Featured & New Tasting Notes

2024 sipdown no. 78

This is a very pretty tea with bright red raspberry pieces throughout. I haven’t examined closely enough to find blackberry pieces, but I’m sure they’re there. The taste is slightly acidic, due to the berries. The tea itself gets a tad lost and the overall cup is a bit thin, but the quality of this blend is so high, it’s not bothersome.

During the weekend and today afternoon I am trying to focus on this tea I bought during my stay in Germany. I bought it because the name (Erzgebirge was a mountain range nearby, Ore mountains in English) and its nice aroma. I thought it would be perfect for sunny days, but I just opened it with first snow. It was a sunny day, though!
It smells very citrusy and tropical, something between lemons and grapefruits, hints of pomelo and tangerines.

When drank, by my brother and his girlfriend; and me on the very next day, we weren’t able to recongnize the flavours though. When I told them it should be citrusy and mostly orange, they were “like really?” and when I tried it… I couldn’t notice them that much as in aroma too. It was tasty though; very easy-drinking, not so tart nor bitter, not sweet but nicely fruity.

Tasty, but what was the intention of this tea and its flavors, who knows.

PS: Giving away some teas for shipping only here: http://steepster.com/discuss/6840-official-stash-sales-thread?post_id=239862#forum_post_239862

A sample with my order?! Yes, please! This smells so very caramel like. It says English, but my brain thinks French because it reminds me of Fauchon’s caramel tea. The flavor was rich on the sip with roasty caramel, but there is something alkaline in the finish. The flavor seems to get a little more hollow and flat as it cools. Definitely better when hot. Maybe I’ll resteep and try adding some creamer. I don’t know that I’d buy this one since I have a similar caramel in my cupboard, but I wouldn’t pass up another cup either.

additional notes: Revisiting this blend yet again, as now I’m reading Barbara Kingsolver’s ‘Demon Copperhead’. It tastes the same as it did last time. :D

2024 Sipdown Challenge | November | Cookie Monster’s Birthday: You know what to do!

Yeah, yeah, it’s not November 2, but who cares when the tea is so perfect for the prompt?!

After nearly a year of being very demure, very mindful when it comes to buying tea, my restraint has officially gone out the window! So now I’m cramming new teas into my tea cupboard and realizing I need a better storage solution.

As I was putting together my homemade advent for the swap, I had a lil brainstorm and decided to pull a bunch of seasonally appropriate teas from my stash, put them in a basket, and leave said basket out by my tea/coffee corner where I can’t miss it.

This approach is helping me (1) get into the seasonal/festive spirit, and (2) be intentional about sipping through my stash! Usually it’s out of sight, out of mind, and I have to go digging through my entire stash to find something that appeals in the moment, which means I often just default to the daily drinkers and old standbys. But now, I have a carefully curated basket of seasonally appropriate blends ready for me.

All to say that this tea made it into the holiday basket, and I finished it up yesterday evening. I never quite got a hit of that iconic buttery sugar cookie flavor when drinking it, but I enjoyed the playful sprinkles and the mild sweetness. And, yes, now I want real sugar cookies. :)

2024 sipdown count: 41

This smells so good in the bag, but it is steeping to something a lot lighter in flavor. It tastes all high and mid notes, with no bass, leaving it light, airy and with a floral feeling. I added some milk which added some depth on the lower end, but I’m not sure that was all the adjustment needed. Looks like I’ve tried this tea at least 3x now. Maybe it’s just not for me.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – November 2024 Tea #1 -Tea with caramel or maple flavor

2/3s of the month gone now and I am only on prompt #1 for November!  Where does the time go…. One of my favorite rooibos blends almost gone now (next time).  I will miss it!  Mixing caramel and cappuccino flavors is a genius idea, yet obvious.

I prepared this tea gongfu, 5g / 125 ml, 90 °C water, several uncounted steeps.

I did my best trying to focus on this tea after work, but somehow it just didn’t click to me? It was tasty enough, but nothing supreme to me, light and clean taste, but somehow watery; just hard to get any flavour to be honest… I got some flavour after long steeps only.

Yes, the aroma of the wet leaves was nice indeed. Maybe it’s the berry notes that Leafhopper noticed. I will keep it without rating. Because it seems it can be a wonderful tea, but probably something went wrong today. What it is, I dunno. Sad panda grateful to derk.

Sometimes when I take the first few sips of a tea the flavors will hit harshly. A few sips in things seem to mellow and I’m left with a nice cup. That didn’t happen with this tea. I steeped it for 3m and every sip of the first 1/4 of the cup were bold and overwhelming. The rose dominated and was so overpowering that it was bitter. Once I put some milk in it all changed! The rose instantly mellowed and the cardamon came out. There is just the hint of it maybe thinking about pepper notes and then that fades. I like rose and I love cardamon, so this was an intriguing tea to try despite the fact that a lot of B&B’s black teas are a miss for me. I’d wager that with the addition of some sweetener this cup would make an amazing chai. I’ll have to try it on the next cup, but this one is almost done. Glad I took the gamble and added this to my order!

