79
drank Fruity Oasis by DAVIDsTEA
1216 tasting notes

Teabox Tuesday! There wasn’t much of this left in the Discovery Teabox, and I took what was left… I’m not sure if I had enough leaf for a proper sampling (especially since I personally go a little heavy on rooibos and what I put in my infuser didn’t look as heavy as I usually brew rooibos teas), so I dropped the water amount to attempt to accomodate for that. Hopefully I got close to the right ballpark to get a decent ratio for an herbal. If it turns out weak, well… I know the problem is probably going to be that there just wasn’t really much leaf left of this one. But I love hibi so I really wanted to try it! In fact, I’m surprised so many folks even touched this one in the teabox because of the hibi, considering it is so universally hated around here. Thank you to Skysamurai for organizing the Discovery Teabox and all participants for sharing!

My cup is a lovely deep red, not a watery-looking red or a strange pink or lavender shade, so I think I managed to get my leaf/water balance correct, phew (it did occur to me if the tea did turn out a bit weak from being the tail end of the leaf from the teabox, I could always supplement with a little plain hibi from my stash, heh). The aroma is very fruity; mostly I smell a red berry sweet, jammy aroma, and a hint of pineapple.

I like the flavor! I really am getting a very sweet, jammy taste at the forefront, that has a strong red berry flavor, with notes of strawberry and currant, with a tart/tangy juicy fruitiness at the end of the sip that tastes strongly of pineapple and citrus fruit. There is another flavor there too, and I can’t describe it, so it must be either the aloe or the prickly pear, as I’m not exactly familiar with either. I believe it’s the prickly pear, since one description says the juice is somewhat like a cross between bubblegum and watermelon, and that actually is very close to the flavor I’m tasting. It’s very sweet, and somewhat melon-like. I almost want to say watermelon Jolly Rancher, just not that intense.

I’d love to try this one iced, but sometimes a warm fruity hibi tea on a rainy evening feels very cozy and satisfying… I think it’s from the thicker mouthfeel, it feels very calming as it coats the throat and warms the tummy. Really enjoyed this cup.

Flavors: Black Currant, Candy, Citrus, Fruity, Jam, Melon, Pineapple, Strawberry, Sweet, Tangy, Tart

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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Bio

Hi! I’m Sara, a middle-aged librarian living in southern Idaho, USA. I’m a big ol’ sci-fi/fantasy/anime geek that loves fandom conventions, coloring books, simulation computer games, Japanese culture, and cats. Proud genderqueer asexual (she/they) and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m also a chronic migraineur. As a surprise to no one, I’m a helpless tea addict with a tea collecting and hoarding problem! (It still baffles me how much tea I can cram into my little condo!) I enjoy trying all sorts of teas… for me tea is a neverending journey!

Favorite Flavors:

I love sampling a wide variety of teas! For me the variety is what makes the hobby of tea sampling so fun! While I enjoy trying all different types of teas (pure teas, blends, tisanes), these are some flavors/ingredients I enjoy:
-Dessert/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/cream/toffee/maple
-Sweet/licorice root/stevia
-Vegetal/grassy
-Floral/lavender/rose
-Spices/chais
-Fruity
-Tropical/pineapple/coconut
-Bergamot (in moderation)
-Roasted/nutty
-Tart/tangy/hibiscus/rosehip

Disliked Flavors:

There are not many flavors or ingredients that I don’t like. These include:
-Bananas/banana flavoring
-Hemp/CBD teas
-Smoke-scented teas/heavy smoke flavors (migraine trigger)
-Perfumey teas/extremely heavy floral aromas (migraine trigger)
-Gingko biloba (migraine trigger)
-Chamomile (used in blends as a background note/paired with stronger flavors is okay)
-Extremely spicy/heated teas
-Medicinal flavors/Ginseng
-Metallic flavors
-Overly strong artificial flavorings

With the exception of bananas and migraine triggers, I’ll pretty much try any tea at least once!

Steeping Parameters:

I drink tea in a variety of ways! For hot brews, I mostly drink my teas brewed in the western style without additions, and for iced tea, I drink teas mostly brewed in the cold brew style without additions. Occassionally I’ll change that up. I use the https://octea.ndim.space/#/ app for water-to-tea ratios and use steep times to my preferences.

My Rating Scale:

90-100 – Top tier tea! These teas are among my personal favorites, and typically I like to keep them stocked in my cupboards at all times, if possible!

70-89 – These are teas that I personally found very enjoyable, but I may or may not feel inclined to keep them in stock.

50-69 – Teas that fall in this range I enjoyed, but found either average, lacking in some way, or I’ve had a similar tea that “did it better.”

21-49 – Teas in this range I didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another. I may or may not finish them off, depending on their ranking, and feel no inclination to restock them.

20-1 – Blech! My Tea Hall of Shame. These are the teas that most likely saw the bottom of my garbage can, because I’d feel guilty to pass them onto someone else.

Note that I only journal a tea once, not every time I drink a cup of it. If my opinion of a tea drastically changes since my original review, I will journal the tea again with an updated opinion and change my rating. Occassionally I revisit a tea I’ve reviewed before after a year or more has passed.

Inventory:

My Cupboard on Steepster reflects teas that I have sampled and logged for review, and is not used as an inventory for teas I currently own at the present moment. An accurate and up-to-date listing of my current tea inventory can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/xjt9ptx3 . I am open to tea trades (within the United States only!) at this time. Note that I will not trade teas that I currently have in a quantity less than 50g (samplers, 1oz packages, etc.) or any teas that are currently still sealed/unopened in my cupboard.

Contact Info:

Feel free to send me a Steepster PM, or alternatively, check the website URL section below; it goes to a contact form that will reach my personal e-mail.

Location

Idaho, United States

Website

https://teatimetuesdayreviews...

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