17529 Tasting Notes

Gongfu!

Enjoyed this tea in a brand new teacup I got recently. Both the tea and the tea cup are perfect. The tea steeps up rich and syrupy with a very sweet and fruity-leaning profile of rich black cherry, over ripe banana and plantains, and red plum notes balanced bit a heavier burnt sugar bitterness and warm and starchy undertones of baked yams, leather, and just a bit of molasses. There’s something just so visceral and playful about such lively, bright top notes that are then pulled down into this weighty pool of dark, mouth-coating sweetness that sits with you after each sip.

The teacup is also beautiful! I’ve been such a fan of nerikomi for a long time, and I especially loved seeing the technique used in such modern, colorful ways. The saturated pastels and the mix of an unglazed exterior with the glazed interior are so eye-catching, and it was the perfect shape, size, and wall thickness to drink out of for this solo session. It’s a piece I feel will get a lot of use in my teaware collection, especially because I know I will be able to mix and match it with quite a lot of my different teapots and gaiwans!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJR-1HbJj5E/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t40th6o2Nsc&ab_channel=MaxFrost

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Cold Brew!

At this point I’m really just trying to work my way through the last of this. It was a fine brew with a pretty strong, grassy flavour to it and a funky lingering sweetness I didn’t love. At times it almost tasted like banana and bubble gum over being more of sweet, zingy lemonade taste.

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drank Wild Blueberry by Mateina
17529 tasting notes

Mateina had (or maybe has) a Blueberry Haskap flavoured RTD that I remember liking, and so when I saw this flavour I was confused. I don’t at all know if it’s different from the Blueberry Haskap, maybe an updated recipe, or if it’s just the same thing with a fresh name…

What I do know is that I drank this at work this morning and I was very disappointed in it. The blueberry tasted fine, but the mate itself was really, really metallic and mineral tasting. I know this isn’t actually the case, but it sort of felt like I was tasting the can itself and I just didn’t enjoy it at all.

Disappointing given that I remember the Blueberry Haskap flavour so fondly.

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drank Monkey Business by DAVIDsTEA
17529 tasting notes

Definitely a very sweet cup of tea, but I love that rich and almost caramelized banana note with the gentle nuttiness of candied almonds. It’s smooth, a little creamy, and just that perfect bit of indulgence for a mid afternoon treat.

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.

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drank Glow by Twinings
17529 tasting notes

I was really intrigued by the combination of strawberry and cucumber in this blend, and it turns out that steeped up it’s actually incredibly fresh and juicy tasting! My experience with Twining’s other strawberry teas have been that they’re quite tart and sometimes almost saccharine, but this was just right. Sweet but not cloying, and just a little tiny bit floral leaning. The cucumber doesn’t necessarily distinctly taste like cucumber but it has that sort of cooling, crisp sort of feeling to it. Really rounds out the sip and provides a lot of freshness and balance.

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Had a hot mug of this earlier in the week at work. I wasn’t really focusing on it all that much while drinking, instead letting this be a bit of a background mug to sip on while working. I really picked up on the bergamot notes of the tea, but the rest didn’t really stand out. In the past I’ve found this kind of busy tasting, so it was interesting that when not focused on the tasting notes the business of it all kind of faded away and just that one note really popped out.

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Went through about a pitcher worth of this sparkling iced tea over this past weekend. I picked up a bottle in my grocery delivery box because of the warmer weather, and it was so juicy and succulent. Really fresh, ripe peach notes with just a bit of a more floral leaning black tea!

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Picked this up from T&T yesterday on a whim. Mostly the packaging caught my eye, but I’ve also been enjoying exploring more osmanthus teas lately. I brewed it up when I got home, but I really didn’t love the taste of it. Very much a flat/stale taste that made me think of dried fruits. Underwhelming, unfortunately.

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Sipdown (2909)!

When I first saw the name of this tea I thought there was going to be a little more to the blend, but it’s basically just straight peppermint tea. It’s a very nice peppermint tea though! Smooth, cooling and crisp with a very clean finish and nice amount of natural sweetness. Definitely not something I’d repurchase because ordering from B&B to Canada can be quite a hassle and there are way more accessible peppermint tea options, but I thought it was lovely quality!

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93

A bit of a malty and almost freshly baked bread undertone to this mug, but ultimately it was a very rich and velvety mug with quite a nice balance between the darker, more fudgey chocolate notes and the sweet orange. Simple enough, but yummy!

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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...

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