10429 Tasting Notes
Adventaggedon Day 3 – Tea 6/6
Last up and, I hate to say it, maybe the biggest let down of the day!?
I think what made this tea really disappointing was that it’s one I’ve got familiarity with and have enjoyed it the past – but when I made today’s cup I just thought it seemed weak and underwhelming. Like, there were no off notes and the baked apple flavour was actually very enjoyable… there just wasn’t enough of it.
My B&B advent chat group on instagram all seemed to have pretty similar opinions. Most people either really didn’t like it or just thought it was lacking. I wonder if there was a recipe chance from a few years ago when I last had it? Or if, maybe, there was just less tea in this year’s sachets?
Whatever the case may be, I just don’t think it was a memorable cuppa overall.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIWncwXAAaA/
Adventaggedon Day 3 – Tea 5/6
It felt like I had a lot of green teas in my advent assortment today, and I wasn’t thrilled for this one but it ended up being pretty good. I was a bit surprised to see back to back peach teas from Offblak, but the approach of the two blends does seem pretty different so it definitely didn’t feel at all like having the same peach tea two days in a row – so that’s good!
What I’m learning is that I think I really like OB’s approach to peach – it’s very juicy and sweet but not cloying, with a natural ripe fruit quality to it but just more… polished!? Like, it feels like the effervescent and golden peach flavour that would be so perfect in some kind of fancy, bubbly cocktail made with a peach puree or something of that nature. The cocktail vibes were only upped by the presence of a lively, bright but very natural tasting raspberry.
If this had been on any other base I’d have likely loved it – but because of the strong grassy/lawn clipping notes that shoved their way into focus it was only alright but the flavourings themselves!? Sublime!
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIWncwXAAaA/
Adventaggedon Day 3 – Tea 4/6
I actually didn’t realize that this was a reblend of a past 52Teas blend, I thought it was new for this year and I just assumed that the Christmas link was the orange. Seeing now that it was originally a June release makes a lot of sense though because it tastes so accurately and deliciously like a slightly melted Creamsicle. I probably skipped over it because of the green tea base, when it first came out…
This is why I like advent though – not trying this originally was definitely a miss on my part because it ended up being my favourite tea from today and I didn’t mind the green tea at all. It was just creamy, fresh orange perfection!
…that said, I’m really hoping I don’t get another orange tea tomorrow. I’ve had a lot in the last three days and I think I need a day of breathing room.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIWncwXAAaA/
Adventaggedon Day 3 – Tea 3/6
I knew it was coming eventually, because if you know any tea from Mariage Freres the odds are pretty good that it’s this one – it is their most iconic tea and, in fact, they carry versions of it on basically every tea type.
I actually like Marco Polo a lot (though I do think it might be a bit overrated), so it made for a really enjoyable cuppa today – nothing unpleasant about it. For those who might not know, the flavouring in Marco Polo is rhubarb and I am a very big fan of rhubarb in tea. It’s a very different rhubarb that other teas though, more sweet and fragrant with floral undertone versus a tart of a creamy interpretation of rhubarb.
I don’t know if I’ve tasted any of the other tea base versions of it, so we’ll see if any of them make an appearance. I’d be particularly curious to see what it’s like on a white tea or rooibos base…
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIWncwXAAaA/
Adventaggedon Day 3 – Tea 2/6
This tea got a big groan from me this morning because I do not like turmeric, but it ended up being surprisingly okay for a turmeric blend – most likely because the strongest spice was actually cardamom. I do love cardamom, and I think Vahdam’s cardamom is really enjoyable in particular. That might just be my saving grace this advent season…
The other thing I got with this tea… it reminded me strongly of halva!? I don’t know what ingredient was making my brain make that connection, but it was definitely STUCK in my brain!
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIWncwXAAaA/
Adventaggedon Day 3 – Tea 1/6
I was actually really excited to see this tea today – in the past I’ve not been a fan because I found the berry flavour pretty artificial and the cream a little chalky. However, it’s been I think at least a year (if not longer) since I last had it so I was excited to see if my opinion had changed!
I made this one up as a latte today, and I actually thought it was very nice. While the wild berry type of flavour was definitely very sweet and bright it wasn’t as artificial as I’d remembered it, and the creamy vanilla didn’t seem chalky at all. I liked how it started off so berry forward but then the finish of the sip was velvety vanilla. It’s still not a favourite, but it was a pleasant surprise how much I enjoyed it today.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIWncwXAAaA/
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.
