Featured & New Tasting Notes

Thank you Cameron B for a couple of these adorable teabags! Looks like I didn’t write a note for the first one I had, so here we are. I have been reading ‘The Summer Book’ by Tove Jansson who created Moomin. Right when I turned the last page of the book, I realized I had some tea in my stash with Moomin wrappers. The tea is quite good for having so little in the teabag! It definitely tastes like a chocolate truffle, and that is good enough for me. :)

TTB! I surprisingly loved this tea. It’s supposed to be fig, but I really just tasted a candy-like, non-specific fruitiness plus some cinnamon. I drank it sweetened with milk, and it was really desserty and tasty. I wouldn’t mind more of this! The resteep was really nice too.

I just got my first tea haul from Bitterleaf Teas! I pre-ordered small tins of all the non-Longjing spring green teas, as well as a glass green tea mug (it has a built-in filter making it ideal for grandpa style brewing). I decided to try this one first, because I’ve never tried a taiping houkui before and it just looks so cool. I steeped it grandpa style in the new mug. :) I started out with water at 180F for the first few pours, then started increasing the temp with each pour (cycling through the presets on my kettle).

Dry leaf aroma is really lovely – fresh, sweet, and verdent. Aroma as it steeps is also lovely and floral. Flavour is light, floral, with a remarkable nectar sweetness that started out strong and gradually tapered off. It remains soft and delicate even with the higher temperature water later on – absolutely no bitterness and very minimal astringency. Very nice.

What tea is good for a grief filled heart? I picked this one from the wall of tea in Ft Collins. It’s good one. I’m on the second steeping and it’s still chocolatey and rich. Not too complex, but a very good example of Keemun.
My cousin passed away yesterday after a lengthy hospital stay fighting cancer and pneumonia. She was 53. Life is short. Hug your peeps and drink the good tea.
I always like stopping at this tea house. Highly recommend the atmosphere and people.

The flavoring is a bit alcoholic/sharp. I don’t taste anything that reminds me of cake. I definitely taste the lemon, but it’s not too enjoyable to me. My dad tasted mostly creaminess with a hint of lemon.

I got this months ago from a local M&P and I’m finally finishing this off today. The thing I appreciate the most about this tea is the company’s clear note on the box: “Our teabags are made from non-GMO sugarcane and are commercially compostable. No microplastics to see here.” This is a refreshing change from a lot of other brands where I have to search high and low on their website to determine the composition of their sachets, and even then there isn’t always a clear disclosure available.

Flavor-wise, this tea is merely okay. I wish I tasted more flavors that gave that “winter chai” feeling. I do get a bit of the spices, but everything feels rather muted and covered by the black tea itself. There is a malty mouthfeel that I enjoy, but it leaves much to be desired. Perhaps a peppercorn and a hint of citrus would have been a welcome addition. Still, I enjoyed this tea.

The primary flavor I taste is overripe banana. I also taste coconut. In some sips, the banana is a little too overripe for me. This is pretty good, but not one I would seek out again over 52teas banana blends. I feel like I’ve had my fill after a few cups.

Steepster TTB 2025

The TTB is out the door and on its way to Canada, but I kept a small sample of this tea and am having it with breakfast today. Not in bed, alas — it’s the first day of my FINAL SEMESTER OF GRAD SCHOOL. I am experiencing a bit of ye olde senioritis, which will not affect the quality of my scholarship but will probably increase my grumpiness with respect to things like “doing readings” and “writing papers.”

Aaanyway. The hazelnut flavoring here is so pronounced and tasty, and it’s complemented well by the blackberry. The black base is very brisk and astringent, which honestly is exactly what I want in a breakfast blend.

I will say that the more I drink, the more I wish the hazelnut was just a smidge lighter and the blackberry a smidge stronger. The hazelnut lingers after the end of a sip in quite a powerful way!

Still, this is pretty dang tasty.

This was delightful. I drank the whole bag much too quickly. It has a familiar 52teas spice blend, but one that I always enjoy. The base supports the flavor profile perfectly. It tastes desserty, like I could really see it being an oat crumble of some kind. I never tasted any cranberry. This was best cold sweetened with milk.

Decent surprise. I got it at the recommendation on here along with the True Blue Oolong. I have been pretty tame in my oolong purchases lately, and figured I’d like this one. The aroma smells like Horchata instantly opening the tin, and waftes heavily of nutty vanilla and cinnamon.

Tasting it, it’s a on the thinner side. Aroma still great, the oolong is a bit overpowered by the cinnamon for me personally, but there’s a definite rice and vanilla note too in a generally nutty profile. The liquor is a little bit more darker yellow/brown than I expected in part from the cinnamon, and the oolong is a little darker than I expected overall, but still on the greener side. Rebrewed faintly.

I do like it, but I’m not sure about rating. I think a little bit of sugar or rice milk/almond milk might make this taste better, but I’m fairly pleased with it.

TTB! The name of this sounds so delicious. Unfortunately, the tea itself is a bit disappointing. It was super plain, tasting more like oat than anything else. I tasted no spices whatsoever.

Definitely a very sweet cup of tea, but I love that rich and almost caramelized banana note with the gentle nuttiness of candied almonds. It’s smooth, a little creamy, and just that perfect bit of indulgence for a mid afternoon treat.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Steepster TTB 2025

I’ve been watching old seasons of Top Chef, and in the one I’m currently watching, there’s a chef who is notorious for using a LOT of ingredients in his dishes and always doing THE MOST with what he presents. I feel like that’s what’s happening with this tea. We’ve got pu-erh, orange, cocoa, apple, blue cornflower, honeybush, lapsang souchong, rose, red peppercorn, cloves, safflower… not to mention various natural flavors (cinnamon, orange, hazelnut). I can imagine this blend happening if I took my nephews to a tea-blending bar (Do those exist? They should!) and let them loose to create their own blends.

