DAVIDsTEA’s newest tea is here, and the flavour… a total mystery!
I usually tea to do a bit of a deep dive into the background and flavour of each new teas and all the different ingredients and why they’ve been added but, well, doing that with this tea would almost defeat the point. Maybe I’ll do it eventually, but for now I think this one needs to stay a mystery to keep things fun.
I think I first had the idea for this ta in late 2021?? I was seeing this resurgance of “mystery flavoured” food and beverage products from companies like Oreo, Milk2Go, Sour Patch Kids, Fanta, and Mountain Dew (among a whole bunch of others) that made me really nostalgic for those types of campaigns in the late 90s/early 2000s. I know mystery flavoured things are definitely not for everyone, but I’ve always LOVED them. I think there’s something so fun and challenging and, ultimately, communal as well about guessing the flavours. I love a good taste test, and it’s just really fun to do it with a group of friends and see if you agree or disagree.
I’ve never seen it down with tea before – I’m almost positive we’re the first. The secret to pulling it off is the flavouring in the blend. Instead of listing out all the flavourings like we usually do (ex. blueberry flavouring, chocolate flavouring, etc) we’ve grouped the two flavours of this tea under “natural flavouring” so it’s a secret. The rest of the blend is really simple – full bodied black tea, some apple for natural sweetness and as a flavour carrier, and then the purple sweet potato as a fun visual cue and nod to the cryptic colours often associated with this food/bev trend. I really, really wanted the visual of the loose leaf tea to be colourful but simple – nothing that would give away the flavour of the tea.
And, without giving away the flavour, I will say that I think this tea is REALLY good steeped a whole bunch of different ways. I’ve personally been mostly drinking it hot or cold brewed, but it’s nice iced too and as a latte (hot or iced). It’s kind of fun experimenting with the steeping and seeing the different ways that effects the flavour. Some of the methods bring out some of the tasting notes more than others.
I will say that the only downside of working on this tea has been that, from day one, I’m the only person who hasn’t gotten to play along with the guessing element of the blend. I’ve always known what it is. I need someone to make me my own personal mystery tea at this point so that I can have my own turn!!
PS. As part of the campaign for this tea, if you live in the US or CA you can try to guess the flavours of the tea at the link below to enter to win a $1000 tea shopping spree. No purchase of the tea necessary, but obviously it’s much easier to guess the flavours if you’ve had a taste ;)
https://davids-tea.wishpond.com/mysterytea/
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.