New Tasting Notes

Delicious

Now that I have NOT mistakenly thrown this tea into the infuser with another tea, I can write a proper tasting note.  This blend sounded intriguing, so I just HAD to buy a sample of it.  Mango and coconut!  Such an abundance of these fruits are in the blend itself — huge pieces of coconut.  Huge cubes of mango.   I wanted the starchiness of these fruits to shine.  Sadly, not much starch in the mug.  Really, the fruits here somehow mostly tasted like apple to me (though there is no apple in the blend and no apple flavoring).  If I had to guess what tea I was drinking, I would almost guess it was Simpson & Vail’s Apple Cinnamon French Toast blend —almost exactly.   That was surprising!  A good flavored tea, but not really what I was expecting, as 52Teas flavoring is usually very on point.
Steep #1 //  1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 25 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep

A sipdown! (M: 7 Y: 23)
While it seems I am not so fond of this tea anymore; it was still a very pleasant session with slightly smoky note combined with birch / woody note. The impression of Finnish sauna was there and it complemented so well my planning of a summer trip — that will probably actually start there!

I am actually considering my first YS order to get a little more of this; but as I wrote in my previous notes — I need to reduce my stash first and ordering from Chinese company will need of course customs fees and everything related to it.

So, thank you derk for, great tea experiences I am going through with the teas you sent me and I just feel that I sent you, rubbish, if I am using nice words.

Sometimes teas hide under other teas. Like playing hide and seek until they know you can fully appreciate them. This one was hiding in plain sight.

Wet Leaf Aroma: Buttered Popcorn. My husband disagrees. He says it’s nutty. Just can’t pin down what nut. Maybe Brazil nut? Also dried apricots and tropical fruits and flora.
Flavor: I’ve had better Jin Xuan in the past but besides the name, this is still a nice oolong. It lacks minerality in the beginning but kicks into gear as it enters your throat. More apricot notes emerge with more steeping.

I got this 4 oz bag from an eccentric tea shop owner in San Francisco in March. We got to learn about and sample all sorts of teas, and this was our favorite. I’ve learned since then that puerh is too caffeinated for me, so though I find this delicious, even the resteep makes me feel bad. The flavor is quite smooth, and it tastes like you’re drinking high quality hot chocolate. I always add plenty of milk and sugar, though when we tried it in the shop, it was still super good plain. It’s nice hot and even better cold. The only ingredients are puerh and cocoa nibs, but that’s all it needs!

February Sipdown Prompt – a tea you hoard

I wrote this prompt and yet I couldn’t decide what I really meant by hoard. Do I mean tea that I buy lots of and keep buying before it can run out, like a dragon adding coins and sparkly bits and bobs to his cave? Or do I mean a tea that I have and just don’t drink because I don’t want it to go away.

The beauty of it is that we are all free to interpret the prompts as we wish. I do hoard Lost Malawi, because I don’t want to run out. The tin doesn’t get very low. I drink it whenever I wish, though.

This tea I have purchased only once, after having a sample of it from lovely, wonderful beerandbeancurd. It always felt too nice and too rare to just open it and drink it, and Ashman doesn’t love bergamot so I knew I would be drinking it alone most likely and there it sat still sealed until today.

I was afraid I had left it too long and the flavor would be dulled, but the packaging must have really worked because it is fresh and lovely. The dry leaves are a thing of beauty – soft curls, impossibly light, gold and brown mixed but mostly gold. It looks like ashman has been using a handplane on an exotic soft wood.

For this first steep ever from this pouch, the bergamot is strong but not obnoxiously so. The base is one that tends to medium and low notes, which carries the bergamot nicely. I dislike bergamot on high grown Ceylon and other tea that has natural sharp or high notes.

For the previous samples we had, a few of us noticed that the bergamot fades quickly once the pouch is opened. I have transferred this to a double seal tin to see if that preserves the aromatics, but if it doesn’t I won’t be mad honestly, because the base is really good. It would probably also bring the bergamot to a level Ashman would enjoy.

