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Yawn. Berries and hibiscus. I feel like Teavana’s done this a million times over. The white tea is visible (tea, actually visible in a Teavana blend!) however its flavour is completely overpowered by the hibiscus and tart berries. I tried adding sugar to see if this was salvageable or unique once sweetened (like some of Teavana’s are), but nope, it’s a wash. If I wanted to drink tart and expensive, I wouldn’t be doing it in a tea.

I have a soft spot for this one. Three Wishes bills itself as a black, but everytime I have it I remember how it actually tastes more like a beautiful peachy green, with a bit more body than a green usually has. Hot or cold I always enjoy it, as long as I brew it properly. Even though Davids has it as a brew at boil, I like to do it around 85-90. This brings out the peach and keeps it from being overpowered by a flavour of overbrewed black. I don’t know anyone who counts this in their favourites at Davids, which is a shame. It really deserves more fanfare than it gets.

I tried this tea over the holiday 2011 season and hated it. So colour me surprised when I tried it again this season and ended up buying an entire tin. It isn’t my favourite black tea, or even my favourite mint tea, but it is a mellow vanilla mint tea that is light enough for me to be able to take it to work without overpowering the office with the scent of my tea. I’m looking forward to try this blended with Cocomint Cream . . I suspect that they’ll be amazing in a latte together.

Its been ages since I brewed this one, so this afternoon I had multiple cups. I love this one because while there is definitely a great black base, the peach flavour is there and strong. Peach is one of my favourite fruit flavours and I find it really hard to find done well in a tea, so this tea has a special place in my heart. It’s actually the only bagged tea I keep in stock here on a consistent basis, I love it that much!

After all the heavy teas of Christmas spices, I’ve started leaning to lighter fruit teas. This one was a great choice that hit exactly the right spot. I’m not sold on the scent of it dry, sometimes when I open the tin it overwhelms me a bit too much. As soon as I get past that, though, I steep it up and fall in love all over again with the first sips. Sweet and fruity without being overpowering, I like this one a lot.

I’m a sucker for a quality genmaicha, so when I found this one at 75% off last week I couldn’t leave it behind. Today I finally broke into it, and mmmm, I’m glad I got some. I did my first steep as per Teavana’s instructions, and while it was nice, it wasn’t that amazing flavour I’d been hoping to find. Determined, I did a second steep of the leaves at 85C for 75 seconds. This cup now is exactly the flavour I’d been hoping for. The rich greens flavoured gyokuro compliments the genmaicha deliciously, making it a nutty buttery brew of awesome. I’m hoping now I can get a third steep out of this one now before bed!

I hadn’t had this one in ages, so now that I’m trying to dig through the collection I pulled it from the back and dived into the pot. It’s still a favourite of mine, as I remembered with first sips. Straight, the flavour is light and a lovely blend, with the tea flavour dominating, hints of lemon and cream teasing in the background. After about half of the pot I added a small amount of sugar, and this is when the lemon blossoms, coming out to the forefront.

I react to some whites badly, and this one has none of those negative effects. It’s a quality tea blend, and an amazingly great price for it.

I got a sample of this one from a friend. Tonight I was craving something new and white, so out it came and into the pot. Dry it smells amazing, all peach and pear and just the type of scent I adore and that almost always lures me into buying a tea.

Brewed, this tea loses so much. There wasn’t nearly as strong of a scent, either of tea or of fruit. Taste wise, when sipped straight, there was very little flavour here. I could definitely taste the tea itself, however it wasn’t anything spectacular. Knowing that Teavana’s teas usually work better with sweetener, I added a little sugar. Still, blah, I tried a little more. Here I finally found the fruit flavour, but it was still understated and extremely dupeable. Overall this one is pretty unmemorable, and I can definitely understand why it was discontinued.

Not a bad tea, but why did they have to add the chocolate? My dream pie definitely is more whipped cream and less chocolate based. The banana notes are lovely and as a latte it blends up well, but I’m not going to be restocking. I’m kind of getting tired of most chocolate teas, especially those from Davids, and this one isn’t anywhere near as good as Read My Lips or Cookie Dough. So farewell, my dream pie. I hope to meet you in earnest one day.

Of course I finally figure out the best brewing on this one when its my last cup of it. When brewed at 85 for 1.5 minutes, its this amazingly lovely vanilla black. I sweetened it with Irish Creme agave and BAM, it was my favourite cup of the night. I may have to get more afterall!