8041 Tasting Notes
I’ve had this tea sample for a long time but am only just now (well, last week) getting around to trying it – my bad! There’s a quality to this, a flavouring or something like that, that is really reminding me of past blends from AQ2T that I’ve tried but I am struggling to totally nail down what exactly it is. Perhaps that’s because it’s simultaneously also reminding me quite heavily of Dammann Frere’s Strawberry and Pistachio herbal tea blend that I also keep stocked…
Regardless, it was very good!
Another Gongfu session from last weekend!
This was a delicious tea, with initial notes of dense, dark red fruits w/ an especially prominent black cherry and raisin combo profile, hints of molasses and cinnamon, black licorice/anise, and honey & malt. As the session progressed the molasses + black licorice eased up and the fruit notes got brighter and juicier!! Such a fantastic way to spend the late afternoon!
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzma2NegwFZ/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC-ZzKx3Hks
Gongfu Sipdown (648)!
Yes, Gongfu – not Grandpa. It’s just what I was in the mood for.
Recently picked up a few of the 2019 version of this tea during W2T’s latest product drop, so I figured I’d finish this tea off to make some room in my stash for more tea while also giving myself a bit of a refresher on the tea and what I might expect to see from the 2019 version…
I drank it along with some pretty overripe Quebec strawberries, and the result was a highly sloppy but deeply delicious tea session – very thick and dense infusions, with a sweet and kind of molasses-y earthy note. Lots of dark, wet wood and hints of dark fruits as well, which were exaggerated slightly from my fruit pairing. Really good!
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/BzluF3VAepQ/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIgu46uI9XU
Found a pouch of this in the office and it’d been so long since I last had it that I decided I’d whisk myself up a hot mug of it to enjoy while doing some lab testing. I was reminded, however, why I hadn’t had this tea in so long – I do not like it. It’s such a chalky tasting berry and cream profile to me, undoubtedly from the cream flavouring that I know I don’t always respond favourably to. Plus, this was definitely a fairly old batch of the tea and that only would have exaggerated those qualities.
It’s a pass from me.
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.
Drank this one Grandpa style at work – it was lovely but ultimately something that served as a tea for relatively mindless consumption. Smooth, malty with the signature honey note that is it’s namesake – but not complex.
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.
I feel conflicted about this blend – it’s supposed to be pineapple and grapefruit, which actually sounds like a delightful flavour pairing to me. I don’t really recall it tasting much like either of those two flavours but it did have a generic tropical and borderline candy like sweetness that was pretty nice and the entire time I was drinking it I had this nagging feeling of deja vu and nostalgia; I never did figure out what it was reminding me of, though…
Picked this one up from Liquid Proust maybe a month or so ago!?
Brewed it up Gongfu last weekend, and had a very lovely experience with it. I think I was around steep twelve or thirteen when I realized I needed to be wrapping things up since I had prior plans, but it was a really nice and extended tea session.
Delicious from start to finish; deep roasted notes which exaggerated the nuttier elements of the tea, mineral notes, a subtle herbaceous quality in early on infusions, and a sweet raisin/prune note throughout!! Settled into something a little greener with higher/sharper fruit (raisin/apple skin) notes, but with the warmth and coziness of the roast…
Mmmm…
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/BzqAwWHgC4V/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ycmFjq0tKY
Another lavender tea that I had in the evening as a before bed cuppa, because apparently that was an unintentional theme to my tea drinking this week!? This one actually did the trick though and had me feeling drowsy, plus tasted pleasantly of lavender and bergamot!
The ear infection update that no one asked for:
I’ve basically just been sleeping all day, which may or may not be good? At least when I’m sleeping I’m not focused in on the pair or discomfort. Plus, I just woke up from a forty minute nap and for the first time in over 24 hours I was able to comfortably bite down fully, which must mean that some of the pressure and inflammation is going down – right!? I still can’t hear like anything from that side of my head though, and it’s still very tender to the touch. Time to pop another advil, and get another warm compress going I think…
ANYWAY – drank this tea last night, because lavender is soothing right!? That was my thought process anyway. I don’t think any tea would have been able to help me sleep through the night – I was in too much discomfort. However, it tasted really pleasant so at least I still got that.
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.
Cold Brew!
This was surprisingly a lot better than I expected. I’m nearly positive that I have cold brewed it before, but this was unlike any experience I recall having with this blend. It was pretty smooth, although still had a tartness/tangyness. I’d say it was sort of like a pineapple heavy fruit punch/juice type thing? With lots of hibiscus, as well.
But just not as intensely sour as I’ve experienced it in the past.
I agree – this is uniquely AQ2T. The first time I brewed it, I mixed up two of her teas because they tasted similar in that same manner, and not clearly enough like their titular ingredients for me to distinguish them.