Speculations: David's Tea Fall Collection

Hey Tea Lovers!  I've decided to try something new and do a preview and speculation of collections from tea boutiques such as David's Tea and possibly Teavana.  I have not tried these teas yet so don't take what I say to heart, but feel free to voice your opinions about these teas and if you've tried them, share with us.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!

The Teas:  

Pumpkin Chai

 

Ingredients:

Black tea, cinnamon, cloves, lemon peel, squash, carrot, caramel bits, pumpkin candies, natural and artificial flavouring*. 

 

Mmm...pumpkin.  It's something a lot of people are polarized about and I'm on the love side of that polarization.  People also can be particular about their chai and honestly, very few companies deliver a good one.  This particular one looks a bit sparse on the spices but the squash, carrots and candies seem like they could add an interesting sweetness.  I imagine the strange ingredients also are there for color and the candies are there to weigh it down.  Still, this seems like something worth trying.

 

Mom's Apple Pie

 

Ingredients:

Green tea (China), apple pieces, cinnamon, artificial flavouring*. 

 

I'm actually pretty sure I'll like this.  The ingredient list (minus the artificial flavoring) seems simple compared to their other teas and I have been looking for a green tea flavored with apple.  This seems like something light and sweet and a good alternative to the heavily-spiced blacks and herbals you see for fall.  

 

Sugar and Spice

 

Ingredients:

 

 Black tea, apples, cinnamon cassia, cloves, carrots, marigold petals, natural vanilla flavoring*. 

 

I wish they added caradom in there so that it would be a chai because the world needs more unique chais.   I also appreciate the natural vanilla flavor.  Honestly, I wouldn't want to buy this and it seems like the least interesting in the collection.  There are tons of spice teas out there and this one just seems like a glorified apple spice.  These kinds of teas are also pretty subjective to taste.  

Pistachio  Creme

 

Ingredients:

 

 Mulberry leaf, pistachios, chamomile, natural cream, macadamia and pistachio flavouring*. 

 

This actually sounds really interesting.  I've only had a few nut-flavored teas and think they work quite well for the fall and winter when you want that roasty toasty flavor.  The chamomile is also an interesting but rational ingredient since I feel that it adds sweetness while also giving teas a slight increase in mouthfeel.  This is definitely one I'd love to try and I feel like this would be a wonderful herbal for a desert alternative.  

Cocoberry

 

Ingredients:

Black Tea, black currant, mango, barberry, coffee bean, juniper berry, hibiscus, roasted yerba mate, lucuma powder, acerola powder, baobab fruit powder, acai powder, coffee flavor, natural strawberry flavor, natural and artificial plum, sugar cane and cherry flavour*. 

 

Dat ingredient list!  This is actually a mate, so it's full of caffeine and David's Tea seems to be promoting this one as the healthy one.  Lucuma is supposed to be a natural sweetener that tastes a bit like maple.  Honestly, this seems a bit too crazy for me plus I haven't had good experience with coffee-flavored mates.  There just seems like there's so much going on with the fruit, coffee, hibiscus and random flavorings.  It might be good but I'm a bit meh about this one.

 

The Teaware:

 

 

 

 

I didn't include all of them, but this should give you the general idea of the patterns used.  

Adorable.

I love the colors but also the simplicity.  I love the leaves, birds and chevrons.  I just love them all.  In fact, I'd rather have these mugs and teapots than the sampler they have.

David's Tea's Fall Collection Website:  All pictures were taken from here. 

 

 

 

 

 

Teavana Sweet Mango Chai

  

So, my haul finally arrived.  I tried to get a variety of teas to try from Teavana including 2 white teas, 2 mates, a green, an oolong, a pure herbal and a free sample of a mate/oolong blend.  But, I'm excited because  it's not often that I can actually afford getting this much tea from Teavana and they seem to have some unique blends.  As you know, I'm a huge fan of mango and a huge fan of chai so I thought this should be really good.  Plus, it apparently has oolong which is becoming a favorite of mine as well.