I’ve been saving this for special occasions. “Snow day, I’m frazzled from working on home office matters all day, and I’m very tired” is an occasion, isn’t it?

Thus, to smooth out the frazzles, I made this as a latte with skim milk and left the bag in. It’s practically white chocolate cocoa. Recommended.

Cold Brew!

Smooth, fruity, floral, and fresh with a great balance between jammier Saskatoon berry notes with just a little bit of fleeting tartness on the top notes of the initial sip that capture the pleasant burst of flavour you get eating real Saskatoons straight off the bush in the summer. At times I felt like I was getting a smidge of welcome cranberry, and the aftertaste was a little rosy with the honeyed sweetness of the rooibos. Made me feel just a bit homesick.

Iced!

There’s a lot of different fruits in this blend and none of them specifically stand out as, like, a singular flavour you can taste. It’s sort of just a more mellow and refreshing tea that kind of tastes “generically pink”. I guess maybe mixed berry if you wanted to get specific, and if I was blind tasting I could see a world where I interpreted the notes as a more floral lean and less conventionally sweet/tart strawberry note??

But to be super honest I really think that my brain would go to strawberry more so because the aftertaste is sooooo fresh and basil forward? Just a really good clean, crisp herbaceousness from the tulsi. Why would that make me think strawberry? Simply just because strawberry and basil are a much more common pairing that really any other berries/fruits. But all that said I enjoyed this a lot! I didn’t need it to have a really clear fruity flavour direction to still be refreshing and balanced feeling with the white tea base and tulsi inclusion.

Another tea enjoyed earlier in the week. It’s very, very good but I honestly don’t really have the energy right now to do a whole big tasting note on it. Basically, read my last tasting note and know that this time around I made it in a travel mug and it was just as delicious. Travel mugs do not make every tea shine the same way they would in a mug, but there was no compromise of flavour here. Only sweet, creamy lemon curd goodness with an accessible, grounding shou pu’erh base.

I made a cup of this over the weekend and it was quite interesting because it was the sort of sweet, juicy candy-watermelon flavour that I know, love, and expect from this blend but the undertones and aftertaste were almost giving me this hint of brown sugar!? And I never would have thought of watermelon and brown sugar together as a pleasant combination of flavour but it fucking worked.

I should really check out Deb’s website again – I feel I’ve fallen off pretty hard on her new releases because the teas were starting to feel very repetitive to me, but it’s been long enough now that maybe there are some more distinct blends in the mix that might spark some curiosity. If anyone else has ordered recently and had a blend stand out, please let me know!

Iced Latte!

…and speaking of iced latte kicks, this was the one I started today off with. In hindsight caffeine may have been better, but I just adore this perfectly rich and gooey tasting toffee-like flavour with the subtle undertones of cocoa and, like, a caramelized sort of date note!? I made it with oat milk and I felt like that amped up a lot of the richness of the caramel flavour as well. It’s also a really good salt balance too. You do feel like it’s not just a plain caramel note, but it’s not too savory/saline either.

Iced Latte!

It’s still so cold in Montreal right now, but despite that I’m on such a huge iced latte kick right now – and typically as my first tea when I get into the office each morning. This was something I’d been craving for a few days and it was so satisfying. Like liquid banana medicine but in, like, such a good way. I finished it off REALLY quickly.

Brewed this one up today and though I did notice the lingering sweetness of the sarsaparilla a lot more in the aftertaste I still loved it quite a bit. Nice, warming cinnamon with just a bit of real heat to it and then a kiss of sweet orange as if it was freshly zested. I do go back and forth a touch on the sarsaparilla. It’s not that it’s a flavour I generally dislike, but it can be a little intrusively “root beer” tasting at times which conflicts with the other flavours in the blend.

Cold Brew!

