15678 Tasting Notes
Totally forgot that I’d tried this tea before but, as it turns out, even nearly ten years later my thoughts haven’t changed a whole lot. Basically this is much more strawberry forward than pomegranate, but even that flavour is deeply outweighed by the rather unpleasant (and seemingly low quality) rooibos base. It’s just very, very woody and medicinal tasting. Plus, I’m generally a pretty big fan of rooibos and not sensitive to the medicinal flavours many people tend to be off put by, so if this is too medicinal and unpleasant for me… Well, I would hate to be someone already sensitive to that taste.
Cold Brew Sipdown (2516)!
Another older sample that feels nice to polish off since I have many comparable teas in my stash. I recall not loving this the first time I had it, but as a cold tea I think it was a step up. It’s definitely still really tart in a sharp way and despite having such an intense red berry flavour (cranberry or raspberry??) it’s really devoid of natural sweetness. Not inherently bad because I definitely don’t always want a sugary berry blend, but it does make it feel unbalanced to me and also really makes you pucker! In some ways, it’s closer to drinking a straight hibiscus infusion. Time and place, though. Time and place.
Cold Brew!
Doubled up on the sachets to make a 24oz cold brewed tumbler. This was honestly really delicious and a spot on quick late night solution for the fruity but cold drink I was craving. Just like a mostly pure play fresh strawberry note, with a hint of citrus. At the double teabag dosing I even ended up getting a resteep that wasn’t half bad! I rarely resteep my tea (if I did I’d never get close to making a dent in my stash), but I just felt like I needed more of this…
Iced!
Made this today with a small splash of milk but I didn’t really love it. In fact, I kind of struggled to finish my mug. I think I just made the concentration way too intense which really brought out a lot of the vegetal notes of the matcha and the strong floral undertones of the raspberry flavouring in this blend. On its own I don’t think that would have been a deal breaking, but something about the florals and the milk just were fighting today. Super non-cohesive and just a little disappointing.
Iced Latte!
I woke up on Monday with an intense craving for this tea specifically, and I’m glad I was able to perfectly scratch that itch. The iced latte was just so smooth, and it tasted almost perfectly of banana bread minus the butter. But the hojicha just filled in those nutty notes and the general cozier baked good elements to create a phenomenal drink.
I’ve been really into pistachio flavoured things lately and thankfully I’m privileged enough to have such a large tea stash that I’m flush with options, though it really still feels like I have room for more. If anyone has a favourite pistachio blend, I’d love to hear it!
This one is sweet and nutty with a rich pistachio note counterbalanced by a cooling menthol/camphor from the highly aromatic mint and cardamom in the mix. It feels sort of Middle Eastern in profile. The pistachio and cardamom combination, in particular, makes me think of some dishes from Iran/Pakistan – though you’d probably see an addition of rose, too. It’s delightful, though!
I’m so happy B&B brought this one back.
Steeped this one up to drink this morning, but I forgot it on my desk so by the time I got to drinking it the tea had gone cold. It was still nice though. The black base was brisk and hadn’t gone bitter/unpleasantly astringent, and I loved the jammy undertones of cassis. I think the rosemary would have shined more when hot since a lot of the aromatics were dulled, but the flavour was still there and balanced with everything else.
Oof, now this is nostalgia.
Sweet brown and vanilla flavours with a gentle rooibos base. So smooth, and so painfully familiar. I think I’ll always wonder a little bit what my impression of this tea would be if I was trying it for the first time today, but as it stands I have such a deeply personal connection to this blend that I don’t think it’s possible for it to do me wrong.
(This is the blend that got me into tea in general, which drastically altered the trajectory of my life. For the better, IMO)
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 Sipdown (2517)!
This sipdown feels good because this last bit of tea was sitting in a tin that I can now fill with something else, thus putting the tiniest dent in my tea storage situation. In terms of taste, much of the bubblegum has faded which is a bit of a pro and a con. At one point this was so intense it bordered just a bit on tasting alcoholic, so in that regard the milder flavour is an improvement. On the flip, I tasted much more of the apple in this brew and that fruit note was a smidge out of place.
Still, it was refreshing and tasty. Felt like the right time to move on from this blend.
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.
Found a random little sachet of this in one of my desk drawers yesterday. I must have tucked it away at one point in time, but I can’t recall why and it was just on its lonesome. I did end up steeping it up, though, and the tangy red fruit notes were a pleasant bit of fruity brightness for the tailend of the workday.
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.
