19 Tasting Notes

94

This dry tea smells incredible. It’s sweet and very spicy, just like cinnamon hearts!

The tea steeps to a lovely deep orange, and smells just as strong as it did in the bag. Upon first sip, I think “Valentine’s Day. This is a Valentine’s Day tea”. The sweetness hits your tongue first, and I find it very hard to believe that this tea doesn’t have sugar in it. This is easily the sweetest tea I have ever laid my lips on. The spiciness of the cinnamon tickles my tongue and lingers in the back of my mouth for a long time. It is incredibly similar to eating cinnamon hearts, down to every last detail. My friend and I actually joked that this must just be ground-up cinnamon hearts.

This is such a flavourful, powerful tea and I think the natural sweetness from the Rooibos base is perfect. I’m not going to add sugar to this as there’s no need!

This tea is easily my new favourite. It beats all the others by a long shot. It’s very powerful, very bold, beautifully sweet and tastes exactly like cinnamon hearts. Did someone say Valentine’s Day?

yappychappy

I LOVE this stuff. The owner of this place is awesome

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67

One thing’s for sure. This tea smells like a dream come true. If it smelled any more like a chocolate banana cream pie, I’d be tempted to eat the tea leaves. Seriously. The tea is filled with generous chunks of banana, cocoa and white chocolate.

The tea steeps to a dark orange, with an oily layer on top (due to the chocolate, probably). Even steeped it smells great, although it’s more chocolate and less banana at this point. As soon as you take a sip, the chocolate hits your tongue, and the banana lingers in the aftertaste. Thankfully, it’s a candied banana flavour – my favourite.

Milk and sugar make this tea even better. But if you’re adding sugar, I feel that just a sprinkle doesn’t work with this one like it does with other teas. I threw in twice the amount I usually do (which is still only half a teaspoon). The creaminess of the milk turns this tea into a decadent dessert!

This tea is also incredible chilled! I suggest trying it alcoholic if that’s your thing – I could see it being delicious with a splash of Bailey’s.

This tea is decadent. I’m in chocolate banana heaven, and I’m not even that fond of bananas. I suggest steeping this tea for less than the max 7 minutes (as it can get a little bitter), and in my opinion, it’s best with milk & sugar! This isn’t one of my favourite teas, but it definitely does what it set out to do – imitate a chocolate banana cream pie.

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89
drank Gold Rush by DAVIDsTEA
19 tasting notes

This tea smells, in a word, perfect. The mulberries provide a rich, caramel-like scent while the coconuts remind me of pina coladas and tropical vacations. The combination is overwhelming.

Once steeped, the first thing I do is pick out the decadent mulberries. I wish I had something to accurately compare them to. They are easily the yummiest berries I’ve ever eaten, especially when infused with white tea and coconut. They are juicy and bursting with sweetness. Taking a look at the actual tea, it steeps to a beautiful yellow-orange. The scent dwindles down to a warm creme caramel-like fragrance.

At first sip, the tea is very light and coconut dominates the taste. The mulberries add the perfect hint of sugar and come in strong at the end with a honey, caramel, dessert-like sweetness. I really like that these flavours are layered over top of the light white silver needle base. I just so happen to be drinking this tea with my younger brother, who is very new to teas and finds them kind of “plain”. So let’s add some brown sugar. In my opinion, it’s a bit unnecessary. The tea is plenty sweet on its own and adding sugar just makes it sweeter without really enhancing any of the flavours… And even my brother agrees that the sugar isn’t a good addition!

Just a note, this tea is just as wonderful chilled as it is warm. Actually, probably more wonderful!

This tea is one of my favourites! If you love rich, sweet teas, this is it. With this tea, you not only get a flavourful drink, but a little snack as well. Believe me, mulberries will change your life… Looks like I’ll be ordering a tin of this stuff!

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65

I am sold on the dry tea smell. It smells like super sweet blueberry juice – my mouth’s watering already. The black tea is filled with cute little flower petals and dried-up berries. When steeped, the tea smells light but delicious and turns a very dark brown.

