16789 Tasting Notes
Drank this today but was kind of unimpressed by it. It was mostly like a thin tasting chocolate tea with the faintest hint of lime on the backend. You’d think those two flavours would taste weird together, but they don’t. It’s mostly just that the tea didn’t feel rich enough. No off notes though. Just kind of middling.
Cold Brew!
When this tea first came out years and years ago I was so meh about it, but weirdly as I’ve been drinking this 5+ year old bag of this tea I’ve been loving it more and more. One of the things I disliked about it in the past was how mild the rosemary note was. It was almost totally eclipsed by the SUPER intensely tart and sweet strawberry notes.
Well, now as the tea has aged the strawberry and hibiscus have sort of mellowed out a little bit which lets that fresh, pine-y rosemary flavour come through so much more. Especially in the finish. It’s still very strongly flavoured with a noticeable bite from the hibiscus, but the strawberry is really jammy and thick and there are sort undertones of cream/vanilla. I just found this super refreshing and as soon as I’d finished it I was left wishing that I’d made a larger amount.
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!
I had such an intense craving for this on the day I got my dental surgery done so I set it up as a cold brew in the fridge early in the morning before I left for the dentist, and then afterwards I found out I couldn’t drink anything from a straw for a few days so when I got home I just felt discouraged and sad seeing my cold brew in the fridge knowing I wouldn’t be able to strain it into a tumbler like usual…
So, it sat in the first brewing for a couple days. However, yesterday I was finally straw approved so I strained it and enjoyed what was one hell of a strong and punchy iced tea. Very liquified ice pop with blue raspberry, lemon, and cherry notes just to die for with a BOLD black tea base. It actually felt like a little reward for myself for being patient and taking the post-surgery aftercare seriously.
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
This tea was really interesting to me because the concept is so ethereal and it utilizes flavours that both aren’t necessarily stereotypically associated with Paris and that aren’t conventionally paired together either. I had quite a large mug of it earlier in the week and overall I enjoyed it, but it really did feel a lot like an enigma to me as I was sipping it. Of the flavours in the blend, the bergamot was the most strong tasting to me but I have to wonder how much of that is the fact it’s highly aromatic and that deep, heady citrus smell as you lean in to take a sip is easy to get swept up in.
Aside from that I thought the pomegranate came off as a bit more generic red fruit, but in a pleasant and complimentary enough way. I wish it was a little juicier and deeper because it felt eclipsed by many of the other things going on. Caramel? Yeah, kinda. Definitely a sweeter and more “brown” undertone that was a nice foil to the bergamot. It was a little less that sweet/gooey caramel note to me versus the more burnt sugar note of a creme brulee – but I ultimately think that’s probably the better taste with a bergamot this floral and heady. Love how brisk the black tea base was, too!
Now does it taste like April In Paris? Well, I’ve never been to Paris so I suppose I can’t say for certain. There is something very European feeling about it to me, though. So that’s at least something. In my head I feel like April is so in the heart of Spring that I’d have expected something softer and floral in a more light and airy way. But all of this is HIGHLY subjective.
Anyway, a very interesting blend to be sure!
I saw this RTD while grocery shopping over the weekend and was kind of surprised since I thought I’d tried all of Mate Libre’s flavours – but this was new to me. I wonder if it was a seasonal flavour from this summer? Still so weird to see a watermelon LTO in the heart of winter, though…
It might actually be my favourite Mate Libre RTD I’ve tried though! The watermelon notes are really juicy and refreshing, but also coupled with a pleasant bit of upfront tartness a little like hibiscus? Nothing excessive, though. It finishes more clean and earthy with notes of the mate itself. Really well balanced, and such a great natural sweetness level too!
Sipping on a frothy little cup of this smooth and creamy vanilla matcha from a teacup and saucer set (inspired by the Year of The Snake) that I painted at a ceramic cafe earlier in the month while I was on vacation. Aren’t all the little noodley snakes super cute!? This new sugar-free matcha is very delicious too. I’m a big fan of DT’s Organic Vanilla Matcha, but I don’t always want something pre-sweetened so I love that this new version doesn’t have any cane sugar in it. It’s still super, super smooth and silky with the same French Vanilla flavour I already know I love, but with more of the fresh, grassy notes of the matcha. Different strokes for different cravings, y’know?
