357 Tasting Notes
As I went to take my first sip, the smell of coconuts was very apparent. So I was surprised to not be overwhelmed with this note with my first sip. At first I was confused at what I was tasting, and very unsure whether I was going to enjoy this tea at all. There was a very slight sourness to the tea that wasn’t bad, but I didn’t really care for. I had never tasted mulberries before, so I indulged my curiosity and picked one out of the dry tea mix for a little taste. Mmm…yummy like a fruity honey. Now is it just me, or does this tea taste better after you eat one of those little guys? I suspect that if I were to overcome my “drink it as is” stubbornness and add a touch of honey, I would probably enjoy this tea even more. But for now my hard-headedness triumphs. At least this tea helps answer a childhood question of what a Mulberry bush is. Now I just have to figure out why the weasel goes pop and my life will be complete :)
First sip: ugh! strange
Second sip: hmmm…
Third sip: o.k?
Fourth sip: not bad
Fifth sip and beyond: hey! this is pretty good
Toasted Walnut makes an especially nice Fall or Winter tea. To me, the nutty taste was immediately apparent. Although I didn’t love this one right away, it grew on me within a few sips. For some strange reason, the smell and part of the aftertaste reminds me of an Irish cream coffee that my parents used to drink when I was a child, but looking at the ingredients, I’m not sure why that would be? So far I have only tried this one hot with nothing added, but I suspect if I added a smidgen of brown sugar and perhaps a touch of milk, this tea would taste even more like a dessert.
Well, it’s certainly different. To me it has an almost medicinal taste that I don’t care for. I don’t feel like I can capture the taste accurately in a description, but I’ll give it a go anyway: It tastes like a blend of random garden herbs with a couple of pine needles and an odd dried blueberry. I know my description doesn’t make much sense since most of those things are not actually ingredients in this tea, but that is what I am tasting. So far I’ve only tried this one hot, and I have to say – not really a fan.
I tried a sample of Cranberry Pear tea iced in store, and decided to bring home a little sample to try hot. I must say that it’s delicious both as a hot and as an iced tea, and has a natural sweetness without having to add sugar. I love the smell, and it’s quite tasty, but if I did a blind taste test, I wouldn’t think that it’s a cranberry pear flavor. To me it almost has a faint taste of cream soda. Although it is a black tea, it is another one that is so chock full of fruits, that it is deemed to be a low caffeine tea. A lovely tea overall, and I would certainly repurchase it on another visit to Davids.
This morning I had my first ever encounter with Matcha (so please excuse my ignorance). I had heard about the many health benefits of matcha (i.e. high antioxidant content etc.), so when I saw it at Davids I thought I’d bring home a little sample. My 14g sample cost $3.92 and probably has enough to make a couple more cups, if that’s what I choose to do with it (I say this because I just read of the many ways that Matcha can be used: mixed into smoothies, added into baking, added to other teas etc.).
So here is where my ignorance is going to shine (I’m sure I will look back on this tealog and cringe). I prepared the tea as directed, by whisking 1 tsp in 72 degree water. Well, it was more or less 72 degrees, I didn’t have my thermometer, so I just guesstimated. It didn’t taste bitter, so I’m pretty sure the water wasn’t too hot as it didn’t taste burnt. If anything, it might have been a little too cool? There were no lumps in the tea when I whisked it, but it did seem to settle a bit when I stopped whisking. Is that normal (I would assume so since it’s ground up tea leaves, but since I’ve never seen matcha before… I’m not sure)? Anyway, the color was a deep green, and reminded me of seaweed or spinach. It was a little startling at first, as it’s not what I am accustomed to, but hey, it reduces cholesterol and is high in antioxidants, so it could glow in the dark and I’d still try to like it.
My honest first impressions were that I didn’t love the taste, it wasn’t bad, but I’d say that I thought it was just o.k. It tasted like it was good for me: kind of leafy and faintly spinach-like. But even though this tea was not love at first sip, when I consider how good it is for me, I like it enough that I can eventually learn to love it. I prefer to drink my tea without adding anything, but with all the rave reviews about drinking this as a latte, I may have to give it a try. I was always intrigued by the idea of matcha and I’m thankful that Davids allows me the opportunity to buy tea in such small sample sizes, I hope more local tea shops will follow suit.I’m on the fence with Happy Kombucha. On the one hand I enjoy the fruity mango and pineapple flavors, but there is an underlying taste in this tea that makes it a little less appealing to my taste-buds. I’m not sure if it’s a specific ingredient in the tea (i.e. the Kombucha Powder or the safflower petals), or just the fact that this is an oolong (I have yet to find an oolong that I would rate higher than just so-so).
I must admit that I had no idea what kombucha was when I bought this, but after quick Google search, I learned that it is basically a type of fermented tea? I’m not sure if that’s correct, but that’s what I understood of it. I tried this one both hot and cold, and both ways are alright I suppose, but not good enough to entice me to repurchase this one again.
Yummy! Even though I generally gravitate towards green and white teas, when I opened up the sniffer at my local Davids Tea, this blueberry jam black tea had a hold of me immediately. I love that even though it is a black tea, David’s classifies it as a “low caffeine” tea. This is quite likely because it is loaded with blueberries and therefore contains much less actual tea. Both the smell and the taste are spot on with the name. It makes a great tea whether hot or cold. The second brew tastes even better in my opinion, the flavors seem a bit more mellow and smooth.
The green tea taste comes through more strongly with the first sip then yields perfectly to the kiwi flavor! Oh so very yummy! It tastes like a very ripe kiwi, but mixed with a melon flavor, maybe watermelon, or perhaps some honeydew. It doesn’t require any sugar in my opinion, as it is nicely sweet tasting on it’s own (although I rarely add sugar to my tea). It’s yummy both hot and cold. Kiwi’s big adventure is yet another favorite of mine from David’s tea!
There is something in this tea that I do not care for. It might just be the cinnamon, or it might be the cinnamon and something else? I like the tartness combined with the sweetness, but the cinnamon/floral scent and flavor are killing those notes. sigh… Really not a fan of this one. Definately won’t be buying this one again.
