1792 Tasting Notes

66
drank Citron Oolong by DAVIDsTEA
1792 tasting notes

Ok, not a jasmine fan so I never felt the urge to try this until a sales associate raved about it being a favourite and how I should try it as a latte because it ends up tasting like a creamsicle. Alright, fair enough. Since it’s now on sale, why not try it, right?

Made it as a latte with cow’s milk and no additional sweetener. First sip is jasmine but to be fair, it’s not as potent as it can be in other scented/flavoured jasmine blends. So I’m not sure if the milk toned it down or if it’s just not as potent to begin with. Then the citrus lingers afterwards, but since I’m sensitive to jasmine, I’m not picking up on the orange flavouring and lemon myrtle as much as I normally would.

The base is slightly floral and pairs well with the jasmine, I’ll give it that. One of the most tolerable ways I’ve ever experienced the flower, but still not my thing. I’ll be a little more generous with the rating, then, since my qualms with this has to do with a note in here that I already knew I wouldn’t like.

Autistic Goblin

I drank this straight a long time ago. Apparently I liked it a lot. The dry smell and that gave my Mom migraines though so I could only drink it at work. I remember it being lemony with a floral finish… but it’s been years since I’ve had it so my memory could be faulty.

Fjellrev

Yeah, I mean, I can see why someone would like it. The citrus and jasmine pair well together, and I appreciate that they didn’t load this up with tons of artificial flavours and sweeteners. It’s kind of like what many of the teas in their collection used to be.

Evol Ving Ness

^ That. And yes, it like it for these reasons.

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58
drank Blackberry Blizzard by DAVIDsTEA
1792 tasting notes

A customer at DAVIDsTEA was raving and obsessing over this blend, demanding to know when it was going to go on sale, and/or if it’ll be permanent because it’s her favourite blend. So thought I should give it a go in spite of the heavy artificial scent of the dry leaf in the sniffer lid.

My nose is almost always right. Blackberry is the strongest flavour in here, followed by sugary sweet pineapple, and some other fake berry flavour. It also tastes like someone dumped a healthy helping of an artificial sweetener in here like Splenda. I’ve said this about another blend in the recent past, but its combination of artificial berry with tons of sweetener reminds me of those sucralose-loaded flavoured waters.

You know, it’s funny how this semi-annual sale sucked me in after not paying much attention to their offerings since last fall or winter, I can’t even remember. So now I’m playing a bit of catch-up and so far, it doesn’t seem like I have missed too much, save for a couple good blends. Maybe this is how I’ll do it from now on. I’ll only come in if/when there’s a good sale, especially considering their price increases. Can’t believe how expensive many of their blends have become!

Autistic Goblin

You have to remember a lot of people believe you need to add a TON of sugar to everything. That’s when their not adding salt mind you. I add milk if I have over steeped a tea and it’s bitter or if I’m making a latte but otherwise I leave my tea in peace.

Fjellrev

Yeah, I know it’s all subjective, but wow, it’s crazy how sugar-crazy people are. And then for people to want to add even more to it?

And you’re right about salt too. I tried a burger place for the first time yesterday since people I know were raving about it and I thought I’d treat myself to some fast food, and while the fries were good, damn, they were so heavy on the salt. Like dial it back a bit, yo. I feel so bloated and disgusting today, now.

Autistic Goblin

Have some good tea. It shall fix everything.

Fjellrev

I like your attitude!

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78
drank Passion Punch by DAVIDsTEA
1792 tasting notes

Ok, both the scent of the dry leaf and the flavour of the steeped tea transports me back to my Pink Passionfruit obsession. Here were its ingredients:

Apple, apple pomace, rosehip, sweet blackberry leaves, hibiscus, passionfruit, artificial passionfruit flavouring.

To compare, here is Passion Punch’s:

Apple (apple, citric acid), white tea, rosehip shells, hibiscus, sweet blackberry leaves, passion fruit granules (glucose syrup, concentrated passion fruit juice, apricot pulp, modified starch, sodium alginate), natural and artificial passion fruit flavouring.