This is from Cameron B!  Thanks yet again!  This is a cherry and rose flavored green tea that should also have jasmine.   I went real gentle on that first steep to not let the base take over for these flavors.  On the first steep, I’m really only tasting cherry, and it’s not really a good tasting cherry… more like cough drops.  I really don’t taste any rose or jasmine here.  It’s cough drops all the way. But LUCKILY also no notes of hibiscus here either.  So that’s a plus.  The blend sure does look beautiful in the tin though.  I’m usually a fan of whatever cherry teas Cameron decides to move along (there have been a few)…. but this one is only okay and not my favorite. 
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 30 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 28 minutes after boiling // 2 min

Derk was so kind to send me a few tea bags of teas she has ordered thanks to my gift coupon.

Honestly, I am not sure if I would ever buy this tea, as the name is something I just disagree with; but in fact, it’s better than expected.

I wanted some savory, spicy and warming tea, but not chai of any kind; and this one delivers so well.

I completely agree that it’s hard to describe, but thyme or oregano is most present, with black cumin a little behind and some warming up black pepper(corns), that are especially welcomed in those, upcoming winter, days; with rain instead of snow.

Now, I know that I shouldn’t judge the tea by its name (or box)

This white tea has an interesting mix of tangy, tannic, savoury, and foresty flavours, as well as a hint of pastries. The aftertaste is also a bit sour, and the aroma reminds me of sawdust, apricots, sugarcane, and allspice.

Starting to switch from fall teas to more winter/holiday blends. This is still tasty, but I think the flavor may have faded a bit. Hard to tell, because I can’t quite remember what it tasted like before, and apparently I never wrote a tasting note. I’m getting mostly almond, and no trace of orange. A touch of a pastry note, but mainly the almond.

Sipdown! I really need to drink all the odds and ends tea before advent season. So this ho hum blend gets finished off. If you don’t like shou I’d give this one a pass. And even the shou has a barnyard bite to it. It seems like a good idea, maybe I’ll try blending some shou with my favorite awesome tea and see how it turns out.

Sipdown

Not a bad tea, but nothing special. I think Momijigari is THE apple black tea for me, so I am thankful SuperAnna gave it to me years ago!

This is another tea from Courtney that I have received. Now, only one remains to try. Thank you!

I consider myself quite experienced with nordic / European berries, but mulberries are new for me in a cup of tea I suppose. Definitely unusual ingredient.

The tea, which you are supposed to steep 7 minutes is quite light in flavour, but the berries are clearly present in the taste and combined with flavorful white tea that tastes like a melon; it just go so well together. Smooth, creamy tea with fruity element that was so familiar, but somehow not experienced so far.

One cup of tea remains in my pouch and it’s one of the teas that I don’t want to see go.

Last of the new teas is Clementine Cheer!

Obviously this is an orange blend, but it actually has the flavour of three different kints of orange/citrus in it: clementine (of course), your typical naval orange, and tangerine! The tangerines in it are these beautiful dried tangerine segments that come out of Georgia and visually they’re one of my all time favourite ingredients from DT. Plus, once you’ve steeped your mug of tea they’re really delicious to snack out out of the steeped leaf. Kind of like Midsummer Night’s Dream and the gooseberries in that blend.

The base we went with is oolong, and though you might assume a lighter oxidized oolong this is actually a more oxidized/roasted oolong. The leaves are beautiful and more wiry looking as opposed to ball rolled style. It’s not a strong flavour in the overall composition, but that hint of roast does create a really nice contrast pairing with the orange that makes it pop a little bit more while still adding some body.

Aside from being very bright, lively, and citrusy this blend also has a smooth, creamy undertone from inclusions like yogurt pieces and vanilla flavouring. Sometimes I think of it as a bit like Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait or Frozen Raspberry since those blends are also fruit and yogurt pairings, but I think this one is a bit less sweet and definitely not as tart since there’s no hibiscus in this tea. And speaking of comparisons, I’d say that compared to the two other core orange blends DT carries (Sunny C and Blood Orange Boost) that it’s also true this is less sweet and less tart comparatively. Also, obviously, creamier.

Even with that creamy component, there’s almost an effervescence to the citrus notes in this tea that I think work really well with the “cheer” part of the name. Like, yes it’s a nice cheerful tasting orange blend but it’s also kind of building in that idea of a orange mimosa or spritz that you might cheers with at a holiday or new year’s brunch, family get together, or party/celebration. It’s just lively, and celebratory and kind of happy feeling. To that point, it’s obviously good hot and predictably good iced but it’s VERY good as a tea pop. With a splash of champagne or prosecco if you want to go that cocktail kind of route.

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.

additional notes: I just happened to be enjoying this one from derk (sent a while ago) and also happened to catch a tasting note from derk that seemed extra appreciative of shu today, so I liked that coincidence. :D This tasted especially good today with a cranberry bagel: one half with cream cheese, the other half with marmalade. I love the looooonnnnngggg steep on this one. One pre-measured square ends up filling the steep basket about 3/4 full.

