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I was attacked by the strong aroma of coconut when I opened the packet, which surprised me because I thought it was a pure Ceylon tea! And I was even more surprised to know that the “star” in its name came from one of its ingredients, star anise!!

I didn’t know what to expect as the combination of ingredients was rather unusual to me. The tea didn’t look too appetizing when brewed because there were oil droplets floating around… I guess the culprit was white chocolate? The tea was sweet and strongly coco-nutty. Too bad I am not a fan of coconut (but seems many blends from DAVIDsTEA contain it?). Then after a few sips, I realized that black tea + mild cocoa flavour + licorice-like flavour of star anise gave a taste that strangely resembled tie guan yin!! Indeed, this tea was so light that it’s more like an oolong than black tea. Overall, an interesting tea that’s worth trying at least once.

I don’t think this tea is as wonderful as the above description… it’s just an ordinary chamomile infusion. I will be happy to drink it if it is available in my hotel room (which was where I got this tea bag) but I won’t buy it. It is less flowery than most chamomile tisanes. The only thing great is that there’s no bitter herbal flavour.

Wow I love this!! The black teas from Silkenty seem to have a unique nectarous fragrance. This tea smelled a bit like chocolate (and it’s the kind of chocolate with tiny bits of rose petals!) to me. When brewed the soft aroma was dreamy. Delicate bergamot flavour, hint of chocolate flavour, and fruity Ceylon tea base – what’s not to love? ;)

This is of course, no match to Lupicia’s caramel-flavoured tea… but it is decent enough. The caramel flavour is not that strong yet recognizable. While flavouring may not be Dilmah’s strength, their lovely Ceylon tea base never goes wrong. I usually drink this after I’ve made dinner at home, i.e. when I am too tired to brew loose tea leaves after all the dinner preparation, and want something sweet to pamper myself. :P

I like DAVIDsTEA for their fun teas and cute tea names! Cookie Dough is surely a tea that will catch your attention. I mean, who doesn’t like cookies?? ;)

Opening the small packet of tea sample was like opening a jar of chocolate chip cookies. The rich aroma of cocoa raised my expectation for this tea – though I was sure that it would taste more like dessert than tea, just like most of the blends from DAVIDsTEA. And I saw a pretty large piece of walnut (would it release flavour when infused!?) in the sample!! I almost ate that right away!

As expected, I couldn’t really taste the tea base… I guess it wouldn’t make much difference to use white tea or oolong because the cup was completely dominated by flavours of cocoa, caramel and nuts. I might not know it contained tea if I didn’t brew it myself :P It’s sweet on the whole, though a few sips tasted bittersweet like coffee with milk and sugar. Wow… a great guilt-free teatime treat! Anyone has tried this with milk? I reckon that it will be magic!

As the other reviewer has rightly pointed out, this isn’t Moroccan mint tea, which is supposed to be (heavily) sweetened! This is just a green tea with peppermint, and it is not sweetened. BUT I do like it more than traditional Moroccan mint tea. :P The refreshing mint flavour goes pretty well with the light green tea base.

Banana Dream Pie. What a mouth-watering, delicious name! It is indeed quite a yummy dessert tea. Ever since my worst tea-drinking experience with DAVIDsTEA’s Carrot Cake, I’ve been a bit apprehensive about trying other flavoured teas by DAVIDsTEA. Thank god, this tea is pretty reassuring. :) A very rich, chocolatey tea… and yes, I can smell and taste real banana. Kids and those with a sweet tooth will absolutely love it. I wonder if DAVIDsTea would consider adding some vanilla to the tea? That would probably make it even more amazing and pie-like!

Finally, a good tea from Silkenty Gift Box! Tisane and green tea are probably not among Silkenty’s strong points, but Ceylon tea is (Silkenty is a Sri Lankan brand after all). This is a full-bodied, aromatic black tea. There is a flowery, almost jasmine/osmanthus-like note in its aroma, which is beautiful. The liquor has a little bit of astringency but on the whole it is pretty sweet. There’s some fruity sweetness on the tip of my tongue after each sip. It truly is a great tea to start the morning with :)

Not a very flavourful cup and that’s why I strongly suspect the teas in my Silkenty Gift Box are ancient (though according to the box, the production date is Sep 2012)… the flavour of peppermint was only half as strong as other peppermint tisanes, and rose was not even present.

I start to doubt the freshness of my Silkenty Gift Box. This is the 4th tea from the box; apart from the 1st tea (lemongrass chamomile), the others have not been impressive. Like the vanilla rooibos I tried yesterday (which had no trace of vanilla apparently), the apricot flavour is missing from the tea. There’s a strange, cucumber-like scent and flavour in the tea, which I suppose is the honeydew flavour that gives the tea its name. But I don’t like it because it’s artificial and doesn’t resemble honeydew at all. :( I wonder if it is meant to taste like that. Perhaps the tea bag is simply not fresh enough?

I hope the next tea from the box will be better…