Outsides:  Ingredients include mango, apple, oolong, coconut, cardamon, cinnamon, ginger, tangermine peel, black pepper and mango flavoring.  So, I've made a few teas from Teavana before writing this review and have discovered a new game that can be played called Where's the Tea, because I dug to the bottom of this bag and only got a few oolong leaves.  I brewed probably around 2 teaspoons of this in 8 oz of 90 degree water for about 5 minutes.  The liquid is really cloudy, really light yellow and this smells like spiced mango.

Insides:  Um...where's the tea?  It's not that I don't like flavored tea at all and usually, I want more flavor than less but this is absolutely ridiculous.  I oversteeped the crap out of this and there still isn't any tea flavor to it.  On top of that, the chai is weak as well.  The head of the flavor is sweet mango which is followed by a mostly ginger tasting chai, light body, a little astringency but I did have SOME oolong in there.  It just seems like a mess.

Overall:  No.  This is not tea and if I paid the 7 dollars or however much it was SUPPOSED to be, I would be pissed.

Taste:  Fruit and spice but weak despite me adding an obscene amount of tea.
Price:  Whatever it is, you can probably make this blend for 1/4 of the price.  In fact, I paid 1/4 the price and I feel ripped-off.
Uniqueness:  You get this one, Teavana.  The concept is definitely unique and it would have been nice getting a strong chai with a mango base to it.  This tea is unique for all of the wrong reasons though.
Usability:  I'm updating these criteria for reviews a few weeks after I wrote this post and I have to say, this is not a bad blend for mixing with Prestogeorge's Fancy Mango to give it some umph.  By itself, this tea is utterly useless.

My Rating:  Stay Away!

Teavana is a chain tea retailer that is found in many a mall across the United States and Canada.  Their teas often start from 5 dollars for 2 oz of the most basic blends and they have a lot of flavored teas.  

Tazo Passion (Hibiscus tea with tropical flavors)

Well,  I just reviewed 2 Tazo teas, one bad and one good.  Let's see what the third one brings us.

Outsides: This one is another herbal tea with a crapton of ingredients:  hibiscus, tropical flavor (what the hell is this supposed to mean, Tazo?), citric acid and licorice (not again!), orange peel, cinnamon, rosehips, lemongrass and fruit juice extract for color.  Again, this is a nice,individually-wrapped foil sachet and the teabag is standard.  I brewed this in boiling water for 5 minutes.  The color is very purple and it smells a bit sweeter and more floral with a hint of cinnamon.

Insides:  First off, I don't see why Tazo thought the citric acid was necessary because the hibiscus already adds a bit of a sour kick to it.  If anything, I feel as though it hinders the flavor because you have this nice cinnimon and orange flavor and the tropical note of hibiscus, but drinking it, it's a little too sour.  I will say that i feel the licorice complements the sweet spices while not being in anyone's face.

Overall:  It's ok.  It needs improvement.

My Rating:  Try it (but only if you can get it for cheap/free)

Tazo is everywhere.  It's at Starbucks, in grocery stores, big box stores, drugstores and pretty much anywhere that sells coffee or tea.  Therefore, Ima be lazy and not put a website.

Zen Tea Pu-erh Vanilla Mint

I kinda feel like I'm cheating a bit because I haven't really tried good Pu-erh yet (I have another Zen Tea sample sitting in my tea storage), but pu-erh is another tea that you're supposed to drink in multiple infusions and I just don't feel like doing that right now.  I also feel as though this is a great tea for around the holidays since it's a sweet peppermint and all.

Outsides:  First off, this one blatantly states that it's organic and fair-trade so it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling for supporting a good tea cause.  It contains pu-erh, peppermint, cinnamon (which seems almost contradictory to me), vanilla and the bane of my existence, licorice.  One annoying thing that Zen Tea did was not include how much of this you're supposed to put per cup, so I'm just going to assume that it's a generous teaspoon per 8 oz of boiling water.  This tea is DARK but smells fantastic, like candy canes and holiday cookies all rolled up into one.