Incredibly similar. I think that apricot pulp is making a slight difference in this one, but maybe only slightly. And I can’t taste the white tea base at all due to the strong (artificial) passion fruit flavours, plus apple, plus muted hibiscus. Never understood the point of adding actual tea leaves to a blend when you won’t even be able to taste it in the end. It’s kind of a waste. And then you’re paying up the wazoo for it because of its white tea base.

Had this iced, brought back great memories of Pink Passionfruit but also reminded me of how I got tired of that one after ripping through more than 200g of it. Even four years later, I’m like, “Yep, good, but I’ve had my fill.”

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6

The colour of the liquor is so damn beautiful. Why does this have to taste like a stevia-hater’s worst nightmare?

Those butterfly pea flower sweethearts, though. Before adding anything to the liquor, I’d say the colour is more like a blue-based purple than an indigo. It’s deep, yet vibrant. Interesting enough, pouring this over ice, or adding ice to it already changes the colour slightly. Methinks the pH level of your local water source can be a factor then too.

Taking a sip pre-lemon juice, it’s seriously stevia full of rage. Then add the fake berry flavouring and I’m starting to question whether this is safe for human consumption. This is supposed to be ingested, right? Are you sure? Because I’m beginning to think that someone slipped some new-age berry-scented Mr. Clean into a cup of ice and called it iced tea.

But I need to see this magic trick. Ok, so stir in some lemon juice. Cool. It’s turning a red-based purple now. More importantly, it’s tasting slightly better, as the acidic lemon is blanketing the stevia and artificial flavours to the best of its abilities. Still incredibly artificial but at least it’s not as sweet. Still an 11 on the sweetness factor, but hey, that number has come down quite substantially, scarily enough.

I weep for the dried kiwi in here. You poor bastards, I would have gladly enjoyed you fresh. Same goes for the other dried fruits in here. It just seems like such a waste when they’re covered up by their abominable teammates. What’s sad is this makes other blue raspberry-flavoured things seem normal. I’m actually one of those weirdos who doesn’t mind the blue raspberry Jolly Ranchers. I even bought a blue raspberry-flavoured lip scrub the other month and love it. This is in a category of its own and doesn’t even resemble blue raspberry. That’s how far off the grid the artificial is here.

Wait, so I was actually supposed to drink this? I’m still having a hard time believing this.

Autistic Goblin

I used to drink blue raspberry Pepsi. I also love those jolly ranchers too! Glad I’m not alone. Well if you have leftover tea that you can’t drink you could always use it in the bath. Might be good for the skin.

Fjellrev

Oh, the blue Pepsi! That reminded me of those blue whale candies. See, even these two things tasted more normal than this. Luckily I don’t have anymore sitting around, but bathing with loose tea is always a nice idea.

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84
drank Candy Cane by Tea Geek'ery
1792 tasting notes

Achoo! Please don’t tell me that I’m getting sick. I’ve been sneezing quite a bit today, I’m sniffly, and my throat is a little sore, plus over the past few days, I’ve been experiencing that dull, almost-not-even-there headache that you (at least it happens to me?) can get with an oncoming cold.

Guess now is a good time to have this. Icing this resulted in a minty fresh beverage with a kiss of vanilla. I cannot taste the rooibos in this. There’s a lingering icy feeling on my lips and in the back of my throat from the peppermint, and some lingering sweetness from the spearmint. Very tasty but I wouldn’t go out of my way to get more.

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84

This is embarrassing. I bought this tea during a New Year’s sale at the beginning of 2015 when I was still living on the west coast, but I moved a few months later, packing it up and sending it to my mom’s place in the middle of nowhere, where it sat until she sold her home a couple months ago and got sent to my new place here. The harvest time was March 2014 but at least has been sealed until now.

The dry leaf is so fluffy and dainty with pretty golden accents. Smells a little grainy. I’ve had two infusions and both were very similar, yielding starchy, sweet potato notes. There was a touch of astringency but nothing cutting. The grainy notes came forth more so in the second infusion. I look forward to trying it again and seeing if I can pick up on anymore notes.

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74

This is in regards to the Cream of Earl Grey dark chocolate covered hazelnuts I picked up the other day.