Geek Steep S1E12 – Attack on Titan
I definitely know more about this anime than Marika did before we watched it so I had ideas for what direction I might want to take my pairing – my first thought was something that steeps the colour of blood, but that would likely mean a hibiscus blend and I didn’t think something with a bright/tart flavour seemed right based on what I knew about the tone of the show…
I ended up going with this tea for two reason – the first one, that I shared on the podcast, was because the tea base here is a Gunpowder green tea and that felt applicable to the show. The second, that I didn’t share on the podcast, was because sometimes this tea tastes like ketchup to me and ketchup could kind of remind a person of blood!? Both were definite stretches, though.
In the end, it was a nice tea but it didn’t really add or detract anything from my watching experience. Truth be told, my adrenaline was so high watching the episodes that I don’t know if any tea pairing would have made a ton of difference.
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Geek Steep S1E12 – Attack on Titan
Our first anime!! Just because it’s advent season doesn’t mean the podcast stops, it just makes for one heck of a busy, chaotic month for me – haha.
This was the tea I picked for our episode recording and I drank it Grandpa style over the hour long conversation. People who’ve seen Attack of Titan will probably understand from the name of this sheng alone why I was drawn to it – it’s very on the money in terms of theme. I wish I would have remembered I owned this tea while I was watching the episode so that I could have drank it then – like I discuss in this week’s episode, the name aside, this would have been an excellent pairing for our geek of the week!
Unfortunately one of the side effects of having a tea during recording/conversation is that I don’t often remember a lot about the flavour of the tea because I’m so focused in on the conversation – and this is especially true for teas I don’t have a familiarity with, which was the case here. I remember really liking it and I even remember it having this pleasant medium-ish astringency, but no other details.
I guess it’s mostly an excuse to try it again!
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If you want to get caught up on the Geek of The Week for next Thursday, the spoiler for our explored fandom is at the bottom of our latest DB post!
Adventaggedon Day 2 – Tea 6/6
This was actually my first tea from today – it wasn’t a favourite because the green tea was pretty grassy and strong in terms of flavour, and it also seemed to steep quite quickly without much forgiveness for over steeping. In other words, it got bitter quickly. That said, the simple and straight forward lemon note was nice – basically just like your average, no frills lemon hard candy. A classic approach to a lemon tea.
Today’s advent photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIUQkZLAFJz/
I have their Nil Noir, and it’s delicious. Sort of a lemon/honey/fig thing going on, with a black base.
Ooh – I hope that’s included in the advent, sounds delish! :)
As I have no knowledge of French (unless saying merci, which threw off my French friend), I had to translate the name. I have to say that the name is pretty!
Adventaggedon Day 2 – Tea 5/6
Probably as “classic” of a Chai as you can get, right!? I wasn’t thrilled to see this one in the advent this morning but I wasn’t disappointed either – this is absolutely going to be the advent that challenges my taste preferences the most.
The tea itself used in the blend is a CTC grade of black tea, but it looks quite nice for that grade. The spices, as well, as all pretty chopped or “sachet grade” – including a fair amount of cardamom husk. The aroma smells beautifully of thick cardamom. I was talking with Cameron earlier this evening in our advent IG chat group, and it seems like Vahdam leans pretty heavy on the cardamom but I’m super okay with that – the three spices I have the “best” relationship with are cardamom, clove, and star anise and while I don’t much like them all together (too much spice for me) they’re typically delish on their own. I got a lot of cardamom from the steeped up tea, and a very full bodied and robust malty and grain-y heavy black tea with whisps of red fruit and honey. For a masala, I enjoyed it a lot.
We were talking stovetop chai as well today – I don’t usually bother with it because it’s a lot of fuss for a type of tea I don’t really enjoy, but I’m verbalizing the commitment to make at least one chai stovetop this advent season!
Today’s advent photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIUQkZLAFJz/
I’m glad to hear you tasted the base tea a lot, and cardamom. I felt like I was tasting the base in my cup but it was hard to tell with the milk. Cardamom was definitely there.
Honestly I was surprised you went with this one given Vahdam’s focus on spiced teas. With that said, it is pretty and has cute tins so part of me wanted it just for that.
The goal was definitely to do something I wouldn’t normally reach for, so it checked that box off for me for sure.
Ah, that’s dismal :/ I like that tea as well, but haven’t got the Advent Calendar, so I can’t compare.