Walking into a DAVIDsTEA is what started my tea adventure over 3 years ago, so when I saw that they were celebrating their 10th anniversary, I knew I had to check it out. As a tribute, DAVIDsTEA re-released a handful of fan favs and I picked up a set!
One aspect I really enjoy about DAVIDsTEA is being able to buy tea in small quantities. normally buy enough for two cups of tea, just to test it out! Sadly, the shops didn’t sell the tea separately, so I ended up buying the Throwback Sweethearts set.
The set came in four little brightly coloured tins and included Cookie Dough, Chocolate Covered Almonds, Red Velvet Cake, and Apple Custard. I will admit that I bought the set for Apple Custard – it was a tisane that had come out years ago and I loved it. I had to try it to see if it was as good as I remembered!
Let’s go!
DAVIDsTEA: Cookie Dough
Description: “Satisfy your inner cookie monster with this sweet and decadent white tea blend.”
Review: I was actually really interested in this one because I had never tried it before! I originally expected the dry blend to be a bit more colourful because that seems to be a signature of the brand when it comes to sweet/dessert teas. The smell didn’t remind me of “cookie dough”, it was mostly herbal-like. However, the pale golden yellow liquor and steeped blend had more of a sweet and nutty note.
When the liquor was hot, the taste was mostly nutty with a hint of floral. That being said, I found it very cloying and the sweetness lingered on the tongue. I let the liquor cool slightly and that brought out the nutty flavour intermixed with some sweetness. The cooled liquor reminded me more of its namesake. Sadly, I found that it had a bit of an odd lingering aftertaste and left my mouth feeling a bit dry (2.5/5 rating).
- Type: White
- Origin: Unkown
- Caffeine: Low
- Ingredients: White tea, cocoa peel and nibs, almonds, walnuts, caramel pieces (condensed skimmed milk, sugar, molasses, butterfat, sorbitol, mono-and diglycerides), chocolate chips (sugar, cocoa beans, cocoa butter, cacao powder, soy lecithin), artificial flavouring
- Company: DAVIDsTEA
DAVIDsTEA: Chocolate Covered Almond
Description: “Sweet, crunchy and totally addictive, chocolate almonds are a classic for a reason. And this rich and nutty black tea is every bit as tasty.”
Review: At first glance, this is what I would expect a tea called “chocolate covered almonds” to look like because I could see the cocoa nibs and almond pieces. It also had a nice warm toasted smell, which was similar after steeping. The liquor was a tan colour and was mildly murky with a film on the top.
When the liquor was hot, the taste was very faint, but I could taste some nuttiness with a hint of floral. However, it did have some mild astringency. Allowing the liquor to cool let the flavours develop and it was a richer flavour and I could taste the cocoa flavour better. However, I didn’t enjoy the aftertaste that was musty and damp (2/5 rating).
- Type: Black
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Low
- Ingredients: Sugar, roasted carob, black tea, almonds, yerba mate, cocoa, natural and artificial flavouring
- Other: Kosher
- Company: DAVIDsTEA
DAVIDsTEA: Red Velvet Cake
Description: “This sweet, lightly creamy black tea blend perfectly captures our favourite dessert: red velvet cake.”
Review: Even before opening the tin, I could smell the warm, sweet chocolate smell from the blend. It is bright and fun with red and white sprinkles and white and chocolate chips! The liquor came out a dark reddish brown colour that smelled equally nice.
When the liquor was hot, there was some mild sweetness, which transformed into a more toasted nutty note and ended off earthy and sweet again. That being said, allowing the liquor to set for a few minutes really brought out a more well-rounded flavour of sweet and earthy. The liquor It had strong notes of caramel cocoa and was warm and comforting (3/5 rating).
- Type: Black
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Medium
- Ingredients: Black tea, milk chocolate (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, milk, soy lecithin, salt, vanilla), white chocolate (sugar, palm kernel oil, whey, skim milk, mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin, vanilla), sprinkles (sugar, corn starch, vegetable oil, soy lecithin, dextrin, colour (red 40 lake, yellow 6 lake), confectioner’s glaze, natural and artificial flavour, carnauba wax), beetroot powder, natural and artificial flavouring
- Company: DAVIDsTEA
DAVIDsTEA: Apple Custard
Description: “This might just be the most decadently creamy fruit infusion we’ve ever tasted. Seriously. It’s almost crazy how much it tastes like a warm and comforting apple pudding.”
Review: I had been waiting years for this one to come back, so when I saw it online, I knew that I had to go get some! Visually, the blend looked the same, large raisins and coriander seeds with a warm sweetness. After brewing for 5 minutes, the liquor was still a pale yellow with similar dessert-like sweetness and reminded me a bit of toffee or caramel. The smell wasn’t overpowering or cloying.
Since I was so excited to try it, I sipped it right away, and I was incredibly disappointed because the liquor was very bland. Thankfully, I let it sit for a few minutes, and the liquor was like I remembered it – sweetness from vanilla and the raisins, and warm earthy comforting notes from the coriander. I am really happy because it tastes like how I remember it (4/5 rating)!
- Type: Herbal
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Caffeine-free
- Ingredients: Apples, golden raisins, coriander, calendula petals, natural and artificial vanilla flavouring
- Company: DAVIDsTEA
Final Thoughts
Overall, the set was a nice reminder of some of DAVIDsTEA’s classic teas. I am excited that they brought back Apple Custard. One thing I noticed was that if I really wanted to have a better sense of the tea, I had to allow it to sit for a bit and cool down. That really brought out the flavours of the blends.
Another minor thing I noticed is that you are only able to buy these teas in a set in stores which means customers are constrained to only getting 20g, otherwise they must go on online for larger quantities. However, each set does come with a 20% off coupon after buying 100g or more of the teas in the set.
Secondly, the recommendations for each cup is 1 to 2 Perfect Teaspoons, which is in reference to the DAVIDsTea spoon. However, that is equivalent to 2.5 teaspoons. That means there is really only enough for 2 or 3 cups of tea per tin. Since the tins are so small, and the spoons are much larger, it was hard to shake up the content to get a more even disruption of ingredients.
All in all, I am excited to see what DAVIDsTea comes out next! Hopefully, they keep Apple Custard around. If you want, feel free to check out my original reviews on Chocolate Covered Almonds, Red Velvet Cake, and Apple Custard!
What is your fav DAVIDsTEA tea?
Lastly, Cup and Leaf kindly featured Tea in Spoons in their “The 21 Best Tea Blogs to Follow“. I am very honoured to be listed alongside such titans in the tea community! Please check out the list.