16967 Tasting Notes
Adventageddon Day 10
I knew this tea was in the advent this year and I’ve not been looking forward to stumbling upon it. I just don’t personally enjoy it. However, today I took that as a challenge and decided to try something a little different with it by layering it with some fresh tangelo juice to create a gorgeous sunset-looking iced drink.
I wasn’t sure if it would be good because of the whole orange juice + toothpaste (well, peppermint in this case) comparison but since I dislike the tea anyway it was worth the gamble. And it paid off! Most of the peppermint notes were masked by the intensely bright and tart citrus, and those notes were a lot more complimentary to the hibiscus and chamomile in the blend which are also strong flavours.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDagOvsyYMf/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Nh716glsU&ab_channel=Frute-Topic
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.
Adventageddon Day 9
Honestly not the nicest spearmint I’ve had but even lower quality spearmint is still good tasting, y’know? It did have that up front kind of sweetness that I like a lot about spearmint but I found the overall cup a little too earthy and muddled in the finish. Not quite as crisp/clean and well rounded as it maybe could have been? But it wasn’t like it was very coarse either. I still happily finished my mug, and I’d definitely drink it again. I just know I’ve been spoiled by better…
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDX7CdLyJ4E/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNrAPKRSIYA&ab_channel=niina
Adventageddon Day 9
It felt a little odd to be drinking such a bright, juicy watermelon flavoured tea blend in the heart of winter – especially because today was such a bitterly cold and windy day. However, I do adore this matcha quite a bit so even if it maybe wasn’t the best seasonal match it was a good way to start my day. And I guess better to have it earlier in the advent than near the end.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDX7CdLyJ4E/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTIvFD7TCVg&ab_channel=Charlixcx
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.
Adventageddon Day 9
This was quite an interesting tasting tea to me, and I’m especially surprised to see that I’ve actually tried it before because I have no memory of it.
I didn’t look up what the flavour was supposed to be, but it was very clearly almond flavour. Very sweet almond though, more like an amaretto. I actually for a moment thought that maybe the flavoue was supposed to be an amaretto sour because it does have both that sweetness and the top note brightness I would expect – but with a little bit of a spiced undertone. Definitely cozy, and I think nice and refreshing for a blend with Christmas in the name since those often tend to be really heavily spiced, orange flavoured, or, like, maybe vanilla?
Anyway, I enjoyed it!
Today’s advent photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDX7CdLyJ4E/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GsQZCnKh-U&ab_channel=TeenageDads
Adventageddon Day 9
I’ve been excitedly waiting for this loose leaf tea from DT’s 24 Days of Tea to show up in the adventageddon assortment. It was one of my favourite blends to work on for this year’s holiday assortment: rich, creamy and cozy with notes of coconut and white chocolate and a playfully snowy looking visual that feels like a snowstorm waiting to be steeped! I especially love how velvety the mouthfeel is.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDX7CdLyJ4E/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C1l50UcJlA&ab_channel=PETITELEAGUE
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.
Adventageddon Day 8
Cold Brew!
One of the most red fruit tasting teas to have ever red fruited. When I think of Dammann Freres this is one of the first teas to come to mind, and more than this this style of red fruit flavour is also something I heavily associated with French tea blends in general. It’s so hard to describe it as anything other than tasting like red fruit. I guess strawberry and red currant though, if I had to get more specific.
Since it’s a DF blend and flavour I know well I ended up cold brewing it, and it was great. Definitely jammy and a little bit bright with that sort of jello-esque red fruit note. Refreshing and predictable in a way you can’t get be mad at.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDVVeu3SUWV/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf5yLVL-8tg&ab_channel=ZBerg
Adventageddon Day 8
Gongfu!
This might be my favourite tea from Inoki so far! It’s a black tea from Yunnan, and the dry leaf was both visually quite lovely with golden tips scattered throughout along with amazingly rich and chocolate-y smelling. My mouth was watering before even brewing it up.
Steeped up this was very, very full-bodied and intense but in a really nice way. Quite fudge-y with incredibly strong notes of dark baker’s chocolate complete with a pleasantly bittersweet quality. The undertones were a little bit more woody and earthy, with hints of beetroot and smoke to go alongside that intense cocoa profile. It was a bit astringent, but a welcome astringency that suited this very unsweet but heavily truffle-esque profile. As soon as I’d steeped out the leaf it was very much the kind of black tea I immediately just wanted more of. I’m hoping we see more teas like this as the advent continues!
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDVVeu3SUWV/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpNsGfmLmGM&ab_channel=ClubHalifax
Adventageddon Day 8
Gongfu!
This was the tea from the Tea Thoughts advent today. It’s the first time in this year’s advent the tea has been sourced from another (named) company instead of just ordered in bulk under Nazanin’s brand name – and I was especially excited because it’s a BLT tea that I haven’t tried/don’t own!
I brewed it up in my black tea yixing and it was really delicious. A bit brighter in its top notes with a little bit of a stewed or brandied stonefruit kind of note before transitioning into something a bit more darkly sweet with notes of caramel, pomegranate, and molasses alongside a gently floral undertone. I really enjoyed it quite a bit, though I think I actually preferred the first black tea from Tea Thoughts (the Orchid Jasmine) just a little bit more. Maybe because the tasting notes were a little more “unique” feeling? Overall, though, I feel like Naz has really good taste when it comes to black tea. Or, at the very least, at least tastes similar to my own…
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDVVeu3SUWV/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw3gOEh8vDA&ab_channel=ThatWoman-Topic
Adventaggedon Day 8
Today was a lot of black teas! In fact, all four of my teas today were black teas and I think that actually this may be the first time that’s happened for me with advent season. I know I’ve had it with green and herbal teas and both times I wasn’t thrilled, but I actually loved only having blacks today.
This is one of my personal favourite holiday blends from DT, so I was thrilled for the excuse to brew it up. It’s a simple blend with a really classic feel to it, but the brisk black tea base and highly aromatic, pure play vanilla flavour is exception. Smooth, not too sweet, and just the fainest bit creamy in addition to that rich flavour. For my cup today I added a tiny splash of milk and topped the mug off with a vanilla flavoured marshmallow that melting into a wonderfully gooey layer on the top. Yum!
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDVVeu3SUWV/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJ5Ck9z1tX0&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart
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.
Adventageddon Day 7
This was my top of the day, and I was super excited to see it this morning because I had frozen blueberries in my fridge so I knew I could whip up a fun blueberry compote to use in a matcha latte. I ended up mixing that sweet, jammy compote I’d made with a vanilla milk and the matcha to create this really rich and flavourful “blueberries and cream” sort of vibe that was just a good midafternoon cuppa!
For a long, long time blueberry matcha was my favourite matcha flavour from DT. I have a few I like a little bit more now, but it’s definitely still top five and this was a divine way to enjoy it while doing something a little fun and extra for advent season.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDSws7ry2bL/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8lPeWRBLvE&ab_channel=KylieMinogue
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.
