15709 Tasting Notes
Last but not least from the recent 90s/2000s summer collection is Pink Lemon!
I think, flavourwise, this is probably the most straight forward of the blends other than perhaps the matchas!? Just a really punchy and lively tasting pink-lemonade inspired blend. We’ve carried a tea called Pink Lemonade before that was a rooibos base, but this is definitely different. I remember the rooibos blend was pretty polarizing because it had so much hibiscus and stevia in it and it really tasted more like a hibiscus lemonade. So, when working on this tea, we took those elements into consideration and ultimately created this tisane that doesn’t contain any stevia or hibiscus. Instead this tea gets its beautiful pink colour from light inclusions of beetroot and dragonfruit, which impact the flavour a lot less substantially to allow for a brighter and more true lemonade-like flavour.
It’s super iceable and definitely the most crowd-pleasing of the collection IMO. Very good as a tea pop, also, or spiked with some vodka or gin.
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=8 (8th Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEsv9wpm6m0
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.
Next up in the new summer collection is a matcha that, honestly, is a pretty strong contender for being my favourite DT matcha of all time. Top three for sure, easily.
Like the other matcha that launched in this collection, this one is a bit more expensive than other organic flavoured matchas and that’s because this matcha is more like a “semi sweetened” version. It actually contains 40% less sugar than our usual flavoured matchas, which is why the cost is higher but also why the taste is a little less sweet and more matcha forward.
Even with the sugar reduction, though, I find the taste fairly rich. Well, the coconut element in particular. It’s pretty creamy and definitely has a bit of a “thickness” to it that I don’t think any of DT’s previous coconut matchas (coconut water/unsweetened coconut) have had. That makes sense though because pina coladas are very creamy, rich cocktails. The pineapple is fresh and tropical tasting and compliments the fresh, vegetal taste of the matcha really well. It’s no secret that I have a personal fondness for pineapple, so maybe that biases me a little bit but I really do think the balance of flavours here is really well done and the lower cane sugar amount makes for an almost more “mature” feeling take on a flavoured matcha that, at least for me, has been something I reach for more consistently than the full sweetened flavours.
To that point, I actually have a kilo bag of this on my desk that I’ve nearly gone through because it very regularly ends up being the tea I reach for in the afternoons as, like, a post lunch latte and little caffeinated pick me up. And, y’all, it’s so good as a latte. Hot or iced. But, also, very good plain and as a tea pop too. Really, I have yet to find a preperation method that I don’t like with this matcha!!
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=7 (7th Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA7XIru89U4
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.
Wow, I am really getting in a lot of writing today with these new teas!
This is one of the new teas from this summer’s 90s/2000s inspired collection. Though I know Cherry Limeade as a beverage has been around for decades it’s something that I personally really associate with the late 2000s as well as, specially, the fast-food chain Sonic’s very iconic Cherry Limeade slushies. That said, this is 100% a flavour I’m starting to see pop up pretty much everywhere and it really good me interesting in exploring it in tea form.
I love that it’s on an oolong base since that’s a tea type we rarely release new blends on, and I think that despite having pretty bold flavours you actually can taste the oolong in the blend just a bit. It adds a nice soft floral undertone that offsets the tartness of the cherry and citrus, and rounds out the cup a little more than it would be otherwise.
DT has definitely had A LOT of cherry teas so I think it’s a fair question to ask how this compares to others. I find the cherry notes in this blend are brighter and a little less sweet than the dark/heavy flavours of Cherry Berry Punch or Cherry Lucuma, and also less sour than Very Cherry. The tartness is comparable to Sweet Tart, in my opinion, but the overall flavour is less candy-like.
And then, of course, you have the limeade aspect. Technically, there is no lime in this tea and I think that it’s a fair criticism to point that out – I can totally understand expecting lime and then being disappointed when you don’t see it in the ingredients list. Really the only thing I can say to that is that we did try versions that included lime and in all our blind tastings we also felt like the versions without the lime actually tasted more like a limeade. It’s still bright and a little tart, with a distinct zesty citrusy flavour. Flavours are weird like like that sometimes – when you’re not staring at visual cues your brain often does a scarily good job at filling in the gaps. We still wanted to have something in the blend as an homage/nod to the lime though, and that’s where those gorgeous pomelo cubes come in. In the dry leaf they have a really lime-like appearance and provide a contrast of bright green against the red that winks at the inspiration.
Really, I think this tea is best iced. That’s pretty much exclusively how I’ve been drinking it the last year-ish, but of course there’s nothing to say it’s not good hot either if that’s more your jam. I think there’s a lot of fun cocktail things you can do with this blend too. I mean, it would be a great addition to a tea-based Cherry Lime Rickey, and if you wanna get really wild you could infuse it straight in vodka for a punchy cherry flavour you can add to other drinks.
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=6 (6th Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZwmciiLFPA
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.
From the new 90s/2000s inspired summer collection! I really love this whole collection and it’s so hard to pick favourites, but this is definitely one of my top picks.
As is probably obvious from the name, it’s inspired by the red/white/blue Rocket Popsicles that many of us grew up with as kids. I learned during the development that there are actually a bunch of regional names for them like Firecrackers and Bomb Pops. To me, though, Rocket is the most iconic.
This is definitely a flavour that is having a moment right now – especially in the RTD world. This past year I’ve seen so many Rocket Popsicle inspired energy drinks, sodas, sports drinks, and even craft beers. The blend has red sprinkles and this blue-ish cotton candy bits as a visual homage to the popsicle inspiration, and I think on the black tea base they really pop visually and add a fun element to this tea.
