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This is still my favourite chai. Maybe because it was my first? Who knows. But every time I make myself a cup of this I am surprised at how dark and rich and spicy and warm it is. No other chai has quite compared, as far as I’m concerned. I love how you can taste all of the spices, rather than just cinnamon, and the black pepper gives it a nice tingly bite. I always add a bit of sugar and plenty of milk and it is obviously the most delicious this way, all creamy and comforting.
I also love the tazo chai concentrate that you can get at the grocery store. I give it a whiz in my trusty magic bullet with some vanilla frozen yogurt and milk and it makes the BEST frosty drink. Yum.

Can’t believe I’ve never logged this one! It’s one of my favourites, and the tea that sparked my iced tea addiction last summer. I had a cup of it iced to go on a whim, and then went back to davids immidiately after finishing it to grab 100g. I know it has been said before, but shucks, is this tea ever light. I was given a full tin and a large bag full on the side.

Fast forward to this summer. I still have so much of this left! Even though I drank a ton of it last summer. I like it as an alternative to water – it’s really light and refreshing and there’s really no need to add sweetener. I like the comparison to slightly green strawberries – that’s pretty spot-on. I think it’s the bamboo that gives it that quality.

I bought myself a nice big pitcher the other day and decided to christen it with this tea. Plenty of leaf, some warm water, and some frozen strawberries in the strainer. I left them to get to know eachother for about an hour and then chilled. I’ve been really enjoying the concoction, adding the strawberries was definitely a good idea.

My only gripe about this tea is that if you are going to have ‘blazing’ in the name, there should at least be a little zing to it! I really don’t get any heat out of this one whatsoever.

I’ve had this tea twice now since it came out, and I’m really loving it! Finally picked up 50g of it yesterday and I’m so glad I did.

I had it as a latte the first time, and it was marvelous. Hot, it reminds me almost of a fruity earl grey. I got a floral/astringent bergamot-type aroma from it, which really pairs nicely with the blueberries. I really have no idea where I’m getting this association from since there’s no bergamot in the blend..maybe it’s the elderberries? Regardless I found that it went perfectly with the juicy blueberry goodness that’s in the forefront.

Aaaand then I tried it iced. It is AMAZING. It really does taste like straight up blueberry preserves with a smooth and sturdy black tea in the background. Unfortunately I ruined half of my tumbler full since I forgot to shake it up to mix in the agave until halfway through. I’m thinking iced it may be better straight up because once that agave hit my tongue it was horrible. Really artificially sweet and I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it.

So glad to have this in my cupboard for both hot and iced goodness :)

Birthday TOTD!

I had this yesterday in my promo mug. I was really excited for this one — I looove strawberries and it was promising a strawberry punch. How perfect that it was one of the TOTDs on my birthday :D

I had never tried the Strawberry White, so I can’t compare the two. Thinking back, I’m not sure why I never got around to it, considering the aforementioned strawberry love. I guess it just sounded a little boring? Looks like I’m a sucker for a good name.

I found this a little bitter (as I often do with white teas) and it didn’t have the burst of strawberry flavour I was expecting. I enjoyed my cup, it wasn’t horrible, it was just overwhelmingly ‘meh’. White tea flavour in the background, a hint of berry sweetness, and some tart/sour notes from the rosehips and hibiscus. I’d probably have it again as a TOTD but I won’t be buying any for my stash.

Oooh! Yum.

Probably the best way to describe my reaction to this tea. I love (LOVE) desserty teas but I like them much better with a black base than rooibos, or anything else really. Black tea is my go-to.

I love all of the ingredients in this tea, so I was pretty sure it would be fantastic. Especially coconut..I’m not usually a coconut person but it is always so beautiful in tea. I even like the little oil slick it leaves on the top, it makes for creamy deliciousness in the cup. Throw in some caramel and toffee bits and I am swooning.

It smells absolutely divine both dry and steeped, it reminds me a little of honeybee. I loved that it steeped up to be a nice dark cup; it definitely stands up to the milk and brown sugar that I added.

