Strawberry Shortcake

Hello June!

I love summer – and I love that I have at least 5 more days off. To celebrate I’m considering placing a tea order….that french toast black from 52 teas looks to die for!

It’s been a while since I’ve had this and I’m holding steady with my rating for it – it does have strawberry and it does have that brittle/cake sweetness but it’s lacking any kind of complexity. It’s also lacking consistency – sometimes this blows me away, and other times it’s just okay. Today, it’s just okay.

It’s a good thing it’s not a must-have though, since DAVID’s apparently doesn’t stock it anymore… a couple of cups of this and then it will be gone for good.

Dry, it’s sweet, caramelly, and nutty-smelling. A bit of strawberry, but it’s not too prominent. Steeped, the aroma is sweet and caramelly, with a distinct strawberry note. Well, more like a strawberry song. Delicious.

I was a bit wary of a 5-minute infusion, but have realized that DavidsTea’s blacks tend not to steep up quite as harshly as others, so my standard three minutes isn’t long enough. Turns out 5 minutes was not bad (although perhaps 4 would have eliminated the astringency I’m getting). The base is malty and somewhat astringent, with a lovely caramelly flavour. The strawberry isn’t as prominent as I would have expected. It’s funny though – this combination does actually make me think Strawberry Shortcake! Not my favourite dessert though, but it reminds me of Thinking Day celebrations in Girl Guides.

I’ll have to try again with a bit of a reduced infusion time, as astringency is not my friend, but this one’s pretty decent. Not likely something I’d pick up again, but a perfectly good tea.

This SO smells like a Kellogg’s Nutri Grain bar, it’s not even funny.

Steeped, the strawberry is tarter, and unsurprisingly, the liquor is murky due to the brittle overkill. And brittle overkill, is right. Much too sweet for my tastes.

When this is hot, the strawberry is so tart that it mimics hibiscus. But once this cools off, the hibiscus wannabe dies off and you’re left with a clear strawberry again.

The base is very weak. Granted I steeped this for not quite four minutes. Perhaps this would make a better cold brew? I should save the rest to try that out sometime.

Instead of brittle, this should have a cakey note. I demand strawberry shortcake, not strawberry brittle!

I got samples of the rest of the summer teas when I ordered Tropicalia and Luscious Watermelon (though I already have a bag of Swampwater but who wouldn’t accept more) and this one had intrigued me so I am finally trying it. Yesterday I had no time for tea, we went to this animal rehabilitation center called Noah’s Ark, which is well known for a tiger, lion, and bear that live together. They were all kind of relaxing on their own but it was still amusing because the bear had the best napping position. We stopped at this state farmers market (which is MASSIVE) on the way and bought the animals a big watermelon, some blackberries, and also brought some marshmallows for the bears and the lady at the visitors center was so amazed. I can’t figure out if it was because the blackberries were so big and gorgeous or because we brought donations, which makes me sad if most people come there with nothing (it’s free to visit).

I would have fought animals for those blackberries though. At least I got some peaches that are AMAZING but I was sad that I missed strawberry season I guess. Not that it matters, I have a few berries growing outside but I really was in the mood for them! But I had this sample with me today so I decided to try it out iced.

When I opened the bag, it really smelled like granola bars. I steeped it hot for about 3 or 4 minutes since 5-7 sounds a bit too much, then I put it in the fridge for later.

I love the strawberry flavor but the brittle to me just doesn’t make me think shortcake. I still get granola bar. It’s a bit caramel tasting but for the most part just isn’t coming off as creamy to me. And I’m glad I stopped steeping it when I did because the brittle definitely sweetens the tea up. In any case, it’s still tasty once I can get beyond the granola similarities, and it’s quite good iced. I wasn’t expecting much since it seemed like an odd choice for a cold tea.

Now I can’t decide if I should try the other half of the sample hot or cold brew it.

This is my third David’s Teasane, oops meant David’s tea.
As I had difficulty to taste the tea base with this brand, I decided to sacrifice the whole generous sample kindly given by Darby for only one cup (4 ts)

I mentioned there was still few tea leaves in this blend so decided to cure this by having an heavy blend.

So, verdict…hummmm ! …can mean yummy , mmmmmmm or meah but really meah. Here you already guessed it’s hummm like meeeaaaaahhhhhh.

To me it’s definitively not a tea, I cannot taste the tea base. I am just drinking a warm tisane.

I get the nuts very distinctly + something which probably can be strawberry
This is sweet ,a nice tisane but the problem is this rating is supposed to be for a tea.