The original popsicle is blue raspberry, cherry, and lemon lime flavoured and I think this tea hits all of those notes pretty dang well – maybe a little less on the lime? We also added some blueberry to ours, though it’s not as distinct tasting as you might think. Sure, if you really focus in while tasting you can pick apart this very juicy layering of fruits but as a tea just casually sipped on I really think it just creates a very authentic flavour of a melted ice pop with all of those notes kind of bleeding together into one sweet, fruity, and nostalgic taste. And yes, it is a sweet tea – but popsicles are sweet! I don’t think this would taste like the inspiration otherwise. This is also one of the blends in the collection that (at least in my opinion) is pretty equally good both hot and iced.
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=5 (5th Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn5_ZbP1vug
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.
Of the new summer collection this is the only tea that you could maybe arguably say isn’t new since, a few summers back, we carried a non-organic banana flavoured matcha that sold out very, very quickly. I’m glad this tea is “back” though for people who loved the OG one or who didn’t get a chance to try it back then.
Honestly, it tastes very similar to the previous one. There are some key differences though, and it’s actually not because of the organic switch. Eagle eyed tea friends might notice that this matcha is more expensive than other organic flavoured matchas, and that’s because this matcha is more like a “semi sweetened” version. It actually contains 40% less sugar than our usual flavoured matchas, which is why the cost is higher but also why the taste is a little less sweet and more matcha forward.
Otherwise, it’s that same rich banana flavour that reads a little like banana taffy or runts. Very nostalgic (as is this whole collection), and so good with milk! I definitely like this one on its own, but I adore it either as a hot or iced latte – and I actually recently tried it as an iced latte with chocolate milk and that was INSANELY good tasting for a really decadent chocolate covered banana sort of profile.
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=3 (3rd Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg3DkQTUHS8
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.
This tea is actually the only store exclusive blend in the new drop. It’s a yerba mate based blend with a juicy, ripe peach flavour and a hint of strawberry to it. Very good iced, but actually I think this might actually be the only tea in the collection that I personally prefer hot.
The inspiration was sort of the fruit carts/stalls that are prolific in the summer in Venice Beach/LA in general or places like British Columbia (Vancouver/Kelowna/Victoria I’m looking at you!) where you can pick up baskets of perfectly juicy and ripe fruits. Definitely this is more peach than strawberry, but I do love how gorgeous the giant strawberry slices in the dry tea leaf look. As it compares to Just Peachy, I think this is slightly less sweet and also slightly less tart with a bit of a smooth and subtle grassiness from the mate used as the base. However, I definitely think if you enjoy one then you’ll likely enjoy the other – and I personally love having caffeinated fruity iced tea options and I don’t think I’m alone in that.
Of course I wish this was available for everyone to try, but so far pretty much every store exclusive blend where customers have been vocal about wanting it online has eventually launched there too – I mean, Jungle Crush and Peaches & Cream Oolong are both good examples of that. So, y’never know!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=4 (4th Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc6JOIQFLmc
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.
Next up in the latest collection… Galactic Grape!
Grape is another flavour that is a little bit polarizing, but there’s something so nostalgic to be about both grape soda and the most sour grape kind of candy that was so readily available growing up in the early 2000s – so those were sort of the inspirations and starting points for this blend.
People familiar with Maui Madness or Witchy Watermelon will instantly recognize the purple sweet potato pieces that make up a lot of the base of this blend. There’s also a bit of butterfly pea flower included, and the combination of these two ingredients creates a fun purple colour that’s a bit deeper than Maui Madness/Witchy Watermelon when steeped. It’s very pretty, and I think fun and kid friendly too.
In terms of taste this is definitely bright with a little bit of a top note acidity or slight sourness to it – like I said, one of the inspirations was sour grape candies but also we gave this tea a little bit of a citrus-y fruit flare too to give it a little more dimension and juiciness. Think grape fruit punch! You still get that deeper and more iconic “purple tasting grape” note after that initial brightness that anchors the blend, though. I don’t mind it hot, but I really love this tea cold brewed or iced. I just find it super refreshing. Also really good as a tea pop for a lighter taste grape soda alternative.
Another big part of this blend that I’m really proud of is that it’s totally free of stevia or other sweeteners/candied fruits. We already know stevia can be polarizing (and actually EVERY tea in this collection is stevia free) but something we especially hear in the summer is that people wish there were fruity/flavourful iced tea options without candied fruits so I definitely had that in mind when crafting this blend.
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6J_r7QuSAp/?img_index=2 (2nd Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao3osYLAf0g
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.
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.
Gongfu!
Dug this tea out of storage for an early morning session. This is such an amazing tea with a really understated profile to go alongside such a warm, glowy body feel. It builds slowly, with smooth yet powerful notes of tobacco and pipe smoke, incense, and undertones of red fruits like lingonberry or currants – more jammy, though, and not tart/bright. The liquor feels thick and heavy on the palate despite having more of a delicate-leaning flavour composition. Part of me wants to just leave this tea to age indefinitely, but it’s also something I want to make sure to enjoy – and not just for fancy occasions. I think we all deserve to enjoy these special sort of teas on even the most mundane feeling sort of days.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6MuU1-u9tc/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vct334H6m-w
Liquid Terry’s Chocolate Orange! I made a mug of this as my first tea of the day, and it was rich, smooth, and just a little bit roasty and earthy from the yerba mate in the blend. I think, even after all these years, this might be my favourite chocolate orange tea and I’m gonna be devastated when I finished off the rest of this tin.