I’m not familiar with the wizard who inspires this blend — which seems unfortunate (for me), as the Black Lotus website includes this quote from him: “Well, my social anxiety is getting the best of me. I’m taking a walk; goodbye.” Been there, friend. Been there.

So anyway, there’s a LOT happening. Arguably too much. My biggest impressions are cocoa and orange, with the spices (cinnamon, cloves) warming up the back of the sip. It’s not bad, to be fair, and it reminds me of a Christmas-inspired blend. But it’s all a little muddy (…dirty?!). I think I would prefer some editing to the blend.

On a related note, that one guy from Top Chef got sent home in the last episode I watched. So there’s that.

Steepster TTB 2025

Wrapping up my time with the TTB and trying to squeeze in more samples!

This one is quite lovely — very delicate and fruity, with the hibiscus used to great effect without being overwhelming. I share *Kaylee*’s sentiment that the name is misleading, though — there are no white raspberries in the ingredient list, even though it’s described as a “smooth blend of white tea and rare white raspberries.” Hmmmm. I actually get more of a mulberry flavor!

Still, it’s nice and bright and jammy, with just a hint of tartness. Goes down easy! I finished up the bag on this cup, but maybe I’ll try to cold-brew the leaves — I bet it’d be very refreshing cold.

What a delight! Sophisticated and vibrant, fresh and refined. I’ve been drinking this at work so haven’t really had the time to dive into the intricacies of what is a supple, floral and gently buttery green tea, but its qualities meld seamlessly with the delicately sweet rose petals, the soft Ceylon cinnamon and the sunny-spicy Manuka honey.

For some reason, I feel like the green tea could’ve been grown where I live in northern California rather than in New Zealand. ashmanra is right, the tea has a high energy, and to me, feels very natural, very ‘blue’.

I hope to come back with a more nuanced look into the green tea used in this blend, but if I don’t, know that Lady Gatsby rates exceptionally high with me and is very much recommended for lovers of a naturally perfumed tea.

I mixed Cranberry of Basilur (a sipdown!) and Lime Flowers by Sonnentor. The latter one I have hoped to make it a sipdown too, but I had too much; so last cuppa remains. Also the latter one have a great chance to repurchase.

It smells quite funky. Flowery (lilac? how?) and tart cranberry / plain hibiscus. But it tastes better — it brings fruity cranberry with nice floral and sweet notes, so it isn’t that tart, as plain fruity element of this tea.

I wouldn’t blend it like this always; afterall the cranberry tea I preferred to have with black tea; but it works together fairly well.

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Brewing: 5 mins. 1tsp. 212F.
I’m leaving it on the other counter so that I don’t try to smell or touch it until the timer rings.

Dry Leaf: Curly and tightly twisted. Mostly dusty, dark brown in color with a few light brown/golden tips.
Wet Leaf: chocolate brown. Fully opened. Some twigs, pieces of smaller leaves.
Wet Aroma: slightly malty. A bit woody.
Flavor: Woody, malty, resinous, and a bit of deep summer fruits.
Mouth Feel: Astringency.

It’s a decent tea. Good for the morning when one doesn’t really want to think and just drink. But it’s not something I would pull out for a special morning.

Finished off a bag. Another favorite and something I can drink every day. Perfect jasmine black tea.

TTB! The rose was too strong for my preferences. It just has a weird sour tang to me, and combined with the raspberry, it all ends up too tart and floral. I left the cup in the fridge for 48 hours, and then the flavors became much more muted and enjoyably fruity. But I wouldn’t want it again.

Sipdown

I haven’t had a vegetal, high note oolong in a while! Many thanks to Youngest for the share.

Ashman and I polished this off at breakfast. Resteeps well. Aroma at the outset of steeping is definitely good old Southern style greens like turnip greens or collards. It doesn’t taste like collard liquor to me, though. Is that a regional term or does everyone call it that?

Mouthfeel is smooth and light. Taste is light floral.

Steepster TTB 2025

Too intriguing not to try, and worth the sample. I’m mostly getting a candy green apple flavor with a bit of chamomile and hay, but gentle hay, not overpowering. There’s maaaybe a smidge of grassiness from the green base, and then I guess the unidentifiable note (to me) is the sweet woodruff. I wouldn’t say this is bubblegum-y, but I can understand why they included that descriptor, if that makes sense (it doesn’t)!

This might be a keep from the TTB.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2025 Tea #5 – A soothing tea

Does anyone else ever find that the last cup of a tea to a sipdown is the most delicious cup?  This one was better than I remember. Maybe for the simple fact that it is probably now becoming even more difficult to get tea from overseas. ack.  Anyway, I consider this one soothing, probably for the cocoa shells.  It’s a lovely combination of flavors. Maybe the annoying licorice has aged itself gone at this point.
2025 sipdowns: 30

The humble grocery store peppermint can pleasantly surprise you if you give it a chance. I’ve been drinking this quite a bit because there are old teas at work up for grabs and I love peppermint. I don’t know how old it is but I like the freshness and the potency. Lots of menthol and a touch of sweetness. It isn’t super remarkable, but it is better than many peppermints I have tried.

I bought this in Flagstaff in November when we were visiting the Grand Canyon! I was super drawn to the name and the fact that it’s herbal, but there are no pine-like ingredients listed. Really, it’s a pretty light chai and mostly tastes like licorice. It’s not bad with milk, but I definitely wanted something more woodsy. In some cups, I can sort of convince myself that I taste something foresty, but certainly not pine.