Sipdown

I have a tin of the grade just below this one ready to open, but it is time to finish off this tin so even though we are having matcha lattes today I used the good stuff. We are having a little cool spell and the holidays are fast approaching, so I thought this would be a great afternoon snack with whipped cream and sprinkles on top.

I do plan to repurchase this one eventually. If I am having hot matcha whisked in the traditional style, I prefer this one, the “extra thick”. The “thick” grade is very good and I usually use it for great lattes since it is higher grade than one would normally relegate for such a purchase.

This is from Cameron B!  Thank you so much.  My impression on the first sip is there is a LOT of smoke in this lapsang souchong for something that should be caramel butterscotch blondies.  Like…. a LOT of smoke.  If I ignore the inspiration and name for this tea, it isn’t a bad cup of tea.  Especially if you are craving lapsang.  But it is mostly smoke.  I feel I should resteep and give the pouch a good mix….
Steep #1 // 20 minutes after boiling // 1-2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 18 minutes after boiling // 4-5 min

SECOND steep session:  I really stirred up the bag, and then used two teaspoons for a mug.  The flavor was definitely different this time.  I think the last time, I must have had way more of the lapsang.  This time both steeps tasted like more coconut and rooibos, but still nothing like the name suggests!  More like a smoky coconut rooibos. Hey, that seems a unique enough blend to me anyway.  :D Not even so much hojicha flavored, not at all. With the few blends I have tried from Dessert by Deb, I think they are WAY overhyped on the flavors you will find just by looking at the names of the blends. They just sound too promising! But a tea can never be an actual sugary dessert anyway…

A flavored puerh first thing in the morning? I have some Scottish breakfast on deck as a backup. But this is earthy without being barnyard, a hint of chocolate without trying to be sweet, and a citrus note that is drowning in puerh. It’s not bad, but I prefer the coffee puerh from OBT. I might add some ginger next brew.

Backlog/Sipdown

I’m too sad writing this review for this is one tea that I really really really loved. Truly. It was my last bag and it took me way too long to drink it down. If I’ve mentioned my love of cinnamon before, I’m sorry, but this packed that cinnamon candy spice and sweetness with every cup. The worst part is that this is no longer available; if it were to find itself on DT’s virtual shelves again, I’m buying an insane amount.

This is a Dethlefsen & Balk sourced blend, and I’m uncertain if I’ve had it elsewhere, but I’m really enjoying it. I tried it warm and thought it was fine (I liked the hibiscus/cardamon combination) but it shines more as a coldbrew. It has a nice rich cherry flavor, in the vein of Kool-Aid/Popsicle and lacking any weird medicinal notes. The hibiscus is adding a lot of thick fruit punch notes. That little pop of cardamom in the background is nice even cold. Very quenching. It’s a nice enough cherry-leaning hibiscus fruit tea.

Tea gift from my daughter – for World Kindness Day!

I decided to have this with breakfast but was so struck by it that I made more after breakfast. When I went to add it to the database, I saw that it is presently sold out. I can see why!

This would be a great puerh for someone who is wanting to try shu but is a little apprehensive. Because I was having it with food, the first impression was that I was drinking an unflavored black tea, but then the taste of rich, pure, wet garden soil blossomed. Earth.

Some pu has lots of barn notes, or camphor, or outright manure. Most smell like freshly plowed earth to me at some point on some level, and some have cedar notes like an old country church whose pews have been polished with Murphy’s Oil Soap. I have had puerh that smells sharp just like the leaves of our pecan tree when they crunch under you feet in late fall. Some smell like the dry dirt in the crawlspace under a house and I like that, too.

For breakfast I made three steeps in a row and combined them in one pot. That was when I had the sense of black tea with soft hints of fruit followed by rich earth experience. fruit? But which?

This is not the dry dirt under the house at all. This is rich, like when I water the house plants that are in the east window, or the richest, most desirable garden soil, but a little more subtle. I was kicking myself for not at least giving a little sip to the individual steeps and decided to make more after breakfast so I can really notice more without distraction and competition from food. (It was a tortilla egg bake today.)

This is silky with a hint of cream followed by rich earth. I have only done two steeps so far and they were a little different but I absolutely can not pinpoint one thing I am tasting in the second steep. It is intriguing and familiar. It reminds me of the vibe of Brown Sugar Cubes from white2tea without tasting like it. (BSC had a lot more high notes and mint with camphor.) This is definitely a tea of middle tones – a mezzo soprano if you will. Any Dame Cleo Laine fans here? Not as thick and rich as her voice but definitely a mezzo.

Third steep is on and I am finishing steep two cold. Lots of high notes cool. Quickly warmed it and…found the elusive note. Blackberry – specifically the flavor of Mûre Sauvage from Dammann Freres, so much so that I had to think quickly whether it could be contamination of this pot, but it can’t be, so natural blackberry notes, it is.

Third steep – piping hot, I get the aroma of soil on the roots of a huge pile of weeds you have pulled, aroma of soil and plant and root. I find that the flavors of puerh blossom most for me after it has cooled for a few minutes. After letting it rest I get a rich earth taste that lingers well. No mushroom really. Maybe some sharper fallen leaf coming through now.

This is lovely and I would 100% buy it again.