The first sip is heavenly. The blueberry is so vivid, and the stevia is a surprisingly nice addition. The tea has a bit of a bitter taste and is not quite as sweet as I would have liked it, but it’s great nonetheless. I find myself savoring the moment the tea hits my tongue, and the aftertaste – but not the in-between part, which is when the bitterness kicks in.

I’m a little iffy about adding milk to a blueberry tea, but I’ll try anyway. Like with the Salted Caramel I blogged about recently, I find that milk takes away the bitterness and makes the flavour more consistent from start to finish. I added just a pinch of brown sugar and found that it really brings out the fruity flavours. Like many teas that came before, this is a tea I prefer with milk and sugar.

I think this tea would make a great iced drink – with sugar, hold the milk. It’s fruity enough to take the place of a juice, but is missing just a bit of oomph that can be found in brown sugar.

This tea is going to be way up there on my list of fruity teas. It’s not tart like very many others I’ve tried, and the fact that it has a black base lets you play around with adding milk – which is almost always a good call. Warm, it makes a great autumn/winter tea, and I think it would make an extraordinary iced tea in the summer!

Note: I made this tea again – steeped for the full length but at a lower temperature, and the initial slight bitterness I experienced was nonexistent. I didn’t lose any of the delicious blueberry flavour either! Problem solved!

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65
drank Salted Caramel by DAVIDsTEA
19 tasting notes

This tea smells very rich. The sweet English toffee is hands down the dominant smell, but there is also a darker, earthier scent. The tea looks like a standard black, with tiny bits of coconut and toffee thrown in.

The tea steeps to a dark orange-brown, and the smell tones down. I can still smell hints of toffee, but there’s also an odd burnt smell. The taste is surprisingly plain given the strong scent. A touch of caramel, but that’s essentially all I can taste. I wish the sea salt was more pronounced! The aftertaste is a touch bitter, so I wouldn’t suggest steeping this for the full 7 minutes (4-5 would probably be more appropriate).

I’ve found that sometimes milk can transform teas, so let’s try this out… The milk definitely helps the taste. The caramel becomes creamy and the bitterness disappears. Even though this tea is already sweet, a touch of brown sugar does wonders. The caramel flavour becomes more prominent and I feel like I can finally enjoy the smooth, easy aftertaste. But I still don’t taste any sea salt!

This tea really got my hopes up. Salted caramel is among my favourite things in the world, but this tea didn’t live up to my expectations. The caramel taste was prominent, but I couldn’t taste any salt. If you do attempt this tea, remember to add a bit of milk and sugar and to not steep for the max time!

This is the second David’s Tea caramel-type tea I’ve blogged about and unfortunately, neither were big hits. I’m still searching for a beautiful caramel tea, so please let me know if you find one!

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82
drank Sweet Love by Kusmi Tea
19 tasting notes

The dry tea smells incredibly strong – a very heavily spiced black, with equally heavy sweet scents. I bought this tea pre-bagged in a set and I’m so glad I did. The individual tea bags are little fabric pouches that are one part convenient and three parts adorable.

The steeped tea has a very light, almost chamomile-like scent. The tea steeps to a light, brownish orange.

From the first sip, Sweet Love is incredible. I can taste a little spice which gives way to the liquorice root’s sweetness, and then the spice comes back and lingers. It’s really unlike any other tea I’ve tried, it’s incredible how long I can taste the spice after sipping. A little milk brings out the sweetness even more, and I feel like I’m drinking a fancy 300 calorie drink and not a good-for-you tea.

Adding sugar is in my opinion unnecessary, but I’ll try it anyway… And unnecessary is right. I find that the sugar distracts from the lovely sweetness that’s already there.

This tea might become a new favourite. A black tea with a natural sweetness and a lingering spice, served best with milk! Seeing as I only started with two teabags of it, it looks like I’ll have to order more!

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67
drank Love Tea #7 by DAVIDsTEA
19 tasting notes

Well hello there. This might just be the best smelling tea in the world. Smells exactly like you’d think it would – loads of natural strawberry with hints of roses and chocolate. I spy a couple of chocolate chips and rose petals in the mix, but it looks like a pretty standard black tea at first glance.