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEvPGdtyPec/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRL5Cp_mPeo&ab_channel=CreepyNuts
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
Gongfu!
The aroma coming off these leaves is so soothing and mouthwatering with very incense-like notes of sandalwood, clove, and various other spices that carry into the flavours of the cup as well. Though the notes are a little more lush with saccharine notes of floral violet and baked plums, the body is very woodsy and mineral with strong notes of char, roasted nuts, and dark petrified woods. The undertones of spice drift across the palate and down the back of the throat as if they were fog rolling through the hills, leaving a pleasant numbing sensation as they pass! Definitely one of my favourite oolongs that MJ offers!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DExmv14ptwz/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oUQvTkNRI&abchannel=ThePalms-Topic
When I got this recent W2T order in a lot of people told me I should prioritize tasting this tea specifically, and I can definitely see why. Though I don’t usually love when teas are this tightly compressed, it was worth the effort to pry a chunk off the bar because this is one heck of a smooth and velvety shou with really rich, chocolate-y notes to it. Definitely reminds me of somewhere between a double chocolate muffin and something just a little bit sweeter like a molten lava cake. Very dense and decadent, though!!
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DE0gLaYSSoe/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE_dYOMxvf0&ab_channel=MaxFrost
I was so intrigued by your description that I tried to find the tea on the white2tea site, in futility. Unless you got a pre-release sample! Oh well, glad you got to enjoy it!
I believe this one was offered exclusively as part of this past year’s Shulloween cake bundle. Before that I think maybe it was a Tea Club exclusive?
Gongfu Sipdown (2738)!
I love how mineral-rich and roasty this tea tasted. That very iconic flavour of “licking a rock” was probably the boldest and more forward flavour of this session but it was supported by heavy notes of char, dark roast coffee, barley, and toasted walnuts and pecans, with a pleasantly light astringency that made me think a lot of eating walnuts straight from the shell around the holidays. Y’know, Nutcracker vibes. Very smooth in the finish, with a lingering dance of spice on the back of the palate.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DE3PJa6S46x/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqBYZZhOJF4&ab_channel=TheHowl%26TheHum-Topic
I saw this tea/company while grocery shopping, and I decided to give it a try since it’s not every day that a whole new tea company pops up in the grocery aisle. I’ve done some very light research and it seems like these cocoa husk teas are only a small area of focus of the company, and not their main bread & butter as far as products go. So, that’s kind of interesting to me!
I know that legally they don’t need to list out all of the spices in the ingredients and that just writing “spices” is compliant, but it always bums me out when companies choose not to. I would much rather have the full ingredients list as a consumer. Inspecting the dry leaf, I see quite a lot of cardamom along with clove, cinnamon, and ginger. I think maybe a small bit of a fennel, too? I didn’t look super close, but these were all very visually apparent.
Steeped up it’s pretty nice tasting! In the spectrum of cacao teas I’ve tried, I think this could be richer but it’s also not as thin/watery as some I’ve come across either. Like a light hot chocolate sort of flavour, but supported with warming spice. Cardamom is the strongest by a landslide and that’s really not surprising to me given how many full pods I saw when scooping. I like cardamom and chocolate paired together a lot, so no surprise this worked for me!
I’m surprised that companies don’t have to legally list the exact spices used in a product… I know someone who is deathly allergic to clove. Seems a liability waiting to happen!
There’s a but more to it, but basically in US/CA you can collectively list any spices in a product under the umbrella of “spice” with the exception of salt, any spice used for colourings (ex. Paprika), priority allergens (ex. Sesame), or anything “traditionally recognized as a food” (ex. garlic or celery). Though you can technically skirt the colourings portion by listing as “spices used as natural colouring” or similar verbiage. It is unfortunate for people with allergies, but the idea is basically that it protects proprietary recipes – basically the same logic as why the composition of natural/artificial flavourings do not have to be declared.
This is the FDA’s definition of a spice, in case you were curious:
Aromatic vegetable substances, in the whole, broken, or ground form, whose significant function in food is seasoning rather than nutrition. They are true to name and from them no portion of any volatile oil or other flavoring principle has been removed.