I really like the deep, rich caramel flavour that I’m getting from this. I am so glad it’s a dark caramel flavour rather than the light, sticky, sickly sweet ice cream topping variety, if that makes sense. It’s not overly sweet and it has a toasty quality that I love.

Sigh, looks like I’m going to have to stock up! Does anyone know if this is permanent?

Why, whyyy can’t green tea be more simple to prepare for clumsy, lazy people like myself? I like the flavour of green tea but not so much when it tastes bitter and/or burnt. Yuck.

This one came included with a gorgeous little tea set that my girlfriend got me from Teaopia for our anniversary. She knows me too well! We’ve been enjoying the little ritual of sharing a pot of tea on the weekends and I love it. And somehow delicious tea somehow tastes even better when drinking it from the little matching cups :P

But anyways, this tea. I’ve been hearing a lot about cold steeping, and it seemed pretty foolproof to me. So I got a nice tall glass, filled it with water and added a little t-sac of this to steep overnight. Next morning it looked pretty green, so I gave it a try. Blech!! It was really bitter :( maybe I just left it too long? Who knows..but I couldn’t finish the cup. If it weren’t for the bitterness it would have been really nice. The fruity flavours were prominent and refreshing but I just couldn’t get past the pucker-inducing yuck of the bitterness.

I’m going to try cold steeping again, but probably with an herbal or rooibos. Or maybe if I try it with a green again but just reduce the steep time? I really had high hopes for this method since it seemed like it would take the finicky-ness out of making green iced tea but alas, I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.

Had my first $1 iced tea of the summer yesterday! I’m so fracking glad this promo is back; I think I may have nearly abused my iced tea privileges last year and I plan on doing the same this summer :D

I chose this over the bear trap they were also offering because I’d never had it and I had always been mildly interested in it since I love all things vanilla. I got it with a touch of agave, which I kind of ended up regretting. It has a natural, almost floral sweetness (I tried a sample straight before having them add the agave to my cup) and the agave just killed that.

I’m not usually one for oolongs, but I really enjoyed this one. It was light and refreshing with tons of delicious vanilla flavour. I liked the toasty taste that the oolong added as well. My only beef is that it was a tad bitter..I think it might have been slightly oversteeped. Thinking about buying some to bring home but darn it, my tea cupboard is probably already hosting a family of gremlins as it is. It is a huge mess of goodness.

I had this again in store but as an iced latte. YUM. I had never thought of icing a latte before the SA at davids suggested it, but I’m so glad I tried. So creamy and cool and tasty! And sweet, considering the 2 pumps of agave I asked her to add :P mmmm I’ll be having more of these this summer.

Just finished the last little half serving left in my baggie. I added some jolly jellybean since the flavours seemed similar, and I didn’t have quite enough green and fruity for a whole cup. They’re really tasty together! I’m kind of sad I didn’t try this earlier. I added a bit of agave and put it in the fridge to cool and the end result was sweet fruity deliciousness. It reminded me of kool aid for some reason! I wasn’t crazy about green and fruity when I first got it, but it has really grown on me. The smell reminds me of something familiar and I think I’ve finally figured it out—Quaker peaches an cream instant oatmeal. Yep.

I went into the store to try an iced cup of tropicalia but they had just sold out earlier in the day. Boooo. My store never seems to sell out of anything, this one must be gooood! Ugh, this is going to kill my willpower to resist buying the summer collection package, I can feel it. Must stay strong and wait!

But I digress. I ended up getting a cup of iced pink flamingo instead since I’ve heard so much about it on here. I’m not usually huge on overly citrussy teas, or on hibiscus, but I figured I’d give it a go. It’s tasty! Tart and refreshing and really cooling, if that makes sense, in the same way that luscious watermelon is. I asked for just a liiiittle bit of agave in it, as I often do, but I think this one would have been better with a bit more sweetness to cut all of the tart that’s going on.

I don’t think I’d buy this to make at home but I’ll probably have it again in store, if the mood hits.