Inside:  I know that Pu-erh is different than black tea but I'm going to revoke Adagio's Candy Cane Tea's honor of being the best black tea because this is fantastic.  Pu-erh doesn't seem to be as bitter as black tea and the mint and vanilla flavors come through so nicely.  The licorice is barely noticeable and is actually done right by having it act as a slight sweetener.  I'm going to include a picture of when I add creamer to it because the milk tea has this slight reddish tone to it which I think is very pretty.  Oh, and this is amazing with creamer.  It's like you're having milk and cookies with a candycane in there. 

Milk Tea Goodness

Overall:  I felt like I took a risk getting the 50 gram pouch of this but I'm glad I followed my instincts.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Zen Tea is a Canadian tea retailer specializing in mid to high quality tea.  

Zen Tea Anti-Strain Herbal Tea

I'm going to assume Anti-Strain is supposed to be the Canadian Tension Tea.  I don't really drink normal tension tea, but figured I'd try a bag.  Plus, I've had too much caffeine already and don't want to be up forever.

Outsides:  This tea contains cinnamon, licorice, ginger, fennel, orange peel and cardamon and i have to say, it smells amazing, like a sweet and spicy chai tea.  I put a teaspoon and a half in 8 oz of boiling water and let it sit for 5 minutes.  The tea is the normal yellow herbal color (It's funny how many herbal teas get that color) and still smells amazing.  This also apparently supports the Dosha "vata" in accordance to Ayuvedic teachings, which I know very little about.

Insides:  Well, this smells great and it might possibly taste great except for the smack in your face of weird sweetness that is the licorice.  Is there supposed to be that much licorice in accordance to Ayuvedic principals, because the aftertaste is riddiculous.  Putting aside the licorice, which is pretty near impossible, the herbs used are the spicy sweet kind and the tea has a nice brightness to it.  But you better like licorice.

Overall:  Works great as an air freshener, not as a drink.

My Rating:  Pass.

Zen Tea is a Canadian tea retailer that specializes in mid to high quality tea. 

The Republic of Tea Comfort and Joy Holiday Black Tea

It's been a long time since I've reviewed a bagged tea, but I recently ordered the Republic of Tea Catalog for a reason that may or may not have been for free samples, and wanted to try this one.  I'm a sucker for holiday teas since they're usually fruity and spicy and get you into that holiday mood.



Outsides:  I got a biodegradable envelope with a round, unbleached sachet of tea inside.  TL;DR:  The most environmentally friendly a sachet tea can be.  This tea blend contains black tea, apple pieces, cinnamon, cloves and licorice.  The tea smells great unsteeped, like a sweet apple spice cake.  I steeped it in boiled water for about 4 minutes.  The color is lighter than but still very similar looking to apple cider in both hue and opacity.  It still has that sweet spiced apple cake smell to it.

Insides:  First off, I can barely taste the tea.  It's there, but it lacks astringency (good) and balance between all the other flavors (not so good) with a little bit of a weak tea body.  The flavor mix does have a very nice balance between fruity and spicy, with the cinnamon, cloves and licorice adding sweetness to the apple flavor that this tea had.  If anything, this is a good tea for anyone wanting the flavor of apple cider but without all the sugar.  And despite my not-nice things that I said about the tea portion, I think that it was at one point, a decent quality tea for a bagged tea, just overshadowed by the flavor.

Overall:  If you have someone on your holiday list that likes bagged tea and cider, this might be the gift to give.

My Rating:  Try it!

The Republic of Tea often advertises on my blog, meaning they have tons of money but also some higher quality tea bags as opposed to most of the other tea bag companies I review.  I got this sample from a catalog which I will look through and they seem to have a cool "Design your own gift" thing which looks like a good idea.

Davidson's Tea Bulk: Spring Fruit and Flowers

A pound of tea is a LOT of tea

 

  

I really love this type of blueberry herbal tea.  It's usually tangy and fruity and caffeine-free, so I can drink it before bed without having to worry about not sleeping.  However, I keep on running out of it so I took a risk and ordered a whole pound from Davidson's tea on Amazon for $17.05 (I have prime so I got 2 day shipping for free).  Buying in bulk is always a bit of a risk unless you know your supplier well, but I figured that there wouldn't be that much of a difference in the herb quality between this and Prestogeorge.

