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Sipdown (113)!

First things first, this is my 3000th tasting note!

I’ve been keeping track for a while trying to carefully calculate what to write and when to write it so that my 3000th note is for a tea that seems appropriate for the monumental occasion. I finally landed, about a week ago, on this tea because I thought it seemed appropriate to celebrate my involvement here on Steepster by drinking from a Steepster member who is not only a creator but a consumer as well!

I also treated myself last night to a Liquid Proust Teas order to kind of ‘mark the occasion’. With my being currently unemployed now I figure I’ll likely not get to put in any large orders for a while – so I gave myself one from a company I’ve wanted to support since Andrew announced he was starting it.

But anyway, the tea itself…

The base for this tea is a Tung Ting/Dong Ding, which is a type of oolong I find pretty enjoyable though not one I drink as regularly as other types. The infused leaf was just gorgeous; long, full olive green leaves with a nicely bruised and oxidized red rim around the edge of the leaf. I tried to show my mother, who was watching me brew the tea but she just didn’t understand the beauty of that.

With both Western Style infusions I ended up doing, I found that more than anything else that I could taste the base tea. It was very fragile/delicate overall with an initial sweet flavour with almost a ‘leather’ or gentle smoke note, but then evolved into this super fragrant and aromatic floral tea with very bright, round notes of lily or possibly lilac to a lesser extent. There was also a smooth, silky vanilla-like sweetness as well especially in the end of the sip/long lingering aftertaste.

I could also taste the peach blossom as just this extra ‘floral’ flavour with a little bit of honey and generic fruit sweetness. Sometimes I forget that, unlike orange blossoms, peach blossoms don’t exactly taste ‘peachy’. I do wish this had been peachier, though – with a name that contains both “Elixir” and “Peachy” I expected both a more vibrant, rich fruity taste as well as something distinctly peach.

That said, this was a very calm, delicious tea and I did really enjoy drinking it. I’d recommend it to fans of greener oolong as it was really enjoyable in that regard. It didn’t make it into my order last night though just because I’ve tried better things made my LP, and I wanted to restock those in addition to trying some new stuff.

Rosehips

Congrats! 3000 notes is a milestone to be proud of!

Liquid Proust

The dude who created this fouled up… by adding ‘peachy oolong’ in parenthesis after Elixir #9 is misleading :/

BUT,
3000!!!! That’s fun :)
Maybe we should have badges on here like car forums have for how many miles you have on your beloved car (but not really though, badges becoming distracting)

TeaNTees

If you don’t mind me asking; what teas did you select in your order from Andrew?

Roswell Strange

French Toast Dianhong and Peach vs. Bergamot were the two I grabbed which I’ve tried, but I also got Honeysuckle Yellow, Lionstale Pu’erh, and Dark Chocolate Oolong.

TeaNTees

I just got the French Toast Dianhong and the Dark Chocolate Oolong too! Haven’t tried them yet, but I am excited to be able to soon. :)

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Rosehips

Congrats! 3000 notes is a milestone to be proud of!

Liquid Proust

The dude who created this fouled up… by adding ‘peachy oolong’ in parenthesis after Elixir #9 is misleading :/

BUT,
3000!!!! That’s fun :)
Maybe we should have badges on here like car forums have for how many miles you have on your beloved car (but not really though, badges becoming distracting)

TeaNTees

If you don’t mind me asking; what teas did you select in your order from Andrew?

Roswell Strange

French Toast Dianhong and Peach vs. Bergamot were the two I grabbed which I’ve tried, but I also got Honeysuckle Yellow, Lionstale Pu’erh, and Dark Chocolate Oolong.

TeaNTees

I just got the French Toast Dianhong and the Dark Chocolate Oolong too! Haven’t tried them yet, but I am excited to be able to soon. :)

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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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