White tea love!!!
First time in ages… I’m drinking a cup of white tea and lurrrvin it. Now, I can’t decide if I love it 97 points worth, but I can’t bear to change the rating because this was my first tea luv.
It’s funny, for the longest time after I started disliking teas I refused to delve into this one again for fear that I’d end up hating this, and I really, reallllly did not want to hate this one. I would rather remember a tea fondly and never have it again, than try it one day and all of a sudden think it akin to bathwater.
But then today, I don’t know what came over me. I just had to have this!! Oh wait, I know why… it’s because DT is “revamping” this and I needed to see if it’d be worth scouting out some more before they ruin it (heh, I’m not jaded at all am I?!)
I’ve noticed that the quality of leaf and flavouring they use has declined of late, and so my gut feeling says that whatever they do to this tea, it will never be the same :(
Talk about a bittersweet moment!
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Lurrvin your review!
hehe thanks Bonnie! I’m still on a tea high :)
They’re revamping it? How do you know? It’s on my to-try list… hope it’s still around a while longer.
just a rumour going around… must be from some of the David’s staff! get some quick if your location still has any..
@Krystaleyn – Yeah, I got told it was discontinued last time I was there…eh, discontinued, new version, basically the same thing, yeah?
@Indigobloom – You think their leaf quality is declining? :( That’s a disturbing observation. Since when, approximately? Do you figure that’s laziness or decline in supply?
DanielScott:
It IS disturbing!! Before I started going to David’s regularly, they had some blends that were a bit pricier but better quality. Margaret’s Hope for example, was a fave of many here, or so I’ve been told…
Then I noticed that their straight teas don’t resteep well at all. The TKY has an odd hollow quality to it. The Milky Oolong is kindof fake tasting.
Also, when I’ve compared a David’s tea to the same from another company, I’ve personally found the taste far superior.
Finally, their ingredients were at one time pretty straightforward. Now, if you look at the list it often includes a generic but worrisome “flavouring”, which is usually a good indicator that when I’ll dislike the taste.
Personally, I just think it’s a product of David’s expanding too quickly-Trying to keep costs down and turnover high.
Interesting. I have noticed the “flavour” thing, although I don’t mind it. I think if people start riding them on it though, they could improve. They have generally shown themselves to be very responsive to customer feedback.
Now, personally, I don’t care if they sell inferior blends of tea so long as I find them pleasant to drink and the price point reflects it. On the latter part, I’m not convinced it does, BUT their prices are similar to Teaopia’s, so I can’t say they aren’t locally competitive.
Got a question for you actually, Indigobloom – have you ever seen a male staff member at DT? I ask because I thought at first that it was just my location and thought nothing of it…I figured that it was mostly women that applied there or something. But I’ve now compared notes with people across a few locations, and it appears that they’re staffed exclusively by women (or almost, except no one has actually seen a guy). I find that very weird, as I myself work for a really girly soap/lotion/perfume retailer, and we are mostly staffed by women…but largely because that is who apply, guys that apply get hired often as well.
Now, men have better job opportunities in many places besides retail (which is mostly women), but it strikes me as odd because tea is not a gendered thing like even the beauty industry (which still hires men!). Ever seen a guy associated with DT besides David himself?
There’s one guy at my DT in Regina! Only one though haha.
A-ha! One is more than zero! :)
I agree with you on the flavouring issue. I guess I am more sensitive to it, because it tends to disagree with my stomach.
As for the gender issue… I had noticed that about most of their locations!! until recently that is. I think they must have changed their recruitment strategy because all of a sudden I’ve seen a heck of a lot more diversity in the staff. (mostly still white, which I dislike because I work in HR and that seems more odd than the gender issue, but then I could be imagining it)
At the DT location near my work, which just opened six months ago, there are atleast three guys that I can recall. I was at the Scarborough town centre not long ago and saw one there, as well as at Erin Mills. Again, this is all very recent. I suspect that once the organization expanded to a certain size, they fell into a different category in regards to labour law considerations and upped their strategy, but that is just my hypothesis, I could be wrong!
Also, while tea should have no feminine/male associations, I’ve seen guys refer to tea as “girly” or “sissy”, or remark that they need something more “manly” like a strong coffee- which I disagree with but there really is nothing I can say to change their mind! trust me I’ve tried haha
There are two guys who are constant staff at my DT and another 4 were brought in for holiday help. Definitely not female only in my store! :D
Daniel the Westboro store in Ottawa has a few male staff members. And I think they have a couple of other ethnicities as well. And the girl that made me an amazing Chai Latte (actually 2 since we went back when leaving the mall) I believe was African American.
There’s a DT at Erin Mills?
I’m ragingly curious now, why do you think their quality is low? You’re the only person I’ve met who thinks so and I’m just wondering why you think that.
There are two male staff members at the Sherway location!
Off topic a little but Ottawa is getting a third store. Yay. It’s going to be at Bayshore Shopping Centre which is 30 minutes from my house and I drive by it all the time to get places. Can’t wait.
De: I think it does.. I could be wrong, the day I went we were at two malls…
Aisling: I dunno, it’s just a trend I’ve noticed, for my personal tastes. Whatever I have at DT, I can almost always find a better quality version for a similar price. And anything artificial in tea (ie. generic “flavouring”, to me, is not the best quality lol)
Cattibrie: Nice!! I see plenty more DT reviews in your future ;P
Okay, but could it just be that your tastes have changed? Just because you prefer one thing over another, that doesn’t make the other thing low quality.
that’s a fair point… it’s possible it could be just me. I mentioned it to some of the staff there to see if they had noticed it and the manager said that some of the teas seem to have been downgraded. but that is just anecdotal. Without any actual proof it’s really hard to say.