Outsides:  The mix in this is pretty much the same as previous blueberry herbal teas; blueberries, hibiscus, green rooibos, blue cornflowers and a bit of cinnamon and chamomile.  The colors are always beautiful as the blue flowers and yellow have great contrast against the dark red of the hibiscus.  I brewed a hefty teaspoon and let it steep in boiling water for 5 minutes, but my last cup before this was left brewing for...10 hours (?!?).  I actually think the color of this is more on the red side whereas the previous blueberry herbal teas were kind of a dark magenta.  It smells fruity with a hint of cinnamon and chamomile.

Insides:  First off, I think the Prestogeorge one had a stronger spice and hibiscus taste to it because this one is a bit more mild in terms of sour.  The hibiscus flavor still dominates, giving this nice sour taste, but the blueberry and cinnamon give a bit of sweetness and warmth.  Now, there was a LOT of blueberries and cinnamon pieces in the mix, but you don't really taste them as much as smell them and they add little nuances to the flavor.  I actually think that the Prestogeorge one used fresher ingredients which is why the blueberries and spices tasted stronger, but this is still good just not the best.  It's very versatile and makes a good iced tea, plus it's caffeine free so it's good for bedtime and kids.

Overall: I'm assuming that this type of tea is popular so try a different kind before you buy in bulk, but if you like these kids of teas then you'll probably like the Davidson kind.

My Rating: Try it.

I got this tea on Amazon, but Davidson's Tea is an online tea vendor which I forgot to mention is organic.  It's funny because if you order this tea from the Davidson website, it's $29 whereas the Amazon price is $17.  

Adagio Gingerbread Black Tea

So, this is the last of the 6 teas in the Holiday Stocking Stuffers collection.  I'm part of a Polish family and our gingerbread is a bit different from other gingerbread in that it's softer, but ultimately has the same flavor.  That being said, I don't care for those cookies.  I don't know why since I love ginger and spices, but I just prefer more vanilla based cookies.  But, we'll see how this tea is.

Outsides:  This tea is black tea with pieces of orange and ginger.  Also, I have no idea what constitutes Gingerbread flavor, but that's apparently what's in this.  I steeped it for 5 minutes at near boiling water.  The tea is, again, dark and smells like gingerbread, a bit gingery but warm and baked.

Insides:  This is almost like a mild non-spicy chai.  The ginger and cinnamon add a nice warmth to the flavor while the orange peel adds a nice zing.  The tea is a bit bitter but not undrinkable.  I actually like this a lot and think it gets the gingerbread flavor almost spot on.  Adding cream gives this a nice milk and cookie flavor but you should probably drink this warm.

Overall:  This is probably my second favorite tea from this collection and it's a nice tea for those cold winter nights or just getting into the holiday spirit.

My Rating:  Buy it/Try it!

Adagio is an online tea retailer that sells a lot of interesting flavors.  This flavor was part of the Holiday Stocking Stuffers collection which has 6 oz of loose leaf tea for $14.  

Adagio's Candy Apple Black Tea

To me, this is the anomaly in the Adagio Holiday Stocking Stuffer collection because I honestly don't associate candy apples with October to January.  I love candy apples, but they're something that I buy at amusement parks and the fair.  However, I did eat a candy apple a few weeks ago.  There's an Italian grocery store near my school which sells cheap produce and really good deserts.  I was buying some $1 pomegranates when I saw some candy apples at the counter for $1.50 so I bought one but much to my surprise and dismay, the apple was all brown inside :(.  That being said, I always get a candy apple when I see one so hopefully this tea will satiate my need.

Outsides:  Ok Adagio, what the heck is Candy Apple Flavor supposed to be?  I really dislike it when companies put these flavors instead of proper ingredients.  The Punpkin Spice flavored tea did the same thing and honestly, I don't know exactly what flavors go into pumpkin spice.  I stepped this for 5 minutes at near boiling water.  It's pretty much the same color as the Candy Cane tea but has the aroma of cinnamon and fruit.

