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#adventageddon Day One – 1/5

It’s December 1st!! Advent Season is officially here!! I’m doing five advents this year, hopefully posting them daily on instagram – but also I’m going to try my best to keep up with reviewing all five daily here on Steepster as well. Halfway through the month I’ll be adding in a sixth “advent” as well (it’s a “12 Days of Tea” advent) so that’ll bump me up to six daily teas…

This is day one of Bird and Blend’s BYO advent – so what that means is that I hand selected all of the teas coming in that advent; so I know what I’m getting but not the days I’m getting it. I picked this one because it’s a Russian Caravan blend, and I love those – I’ve just not yet had the chance to try this company’s take on it. It was the first one I made today because I thought it would be nice to start the day with more of a “straight” tea, and I liked the idea of a brisk, full bodied smoke blend to help perk me up first thing today.

I liked this one a lot – I think it’s pretty safe/standard for Russian Caravan but I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with that! It’s really quite smokey and full bodied, and very forward with it’s deep woody notes. The finish is a bit metallic/mineral to me but I’m not turned off by that, and there’s a little bit of jammy red fruit sweetness poking through the wood and smoke as well which I’m gonna attribute to the keemun in this blend. It’s well rounded, and the smoke pleasantly coats the mouth and throat.

I don’t know what this blend actually costs – but if it’s not terribly high I think this would be a really solid way to incorporate more Lapsang Souchong into my tea line up. It definitely elicited a pretty big smile from me this morning!

Shae

This one sounds amazing! Also, I’m so impressed that you are doing five advents. I need to up my game. :)

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Shae

This one sounds amazing! Also, I’m so impressed that you are doing five advents. I need to up my game. :)

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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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