16703 Tasting Notes

76
drank Skin DeTox by Yogi Tea
16703 tasting notes

Sipdown (again before it entered my cupboard)!

Another generous add in from Kat_Maria.

Typically, I hate teas like this one which promise/boast about having great health benefits because I really don’t think that’s what tea drinking should be about. If those benefits are true, that should be like an “added bonus” for drinking tea, not the sole reason you do it because most of the time the benefits are way over hyped/played up.

An example would be the belief Green Tea is great for weight loss. The way some people push this, it sounds like Green Tea on its own is going to help you shed the pounds, but you need to combine drinking green tea (on a very regular basis) along with a good diet and exercise to see any real benefits. I once witnessed a girl purchase 100g of Bancha from Tea Desire. She had no tea knowledge at all, and was quite clearly asking about Green Tea (she just asked if they had ‘Green Tea, like is healthy for you’) because it would supposedly help her lose weight and I just felt so bad for her (she was a bigger girl, and couldn’t have been more than 15 years old) because it was clear she was looking for some cure-all when it really doesn’t work that way.

That said, and semi-rant over I actually thought this one was surprisingly very tasty, though I can’t remember what was in it. It was sort of fruity but also kind of minty/refreshing and vaguely reminded me of cookies. I’d totally drink it again, but because of the flavour and not its ability to “purify the skin”.

Courtney

I agree! My friend here found this tea company that boasts all these things a few weeks ago and the box of bagged tea was $30! She asked me if I wanted to do a joint order. Uh, nope.

keychange

Haha. I remember someone on here was like “saying tea is good for your health/weight loss/whatever is like telling people to have sex to burn callories”

Roswell Strange

Better be a damn big box for $30!

Courtney

Yes a 14-day “teatox” for $35. The company isn’t on Steepster as far as I can tell. I’ll take my regular delicious tea any day, thanks. :)

VariaTEA

Haha I went to Teavana and the woman at the store very excitedly pushed Weight To Go and told me her manager dropped 10 pounds in a week just by adding the tea to her usual routine. My mom and I just looked at her like “Wtf have you been smoking?!?” because it was just such an absurd statement to make.

Angrboda

I totally agree with your rant there. That sort of thing is more than enough to make NOT want to try something.

Dinosara

I once had a tea that was just called “Weight Loss Tea” and even though the tea itself was pretty tasty I never wanted to drink it just because I hated the name!

Kat_Maria

I can only tell you that it did not purify my skin!

A dramatic reduction of dairy in my diet did, though ;)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

68
drank Earl Grey by Twinings
16703 tasting notes

Sipdown!

This was an extra on top of the Stash bagged teas I so generously was given by Kat_Maria from the Take It Away thread, and I sipped this one down before it even entered my cupboard. Go me! I was not going to let my tea number increase.

I’ve only tried a few Twinings teas, and that was a fair while ago. Stash is definitely my tea bag company of choice. Overall, this was pretty decent but a little bitter and harsh on the end sip. For a bagged Earl Grey, I’ve had much worse though.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Sipdown is that even the right word for sugar? (202/204)!

I finished the last of this up sprinkled onto some canned peaches. This time around it did completely dissolve, it just took a little while. Pretty good, though.

Stephanie

haha, sugar… slurpdown?

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

79
drank Oh Canada! by DAVIDsTEA
16703 tasting notes

So, apparently this one had been removed from my cupboard a while back despite my still having it which is disappointing because it means my numbers were a little off.

Anyway, I enjoyed a large cold brewed mason jar of this yesterday with lunch. It was absolutely delicious cold brewed, and ate up a ton of leaf so I think that’s likely how I’ll finish the bulk of it up. It was like drinking liquid maple (which I now realize is a stupid thing to say, because that’s essentially what maple syrup is), but without being cloying at all. Also, I could hardly taste the rooibos in it.

VariaTEA

Yeah. I found this one quite good cold brewed. It seems like such a weird idea but somehow it works.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

78

Catch up (going through previous tasting notes/notifications from yesterday) only took about half an hour today, so I surprisingly still have time to log some of yesterday’s backlog. Normally I’d be able to catch everything up but I have an interview later this early morning/afternoon! Yay me! I’m also going to take advantage of being in the mall and distribute some resumes.

I kinda of get all the fuss about this one now that I’ve had it (whisked into cold milk) because it does smell and taste surprisingly like Caramel Popcorn complete with the buttery flavour. That said, I’m not so sure how much I like it because of that. I’m not typically a fan of butter-y things, for example the buttery taste of 52Tea’s Pancake Breakfast is my least favourite thing about that blend (the exception to this rule is Movie Night, which I think works for me because it’s so light in flavour in general).

I’d probably stick to plain caramel over caramel popcorn, but this was still pretty good. I wont have difficulty finishing what Cavocorax so generously shared with me.

Flavors: Butter, Caramel

VariaTEA

I am sorry you did not like this one as much as the others :(

Stephanie

Dang, I was thinking about ordering this one but now I’m not sure…I wish I could get more matcha samples in general before I commit to buy :/

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

76
drank Fantasy Island by DAVIDsTEA
16703 tasting notes

And so concludes yesterday’s backlog! And consequently Tre just got home, so I don’t get to log any of today’s tea… So, tomorrow there’ll be backlog all over again. What an unpleasant cycle.

