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Brew this cold to get the watermelon flavour. If you brew it hot and then ice it, you might not notice it. I’ve never had barley tea before so I didn’t really know what to expect. It has a roasted grain flavour, but not as strong as what you might get with a genmaicha. I thought the watermelon note would be stronger, but this was still a pleasant enough drink. I cold-brewed for about three hours. Doesn’t need sugar – it has a subtle sweetness. Would I buy it again? Doubt it. But I don’t regret trying it.

If I had to use just one word for this tea, it would be “clean.” Inoffensive, not too strong with the salted cherry leaves. I wish it was a bit stronger, actually. The sencha base is decent and the saltiness is very, very subtle – though you do get that scent that is just spot-on for sakuramochi. Tiny bit soapy, but not in a bad way. Works well with ice. One of those for the “nice to have tried it, but probably won’t repurchase after I finish this packet” list.

When I opened the package I assumed this was a white tea because the leaves didn’t look like those of any Darjeeling I’d ever tried. Ditto with the brew – very pale, yellowish-tan. Big, long leaves that looked green when they unfurled, too. But it tastes like a black tea! I wouldn’t call it weak, just subtle. Little bit of muscat, slightly floral. A good one to drink at night. Take a regular Darjeeling, and just turn down the dials a liiiiiittle bit instead of diluting or under-steeping it, and you get this tea. I usually drink black tea with milk, but I wouldn’t put it in this one because the flavour on its own is delicate and pleasant just with a bit of sugar. Pleasant surprise. Something different, and not what I would have thought I’d like, but I was proven wrong! Thanks, Stacy :)

I got this as a sample and found it pleasant enough. Up against David’s Tea’s Toasted Marshmallow, this one wins, by a touch. The black tea base is stronger and the overall flavour is fuller and more substantial, but ideally I’d want it even stronger. It’s not perfect – there’s a bit of bitterness to it and this strange smokey-perfumed note that puts me off slightly. Nice to have tried, but I don’t think I would buy it.

Strange, I don’t really taste much salt or brine at all. This comes across as a pleasant black tea, almost Darjeeling-like, quite crisp and refreshing. I expected a stronger taste of the salted cherry leaves but I can barely tell they’re present. Nice tea, inoffensive, just not as special as I expected. For the price, I expected something unique.

EDIT: After a few more steepings, I’ve nudged up the score a bit – if you put in a LOT of leaf, you get more of the sakura note, and then it’s better.

It’s a solid chai, nothing amazing but not bad either. The smell is a lot stronger than the taste when it’s prepared with milk and a little sugar. In fact, I wish it would have brewed up a little bit stronger because the spices really don’t stand out to me. I can’t pick out the individual flavours, except for maybe a little ginger. I wish the black tea was a little stronger as well.

It’s called Chocolate Rocket, but the strongest note I get is raspberry. It reminds me a lot of milk chocolate-covered fruit. There’s some natural sweetness, but not too much. A decent tea, but it hasn’t made me a big fan of yerba mate.

My pet peeve about David’s Tea (other than the fact that they don’t use the apostrophe in “David’s”) is that they put coconut in WAAAAY too many blends. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with coconut per se, but it’s possible to over-do it, and it can be nauseating when it takes over the flavour completely. Also, for some reason, it doesn’t really fit too well with the dark, strong black teas that I love with milk.

That being said, I really like Brazillionaire, precisely because they use coconut but don’t let it overwhelm the blend. Instead, by having coconut keep a low profile, you get that full, nutty flavour that gives the tea a heavier body and the lovely feeling of being more like a meal than a drink after you add milk. Coconut naturally fits better with nuts than with other tea flavours, anyway – the nuts provide the strong foundation to let the coconut dance very lightly around it (unlike their Buttered Rum flavour, which I hate because the coconut is overwhelming!). The black tea is appropriately strong to keep up. I still think Lupicia’s Marron Chocolat is the best example of a black tea with nut flavour, but this is still high quality. Probably my favourite from David’s Tea so far. Will definitely finish the ounce I bought, and probably buy again.

Got this as a sample. I had never considered buying it before because it seemed so simple – I mean, Lupicia’s got amazing unusual flavours like Marron Chocolat and Champagne Rose, and that’s what I gravitate to! But when something simple is done well, it’s worth it. This is done well. If you put a few vanilla beans in a jar of sugar and seal it for a few weeks, the sugar takes on the vanilla flavour, and this is exactly what I’m reminded of with this tea. I brewed it with milk and a little bit of sugar, and it’s remarkably smooth. A bit like a high-quality vanilla ice cream where you know they used vanilla beans rather than artificial flavouring, only not as sweet. I guess I would call it a grown-up vanilla, for lack of better words!

I don’t know if I’d buy it myself – after all, I’m still eager to try out so many of Lupicia’s unusual ones – but after drinking up this hot mug of it, I’m leaning toward “yes.” A great morning tea for when you want something more than a typical breakfast brew, but you don’t want to be knocked over with anything exotic.

I bought the bagged version because it was cheaper than the tin and they were out of just the regular loose tea. I have to admit, when I opened up the packaging I was disappointed. Whereas the loose oolongs I have bought from Lupicia in the past had tightly-rolled leaves that unfurled huge and beautifully, the contents of the bag were mostly small pieces of leaves and dust! I don’t know, maybe the package accidentally got crushed at the store or something.

Despite the absolutely LOVELY, strong, juicy mango smell (which is what convinced me to buy it), my expectations were lowered by the appearance, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the brewed tea tasted delicious. The mango taste was definitely there, both when steaming hot and slightly cooled down. With a small spoonful of sugar, it was perfectly juicy without being cloying. Very refreshing. I can only imagine that the loose leaf tastes even better!