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So, I’ve tried this tea before from the Frank era but I don’t really remember much, if anything, about it – however judging on the “57” I rated it I’m guessing I probably wasn’t a fan!

This time around I’m drinking Anne’s version – and if I’m being honest I should have taken way better notes because I still remember hardly anything about what it tasted like other than the fact I really liked it! I did it up iced and with some milk ’cause, you know, ice cream. Milk just seems to make sense with that, right? I just remember the chocolate notes and the strawberry notes really, really jumping out to me and thinking that there was a really intense brightness to the strawberry. But like, aside from that?

Yeah, I just know I really liked it.

Little sister was supposed to be cleaning her room this afternoon, but she kept looking for excuses to procrastinate and because I’m such a loving sister/enabler I helped her along with that task by getting her to make me a cup of tea!

I gave her full control of my cupboard, and let her pick out whatever she wanted to make me. I ended up with a cup of Supreme Pekoe served hot and straight – when I asked why this tea I got the sample but snarky answer of “it was at eye level”. Which, I mean, fair enough…

She did pretty good though! It’s a little over steeped but not enough to result in bitterness – just some astringency. I can handle a little astringency; especially when it’s a tea that I didn’t have to put any labor into. Flavour wise, today I feel like this tea is channeling cinnamon bread/toast vibes – notes of baked bread, soft cinnamon, butter, some sweetness and hints of malt! Maybe a bit of sweet nutty notes too – walnut or something like that.

Song Pairing: https://youtu.be/_IIuJSqusUM

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 regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

From my Sipsby box.

Sadly, I opted out of December’s box ‘cause I went a little too hard on my BF/CM ordering but I WILL resume the box again in January so that I’m still doing the three months I told myself I’d commit to. I am really enjoying the box so far, so I want to continue with it. Just, during a month where I’ll be getting a lot less tea incoming…

This is my least favourite tea I’ve gotten from the box so far – and to be fair I don’t hate it and it’s totally drinkable, but I don’t much like it either. The mint/lemon balm are actually nice enough, and I really don’t mind them at all in any sort of tea. What’s getting to me is the chamomile – which I knew would probably happen as soon as I saw it in the blend, and the oregano. I actually thought I’d like the oregano in this because I usually like savory/herby teas quite a bit but it’s too much for me and it’s really spinning the flavour of this cup in a negative way. There’s also a REALLY strong licorice taste too, which I’m not vibing very well with either.

I don’t know – I want to like it because the company seems really cool and after reading more about them I really like everything they’re trying to do/stand for. However, loving something in theory is a lot different than in practice. Like, in theory I think snakes are lovely little happy noodles but in practice they scare the shit out of me and make me really uncomfortable.

This tastes like minty oregano medicine – and that’s not doing it for me.

Song Pairing: https://youtu.be/MJ1xXpcg-bg

Hot tea immediately before bed. I know there are a ton of fruits in this one, but this time I only got cranberry. Cranberry jam, more specifically. It was good, though.

I’ve been working on building up my caffeine tolerance again; it’s coming along though not perfectly. It’s a process. More tea/more caffeine will gradually get me there, though. I am finding if I drink something caffeinated and then immediately go to bed afterwards (like within ten minutes) that I’m fine though! It’s just not enough time for the caffeine to really ‘set in’, so to speak.

My sibling and I decided today that we’re going to rewatch LOST together, so we spent a few hours this morning watching the first couple episodes. My brother and I actually watched it when it was airing live, but my thirteen year old sister has never seen it before so it’s a new experience for her.

This was a really nice tea to drink while watching; it was thoughtless in a good way. Sometimes you really want to experience the flavours of a tea and in the moment only focus on that but sometimes what you’re looking for is more of that warm sensation of a mug in your hands and a smooth taste that isn’t going to pull you out of your show. That’s what this tea was for me today! Sure, it was a little malty, nutty, and floral but that’s not really what I cared about while I was drinking it. As a mindless, daily drinking type black this was what I needed today.

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 regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

This one was actually my first cup of the day today.

