Sleigh Ride - David's Tea

Where to buy:  David’s Tea

Description:  GIDDY-UP

Falling snow, popping chestnuts, cold hands and noses…yep, winter has arrived. But don’t worry, we have the perfect tea to warm you up all December long. Cinnamon, apples, raisins, almonds, and hibiscus combine for a tea that is sweet, tart, and earthy. And beet pieces make it as nice and rosy as a caroler’s cheeks. So hop in your sleigh, snuggle up, and pass a thermos around. It’s lovely weather for a Sleigh Ride together.

Ingredients:  Apple, hibiscus blossoms, candied pineapple, candied papaya, beetroot pieces, cinnamon stick pieces, raisins, coconut, roasted almonds, popped rice, artificial flavouring.

Allergens: Tree nuts and coconut 

My Review:

At first glance this tea reminded me a lot of Movie Night but with the smell of Forever Nuts.

In the bag, this tea smells like cinnamon and nuts and reminds me a lot of the sweet cinnamon smell of Christmas. The mixture looks a lot like Forever Nuts, but with pieces of fruit, coconut and a cinnamon stick blended in. The popped rice reminds me a lot of Movie Night’s popcorn pieces.

The recommended brewing is 2 tsp. of Sleigh Ride, water heated to 98 degrees Celsius (or 208 degrees Fahrenheit), steeped for 5-7 minutes. I brewed a standard cup for 7 minutes and drank it straight (no milk, no sugar).

When brewed, the cinnamon, nuts and apple pieces blend nicely with the hibiscus to create a tart, yet sweet, aroma and the beetroot and hibiscus gives this tea a wonderful dark red colour. Upon tasting this tea I was surprised to find just how tart it was. I was expecting a tart tea that would be balanced with a sweet or buttery aspect, but the flavour is so overpowered by the hibiscus and cinnamon. You can taste very, very subtle hints of the other ingredients but the tartness really overrides any other flavours. As it cools, the tartness really intensifies to an almost unpleasant level.

This tea isn’t really horrible if you like a very tart tea, but I don’t think I’ll be purchasing this tea again. It’s just too tart and hibiscus flavoured for my taste. I’ll stick to the milder Forever Nuts.