A Taste of DavidsTea’s Summer Collection

This comes a bit late, I know. But what better time of year to recall your favorite summer ice teas than the dark depths of mid-winter? Maybe we can use them to summon back the sun. I received DavidsTea’s 2016 Summer Collection for my birthday (in June). The theme was sorbet-inspired teas. The box came with five pouches, each featuring a unique flavor, plus a box of agave sticks for sweetening. The same sweet soul who gave me with this box also gifted me with one of DavidsTea’s infusion pitchers, so I was perfectly equipped to try these delicious teas.

I used one agave stick for each pitcher of tea and, due to the length of time it takes to get through a pitcher of tea in this house, I was able to get two pitchers out of each pouch, which seemed like a pretty good return for the price. Though most of the teas included in the collection are flavors I never would have looked for, there weren’t any I didn’t like. Each tea had a unique flavor and all were refreshing for the hot summer months (and believe me, it gets HOT here in the summer).

Grapefruit Granita

Though I actually liked every tea in the pack, one of them had to be my least favorite, and that would be the Grapefruit Granita. Neither my husband nor I expected to like this tea because neither of us are huge fans of grapefruit. But we were both pleasantly surprised. The apple and sweet blackberry leaves neatly tone down the grapefruit so that you get an even, fruity taste instead of a sour burst. I liked to drink this with an added dash of lemonade to sweeten it just that extra little bit. The website recommends serving this with a splash of club soda and I can imagine that would be delightful.

My only complaint with this tea was that the last glass was a bit too strong, owing to the extra little bits in the base of the pitcher (I believe it was the blackberry leaves). In fact, if I didn’t give my infuser a good soak afterward, the flavor from this tea actually carried over to my next pitcher, which was less than ideal. But a good hot water soak before the next tea seems to solve the problem nicely.

Blackberry Blizzard

This tea reminded me a lot of Adagio’s Raspberry Patch tea, although it seems specifically designed for drinking cold. It could easily be too sweet or tart, but it turns out to be neither. This is actually a well-balanced tea, though it is mostly dominated by blackberry flavor. If my husband were ranking these teas, this would be at the top of the list. It was by far his favorite and he ended up drinking a lot more than me (pretty amazing considering there was a time he hated all teas). The website recommends serving this tea with a scoop of creamy yogurt – wish we had tried that!

Coco Colada

Based on smell alone, I expected the Coco Colada to be similar to the Grapefruit Granita, even though they contain different ingredients. But the tastes are actually quite distinct. This tea tastes a lot like a light pina coloda. Again, I thought it paired really well with lemonade to bring out coconut flavor, which is my favorite bit. Unfortunately the pineapple flavor is almost completely drowned out by the coconut, though I suppose you could use a bit of club soda to try to bring it out. Frankly, I could drink this every day so I kind of hope to find it among the summer flavors next year.

Rainbow Sherbet

After reading the names of the teas, this was the one I looked forward to the most. I have fond memories of digging into a giant tub of rainbow sherbet when I was a kid. My grandparents always seemed to have one in the freezer and we never seemed to run out. Tasting that sherbet was how I knew summer had arrived. This tea did not disappoint. I never would have imagined that you could make a tea taste just like rainbow sherbet – but apparently you can! Again, I liked to throw a splash of lemonade in this one (I’m a big fan of the Arnold Palmer, really), because somehow that made it taste even more like the icy treat.

Sour Watermelon

Given my high praise of the Rainbow Sherbet, you’d think it would be my favorite, but the Sour Watermelon just barely edged it out of the top spot. I actually worried these last two teas would be identical to each other and wondered why they had chosen to include both in the collection. But after tasting them I could see why. Despite being labeled sour watermelon, this tea is actually quite light and mellow. This is the perfect tea for a lazy afternoon to refresh you or get you moving again. Plus, if you add a dash of lemonade (you knew it was coming!) it really lives up to the sour in its name. This is another tea I’d like to see added to the regular rotation, so I’ll be keeping a look out for it next year!

Davids actually puts out a special collection for every season, but I haven’t had the opportunity to try any of the others yet. If they’re all as fantastic as this one, they’d be well worth the investment. We’ve been trying a lot of new teas lately, so stay tuned for more tasty blog posts!