Lemon Smash

How much judging do y’all do for drinking old tea? Because this is definitely on the old side, purchased very early in my DAVIDsTEA exploration days. I had a sealed pouch left and decided it was time to use it or get rid of it.

I went with iced first, because “lemon smash” and “fabulously zesty” both made me more inclined toward iced; it’s definitely why I bought it initially. The sage really popped out though, giving it a heavy medicinal flavor, and my partner & I both decided it was probably going to be better hot.

It is better hot, but weirdly, the sage is much more of a background flavor this time; I get a bright lemon note instead that would totally make me feel more inclined toward iced tea – if I hadn’t already tried and disliked it. A bit of the sage-infused honey I’ve been working on helps it a lot, but I don’t think I’ll miss this one overall.

2021 Sipdown 5/365!
(DavidsTea 20)

Unsure if I’ve had this previously, but had an unopened 25g bag that I purchased off someone, and opted to make it into iced tea. The ingredients are interesting – because sage is included, which is kind of unique, and sounds like it could be very refreshing (or very strange).

The sage ended up not being overly powerful and mostly overwhelmed by the lemon (which there is plenty of). Probably an okay balance, but I’d have liked a little more sage just to make this more distinct from other lemon teas. However, the sweetness of the blackberry leaves is throwing me off as it’s coming off like artificial sweetener, which I do not like. I’d have preferred to sweeten this myself (if I wanted to).

Overall, if you sweeten your teas, maybe this is a good uncaffeinated lemon choice, but if you don’t, or are particularly averse to the lingering sweetness of artificial sweeteners, probably not so much. Glad to only have this one package.

Throat is still store so I am gargling with salt water, taking EmergenC, and trying to stay hydrated while drinking a lot of honey. That’s where this tea comes in. This tea that I am trying for the first time and really do not like. I tried it first without the honey and mostly got sage, which could be a plus for some but isn’t for me. The honey rounds it out a little and brings out some lemon but tbh, this tastes a little bit like the earthy flavor of weed and I am not into it at all. I don’t know why that’s what is coming across but it is and I don’t like it so the other couple of packages are going into my swap box.

I received this tea as a free sample from an online purchase, though I wish I had chosen another one. I was expecting to taste a lemonade kick, but was met with what tasted like lemon rinds in water. Underwhelming from the first sip to the last.

I remembered really enjoying this tea (I stocked up on quite a bit last year, and just bought another 4oz because it was so cheap). I love the sage, combined with the candy-like lemon. This last cup was pretty bitter though, for some reason. Didn’t finish the cup and dumped it, which was unfortunate, because I was looking forward to the flavor that I remembered.

This tastes like a sour lemon candy. I was pleased to see sage in there, but sad that I didn’t taste much. The smell is probably the best part, and the flavor is pretty pleasant, but it’s not all the way there.

The lemon flavor in this tea is so delicious. They’ve managed to create a blend that has fairly natural lemon flavor. The sage is a bit too strong for me. It makes the tail end of every sip quite savory, which is an odd flavor when someone’s sweetened the tea. I bought about an ounce to sample, but I don’t know that I’ll finish it. Shame. The lemon flavor is really quite nice.

I agree so much with everything in Roswell Strange’s review :). I think that Lemon Smash has a nice smell and taste. It reminds me a lot of lemonheads candies, and tastes like a good lemonade. I expected this to have a huge sage flavor, because it visibly has a lot of sage in it, but I can’t taste the sage at all. It is a sweet, sunny lemon with a hint of sour lemon aftertaste. I just already own so many lemony blends from DavidsTea, and this one doesn’t stand out enough to be a bigger purchase for me.

The dry leaf smells nice and lemony. but it doesn’t taste very good to me. I think it must be the sage ruining this blend for me. Tried it iced.

Cold Brew!

Such a brilliant bright, clean and crisp lemon flavour with that sweet spot of citric acid pop to it! I think one of the reasons I enjoy this lemon tea in particular as a cold brew is that I find it actually tones down the intensity of the lemon (though it’s still very strong) and that actually allows for even more of the sage undertones to come through. I’m a broken record at this point, but I can always use more herbaceous flavour when it comes to these teas that incorporate sage, thyme, basil and the like…

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.