The other thing is, I’ve seen a few people post about DT teas having a funny sortof aftertaste where others don’t, which I kinda noticed as well. Not sure what that’s about… maybe it’s the tins they are stored in. Or the bags…
Lurrvin your review!
hehe thanks Bonnie! I’m still on a tea high :)
They’re revamping it? How do you know? It’s on my to-try list… hope it’s still around a while longer.
just a rumour going around… must be from some of the David’s staff! get some quick if your location still has any..
@Krystaleyn – Yeah, I got told it was discontinued last time I was there…eh, discontinued, new version, basically the same thing, yeah?
@Indigobloom – You think their leaf quality is declining? :( That’s a disturbing observation. Since when, approximately? Do you figure that’s laziness or decline in supply?
DanielScott:
It IS disturbing!! Before I started going to David’s regularly, they had some blends that were a bit pricier but better quality. Margaret’s Hope for example, was a fave of many here, or so I’ve been told…
Then I noticed that their straight teas don’t resteep well at all. The TKY has an odd hollow quality to it. The Milky Oolong is kindof fake tasting.
Also, when I’ve compared a David’s tea to the same from another company, I’ve personally found the taste far superior.
Finally, their ingredients were at one time pretty straightforward. Now, if you look at the list it often includes a generic but worrisome “flavouring”, which is usually a good indicator that when I’ll dislike the taste.
Personally, I just think it’s a product of David’s expanding too quickly-Trying to keep costs down and turnover high.
Interesting. I have noticed the “flavour” thing, although I don’t mind it. I think if people start riding them on it though, they could improve. They have generally shown themselves to be very responsive to customer feedback.
Now, personally, I don’t care if they sell inferior blends of tea so long as I find them pleasant to drink and the price point reflects it. On the latter part, I’m not convinced it does, BUT their prices are similar to Teaopia’s, so I can’t say they aren’t locally competitive.
Got a question for you actually, Indigobloom – have you ever seen a male staff member at DT? I ask because I thought at first that it was just my location and thought nothing of it…I figured that it was mostly women that applied there or something. But I’ve now compared notes with people across a few locations, and it appears that they’re staffed exclusively by women (or almost, except no one has actually seen a guy). I find that very weird, as I myself work for a really girly soap/lotion/perfume retailer, and we are mostly staffed by women…but largely because that is who apply, guys that apply get hired often as well.
Now, men have better job opportunities in many places besides retail (which is mostly women), but it strikes me as odd because tea is not a gendered thing like even the beauty industry (which still hires men!). Ever seen a guy associated with DT besides David himself?
There’s one guy at my DT in Regina! Only one though haha.
A-ha! One is more than zero! :)
I agree with you on the flavouring issue. I guess I am more sensitive to it, because it tends to disagree with my stomach.
As for the gender issue… I had noticed that about most of their locations!! until recently that is. I think they must have changed their recruitment strategy because all of a sudden I’ve seen a heck of a lot more diversity in the staff. (mostly still white, which I dislike because I work in HR and that seems more odd than the gender issue, but then I could be imagining it)
At the DT location near my work, which just opened six months ago, there are atleast three guys that I can recall. I was at the Scarborough town centre not long ago and saw one there, as well as at Erin Mills. Again, this is all very recent. I suspect that once the organization expanded to a certain size, they fell into a different category in regards to labour law considerations and upped their strategy, but that is just my hypothesis, I could be wrong!
Also, while tea should have no feminine/male associations, I’ve seen guys refer to tea as “girly” or “sissy”, or remark that they need something more “manly” like a strong coffee- which I disagree with but there really is nothing I can say to change their mind! trust me I’ve tried haha
There are two guys who are constant staff at my DT and another 4 were brought in for holiday help. Definitely not female only in my store! :D
Daniel the Westboro store in Ottawa has a few male staff members. And I think they have a couple of other ethnicities as well. And the girl that made me an amazing Chai Latte (actually 2 since we went back when leaving the mall) I believe was African American.
There’s a DT at Erin Mills?
I’m ragingly curious now, why do you think their quality is low? You’re the only person I’ve met who thinks so and I’m just wondering why you think that.
There are two male staff members at the Sherway location!
Off topic a little but Ottawa is getting a third store. Yay. It’s going to be at Bayshore Shopping Centre which is 30 minutes from my house and I drive by it all the time to get places. Can’t wait.
De: I think it does.. I could be wrong, the day I went we were at two malls…
Aisling: I dunno, it’s just a trend I’ve noticed, for my personal tastes. Whatever I have at DT, I can almost always find a better quality version for a similar price. And anything artificial in tea (ie. generic “flavouring”, to me, is not the best quality lol)
Cattibrie: Nice!! I see plenty more DT reviews in your future ;P
Okay, but could it just be that your tastes have changed? Just because you prefer one thing over another, that doesn’t make the other thing low quality.
that’s a fair point… it’s possible it could be just me. I mentioned it to some of the staff there to see if they had noticed it and the manager said that some of the teas seem to have been downgraded. but that is just anecdotal. Without any actual proof it’s really hard to say.
The other thing is, I’ve seen a few people post about DT teas having a funny sortof aftertaste where others don’t, which I kinda noticed as well. Not sure what that’s about… maybe it’s the tins they are stored in. Or the bags…