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I finished this off in record time, which implies I enjoy it. It’s definitely an easy-drinker, especially for a vanilla lover. Next time I’m running low on dessert teas it will be a strong contender for re-order.

Another tea I can’t believe is gone (what will breakfast be like without it?). This dates back to around 2014 – yet the hawk still had talons.

I reordered more of this as a Christmas gift to myself (yes, I do this early) – so I need to put it away. But first, I couldn’t resist taking a sniff of it. It smells so good, with all the mango-almond vibrancy that the “bottom pouch dregs” of the last session, prior to reordering, lacked. Ugh. Now I’m fighting the temptation to make up a cup, but that defeats the original purpose.

I have so many older teas to work through and a lot of October sipdown notes to catch up on though, so I resist (for now).

Sipdown from last week!

I enjoyed this one, although the cranberry and cream flavouring means it has some overlap with Brutaliteas’ Crantera blend. The inclusion of pistachio, almond, and of pu-erh gives this an earthy and velvety-smooth quality that is a little extra! It also paired exceptionally well eggnog for an extra festive component (Yes, groceries here seem to push eggnog for Canadian Thanksgiving).

I’m a little sad I didn’t save this one for winter festivities.

I normally go out of my way to avoid stevia (and David’s Tea’s apple) but there are too many ingredients I that I do love here, including: aniseed, fennel, allspice, coconut, clove(!!) … also the promise of buttery crepe cookie à la Roswell Strange’s description (the tea delivers and I’m happy). I’ve also come to realize I enjoy creative puerh blends (as lattes), and this fits the bill.

A part of me does wish this was a little spicier (current pofile: soft cinnamon, light ginger, mellow fennel, etc) but appreciate that doing so would lose that delicate fortune cookie concept – which this tea totally nails (for my spice cravings, maybe it’s time I pick up a proper masala chai).

Adding milk helps the stevia “play well”, which makes me more inclined to keep it around during the cooler months. Lately, I seem to crave those sweet dessert teas that David’s Tea is known for; maybe due to fall’s nostalgia effect? I also just enjoy looking at this tea. The blend is pure eye-candy. There are big pieces of cinnamon sticks, coconut rind, and assorted spice seeds & pods, all making for a cozy collective of yellow, orange, red, white, black, and brown hues (again, fall, but also fortune cookie).

The vanilla flavouring in this is… powerful. Aroma-wise, I’m reminded of cookie dough (when I accidentally spill the bottle of $$$$ vanilla extract) – particularly that bittersweet alcoholic sheen that vanilla extract uses to punch you in the face when you least expect it. The addition of maple sugar, coconut, blueberry, and nutty manoomin means this plunges right into cozy fall sweater (and scarf) dessert tea territory. Just to be extra mind-bending, the lingering aftertaste is tart-sweet cranberry sauce. So, it’s fall in a cup.

For this initial tasting, I was too much of a coward to drink it without first diluting it with milk (vanilla and violent both start with “vee”, and did I mention it’s punchy?); I don’t know if I’d want it any other way either.

Rating TBD at the end of pouch consumption. For now, I think this tea is a cool collab and a complimentary addition to David’s Tea’s shelves.

EDIT: I did a second steep and drank it plain. It was pretty good too; still very sweet, with malt and a more diluted citric berry component.

While not overly complex in vision, I still enjoyed this cozy candied blackberry tea (with creme notes). It was robust enough to handle milk too.

I liked this tea a lot back in 2017, but for some reason I didn’t seem to have much luck steeping this up right until the very last session today – which was delicious and richly layered with caramelized banana, malt, tannins, maple syrup, and even the suggestion of spices. At least I finished this up on the right note!

Interesting combo of jasmine, coconut, and cinnamon on a poor white tea base that’s too gentle for this world. I definitely got more coconut and cinnamon than jasmine but it’s all pretty cozy (also, I got covid last week so my nose is funky and weirdly selective of what smells get through – so maybe jasmine suffered from this).

My only complaint is that there’s a tang to the aftertaste which can go sour pretty quickly if left unintended, but otherwise I enjoyed this one.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge, September 2022: A breakfast tea

This reminds me a lot of Vicky’s Sponge Cake, but with hibiscus and not as consistent in delivering jam (and Vicky is already a temperamental tea). I think I got jam once when I coldbrewed it and twice when I added milk. The three other times? Not so prevalent – although, I still thought this was a nice fruity breakfast tea, veering on creamy-ish (that’s jam adjacent).