85
drank Night In Rio by T by Daniel
16420 tasting notes

Sipdown (125)!

Thank you MissB for the tea, and all you lovely Ontarians, Kittenna especially, for getting it to me.

Even wrapped in tinfoil this one still manages to make its presence known. It’s very, very aromatic with a really ripe papaya/mango smell accented by a bouquet of citrus notes. To me, it seemed obvious that the best way to prepare this one would be cold brewed.

After a long, probably close to twenty hour, soak I strained the leaves for this one and sat down to enjoy it. Taste wise it was very strong and lively with many fruit notes contributing to what was, overall, and explosion of tropical flavours in my mouth. Impressively, what was most present to me was the papaya. And I say impressively because papaya has a relatively mild flavour to begin with: it’s almost like watermelon in how watered down the taste can be. This was very concentrated and lovely. And following that powerful papaya flavour was the almost equally strong duo of pineapple and mango. Something about those two flavours matched together can make almost anything they’re in undeniably, almost over the top tropical tasting.

This one also has sweet blackberry leaves in it; personally I associate sweet blackberry leaves with a very rich “from concentrate”/puree type flavour. To further clarify, I think that whenever they’re added to a blend they don’t necessarily have their own flavour but they amplify the flavours of everything else in a blend ten fold. DAVIDsTEA also likes to use them in their herbal blends: Pink Passionfruit and Sweet Apple Cider both immediately come to mind. They just an a relatively “over the top” vibe to tea that I really like.

tl;dr If it wasn’t obvious, I was really happy with this tea and very impressed overall!

Kittenna

I’m super behind on tasting notes, but this is actually a tea from the Toronto Tea Festival that Raritea, Sil and I split. I thought you’d like it (and I was meh about it), so I gave you some of my share before passing the rest on to Raritea. So if you ever want more of this, it might be possible :P

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Kittenna

I’m super behind on tasting notes, but this is actually a tea from the Toronto Tea Festival that Raritea, Sil and I split. I thought you’d like it (and I was meh about it), so I gave you some of my share before passing the rest on to Raritea. So if you ever want more of this, it might be possible :P

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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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