Insides:  As shocking as this may sound (sarcasm), this tea does not taste like a candy apple but rather is an excuse for Adagio to package an apple cinnamon tea.  That being said, it's not that extraordinary.  The cinnamon flavor pokes through but only brings a little bit of the apple flavor with it, having the black tea completely overtake the flavor.  Adding cream helps a little in terms of bringing out the apple flavor but it really isn't as strong as Prestogeorge's (which apparently, I havent' reviewed yet).  It's not bad, just leaves a lot of room for improvement.

Overall:  Drinkable, but nothing you should purchase on it's own.

My Rating:  Pass.

Adagio is a fancy online tea retailer that has a wide variety of flavors.  I got this included in the Holiday Stocking Stuffers set which has 6 oz of tea for $14.

TasTEA Time! Prestogeorge Organic Japanese Tea Garden

From the website:  "Organic Japanese Sencha green tea, chamomile, cinnamon sticks, hibiscus and calendria flowers. Healthy, beautiful full-flavored green tea with a spicy berry flavor."

So, I had browsed the Prestogeorge website before going to the store and decided that this tea was something I'd get on my second visit.  Well, two things happened.  One was that I found out that I could get a minimum of two ounces instead of four and the other was that I got to smell this tea.  I know I was raving about some of the other teas, but this smells AMAZING!   I had work that day and would periodically pull out the little bag and smell it in all of its glory.  

Outsides:  Even with my crappy camera, you can see the rainbow of colors from the dark green tea, brown cinnamon, red hibiscus and yellow flowers.  It smells so warm and cinnamony and delicious, with hints of sweetness from both the cinnamon and the flowers.  There's a bit of a pinkish-tinge in this tea, making it a light orange color.  It smells spicy and sweet.

Insides:  This is definitely one of the more unique teas I have ever had.  Much like the tropical green tea, this is insanely smooth but the flowers and cinnamon add this lovely warmth to it.  This actually seems like a springtime tea with the added warmth.  It's actually quite naturally sweet between the chamomile and the cinnamon so you don't need to worry about it needing sugar.  

Overall:  Definitely one of my favorites.  Unique and a pure encapsulation of spring.  

My Rating:  Buy it!  Prestogeorge Organic Japanese Tea Garden.

K-cup Reviews: Green Mountain Naturals Apple Cider

So, this is the first K-cup I've reviewed that, to me, seems pointless and more money grubbing than usual.  I can understand why people want coffee from these things, it's a lot faster than a conventional drip machine and is slightly cheaper than getting it from a decent coffee shop.  I kinda refuse to think about it with tea, because it's still stupidly overprices, but I guess if you want black tea without steeping then it's understandable.  Then there's hot cocoa and drinks like this.  There is not steeping time, you just stick the powder in a cup with hot water and mix it.  I mean, you can even use your Keurig to make hot water!  Swiss Miss has K-cups yet they cost like 3-4 times as much as just getting the chocolate mix and putting it in the hot water you created!  I could probably get a whole jug of apple cider for like $1.50, mix it with some cinnamon and have something that's more natural and authentic than this for like 30 cents.  I guess past just money grubbing, if you have kids or people who don't like coffee who want to use your Keurig, these would be for them.  But I still think the mixes turned K-cups are stupid.

Outsides:  Your average K-cup.  It's a light-looking apple cider with a nice apple-cinnamon smell.

Insides:  It tastes good in that it tastes like you'd want apple cider from a Keurig to taste.  It's sweet, it's sour and has a slight hint of cinnamon and possibly nutmeg.  One of my personal complaints is that it's a bit TOO sweet so if you have a 10 oz. setting (I don't think any of them do), it would be perfect.  It also has a nice thick texture much like normal apple cider.

Overall:  It's not bad, jut not something I personally would get.

My Rating:  Try it if you need something for kids or people who don't like coffee.  Here's the site but dear god, that's like 80 cents per K-cup!