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Got this one as a cup in store on my lunch hour today at work. Decided I’d try the more expensive ones that way since it is actually cheaper in the long run for me. Am glad I tried this, too, since it was a lovely mellow oolong.

Since I like my tea strong, I was a bad tea drinker and left the bag in until I’d finished the cup, which was long enough for me to eat lunch and cross the parking lot to get back to work. Even with this extended brew the tea wasn’t overwhelming or bitter. I seriously enjoyed every sip I had from the cup.

Now I have to decide if I can justify the cost for such a lovely tea!

Disclaimer here, I’m not a coffee drinker. At all. The closest I come are iced capps from Tim Hortons, which, they’re more sugar than coffee. A coworker though had told me she got more a caramel flavour than anything else so I decided to give it a go.

Nope, to me it is totally coffee. I got worried when I saw how dark it steeped, it was darker than coffee itself, unless you have a good dark roasted kind. My first sip I tried black, and okay, I didn’t spit it out, but also knew I’d never finish the cup this way. So I added sugar. This brought out the caramel my coworker had told me about, but nope, still not one for me. So I added a small bit of milk. Still too coffee. I added more milk. Finally, when the almost black drink was now more resembling the colour of milk chocolate, I could drink it. And here I was getting vanilla more than caramel, but definitely still coffee.

I think this one is going to a friend or my mom, who is starting to discover that teas really are just as good or better than her daily caffeine provider.

I swear this is a mystery tea. Its sweet and tart all at the same time. And don’t eat something like a cookie while drinking it or it’ll become extremely tart as you sip. I just made that mistake halfway through!

I get only a slight hint of cherry here, and the bamboo is lovely, but it seems almost to be too strong, as if it wants to beat my tastebuds into submission to convince them of the tea’s awesomeness. Which, I never did like when people tried to make me believe something . . .

Had this one in store, so I don’t know if it was overbrewed, had been sitting, or really is this gross, but I couldn’t stand it and for once didn’t even finish the sample. I didn’t get any fruit in this, just really strong green tea with a sour twist. I’m not rating it since it wasn’t a fair shot, but yeah, not a fan thus far.

A light drinkable jasmine, this is the last of the jasmines for me in my collection, and on David’s Tea’s wall. Not very remarkable to me, especially after having had so many jasmines this weekend. I did notice a strong aftertaste well after I’d finished drinking with this one though. The jasmine definitely lingered.

Genmaicha is a tea I love to try and describe, and yet always fail at, especially when one is really good. Sadly this one from David’s is simply average, with little to make it stand out. If anything I found it slightly weak. I tried it at 1.5 minutes and it was nearly tasteless so I doubled the steep time and was still disappointed. I think I was spoiled by another and now can’t fall in love with any that are sub-par. :(

{Backlogged Review}

The Countess took me by surprise. I bought it on a whim as I was trying to break out of my tea-drinking preferences, and I’m glad I did. It is so mild and delicate, and yet a lovely cup to sit and sip when I’m doing my morning emails or flipping through a book at night. The orange notes are definitely there, blending seamlessly with the green tea to make a lovely cup that I reached for more often than I expected. I’m already out and will definitely be stocking up again.

An interesting chai. I love cinnamon and was looking forward to one that had that as the dominant note. My chais fall into a like, love, or loathe pile, and this one is firmly in the like, at least until I try it with milk. For my first sips I tried it black, and it was nice. Nothing memorable, but definitely not a chai that was dominated by the notes I tend to dislike, instead riding the cinnamon to a nice high. I added the sugar, and the notes intensified, but not unpleasantly. I’m curious now how the milk will affect it next brew.

It isn’t my favourite chai, but it also isn’t one that I’ll turn down. Fairly standard, which isn’t a bad thing.

A pleasant surprise in this one. I’m not a fan of nuts, on their own or in baked goods, so I’ve avoided nut teas until now. What a mistake that’s been!

This one has a nice woodsy outdoors like scent that made me want to go for a walk when I smelt it dry. Brewed the tea is more mellow. There is a definite nut smell to it, although I’m not sure I’d label it specifically walnut.

Tastewise there is a strong general nut flavour, but it is tempered nicely with the green and the hint of fruit to make it a lovely brew. I can see myself reaching for this on an afternoon I’m curling up with a magazine or if I’m having a relaxing day at work.

This is probably my favourite of the Jasmines from Davids that I’ve tried so far. It is more mild and doesn’t make me feel like I’m drinking flower extract. It was lovely to watch bloom and I admire how beautiful the dry leaves are. Sadly, it was also the tea that secured that jasmine teas are not for me. I’ll keep this one for guests who do like it, but I probably won’t be brewing it for myself again.