24 Tasting Notes

85

What a tea. Upon opening my newly shipped bag I whiff fresh jasmine and a clear fine quality tea. I followed the instructions here on steepster where I covered most of the bottom of my pre-heated mug (had to be my clear glass one) with leaves and added close to rolling boiled filterd water. Must’ve been between 1 1/2 cups of water.
How pretty this tea is. The Chinese clearly know what they’re doing when it comes to names. I really enjoyed watching the snowflake-like petals “dance” throughout and the soft little buds open up making a lake bed.
Such as the scent is most pleasing! I can never go back to typical shelf jasmine green teas now that I know what I’m playing at here. The smell is very true and relaxing, not headache inducing that most overpowering jasmine teas give me.
The taste is sweet and gentle with floral notes. Very clean, and very fresh….I even ate one of the petals and found it added to the effect. I was worried that by leaving the leaves in my mug that it would get bitter from oversteeping like most greens I’ve delt with, but no! I expect good quality leaves allow this.
I’m only on my first steep, buuuut….I think I’ll stay up longer into the night just so I can try more infusions. I’m sure they’ll be wonderful c:

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C

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75
drank Birthday Cake by DAVIDsTEA
24 tasting notes

Cupcake teas…..seriously…SERIOUSLY?!!?!? 8D
Wow…I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised considering DT has little numbers such as a caramel popcorn green tea….buuuuut, I had to try at least one of them. ’Freaking love cake c;

So I settle for this one. The girl who was working that day said it was her favourite out of the cupcake teas. I didn’t want another chocolate tea since I have plenty of those that I need to drink down, and the ice cream one smelled like astronaut ice cream but also super artificial. This one just looked so cute in the tea of the month package x3
And like DT always boasts, this one really smells like birthday cake. Sugary, sweet, and I want it in my mouth…;O

I first try it iced with agave. Delicious! Kinda birthday cake like, but more a general vanilla rooibos kinda thing. I must admit, while it’s tasty it’s not that different from other vanilla rooibos teas I’ve had. Then I had it hot. Ahh, there’s that birthday cake sensation! Doesn’t even need sweetener! Good thing to boot since there’s already unneeded calories from all them sprinkles. I think it was a good choice to have the birthday cake flavour in a rooibos. Any other tea would be really weird or the tea itself would overpower.

But as I drain my mug and I think about the taste…while it’s sweet like frosting, the cakey-ness is more batter like :c Kinda gross really. It’s weird though, some days this is delish, and other days I’m all, “wtf, why did I even buy this?” I really have to be in the flirty, bubbly kinda mood to drink this one.

Then I made it into a latte. Ew. NEVER USE SOY MILK FOR THIS TEA! If I thought it was batter-like before, just ugh…this as a latte using vanilla soy milk..I had to throw my whole mug down the drain! It was the thinnest nastiest batter taste ever D: I’ll try it sometime with regular cow milk and brown sugar, but soy milk….never again. I’ll reserve that for my matcha lattes only!

TL;DR?
Iced, it’s always good, but nothing special.
Sometimes good hot if I’m in the mood, otherwise weird batter taste.
Gross with soy milk.
caio

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 0 sec

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80
drank Blood Orange Pu'erh by DAVIDsTEA
24 tasting notes

Oh yum! It’s not to rare to see a tea paired with orange, but this is lovely c: A much deeper orange flavour, the kind that really fills your mouth. The tart hibiscus and sweet licorice is what hits the tongue first and then that deep orange taste takes over. The pu’erh gives it depth. And all those added oil extracts make this super citrusy. It all really compliments each other quite nicely. I really don’t want to add anything to this tea (no milk, sugar, agave, etc). It’s fine the way it is…which is rare for me as I always want to make everything into a latte or sugar it up.

The name couldn’t be more appropriate either. I love watching how much it bleeds through the basket in my clear glass mug c: So much colour!

There’s a lot more fruity orange going on here than DT’s chocolate orange pu’erh tea which I appreciate. I didn’t want the same tea minus an ingredient.

Really works for a second or third steeping too – super awesome thing I discovered about pu’erhs now that I’m more into them.

Overall, it’s a like! It’s hard to go wrong with a orange blend tea c:

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 30 sec

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86
drank Oh Canada! by DAVIDsTEA
24 tasting notes

Hands down, this is my favourite rooibos dessert tea. So so much maple. Oh gawds, could I be any more of a Canadian? I freakin love maple, and this tea just completed that. Those little maple leaf candies….that’s kinda what I’m talking about when I say DT has some gimmicky teas. Still love it. Patriotism really only works for me when it’s goofy :P Also, I never thought to add steamed milk to a rooibos, but….it really works in this one. Some brown sugar really brings out the maple too. And on days I don’t work, I add a bit of maple whiskey. Heck yes. Great stuff. I was really sad to finish my little bag, but this will be a re-stock sometime in the future for sure ;D

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 7 min, 0 sec

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80
drank Checkmate by DAVIDsTEA
24 tasting notes

I needed to wind down after work today so I chose this little number. I’m glad I did because drinking this today…I discovered new flavours :D Maybe it was how I had the water today or what dry tea scooped into my teaspoon exactly, but I’m finally getting that chocolate sensation that’s described, yay!! It’s very light in the liqueur, but that’s good since there’s not actually chocolate in this blend. Verses something like Love Tea #7 where I expect it to be heavy on the chocolate since it’s actually in it. Yeah, this is a great tea if you want a real treat but don’t want one of DT’s more, er….“gimmicky” teas? Not that it’s a bad thing…but Checkmate feels more natural yet still fun c:
P.S. Upping my rating again x3

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 4 min, 15 sec

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85
drank Korean Sejak by DAVIDsTEA
24 tasting notes

Today’s cup was a lot more smokey today and less nutty! Interesting c: Ahhh, this stuff is great…Side-note, I cannot stress enough to really only steep it for 2 minutes max and at a very low temperature. This tea isn’t hard to make, but srsly, pay attention! Or else your tea can easily be ruined D: This is one of those teas where it only shines in that one special gap where timing and temperature is accurate to the instructions. Now that I’ve given my advice I shall commence with teh sipping ^^

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90

Sweet banana heaven!

