop of tartness from the lime.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CbvdDyZOmD2/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If0iQTuLXYo&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Truthfully I didn’t pay a ton of attention to this cup as I drank it because I was also playing a video game at the same time, but I remember thinking that I was yet again really impressed with another of Deb’s matcha dusted teas – they seem to catch me off guard each time I try them. In this case, it was the combination of the light and vegetal matcha with a very bright pop of lime. I liked the lime flavour a lot, though the overall cup was pretty light/mild. Is this the first time Deb has worked with lime!? I’m not sure.

Will have to try again with more attention given, and also think more about the “pie” aspect and if I feel like it’s been captured well in addition to just the taste of the lime…

Cameron B.

I don’t usually care for Deb’s matcha green teas, but the lime really made this one for me.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

58

Sipdown! (21 | 430)

This one sounds so good in name, but doesn’t deliver on the taste. The rooibos ends up being the main flavor, with just a bit of an herbaceous lemon note in the background. So really it’s sort of a boozy rooibos with a bit of sweetness and not much else.

Meh.

Flavors: Alcohol, Herbaceous, Lemon, Rooibos, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
Evol Ving Ness

Such promise. Again.

Cameron B.

I know, right? I don’t think I have any creamy lemon dessert teas currently, but I remember the one from Dammann being good. I’ll have to order some one of these days…

Kittenna

Yeah, this didn’t do it for me either :(

EmmaM

Dammann’s Noel a Venise is so delicious, you’re right.

Cameron B.

Yes, that’s the one! Many of their Noël teas are great. It’s too bad they only sell 100g portions… :(

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

58

Hmm… not feeling this one.

I’m not getting much lemon, and the woody, almost boozy rooibos is overpowering everything else. A hint of lemongrass is about it for the citrus notes.

I would’ve guessed some kind of rum-flavored rooibos if I didn’t know any better. Definitely can’t taste the black tea.

Flavors: Alcohol, Lemongrass, Rum, Sugar, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Evol Ving Ness

Such promise…

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

Sipdown! (16 | 425)

I figured I might as well finish this lil’ sample packet off!

I just wrote about this one yesterday, so I don’t have a lot more to say. I enjoyed it more than I expected, given I’m not generally drawn to either chai or coconut teas. It’s a nice blend of mellow spices and creamy coconut that brings to mind some kind of chai-spiced coconut flan. This last cup actually seems to have less sugar than I remember, which is making me like it even more.

Maybe next time I order from Deb, I’ll pick up a small packet of this. I don’t think it’s something I would reach for long-term, but it’s always nice to have chai around for fall and winter. :)

Flavors: Cardamom, Cinnamon, Coconut, Creamy, Sugar, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

I got my recent small order from Deb today, and this was one of the free samples that she selected. I’ve actually been enjoying chai more lately, probably because of the season changing, so I was interested to see it. I’m not the biggest coconut fan, but I do enjoy it as a supporting flavor.

Overall though, this is a bit thin for me. I do enjoy the coconut combined with the cinnamon and cardamom, and it is a creamier coconut so it does remind me of coconut cream pie. But overall it’s a bit weak, and I know if I use more leaf, it’ll be too sweet because of the added sugar.

I would maybe consider ordering this if it didn’t have sugar in it.

Flavors: Cardamom, Cinnamon, Coconut, Creamy, Spices, Sugar, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Evol Ving Ness

No idea why tea blends contain added sugar, aside from making teas heavier and more costly.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.