drank Buttered Rum by DAVIDsTEA
15575 tasting notes

It’s back y’all!!

There are a few returning fan favourites teas on the site right now for Winter including Toasted Walnut, Chocolate Covered Almond, and Banana Nut Bread – but this is the one that I personally care about the most!

It was one of the first teas I ever tried from DT, and I haven’t had it in years so this is a MAJOR blast of nostalgia for me. I remember it tasting so distinctly like the Buttered Rum Lifesavers, which are definitely my favourite kind of Lifesaver. Very butterscotch heavy in flavour, and really creamy as well. Short tangent about me – when I was very young I had my tonsils removed, and I spent Christmas in the hospital. I don’t remember who, but someone brought me this “Lifesavers Book” that had several rolls of those Buttered Rum Lifesaver candies in it, and I think I finished the entire book during my hospital stay.

So… does this taste as amazing as it did in the past!? Well… I think so…!?

That might seem like a strange answer – either it does or it doesn’t right!? I mean, it certainly tastes very familiar and I think it still has the same rich butterscotch and coconut flavours that I recall – but it’s been like four years, at least, since I last had this tea and my tastes have definitely changed a lot in those four years so it’s hard for me to say whether there’s just subtle differences to the blend, like the black tea seeming more present and a bit more tannic or the coconut not being quite as sweet, or if it’s just that my perception has differed – and honestly I’ll likely never know.

With all of that said… I still think it’s a great tea, and I totally brought home a 50g bag for myself. I’m pretty busy in December with the focus on advent season, but I do really want to find time to try this as either a normal latter or an eggnog latte because I remember it being fucking sublime when prepared that way.

I hope it makes other longtime fans of this blend happy to see it back, and I hope people who are experiencing it for the first time feel the magic the same way I did so many years ago!

EDIT: I wanted to mention, this blend was originally Organic but it’s not Organic anymore. I hope people will understand the change, given how much the regulations surrounding Organic teas has changed in the last eight years from when this tea was originally developed.

As far as Steepster goes, there are two entries for this blend (one was a duplicate), but I can’t edit the “non duplicate” entry to take out the organic from the name because the duplicate version didn’t have the organic and so now the unique webcode, or whatever the fancy IT term is, for “Buttered Rum” is registered to the duplicate entry – which is the one I’m using now. So… I’m just going to try the duplicate entry as the “correct” one for the new non Organic version…

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.

Cameron B.

Yasss the Lifesavers Book! I used to get those in my stocking! Now I’ll have to go find one… XD

Cameron B.

Usually I just add “[duplicate]” to the name of the duplicated one, but if one’s organic and one isn’t maybe there should be two entries?

Roswell Strange

I was trying to change the name of the OG entry to just “Buttered Rum” instead of "Buttered Rum (Organic) last night and I was having issues because the name html link for “Buttered Rum” has already been created/associated with the duplicate. It doesn’t matter if I change this entry to say “Duplicate” because “Buttered Rum” has already been created – not sure if that makes sense? But yeah, I think in this case it probably works out OK and we can just use this entry for the new/non organic one.

Cameron B.

As long as you change this entry first, you should be able to. The number is the important part of the link and that’s independent of the name. But obviously the system won’t let you have two teas with the same name and same company.

Mastress Alita

Those Lifesaver Books have been around since the beginning of time! I remember them from my childhood, too, and I think the Buttered Rum flavor was always my favorite as well. I remember a story my dad told me about him receiving an all “Wild Cherry” Lifesaver Book at Christmas when he was a child (so… in the 50s? Early 60s?) and he ate them all in one sitting and got extremely sick. To this day he can’t stand that “artificial cherry” flavor in foods.

Leafhopper

I remember those Lifesaver Books as well, and indeed those buttered rum/butterscotch ones were the best!

tea-sipper

holy.. your dad SURVIVED eating the entire Lifesavers book?!?

Mastress Alita

He lived tea-sipper, but has never been able to eat artificial cherry-flavored anything since. (Candies, sodas, etc.)

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Comments

Cameron B.

Yasss the Lifesavers Book! I used to get those in my stocking! Now I’ll have to go find one… XD

Cameron B.

Usually I just add “[duplicate]” to the name of the duplicated one, but if one’s organic and one isn’t maybe there should be two entries?

Roswell Strange

I was trying to change the name of the OG entry to just “Buttered Rum” instead of "Buttered Rum (Organic) last night and I was having issues because the name html link for “Buttered Rum” has already been created/associated with the duplicate. It doesn’t matter if I change this entry to say “Duplicate” because “Buttered Rum” has already been created – not sure if that makes sense? But yeah, I think in this case it probably works out OK and we can just use this entry for the new/non organic one.

Cameron B.

As long as you change this entry first, you should be able to. The number is the important part of the link and that’s independent of the name. But obviously the system won’t let you have two teas with the same name and same company.

Mastress Alita

Those Lifesaver Books have been around since the beginning of time! I remember them from my childhood, too, and I think the Buttered Rum flavor was always my favorite as well. I remember a story my dad told me about him receiving an all “Wild Cherry” Lifesaver Book at Christmas when he was a child (so… in the 50s? Early 60s?) and he ate them all in one sitting and got extremely sick. To this day he can’t stand that “artificial cherry” flavor in foods.

Leafhopper

I remember those Lifesaver Books as well, and indeed those buttered rum/butterscotch ones were the best!

tea-sipper

holy.. your dad SURVIVED eating the entire Lifesavers book?!?

Mastress Alita

He lived tea-sipper, but has never been able to eat artificial cherry-flavored anything since. (Candies, sodas, etc.)

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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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