Sugar Plum Forest

All I really get from this tea is overpowering flavours, and nothing particularly distinct in that aside from a lot of cinnamon and cloves, and artificial flavouring aftertaste. Yuck. So glad this was just a sample in my 24 Days of Tea advent calendar and that I didn’t actually buy a tin of this on its own.

Brewed tea smells very Christmas-y with clove and tartness.
The actual flavour of the tea has too manly elements with no flavour focus. I can detect the tartness of the hibiscus and the cutting sweetness of the licorice. I can possibly detect some apple note and spiciness of the ginger.
The mix of too many ingredients reminds me of “Indian Summer” by DAVIDsTEA- which I also did not enjoy.

Sugar Plum Forest smells really sweet once brewed (I don’t add sugar to my teas)… it almost smells like its going to be sickly sweet when you sip it. But, its not sweet. It has a mildly sour taste mixed with the after-burn of licorice. I actually really like this tea because it is not overly “fruity” or “sour” like other fruit teas. This one has a good balance of sour and spicy without being overpowering. I would say if you are not a fan of licorice, don’t bother with this tea. The licorice flavor and smell are very prominent here!

What a bold, brilliant blend! This tea is so unique and complex. I’ve never tasted anything quite like it. I steep it 7+ minutes so it turns purple in my cup and the flavors really pop. It’s really more like an herbal tisane than a rooibos. The taste is sweet and tart, like Forever Nuts, but with more plum, heat, and spices. With strong apple and cinnamon notes, it also reminds me of Mom’s Apple Pie, but without the bitterness of the sub-par green tea in that blend. I really enjoy this tea, and will be sad to see it go when the holiday season ends. By the way, this tea is definitely made for HOT brewing and sipping. Don’t try it luke-warm or iced. Released Fall 2014 for the Winter Collection.

Just chuggin’ along on the David’s winter tea train! Thanks again to miss Roswell Strange for providing me with 10g samples of all of these teas. I have to say, the notes that I’ve seen regarding this tea have made me rather scared to try it, as they’ve pretty much all been negative. Oh well, onward!

Now, on the pouch, this claims to be a rooibos blend. However, as far as I can tell, there is zero rooibos in my sample. So either there’s so little included that it’s pointless, or whoever measured out this sample didn’t bother to stir it first, leaving me with all of the food ingredients which tend to rise to the top as the rooibos sinks. Oh well! Dry scent is like a very heavily spiced apple cider.

Wow, I’m actually very surprised by this tea. I don’t hate it at all. Thankfully, I can’t taste the chili, which was the ingredient that really worried me (I do not enjoy spicy foods). The hibiscus is present but in a complementary way instead of being overpowering. I really enjoy the star anise in this blend, as most blends with licorice only include the root and there’s no actual licorice-esque flavor. Speaking of licorice root, I can taste that sweetness at the end of the sip, but it’s actually balanced rather well by the tart.

Overall, I’m surprised to somewhat like this one. There’s a lot going on, but it ends up tasting like a simultaneously spiced, tart, and sweet mulled apple cider.

I finally bit the bullet and tried this tea tonight! After reading so many terrible reviews, I was a bit apprehensive lol. But I bought it, it’s not just going to sit there!

The dry smell is nicely spicy, similar to Yes We Cran (not a favorite of mine), but warming and festive. Knowing there is hibiscus in here and recalling the disaster that Yes We Cran was after steeping for 4 mins, I only steeped this for 2.5 mins with boiling water. The resulting liquor is light pinkish red and does smell of hibiscus and cinnamon. Not two of my favorite flavors.

But for the second time this weekend, the tea surprised me! The flavor is quite spicy, with a sweetness from the plums, and the aftertaste is very spicy from the chillies. However, this to me is the most success DT has had with including chillies in a tea. I am finding that with this steep time, the brew is warming and spicy and sweet, and the hibiscus and cinnamon don’t take over but rather meld with the other spices nicely. I am enjoying this and it definitely feels festive. Oh and now I have the Nutcracker music stuck in my head, so double win!

Overall, a tasty spicy tea if brewed for a lot less time than recommended. I won’t have trouble finishing this bag, and even better, it is caffeine free! Happy I picked up some of this :)

The name got me all excited but this is not how I envision a sugar plum forest to taste like, quite frankly. I wish they didn’t bother with the hibiscus. The key is to not steep this for too long (maybe for 3-4 minutes) in order for the other notes to have a chance against the quickly tartifying hibiscus. Steep this for too long and that’s almost all you taste, save for a dash of cinnamon.

They should have gone with an apple-based tea sans hibiscus and doctored it up with prunes, cinnamon, and maybe a dash of allspice for good luck.

This tea is both tart, sweet, and spicy; an interesting combination. There’s lots of forward red fruit flavor from the rose hips and hibiscus but they have somehow managed to make this tea spicy and seasonal, not just a summery blast. The cinnamon, licorice, and hot peppers add a christmas orange flavor to this, and the heat from the peppers at the end of each sip feels soothing and warming rather than too brutally spicy. It is definitely sweet, so I wouldn’t drink it all the time, but it was a fun flavor to try. It’s pink, it’s herbal, it’s surprising.

Wow. This tea is terrible. I tried it as TOTD today, and although it starts off tasting possibly okay (sweet but heavy on hibiscus), the next flavours that you taste are sweet peppers/chili. YUCK. It is possibly one of the grossest combinations I’ve tried. I’m getting a bit from VariaTea to try making it myself at home, but I anticipate it will be, as others have put it, a big cup of NOPE. Do not recommend. At all.

I stopped at David’s tea today to restock and this was a TOTD. I tasted it and I decided not to buy it. Why? It did not taste BAD, but IMO, it lacked originality and taste. If someone gave it to me for free, I would still drink it, but I won’t buy for sure.