Steeped, this tea smells the way the ideal Valentine’s day should smell: heavy on chocolate and roses. A lighter scent than the dry tea, but still spectacular. I’m considering hanging tea bags full of this stuff in my room, seriously. But I digress, my first sip is earthy and a little bitter (maybe I oversteeped?). The aftertaste is subtly sweet and chocolaty. I’ve become a sucker for milk in my blacks, so let’s try that out… I think this is the first time milk didn’t do too well in a black – I don’t suggest it with this one. Once I added the milk, the tea seemed to lose its sweetness and I was just left with a woody taste. But a bit of sugar seems to bring the strawberry back to the forefront, so not all is lost.

This tea smells incredible. Like I mentioned, maybe the best smelling tea I’ve ever tried. It tastes pretty lovely straight, but seems to lose its appeal with milk. It’s a little sweet naturally so I’d suggest you be careful when adding sweetener to it! Overall, a pretty good tea. Just maybe don’t steep it for the full five minutes.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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87

This tea smells heavenly. The combination of spices makes me want to cuddle up by a fire and perhaps toast the mini marshmallows in this blend. There’s a little bit of an odd alcohol-like scent amid the spices, but it’s not overwhelming.

The tea steeps to a cloudy orange-brown, and the smell dwindles down to a light cinnamon scent. Sipping the tea, I taste cinnamon first, with a touch of sugar – the marshmallow or brittle, I assume. Although the tea is slightly creamy as is, I decided to try it out with some milk… And it’s incredible. A perfect, toasty winter blend for a cold night. The tea is sweet enough as is, and I find that adding sugar or honey changes the taste too much for my liking.

This tea has officially found a place among my favourites. Looks like I’ll have to buy a tin of this tomorrow! If you want a winter tea, something to look forward to on a snowy morning, this would be it. It’s the perfect blend of cinnamon, brittle and adorable marshmallows!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 6 min, 0 sec

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59
drank Pink Flamingo by DAVIDsTEA
19 tasting notes

I’ve been drinking this tea since day one, so it’s a shame I didn’t get around to writing about it earlier. Now that I’m at the end of my tin, I think it’s time to talk.

This is a very, very fruity tea from David’s Tea. Dry, it smells amazing. Very strong lemon and orange scents with a hint of something very different – my guess is the eucalyptus. As the tea’s steeping, it goes from a light, lovely pink to a deeper, richer almost-red pink (hence the name). Steeped, it smells incredible: a very light, sweet citrus scent. It’s important to mention that the leaves and grass in this tea are very pesky. Without a very fine infuser, you’ll end up with bits of green floating around your mug.

This tea is pretty delicious! A great replacement for a summer juice, since it tastes very much like a light, unsweetened lemonade. After taking a sip, the zest stays on the back of my tongue, a little sour. It’s a very flavourful tea, and I usually steep it for the maximum suggested time to get everything I can out of those dried fruits! I definitely prefer this tea with a little sugar or honey though. It becomes a little less sour, while still maintaining its strong citrus taste.

If citrus is your thing, then this tea is great. More specifically, if lemon is your thing. Personally, the sour notes in this tea are a little much for me, so I don’t think I’ll be refilling my tea tin anytime soon.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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63

I’m in heaven. The dry tea has a very, very sweet scent that reminds me of summer. It actually smells a lot like watermelon gummies! But similar to Perfect Pear, once steeped the scent becomes very light. It steeps to a pale yellow, but little pieces sneak through my infuser and end up in my cup.

This tea is yummy! A little sweet, a little tart, and definitely chock-full of melon. Personally, I prefer stronger tasting teas. I added a bit of sugar to see what would happen, and unfortunately it didn’t really work out. The tea gets far too sweet, and I find the sugar distracts from the flavours in the tea.

When iced, this tea is amazing! A light and delicious replacement for an iced tea or iced lemonade.

Overall, this tea is pretty good although not quite as strong as I’d hoped, given its incredible dry tea scent. If you want a very light tea, give this a shot. I find that it rates very closely to Perfect Pear. Light and a little tart, appropriate for a hot summer’s day.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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I’m an international business student who’s passionate about so many things, too many things. My most recent obsession is tea, and I can tell this one’s for the long-term. I love experimenting and I’m eager to learn as much as I can about tea. Excited to be on this journey!

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