Sometimes you just want a reliable favourite, and that was exactly what I was feeling yesterday when I started up this cold brew. It’s so smooth and, well, jammy with a great balance of bold black tea with the ripe fruit notes. Just a smidge floral in the undertones without necessarily coming off as a floral tea. So much love for this blend!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Wow, such an old tea! I was just really craving it a few nights ago though, so I found my super old tin and prayed that it wasn’t funky from age. Shockingly still a really good brew with such an intense, sweet and creamy peanut butter sort of flavour. A little almond butter in the mix too, perhaps? I smelled the apple coming from the steeped up, but not as present in taste – which was good for me. I love the nuttiness of this one!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Y’know, when this tea released as a sneak peak in the 24 Days of Tea this past winter I fully said I wanted to write a more detailed tasting note when it properly launched, and then I forgot to do that. So, I’m doing it now…

There’s really just so much packed into this blend that it’s hard to even know where to start. I guess flavour is as good a place as any, and wow this is one heck of an intense tasting tea! At its most boiled down, it’s basically sour cherry. Think the Maynard’s Sou Cherry Blasters but less sugary/artificial. It’s sour, it’s tart, it’s in your face. That’s for a few reasons, as well. There’s the predictable inclusion of hibiscus, but also we’ve specifically used a variety of cherry called “tart cherry” that is, well, tart. And then lastly there’s also apple cider vinegar powder in the blend which adds to the zingyness of it all. That’s where the “cider” part of cherry cider comes from. Obviously that bold and punchy of a fruit flavour makes for a great iced tea and tea pop.

So I guess the next part is maybe the “why” of it all? The short answer is that tart cherry specifically is a functional ingredient that I’d been tracking/curious about for a while because it’s associated with all kinds of wellness benefits like gut health, immunity (very high vitamin c), muscle recovery and anti-inflammation, and also sleep as well. And it’s always great to work with wellness ingredients that actually taste good, because a lot very much don’t. Then the whole Sleepy Girl Mocktail trend/fad happened on TikTok and tart cherry very suddenly went from an ingredient that people were sort of loosely familiar with (sort of a “if you know you know” vibe) to selling out overnight in grocery stores and becoming VERY well known for as this sort of relaxing, sleep-friendly ingredient found in trendy brands like Poppi that all the girlies couldn’t get enough of…

And so I started playing around with it a little bit more actively, and we ended up with this blend that sort of folds together a bunch of different but complimentary wellness elements to capture the essence of that mocktail-trend while still being a delicious, refreshing stand-alone tea. We kept is caffeine free because of the relaxing element of the tart cherry that became such a recognizable benefit of the ingredient, and coupled it with the more gut-health oriented inclusion of ACV powder. And of course, when it comes to immunity, maintaining both good gut health and sleep hygiene can better boost your immune system too – so they all sort of comfortable click together.

Our final little “cherry on top” (pun intended) was the inclusion of willowbark, also called “nature’s aspirin”. Even though it wasn’t our primary focus with this blend, since muscle recovery/inflammation is an association with tart cherry, we wanted to take the opportunity to support that with this extra ingredient. Plus, there is something fun about the idea of an iced cup of as a sort of no-alcohol ‘night cap’ that can be enjoyed in the evenings on a long day with the duo of willowbark eases headaches/stress and the tart cherry providing some sense of relaxation.

So, yeah, a lot going on. But I think there’s sort of something for everyone to latch on to? You can 100% just enjoy the tea for it’s really punchy, boldly sour cherry flavour (and without added sweeteners!) or you can lean a little into the different wellness angle. It’s a flexible blend in that way!

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Tea Pop!

A coworker made me a tea pop this afternoon just because, and I really appreciated it so much. I know she used some kind of flavoured seltzer in place of straight soda/sparkling water and I wish I knew exactly what one because DANG this was good. Still that really rich, flavour-forward melted cherry popsicle and wild berry kind of flavour, but just with a bit of extra zesty brightness. I feel like maybe it was orange or something like that? Grapefruit, perhaps? Whatever the case it just boosted the flavour in such a fresh and pleasantly semi-pucker inducing kinda way.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Sipdown (2789)!