In general, these are delicious. The dark chocolate is damn dark and pairs well with the hazelnuts, but if I were to judge them based on the tea-infused aspect, they’re just alright. Comparing these mentally to plain chocolate covered hazelnuts I’ve had in the past, the Cream of Earl Grey flavour isn’t prominent enough to confidently establish their presence alongside the bold flavours of dark chocolate and hazelnut. I can detect an ever so faint touch of vanilla in the chocolate, as well as a citrus note, but it’s not obviously bergamot. I would have sooner guessed orange, but perhaps because that’s the most popular citrus combination with chocolate. Even when you smell the bag, it smells more like weak chocolate orange than a distinct bergamot. In other words, there just isn’t enough of the bergamot in here to be able to tell it’s bergamot.

For $4 they’re still a bit too much for what they are but I’m still glad I tried them. Plus, they’re pairing well with the gasp coffee I’m having for a late breakfast. I’m normally not affected by caffeine but after a serving of these and two cups of coffee, I’m feeling a little buzzed from the coffee, dark chocolate, and sugar combination. I can feel it in my limbs!

Autistic Goblin

Coffee??!! Shame on you! just kidding. I only bought DT chocolate once and rooibos got stuck in my teeth. Never tried it again.

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78
drank Madagascar Dream by Amoda Tea
1792 tasting notes

Perhaps not the best way to try a tea for the first time, but I made this as a latte and added a touch of vanilla extract to my whole milk before frothing. Actually, I did taste this before adding the milk and it was like a standard cacao shell tisane, loaded with cocoa notes, and there was something smooth at the end. A bit vanilla-ish, but I swear I didn’t get any mint from it? I’ll try to pay more attention next time.

Nevertheless, with the added milk, this tasted like creamy cocoa vanilla. Not necessarily like hot chocolate/cocoa. Even with the milk, it has that distinct flavour from cacao shells. They are also so prominent that you wouldn’t even know that there is Ceylon in here.

This reminds me of how I have to retry the Tisano teas I have sitting in my cupboard now that I finally have them back after they were packed away for two years. Funny cacao shell tisanes were the rage a few years ago and I don’t see anyone drinking them anymore?

Sil

I’m waiting for room in my cupboard to get some more :)

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70
drank Tea The North by DAVIDsTEA
1792 tasting notes

This one was alright for the most part. I’ve only tried it iced and it was more quintessentially “tropical” than what I anticipated, especially considering that this contains melon and rhubarb. Watermelon is in the spotlight with each initial sip, and then the pineapple and coconut follow afterwards. The rhubarb is buried underneath, unfortunately. Was hoping for more of that awesomeness. Finally, it’s the coconut that lingers in the mouth. The type of coconut is more like an artificial coconut water than the pulp. And of course, this is one of those white teas that has so much other stuff going on that you can’t even taste the actual white tea base.

I can see why people would enjoy this on a hot day but I don’t feel compelled enough to have it again.

Comm Guy

That’s the way I’ve always felt about flavored coffees, and what kept my from tea for so long. It seemed to be more about the additives than the base. Having discovered the beauty of the many varieties of tea itself, I am learning more about all there is to appreciate in tea.

Autistic Goblin

A good blend though can be awesome. Laoshan Chai from Verdant Tea was always really good. They don’t make blends anymore though. Straight Laoshan black though always tastes like chocolate.

Fjellrev

Yeah, sometimes additives can be nice but in moderation, but there’s definitely nothing like a beautiful straight black. Verdant’s LB is a great example.

And I totally didn’t know that they weren’t making blends anymore. It’s been so many years since I placed an order with them.

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72

This both tastes and smells tremendously nutty, I can tell you all that. It’s a tad chestnutty but barely. Rather, what makes this nutty are amaretto and nutshell notes. Not that I’ve gone around eating nutshells, but you know when you crack fresh nuts from their shells and sometimes there are some parts of the husk and/or inner shell stuck on.

Amongst these notes, I’m also picking up on the sunflower seeds, but I’m not getting nutmeg from this. Orange? None of that either. This smells more sweet, honey-like, and buttery than it tastes. There is a sweetness, probably from the honeybush, but I’ve enjoyed other honeybush bases more in the past.

gmathis

The name just makes me want to eat it raw :)

Fjellrev

And it’s funny you say that because it really does have a raw nut kind of vibe going on!

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