Kay, this is now my new favourite oolong from DT. It’s just so…ugggghh, amazing. Why the “ugh”? Because I only bought 50g of this, not nearly enough for a lifetime supply, and I can’t really afford stuff I don’t need (damn my prioritizing ways!). Srsly tho guise, this stuff is really good! I agree with everyone else here in that the banana and oolong really compliment each other in the best possible way. I already like banana everything, but this tea has brought banana to me in a whole new way. I lurve it c:

So so so sweet and creamy. The liqueur is thick, just what I prefer when it comes to oolongs. I’m in buttery oolong heaven when I sip this :D I love that I can squeeze four great infusions out of this bad boy too! Ahhhh….and the scent! If you’ve ever had that wonderful Japanese dessert where it’s tempura banana with coconut ice cream…it’s just like that.

Out of the four new oolongs that DT introduced I say this is the best one.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 30 sec

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90
drank Honey Bee by DAVIDsTEA
24 tasting notes

I was really excited when I first got this tea because honey is pretty much my favourite food. So while it’s not exactly healthy to eat a jar of honey I figured this would be a great substitute. And considering the smell of sweet honey goodness along with something floral is so potent…I couldn’t say no c: Side-note, this review is extremely biased as I’m obsessed with sweet things and anything I can associate warm, lazy days with. Also, fyi, this is the tea I chose to get when I returned DT’s Toasted Walnut green tea. I have a review on that number if you’re interested.

When steeping, the aroma it gives off is the same but with more of a body. It’s so strongly sweet it fills up my suite with its smell, which is great! I like it when my place smells cute without nasty plug-in fresheners or cheap scented candles.

The colour actually looks like a nice dark amber honey. This is the tea I appreciate most when it comes to colour. Just gorgeous. As for taste….holy cow, no need to add sweetener here! While it doesn’t taste like the honey I’m used to (local naturally harvested stuff) it does have a lovely honey nectar quality to it. It’s sweet in the best ways possible – without being sickly or have the need to add unhealthy sweet stuff. I also taste floral, tangy, woodsy notes which adds to the feeling to being in a warm field with wild flowers and buzzing bees 8D As for the mate, which is suppose to be a big part of this tea….I can’t taste it. Or maybe I can but I’m just confusing it with the other flavours. I dunno, I’ve only have straight mate once so my palate isn’t that great when it comes to it. But the mate isn’t useless! This tea is my go-to tea on mornings when I have to go to work. It does a nice and gentle job of waking me up. Also it just makes me happy c: Very important to me considering I’m just the worst person ever if I have to work morning! Yep.

I must say though, this tea is so gross if it cools down too much. I think it’s the lemon myrtle (makes it taste soapy and off). If this was properly made into an iced tea it would probably be fine…I must try this sometime c:

Otherwise, great tea – I lurves it!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 7 min, 0 sec

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85
drank Korean Sejak by DAVIDsTEA
24 tasting notes

I decided to buy this tea because…..
1.) I need more straight teas
2.) Had it last year once when DT had their $1 straight tea promo and I remember liking it….what I liked about it, I didn’t remember. I just went on a whim c:

Dry….it has a very potent earthy nutty scent. The leaves are a dark smokey green and the shape of them is mostly curled, but at random. When steeping the aroma is warm and soothing for that of a green tea. The colour is a very pretty pale yellow-green. The taste of this tea is very sweet and nutty…also light and smooth. Maybe almost buttery? I like that it’s not very vegetal yet not too grassy like Japanese greens. It’s my first Korean green tea, and I must say I like it a lot c: I really appreciate that it can work for a second steeping too.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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70

I’ve been drinking this tea since I was a toddler. It’s always been a staple in my cupboard and will continue to be so! And even though my taste for tea is far more refined now, I can’t get away from this one. When I drink it I think back to those cozy happy late nights from my childhood. In a sense this tea is a ultimate memory stimulant…if that makes sense.

The tea itself is actually nothing special….just exactly what you expect from a bagged camomile/spearmint/whateverelse blend. But pretty much like everyone else here, since I’ve been drinking it all my life, it’s soothing c: Even teas that are really similar and of much better quality, like DavidsTea Vata Ayurvedic (and really like that one too!), can’t fully replace this one.

I always have honey in it though, and I’m careful not to steep it too long otherwise it ends up tasting stewed. Also, this is the best tea when you’re sick. Really clears the sinuses.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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Bio

Tea is a lifestyle. It’s a constant for me. Each day is different, thus variety is very important for my tea shelf ^^

Besides always being seen with a mug of tea in hand, I also frequent piano playing, cuddling teh kittehs, drawing, reading, walking along beaches, bla bla bla…..you get the drift.

Location

British Columbia

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