32 Tasting Notes

95
drank Forever Frosty by DAVIDsTEA
32 tasting notes

Davids quietly changed the recipe for this tea this year when they brought it back. The picture with the white candied almonds here on Steepster is the current recipe. The old recipe had small-diced candied pineapple and marshmallows, but no sugar-coated almonds or large orange pieces. The old recipe was found in the Forever Frosty Snowman Tin…and is no longer available for purchase. Actually, I like the new recipe better! It’s more tangy and less over-the-top sweet. Still includes plenty of festive spice!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

95
drank Forever Frosty by DAVIDsTEA
32 tasting notes

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

95
drank Hojicha by Adagio Teas
32 tasting notes

Ah Hojicha. My all-time favorite tea. I wish it weren’t so hard to find in my area! I’ve only tasted two brands of hojicha so far. But it was the first type of tea I fell in love with. This hojicha taste is classic (no frills). But it’s roasty, toasty, slightly nutty taste and aroma are quite lovely. I can’t help but smile when I have a cup of hojicha to enjoy.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

Just found a sample of this tea, and decided I’d give it a go. It was my first experience with guayusa and it was wonderful!! The color of the liquid was dark brown. The nose is mildly sweet and spicy, and the taste is earthy and herbal, but not heavy. There’s lots of ingredients in this tea, and they blend together perfectly. So sad that DavidsTea discontinued it! But, at least they have other Guayusa blends. Looking forward to trying some of those.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88

A lovely green. I could drink this all day if it weren’t so expensive! Unfortunately, my palate has not yet evolved to be able to distinguish between a really good green and an exceptional green tea. Maybe someday… In the meantime, I know I like this one: buttery, lightly roasted green goodness. Not too grassy, none of the bitterness of lesser greens. It reminds me of Sencha Ashikubo.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec 0 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

45
drank Pink Flamingo by DAVIDsTEA
32 tasting notes

Today’s sip down: the last of the pink flamingo. Finally. I’m not a big fan of hibiscus or lemongrass, and this has both in spades. Super tart. Where’s the citrusy sweetness? It didn’t even brew up hot pink for me. Came out a purple plum color. I won’t be buying it again. Good thing I only had a little 30g mini-tin of it.

Maddy Barone

Yes! I bought 100 grams of that back before I was more familiar with what I like in a tea. This one sounded so fun! But I discovered in a big way that I can’t stand hibiscus. To me it’s simply sour, not pleasantly tart. I battled my way through several cups of it and then threw it away. :(

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

97

How can this tea be rated so lowly on Steepster?! It’s amazing. A tried and true staple of my cupboard, and one of our all-time favorites. Erik loves the pepper, fennel, and mint. I love the roasty Hojicha and juxtaposition of warm spices with cool mint. Hojicha holds a special place in my heart. It’s not your average green. In fact, it’s closer in taste to Oolong than green. DavidsTea rarely stocks it beyond this blend, and it seems to be very seasonal elsewhere as well. Nice to see this tea included in the Cold Survival Kit of 2014-2015. That collection is brilliant! Love everything in it.

Maddy Barone

I was looking at trying that one, but I’m not a fan of green tea. Still, the spices sound so interesting.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

98

Earthy. Strong. Ginger. Orange. This tea wakes me up in the morning after a rough night, or when I’m recovering from the flu. When I drink it, I feel invigorated, yet grounded and ready to tackle whatever the day may bring. I brought this home from my my first ever visit to DavidsTea in Toronto (way back in 2009!), and I keep refilling when it runs out. So glad Davids is still stocking it.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

95

When my tummy is rebelling or I feel a twinge of a cold coming on, I make 3 cups of this and knock it right out! The ginger is definitely front and center: as powerful as you’ll get without slicing the fresh root yourself. The other spices compliment it well, and it’s a great tea to make in the evening, when I don’t want any caffeine. Included in the Cold Survival Kit of 2014-2015.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

79
drank Licorice Twist by DAVIDsTEA
32 tasting notes

Delicate and soothing. The long list of ingredients seems intimidating at first, but they blend together well. Unfortunately, my initial infatuation with this tea was short-lived. It’s still pleasant, but the potency of the taste has dissipated significantly since I first got it in September. So now I have half a tin left and I’m rarely in the mood to drink it. I should have known since nettle leaf seems to be the base that the spices are built around. I love nettle leaf. It’s very slightly sweet and delicious when fresh, but tends to go stale quickly. I’m not sure how to rate this tea. It was awesome! But, now it’s just meh. I think I’ll rate based on the fresh taste with just a couple points knocked off the top for a short shelf-life. In the future, I need to remember to only order 50g of nettle-based teas at a time (instead of 100g.). This was introduced as part of the Cold Survival Kit 2014-2015. I thoroughly enjoyed that collection. It has a great assortment of teas and really cute packaging. With honey sticks to boot! Actually, I haven’t tried this tea yet with honey and lemon. I think I will do that tonight. Bonnie’s review with those condiments was encouraging.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

My favorite variety is green tea, but I also enjoy pu’erh, oolong, white, herbal tisanes, rooibos, and certain flavored black teas.

I’ve dabbled with Teavana, Tazo, and Adagio. But DavidsTea is where my love of loose leaf started back in 2009, and their blends are still my favorites. They had a rough year in 2020, but I hope Davids can still bounce back.

In my head, I rate my teas on a 5-star system, so for Steepster I’ve devised the following system:

90 – 100 = “5 stars”
All time favorites and inspired blends

75 – 89 = “4 stars”
Quite enjoyable—would like a 2nd cup! Might order this tea for my cupboard

50 -74 = “3 stars”
Nothing about this tea stands out. It might be an odd or unbalance blend. One cup is enough to satisfy my curiosity.

25 – 49 = “2 stars”
Tolerable, but I definitely wouldn’t buy it again.

0 – 25 = “1 star”
Can’t even finish the first cup

Location

near Seattle

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer