DT’s newest summer collection launched earlier this week and I’m honestly SO EXCITED about it because it means that after more than a year of waiting I can finally talk about these teas! It’s actually a pretty big drop with seven new teas – eight if you count the one returning matcha that is now available in organic. I don’t think we’ve had this many new blends launching all together in nearly two years!
I’m also really in love with the collection overall because it has such a cool theme to it. Basically, about four years ago, one of my favourite bands described their latest album as “drenched in nostalgia,” and I think that phrase has been living rent-free in my head ever since. It also PERFECTLY describes these teas. They’re all super refreshing and iceable with a strong late 90s and 2000s retro sort of vibe that takes me immediately back to some of my best memories of summer vacations growing up. Though it’s mighty hard to pick a favourite I think, gun to my head, it might be this one!?
DAVIDsTEA has carried a root beer tea before nearly a decade ago – I actually really enjoyed it a lot. So, when re-imagining what a “modern” root beer tea from DT might look like I knew it was important for there to be differentiating qualities. Though I don’t think there’s anything wrong with inclusions like white chocolate (which was in the old tea for the “float” element) in a blend, when beginning development I took a lot more inspiration from the ongoing prebiotic & gut-friendly soda trend (ex Poppi or OliPop) that’s been popping off lately – no pun intended. I also wanted to look at more traditional ingredients used in brewing root beer to create something with a more “old fashioned root beer” sorta vibe that was as functional as it was flavourful. Very much this idea of putting the roots back in rootbeer.
So, to that point, there’s actually four different kinds of roots in this tea: burdock, dandelion, chicory, and licorice root. Though burdock and dandelion root both have their own associated health benefits I think they also contribute quite nicely to the flavour of the blend by adding a rich and slightly roasty/earthy flavour that gives the blend a lot of depth. The chicory root does this too, but it’s actually there more-so because it has an incredibly high amount of naturally occuring inulin – a water soluble and prebiotic fiber that’s great for your gut. The licorice root, on top of being adaptogenic, is added for it’s mouth-coating sweetness that helps emulate not just the taste but the texture of soda.
I also deliberately used pu’erh as the base because it doesn’t just taste good, but pu’erh has also traditionally been consumed as a digestive aid and is purportedly also prebiotic – so much gut health goodness.
Now, those are a lot of strong flavours so I think this is a good time to point out that this is a STRONG tasting tea. It steeps very quickly and intensely, and if you leave it brewing for more than a few minutes you’ll get both a robust earthiness to the taste but also a lot of that licorce root sweetness. Sometimes, however, that’s a good thing! It means you can make a pretty strong concentrate without a ton of tea leaf – and this tea is INSANELY GOOD as both a teapop (duh) and as an iced latte for that sort of root beer float kinda vibe. Both of which are recipes that use a more concentrated brew of tea as the base of the drink.
All in all, this will probably be the most polarizing tea of the bunch. However, if you like root beer, pu’erh or other earthy tasting ingredients, or are looking for a “cleaner soda alternative” then I think it’s pretty spectacular! Also, holy hell the dry leaf smells sooooo good. I have a tin of it on my desk at work right now, and multiple times a day I pop the lid off just to smell the rich root beer aroma.
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=1 (1st Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g5_9fuxkak
Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.
