Indian Summer

I just finished the last of this tea today while emailing our real estate agent and distractingly watching the movie New Year’s Eve (wow, that movie has a huge cast).

I believe this was part of the limited time Fall tea collection for 2012, but if this comes back next year, I’ll be getting another sample size. It’s fresh light and fruity whether I drink it hot or cold. The taste honestly doesn’t make me think of Fall, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless.

This is the last tea in the DT fall collection for me to try.

Very, definitely FRUITY, almost smells like kool aid sitting in the cup. I am getting watermelon and carrot, for sure. There is hibiscus in here but it isn’t very tart, which seems like a good move on the part of DT, they were able to make it mild. I am not getting too much of the actual white tea flavor, but this isn’t bad. I might actually prefer it over ice so I will need to try it that way soon. If you like fruit punch you might be really into this.

I liked it better than I thought I would.

I couldn’t resist. I picked up the new teas earlier today despite telling myself to pipe down on the tea spendage for a while. I tried to make a compromise by asking for only 10g of each (and a couple others, ugh), however, the SA gave me nearly twice as much on all of them, rushed me through the sale, and didn’t give me a receipt. Yeah, she was rather unpleasant and borderline rude. Oh well.

I’m going with this one first because out of the new ones, I liked the smell of the dry tea the best. This is loaded with all sorts of goodies: dried cherries, lemongrass, apples, blackberry leaves, and more, but not that many actual Bai Mu Dan leaves. It’s like Gold Rush in that same sense. And it smells like a juicy, berryish fruit leather.

The scent of the steeped tea is primarily cherries and apples. Oh noes! And I’m smelling… hibiscus.

First sip: watermelon. Like an actual slice of it, not that artificial watermelon that’s not even close to the real thing. A few more sips and the cherry is coming out. Maybe a little bit of apple but it’s subtle. And I’m glad to report that the hibiscus is virtually non-existant.

As this cools down, I can feel the hibiscus more than taste it. You know how it gives you that drying sensation in the mouth? Yeah. But otherwise it’s behaving. I was hoping to get some fig and pumpkin out of this, especially the former. Perhaps it’ll have to take a bit of tweaking.

This tea smells AMAZING, but the taste is so much more subdued, considering there’s a whole produce department in this tea. It seems incredibly mild for something with so much in it. I do get cherries and apples and watermelon and sort of a fruit punch vibe, but it is so light and mild, like, you really have to close your eyes, take a sip, try to block out everything else, and really pay attention to what your buds are telling you. And even then, it is like slightly fruit essences hot water. I think I may increase the leafage/fruitage a bit on a later steep, because I am struggling to catch the flavour here. I am wondering how this will be iced. I suspect it will be juicier and possibly more flavourful, though I was hoping this tea would be like Big Apple in that it is equally amazing hot or iced (since I feel some teas are better hot and others are better iced, and some are good either way).

I’m a little disappointed, but I’m gonna have to rate it lower tan I would have liked to…maybe a stronger brew will bring up the rating.

Got this as a free sample from my last order (which was totally FUBARed, FYI).
The second I saw the name on this, the old Gin Blossoms song “Indian Summer” promptly got stuck in my head. Had to play a little Manson in order to clear it out. I like the Gin Blossoms and all, but there is a time and a place.
Enough complaining. On to the tea.
This is a weird one. Very candy-like, which I normally like, but there is a hint of something in the brewed leaves that I don’t care for. It reminds me of an old Yankee Candle fragrance, Watermelon, that used to give me a headache. Taste isn’t that much better. Very fake-y. I’m beyond disappointed in this one, and yet glad that I didn’t get the fall collection.
Here’s hoping the winter collection is better.
Anyone want the other half of this sample?

Not bad, but not my fave!

The dry smell is very fruity! And this tea is named very well, because you know what? If you were to give an “Indian Summer” a smell, this is it. It’s SO evocative of a warm wind blowing through a golden field at dusk. Oops, my Saskatchewan is showing.

The taste doesn’t quite live up to the smell, but for me the saving grace is that the dominant flavour is watermelon! If I had any Luscious Watermelon left, I would definitely mix the two for a yummy iced tea. I won’t rebuy, but I will have no problem finishing the bag :)

I went to get the fall teas FINALLY today! This one sounds kinda weird. So the SA whipped me up a small sample to try.

I must say, it is better than I thought it would be. Kinda like fruit punch. But there is just too much going on here. I am mostly getting the cherry flavour but everything else makes it a mish-mash (haha). The hibiscus makes it too tart as well.

Too bad, because me and white tea are really good buddies :(

Finishing off the last of my sample of this today because the weather exactly matches an Indian summer – about 23 degrees C! Lovely day :) Anyways, this tea, although I oversteeped it by a few minutes, is still a bit bland to me. Just needs a bit more flavor! See previous note for full review.

Last tea of the evening! I gotta admit, it was tough not to eat the big dried apple chunks out of the bag. I was hungry, and they looked tasty… but I was strong! Haha :)

This tea smells interestingly melony and fruity, when brewed up. Kind of reminds me of Luscious Watermelon. The flavour though, is difficult to place. Kind of melony… kind of fruity… kind of weak… Definitely can’t taste any white tea here (no surprise, I barely saw any in my bag). I’m getting a bit of a lemony/citrusy twist to this tea as well. Overall… it’s not bad, but it’s really nothing special, I don’t think. Maybe I’ll try the rest iced and a bit stronger.

ETA: I finished off the rest of my cup today, and liked it a bit better as a fruity, melony drink. The re-steep, in less water and for 5+ minutes, also wasn’t too bad. Not a keeper, though.

Finishing off the sample that I purchased, I just dumped the rest in which probably ended up being about 2 David’s Tea Perfect Spoonfuls worth. I’m really tasting the lemongrass on the forefront which mixes with a faded cherry flavour. Very mild carrot flavour notes mingle with the cherry close to the end of the sip. Melon-y notes throughout. White tea taste is present- the tea has a nice rounded flavour with the tea base. I am still not a fan of this flavour combination; it seems to not have enough of a focus for me.