So, I had one of the most horrifying experiences of my life about a week ago.

I sleep in a basement, and it was quite hot on this particular evening – like the hottest night of the year that we’d had thus far. So, I had opened up my window and gone to lseep with the window cracked open to cool off while I slept. Of course, the window is level with the ground outside.

I fell asleep, and woke up to a slight ‘tickle’ by my left ear. As I sort of came to and adjusted to what was happening I realized very quickly that something was crawling around inside my ear. I went into panic mode. Shaking my head violently, and then running to the bathroom to grab a q-tip – at which point I sort of started stabbing inside my ear to kill whatever was crawling around. I know, I know – not smart. But I was freaking out, and not being logic. In all the commotion, I woke up my mother who came into the bathroom only to see me freaking out, and my ear bleeding.

She talked me down enough to explain what was happening, and we called 811 (the non emergency medical number) to see what we should do. They recommended going to the ER, so we did. At this point I could still feel the thing crawling around. It was the scariest and most violating feeling ever. We got to the ER at around one in the morning, and waited for about four hours to see someone. During that waiting point the thing in my ear stopped moving around, and that was both a huge relief and also equally horrifying in its own right.

I had a couple cups of tea from the hospital ‘food court’ type place, but I couldn’t tell you ANYTHING about what they were like – my mind was elsewhere. I know I drank two different things, but this is the only one I remember by name. They were both caffeine free because I was holding out hope that we’d leave in time for me to actually get some semblance of sleep – not only did I open the store the next day, but I also was training my new manager for her very first shift.

When we finally got in everything went by quite quickly. Someone took a look in my ear, and then they flushed everything out with a giant syringe of water. It took doing it like six times for the thing to finally flush out, but when I did I was presented with the largest cement bug that I’ve ever seen. It was dead – likely suffocated in my ear. I threw up on the floor. The apologized many times for throwing up on the floor. The nurse was pretty cool about it all; kept telling me that if that had come out of her ear she’d have probably done the same thing…

It was enough nightmare fuel to last me years though – and I definitely didn’t get any sleep that night, and none the night after either. I just kept flashing back to that horrifying feeling. So, suffice to say, no more sleeping with my window open…

Scheherazade

Oh god. There are no words.

Lexie Aleah

I thought you were going to say it was a spider. I’m going to be paranoid for a long time now at night. Yikes.I hope your sleep gets easier soon.

__Morgana__

Freaky! Now my ears itch in sympathy.

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Scheherazade

Oh god. There are no words.

Lexie Aleah

I thought you were going to say it was a spider. I’m going to be paranoid for a long time now at night. Yikes.I hope your sleep gets easier soon.

__Morgana__

Freaky! Now my ears itch in sympathy.

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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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