Sangria

Another great summer tea from David’s tea. I only tried it hot, but I’m sure it would be excellent with red wine, for a sangria. It already has the taste, it just needs the alcohol and the ice ;)

This is DELICIOUS, oh sweet gods. It kind of reminds me of Pink Flamingo, which is fine, because I love that blend as well. An excellent substitute for the alcoholic version, and definitely one I will be picking up again. My only hesitation is on the ‘heaviness’ of the tea and how expensive it will be to get a tin. Hopefully not too bad, because this is an excellent addition to the iced blends list.

Oh my goodness does this smell like wine and sangria when you open the tin and start to steep!! I drank this at work this afternoon and was very worried that someone was going to get a whiff and whisk me off for a drug and alcohol test!!! I drank this iced and found it to be very flavorsome and to taste very much like sangria (but not as much as it smelt!!). I got some good fruity, winey flavors but I must admit, it did taste a little chemically at first. I’ll enjoy finishing off the 100g that I purchased but don’t think I’ll be back for more after that and I definitely won’t be drinking any more of it at work!!!

So straight up front, I love sangria. I don’t, however, love wine. It makes me very sick. This tea helps me drink sangria without feeling sick. Joy!
I’m still deciding whether or not I like the “boozy” component of this tea. I haven’t tried it hot, and I don’t really have much interest in doing so. I know a few reviewers mentioned that this is expensive because it is heavy… well I have good news! It’s also extremely strong, so you can use half of what you’d normally use in an iced tea and still end up with a very flavourful product.
Overall, really excited to have this one iced on the patio!

In an effort to use up my herbals, I have bought a number of stronger tasting fruit teas to mix in with weaker herbals to create iced tea with. I normally really dislike hibiscus because of how tart it is, but when mixed with the other teas it can be pleasant as an iced tea.

For this 2L pitcher of iced tea, I mixed in 4 “perfect spoonfuls” (about 10 tsp) of this tea with 2 perfect spoonfuls (about 5 tsp) of plain lemongrass tea. Unlike my last pitcher of iced tea (Sunny Citrus mixed with lemongrass) I was very careful of the steeping time (about 7 min as opposed to several hours) so it wouldn’t come out super tart. I then refrigerated the pitcher to cool down.

My rating last year was a 40, but that was an over steeped and leafed version. I’m bumping it up to a 69, but my final verdict is that I still dislike hibiscus and would rather buy other iced teas (i.e. Just peachy, Hard Candy, Mango Fruit Punch) over these teas with hibiscus. Refreshing when mixed with other herbals and underleafed, though :)

The GCTTB V2 has been mailed out!!!

This tea was my accompaniment to the post office today. It was a nice companion, although with the intense wind we’re having today it felt a little too fruity/fun for rainy day weather. I think I’m most likely going to be switching to more roasty things now for the rest of the day.

The wind today is actually so strong that a gust of it this morning blew all of our balcony furniture over: three chairs and a table with a glass top. It didn’t break though, which is good – but it scared the shit out of both Trey and I. There’s actually a tornado watch/warning right now really close to Saskatoon, which is about two hours from where I live – so definitely a potential for it to progress over here by the end of the day.

The tisane’s flavour was nice: strong, vibrant notes of strawberry over everything else but also that sweet combination of orange and bubblegum with a licorice-y undertone. It was a touch tart from a more extended cold brew time; but pleasant regardless. The finish was even a little herbaceous?

I think I was most excited about this tea from the David’s summer collection, since I’m a sangria-aholic. The downside with “real” sangria is that…well, it’s an alcoholic beverage. That, and I don’t like red wine (I usually make it with white wine, peaches, pinapple, mango, apple, pear, and orange). A tea company offering up a non-alcoholic calorie-free tea that tastes like sangria that I can drink all day, every day? I’m in.

Got a cup of this iced in-store and…holy crap. This is SO GOOD. By far my favourite of their summer collection (last to try: shooting starfruit). The hot sample was…weird again. It had all the flavours of a red-wine sangria, but was hot. Sangria isn’t supposed to be hot. My mom got a cup of it hot and she said it grows on you after a while. I don’t want a tea to grow on me. I want to like it right away. And iced…oh, boy. Iced. Yum yum yum yum. I might go bankrupt on sangria (unfortunate part: it’s another heavy tea).

I can taste all of the fruity flavours all at once. Strawberry, raspberry, orange….yum. This whole tea is just yum. It even gives you that “cheek-pinch” feeling that red wine has. It’s like magic. And how good would sangria tea be in white wine?!? Yep, going bankrupt.

Verdict: will buy. A lot.

This. I really like this. Cold brewed all 18 g in a pitcher (the downfall of this is the large heavy pieces) and the result was a fresh, citrusy fruit punch type drink. Yum! I will definitely be getting more.

Dry Leaf Nose: Fruity and sweet.

Liquor: Dark red liquor with a mixed fruits aroma.

Flavour: A thick, flavourful, fruity and sweet cup with a definite sangria character, even hinting at notes of wine. Excellent iced and hot.

Another summer tea! Yay! As I open the sample, the smell automatically reminds me of bubblegum and mint. There may be a bit of orange at the end too with a punch of hibiscus. Sadly, the sample is too small to make iced tea, so I will have to have it warm.

After steeping at 96 degrees for 7 minutes, the liquor is a darker red. In my cup, it is as dark as wine. I smell it: hibiscus, roses and orange. Take a first sip: hibiscus, orange and blackberries really dominate this. The hibiscus is very strong in this one. The flavour is intense.

I then add a bit of rock sugar, and the flavour definitely becomes more raspberry and the hibiscus is toned down, but the sangria aspect of it is gone. It leaves my mouth very dry. Am curious to try it iced. It really does taste like sangria (well a tea version anyway), but I can’t say that I am in love with it. I might buy a bit when it comes out, to try it again, but it is not my favorite. I can see how others may like it though.