This is probably a fantastic iced beverage

I’ve been a bit busy over the last few days, visiting and helping family and friends and dealing with a minor catastrophe. Well, I wouldn’t really call it a catastrophe, but that’s just what’s written on my invoice for repairs. It makes me laugh – so dramatic.

A few days ago our next door neighbor was trimming the grass with his weed whacker and he must have kicked something up because it set off our car alarm. When we went out we discovered the driver’s side glass absolutely shattered. boooo! that was no fun to deal with, but unlike the insurance company, I wouldn’t call it a catastrophe…just an unfortunate accident and an inconvenience. Oh well, C’est la vie!

Between the car troubles (my Dad’s van axle also snapped) and the excitement of Easter visits with family and friends, I haven’t had much time for Steepster, or for much online funtertainment as a whole. So today I break for Muppets and Steepster…hmmm…that kind of sounds like a bumper sticker? If you’d enjoy a little Muppet break with me, here’s the link to my pick of the day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgbNymZ7vqY

As for the tea, I’m finishing this sample today. BYE! BYE! I won’t miss it. For a black tea it’s just too weak for my taste. I expect my black teas to be robust and flavorful. This one was lacking. It’s just as well, I can only drink caffeinated tea in a small time span per day, so I need to wean down my samples…to make room for new ones. I already have some on the way – you know what it’s like ;)

mm So far I am very happy with the Summer collection! I’m a Swamp Water fan, and ready for another season of Luscious Watermelon, so bringing those 2 back was okay by me :)

Knowing the summer collection is being marketed as an iced tea collection, I had to try it hot first! har har, no really, I had to try it hot. See?

http://flic.kr/p/bVUvs3

It’s raining! Cold and damp.

Although, this tea is freaking amazing and I can see how it would be delicious iced! Can’t wait to try it :)
Until it gets nice out, however, this tea is such a sweet treat. The strawberries taste real – like you made shortcake from scratch and sliced up some strawberries with a simple syrup on top real! It really comes out in the front of the sip. There’s a freshness there, almost tart but not quite.. but something akin to a real strawberry. Then there’s some awesome creaminess, and a smooth black tea base. Ah, yum.

Amazing. Utterly amazing. Took a mug of this iced to see The Avengers yesterday and I was distracted from the movie several times by the tastiness of it. So good, so creamy, so perfect. I look forward to trying this at home with my own steeping parameters, I still don’t like the “make double strong and then ice” method, but I understand that’s how they have to do it to be able to make iced tea on demand.

Picked up some of this and Perfect Pear today as a Sunday treat – Happy long weekend to any fellow Nova Scotians!! The smell of this was quite appetizing, though not quite shortcake. Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve never had brittle (other than peanut brittle) and I don’t understand what its place would be in strawberry shortcake.

We steeped this about three minutes, to avoid potential bitterness and also to avoid too much sweetness. This smells like a sweet assault in the dry leaf, even though the sales girl said this is one that isn’t too sweet – I find my opinion on that note tends to differ. Anyway, it smelled lovely when steeped, though still not what I think of as shortcake.

The flavour was quite tasty. There was a great dael of sweetness (more than I would prefer) but I assume that all comes from the brittle. The beau and I both agreed that this might be a bit better with extra TEA under it all, so I think that the next time I will try it with a bit of extra black tea from one of my many samples and see if that lessens the sugar load. There was strawberry flavour, which was great, and if the sugary taste could be diminished, this could be a re-buy. I will need to work with it first, but I hope this can be redeemed a bit more.

This is one of those very rare teas that I would love to try iced – I think the sweetness of the brittle would lend itself to iced tea. Might try it cold brewed if there is enough left after a bit of re-working.

By the way, strawberry shortcake at my house tends to be a homemade biscuit topped with fresh mashed strawberries (a hint of sugar in them if they are too tart) and freshly whipped cream. I want some!!

I’ve fallen out of love with this, a bit. I think next time I’ll do a 4 min steep, because at 5 min it was pretty bitter. I like my black tea to be strong, so 5 min is my standard, but this one can’t handle it. I added a bit of cream and sugar and it was drinkable.

Aside from the bitterness, I’m starting to find the nutty brittle taste a little fakey and overwhelming. I wish they had have gone for a cream note rather than the brittle to get the feeling of strawberry shortcake.

I’m almost done my packet, and I won’t be overly sad to see it go. It’s tasty, and I enjoyed it for a while, but it’s not something I’d want to drink regularly.