10705 Tasting Notes
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.
_Our Website: https://www.geeksteep.com/
Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geeksteep/
Listen to us on Buzzsprout:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286036/podcast/website
DB topic:
https://steepster.com/discuss/42133-geek-steep-a-new-tea-and-fandom-podcast
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!
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!
Our Website: https://www.geeksteep.com/
Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geeksteep/
My Geek Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIVksPoAJa5/
Listen to us on Buzzsprout:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286036/podcast/website
DB topic:
https://steepster.com/discuss/42133-geek-steep-a-new-tea-and-fandom-podcast
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.
Adventaggedon Day 2 – Tea 4/6
This is another “12 Teas of Christmas” style advent, so I’ll be alternating back and forth between this advent and the 52Teas one – like I mentioned yesterday. It’s also Harry Potter themed, so I’m very excited to get a little injection of fandom with my advents this year!
The smell of this through me off at first because I was expecting a more overt chocolate aroma and flavour, because of the name. The tea itself was very tasty, but I would say the strongest note was a fresh and slightly zesty orange followed then by cocoa, ginger, and a sweet graham note from the honeybush. A weird thing kind of happened with the loose leaf smell where it was almost cola-like in aroma to me, but I didn’t get that from the taste.
Today’s advent photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIUQkZLAFJz/
I would love to have an all Harry Potter themed tea advent! :3
So something about the citrus in this is coming off oily to me and almost like febreeze was shot in my mouth. It is really weird. Like its orange and a good orange at first but then it gets wonky and becomes like a tums orange or some other artificial orange.
…but was it a cola scented febreeze? XD
Yum, you know how I’ve been looking for a nice cola Febreze tea…
Haha definitely not cola for me…I don’t think. Cola Febreeze sounds sticky and unpleasant tbh.
Adventageddon Day 2 – 3/6
I don’t love chamomile so this was definitely a big push outside my comfort zone today, but it actually turned out to be a pretty nice and approachable version of a chamomile blend. I was hit with that floral and almost apple-y chamomile flavour first but to my delight it was swiftly followed by a juicy ripe peach and red fruit note, playful citrus from the lemongrass, and a sweet finish on the tongue. The longer it steeped, the more peach I got and the less chamomile – and in the end, while it started off unpleasant, it finished as something truly enjoyable.
I would still never order this for myself, but I know that I’m going to be experiencing it once more in this advent and at least now I wont have a feeling of dread when I see that sachet in the advent…
Today’s advent photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIUQkZLAFJz/
Adventaggedon Day 2 – Tea 2/6
This was my favourite tea from today! It is very similar to some of yesterday’s teas from other advents (I remember from last year that I ended up trying A LOT of spiced orange teas) but I like the spice combination in this one quite a bit – medium spice level with emphasis on the clove and star anise!
Clove is probably my favourite typical “chai spice” ingredient, but it’s not super popular in North America so it’s always nice when I see a tea company lean into it with a blend. The anise adds to the juicy quality of the orange, and the whole thing just feels full of juicy life and flavour. I can’t remember if this was around in prior years, but it’s definitely caught my attention this year. If there are enough B&B teas in the advent this year to justify an order, this will likely be one that I include.
Today’s advent photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIUQkZLAFJz/
Adventaggedon Day 2 – Tea 1/6
Another day, another advent… or six!!
I was pleasantly surprised to see a straight matcha included in DT’s matcha advent, though it would have been nice for it to have been more mixed into the middle of the advent – I have a feeling we’ll be all flavoured matcha and treats from here on out.
I like Matcha Matsu a fair bit – for what is technically the “lowest” grade of matcha from DT I think it’s very smooth and creamy, with fresh vegetal flavours! It’s also, fun fact, the matcha that is used in all of DT’s flavoured matchas. So, I’ve had it a lot. Today I just rocked a plain, hot cup while working at the lab today – it was a bit chaotic so finding the time to whisk matcha was not the most convenient thing in the world, but it was a tasty cuppa once it was made!
Today’s advent photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIUQkZLAFJz/
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.