I’m still working my way through teas that I picked up from Toronto tea festival, and probably will be for a while with how big my haul was this year. Up today is a sipdown of the Organic Imperial Pu’er sample that I snagged. As far as shou pu’erh goes, I find this one to be quite aromatic with really strong notes of clove, allspice, and camphor to go alongside a really thick, full-bodied mouthfeel. Deep, dark notes of wet earth and forest undergrowth alongside those almost mouth tingling notes of spice and a wickedly cooling aftertaste. Amongst all of that is an interesting sweetness pushed way down deep, like something long buried underground starting to resurface after a heavy rainstorm. Bittersweet cocoa, carob, and maybe a hint of dark roasted coffee?? I always feel like I so rarely end up picking up pu’erh at Toronto Tea Festival each year, but maybe I’ll remember to grab a little more of this one as part of next year’s haul!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DF025rxyxUd/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mNXpIa0mNY&ab_channel=YONAH

Sipdown (2790)!

Sipping down this golden milk powder sample as a latté, of course! I don’t know if this is a controversial take or not, but I think coconut milk is handedly the best choice when making a golden milk latté so I had to pick some up this morning to make sure my latté was perfect. So rich and creamy with a silky smooth mouthfeel and the perfect balance of earthy turmeric, hot ginger, and cozy cinnamon with a pleasantly peppery finish. Very, very cozy and perfect for relaxing with on a low-key Sunday afternoon! I’m curious, do you have a favourite milk to make golden milk or other tea lattés with?

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DF3Xg5ZyHaM/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXxKHGBF-eE&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart

Gongfu!

This Taiwanese oolong was maybe my favourite tea I tasted at last year’s Toronto tea festival, so I was so excited to restock it in a larger amount at this year’s festival. I have to say, the 2024 production may even be better because it was the crystal clear and ever so slightly caramelized pineapple note in last year’s harvest than made me fall in love with the tea, and this session was practically oozing that sweet, tropical pineapple flavour in the backend of the sip pretty much all throughout the session. So many oolongs that tout tropical fruit notes simply don’t deliver the way this one does.

In addition to that spectacular flavour, this is also such a pleasantly warm and toasty tasting oolong with supporting flavours of roasted quinoa, brown rice, pine nuts, brown butter and just a general overarching nuttiness. Just a special sort of oolong that I cannot recommend enough!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DF8YBriSx79/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcsrAtOsdmY&ab_channel=FreeLunch

Gongfu!

Definitely the nicest wakocha I’ve tried, and for sure in the top five Japanese black teas. Maybe even top three. Medium to full-bodied with a syrupy aroma of cherry blossoms, marzipan, and poppy macarons like I buy for the Jean Talon market here in the summer. The taste is pretty sweet too with a pleasant split between nuttier notes of almond and pecans alongside notes of sakura, poppy, and darkly sweet honey. The undertones are rich, slightly spicy and just a bit woody – making me think of the almost red brown colour of mahogany, which the liquor itself it reminiscent of too! Such a beautiful tea experience!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DF6KUWayhql/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a30UbRPv3fw&ab_channel=ThatWoman

Gongfu!

This is such a beautifully medium-bodied and smooth tasting oolong, with warming notes of baked apples with that perfect bit of caramelization to them, floral but jammy quince, and even more tropical undertones of guava – all with a bit of a toastier, more nutty leaning top note. I quite liked it with the kiwi because the bright, zingy sweetness seemed to amplify some of those tropical flavours that might otherwise get missed while also having this much more dynamic contrast with the roastier, more oxidized elements. Ultimately it was a session as fun and quirky as it was tasty!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DF_WWwqS745/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu7m6VkKCu8&ab_channel=CousinSimple-Topic