It was a good choice ‘cause it was pretty light and gentle with really, really smooth flavours so it made for a good ’ease you into your day’ kind of teas that allow you to wake up slowly, and blissfully. Like last time I tried this one, I didn’t really get much in terms of lavender flavours. I have been gently shaking the bag before measuring out leaf for each cup, but my fear is that I’m gonna have one cup out of this bag that’s just “slap you in the face” intense lavender flavour and the rest will all be like this one…

Aside for absent floral notes – this was great, though. It was maybe just a hair too lemon grass over authentic lemon but still made for a very silky and creamy lemon flavour alongside a buttery and fluffy/airy feeling vanilla sponge cake sort of flavour. You know, with really light/airy “whipped” frosting!? That kind of perfect melt in your mouth cake that feels almost weightless on your tongue as you take a bite. And the calories don’t count if you can’t feel it on your tongue, RIGHT?

Yeah – pretty damn close to perfect.

Sipdown (409)!

Pushing my way through the final cup of this one tonight, with some added milk. I really wanted to finish this one off for two reasons – firstly, I need the sipdowns right now what with eight Black Friday orders on the way, and four others that were already en route. Secondly, my sister really wanted the tin that this came in. She’s a big Harley Quin fan and she’s over this weekend, so it’s the perfect opportunity to pass the tin off to her.

I will say, this tea seems to have consistently gotten better every time I’ve had it. I mean, to a certain extent that might just be a “stockholm syndrome” of sorts but if it makes sipping this one down more pleasant I’ll still take it.

Main notes this time around are chocolate and strawberry – and actually almost a surprisingly strong amount of strawberry? With the milk, it’s reminding me of those chocolates with the strawberry cream center you get in mixed chocolate boxes like Pot of Gold – somewhat low quality, though. Thankfully, I didn’t get any bell pepper notes in this cup but the finish did have a bit of a black pepper/peppercorn kind of taste which does feel really out of place to me. Also, no acetone!

So yeah – just a better experience all around. I would still never buy this tea again, though…

Hot tea from the start of my shift today, before the Black Friday sale madness had truly set in yet. If I’m being honest, it was still pretty chaotic though even in the quiet moments…

This was great though – I had really been craving something fruity but really natural and this does such a good job of having a potent flavour without feeling forced at all, or relying on a lot of sweeteners/artificial flavour. I mean, there’s totally a time and place for that but sometimes you just want a flavoured tea that doesn’t feel overly flavoured. You know? Yeah – you guys totally know.

Sweet, smooth and floral with notes of pomegranate as well as the almost ‘flax’ like taste of the pomegranate seed as well. I think that seed taste is usually present anyway in addition to the pomegranate but it just felt especially so today and I actually was very, very into it!

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 regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Welp…

So, I have a few of these custom Blendbee teas that I made over the summer either with my now ex boyfriend or just inspired by him – and I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to do with them. I mean, to be perfectly honest they’re all good teas/taste fine so it really, really feels like a waste to toss them out when they were expensive and actually taste good. They’re the only physical/tangible thing I actually have left from when we dated though; and I just find that I feel a little, I don’t know, ‘weird’ drinking them and being reminded of these cute, sweet romantic things/in jokes that we shared.

And that’s probably most definitely because I’m still not 100% over everything. I’m working on it though – and making decent enough progress, I think. It’s getting a lot better, anyway as the weeks go by. I’m still stuck in a purgatory between just being angry/resentful and feeling like I’ve lost something really important to me. So, I don’t know…

Anyway; I did make a cup of this one today to drink on shift and it really wasn’t so bad in terms of that weird/uncomfortable emotional feeling. Largely this is because at work we’re still in the throws of Black Friday promotions, so it was so busy at work that between slurping up mouthfuls of tea I didn’t really have time to think about the origin for this tea/the ex the same way I think I would have reflected on it if I was drinking this during a moment of peace. Flavour wise, it was very thyme heavy with sweet, juicy peach undertones. Very bright in addition to that glorious savory element. Still stellar.

So yeah – just throwing that thought/reflection out there. What do I do with these three teas now!? What have other people on Steepster done with things from failed relationships that remind you of the ex? Do you get rid of them or work towards breaking those associations?

Cold Brew!

Ugh, Southern Breeze strikes again!

Anyway – I made it through a third of the brew and honestly I was just gonna toss it out but I actually found three coworkers who thought it was absolutely AMAZING! I personally think they’re insane, but hey that means that there’s at least someone out there that actually enjoys this insanely awful tea. It also saved me from having to toss this out, which was less wasteful and that’s always good.