Teabags from Kat_Maria showed up a few minutes ago, so over 200 teas… Again. At least several are just one bag amounts, so easy sipdowns. I’m going to try to finish them all today, and maybe sipdown a few other things?

This cup was nice, though! I steeped the leaves for a shorter amount of time than usual, and consequently the raspberry and coconut were more prominent. Sadly, this cup was also fairly oily? Not just visually, but kind of it mouthfeel too, but that was maybe a fair trade off?

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

Evening Genmaicha.

This time my McQuarrie’s instead of something new, in an attempt to use up some of my older leaf. It was good. Roasty, toasty and good!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

56

This sample comes from VariaTEA.

I’m a little confused why Santa’s Milk and Cookies has maple leaf sprinkles in it, to be honest. Like – sprinkles is fine, but why maple leaf sprinkles? It’s not like the flavour is abundantly maple or anything. I guess Canada has been doing their publicity stunt thing about Santa being a Canadian Citizen/getting Canadian Citizenship but I highly doubt that was the thinking or logic.

Taste wise, this wasn’t bad, but it was’t good either. It actually tasted very familiar but I couldn’t place where from which bugged me just a little bit. There was a bit of cookie taste, but not really anything too impressive. Maybe some vanilla? I’ll try it with milk next time and see if that helps, I guess.

Courtney

Haha maple leaf. Confusing, but awesome.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

64

Sipdown (199/202)!

It took me a while, but I finally finished off the sample I received of this from VariaTEA. This cup I drank cold, and it was pretty good – definitely more chocolate than I’ve come to expect from this one. Overall, this tea was less than impressive but not exactly unpalatable either. Occasionally it tasted metallic, which was weird.

VariaTEA

So I shouldn’t send this along again? :P

Roswell Strange

No thank you :p I will live just fine without it.

VariaTEA

I am trying to get rid of it. I get the metallic taste and it leaves me unimpressed. One day, one day someone will want this tea…I hope.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

57
drank Boost by Kusmi Tea
16703 tasting notes

Sipdown (200/203)!

Goodbye icky green tea/mate ginger mess. You’re not going to be missed.

VariaTEA

I am sorry it was so unpleasant.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Hello! My name is Kelly, though many people in the tea community call me Ros or Roswell.

I am a mid-twenties tea addict, blogger, and all around nerd. I grew up in the Prairies, but a few years ago I relocated to Quebec to pursue a career with DAVIDsTEA in the tea industry! I’m still working on getting my French language skills down…

My first introduction to tea, in any form outside of instant and bottled iced tea, was about seven years ago when I happened to stumble upon DAVIDsTEA while looking for a birthday present for a friend! I tried their Birthday Cake rooibos blend, and I’ve been hooked on tea ever since! In those seven years; I was introduced to the online tea community, expanded my interest in flavoured teas to include a deep love and appreciation for straight teas and traditional brewing methods, got a tea themed tattoo, started reviewing teas, amassed a sizable tea and teaware collection, became a TAC certified Tea Sommelier, & even came full circle by beginning a career in the tea industry with DAVIDsTEA!

I consider myself a Jack of all Teas, and strive to have a knowledge and appreciation of all tea types, formats, and styles of drinking. I don’t like to feel boxed in to just being a “flavoured tea” or “straight tea” drinker – my expectations may vary depending on the type of tea or how it’s been processed/prepared but if it’s good tea, it’s good tea no matter how it’s been made!

You name it, I probably drink it- and I’ll absolutely try anything at least once.

My default method of preparation is hot, Western style, and straight – but I’m not opposed to additions if I’m in the right mood. If I ever add something to a tea or use a different method of preparation I will ALWAYS call it out in the tasting note though.

I like to listen to music when drinking tea, especially when I’m brewing a large pot at a time or steeping Gongfu. Often I curate very intentional tea and music pairings, and sometimes I share them here in my tasting reviews. Music is something that I find can deeply affect the experience of having tea.

I’m also one half of the “tea and fandom” podcast GeekSteep where, weekly, we discuss newly explored fandoms over tea as well as try to figure out the perfect tea to pair with each fandom. You can find us on Spotify and Apple & Google podcasts.

Favourite flavour notes/ingredients: Pear, lychee, cranberry, cream, melon, pineapple, malt, roasty, petrichor, sweet potato, heady florals like rose, hazelnut or walnut, sesame, honey (in moderation), and very woody shou.

Least favourite flavour notes/ingredients:
Lemongrass, ginger, strongly spiced profiles (and most Chai in general), mushrooms, seaweed, chamomile, stevia, saltiness or anything that reminds me too much of meat that isn’t supposed to taste like meat…

Currently exploring/obsessed with: Sheng from Yiwu, Yancha (Qilan in particular), anything with a strong sweet potato note. Also, I need to try ALL the root beer teas! Searching for a really good caramel flavoured blend, ideally with a black tea base.

Please contact me at the instagram account listed below if you would like me to review your teas.

Currently I’m employed in the tea department of the DAVIDsTEA head office. While I’m still sharing my own personal thoughts on new & existing DAVIDsTEA blends, I am no longer numerically rating them due to the obvious conflict of interest. Any comments expressed are a reflection of my own thoughts and opinions, and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of the company. Any DAVIDsTEA blends you currently see with a numeric score were reviewed prior to my being hired there and have not been adjusted since becoming a DAVIDsTEA employee.

Location

Montreal, QC, CA

Website

https://www.instagram.com/ros...

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer