16396 Tasting Notes
Made a pot of this tea to share with my mom.
There are just so many things about this one that rub me the wrong way, though. For starters I’ve realized that the word Flan is a ‘trigger’ word for me the same way that the word moist is for some people. It sounds too similar to Phlegm to me, and when I think of that word in association with drinking tea it just sends chills running up my spine in all the bad kinds of ways, and makes me feel really skeeved out.
Plus the dry leaf smells like off milk to me.
Finally; we have to add the frustration of associated memories. The first time I had this tea was at a repelling event DAVIDsTEA was doing downtown over the summer when I was still dating my now ex boyfriend. It stands out because it was a really good day for me. I mean, all summer I was the happiest I’ve been in a really long time and just everything about that day was so fun, and positive – from the event itself, to lunch with the boyfriend and his HELLA adorable reaction when he saw us setting up for the event. It’s one of those memories that, now that we aren’t dating, leaves me feeling really sad ‘cause it’s just a reflection of how much I’m NOT happy right now compared to how happy I was then – and just how much I’m still not over this breakup even though I REALLY want to be.
I mean, when I actually brew this tea up I enjoy it a fair bit – it’s a very nice, smooth vanilla/caramel flavour and though there’s nothing stellar about it in terms of flavour there’s nothing wrong with it either. However, it still takes so much pushing to get to the point where it’s actually steeped up – there are just so many stikes against it…
TASTING NOTE 5555!!!
So, I 100% wanted to do something really special/unique for this tasting note since it’s a pretty monumental number but I realized that while I was waiting to find the perfect tea for this tasting note I was also racking up a pretty substantial queue of things to write about – and I just wasn’t happy with any of the teas I had brainstormed for this note. So, I’m just biting the bullet and writing in the order of things I have queued…
Which means tasting note 5555 is for this Turmeric Latte Blend that I picked up because I was surprisingly really into the Turmeric tea that DAVIDsTEA released this year (Turmeric Glow), especially as a latte. I thought it would be worthwhile trying something similar but new, and I got a coupon code for this company through my Sipsby subscription service, so that made ordering a little more reasonable for me.
Basically this is a powder similar to matcha in preparation – you can make it into a bowl/cup of tea like matcha, but it’s definitely intended as more of a latte sort of thing – hence the name. I’ll definitely try this both straight and as a more traditional latte but the start I thought I’d try this one just cold frothed into some eggnog as more of a holiday type thing. I realize that’s not gonna let me taste the “pure” flavour of the powder right off the bat because the eggnog has such a strong flavour, but it’ll give me a good enough idea I think.
Visually, it’s very interesting looking – REALLY yellow in colour because of the turmeric, but then there’s also tiny, tiny little black flecks which I assume are the black pepper in the blend. Taste wise, I found it quite enjoyable. It’s definitely got some spice to it; and tastes of turmeric but both the ginger and cinnamon come through pretty strongly as well. I don’t actually know what ashwagandha tastes like though so I can’t really speak to that element of the blend. I also thought that the spice really complimented the creamy, sweet eggnog quite well. Even though this isn’t a Chai in the typical sense, I was getting really good chai vibes from the flavour though.
I did let both my mom and little sister try a bit of this one and they both hated it though, for what it’s worth. My sister because of the spice; like me she’s generally just not into things with spice. I don’t think the spice was the issue with my mom – she just didn’t think it went will with the eggnog.
I was scooping this one out for a customer the other day and I caught the “Oh, I could go for a cup of this” cravings as I was smelling the scooped tea/tin.
So, immediately after I was finished ringing in said customer I went and myself myself an iced cup of this. It was tasty; I think ultimately it was the coconut that I was craving and that I found the most satisfying in the brewed up tea. The pineapple and mango were nice too though. I also still definitely wish that there wasn’t chamomile in this because it totally detracts from the flavour, in my own personal opinion. Ultimately, it was a very refreshing cup although I actually think I could have gone for a touch more sweetness.
This isn’t a tea I normally reach for or would ever buy for at home, so sometimes it’s nice to have those weird cravings just so I’m re-experiencing a tea that I otherwise wouldn’t think of steeping.
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.
Sipdown (408)!
Finished this one off a few days ago. Mulled Cider is actually a pretty good name for it; that’s basically what it is. There are things about it that could be improved upon though; like, I actually wouldn’t mind a significantly stronger apple flavour. I mean, those apple notes were there but not to the same degree that I’d expect from a cider tea. The hibby kind of took over and masked some of them, too.
I also didn’t like the ginger – but I realize that’s largely just a personal preference thing since I don’t like ginger that much in the first place. My favourite part was the cinnamon, it was such a nice top note and from there it really seamlessly transitioned into this super smooth, satisfying undertone that really, really complimented the apple. The two together actually reminded me a lot of apple pie.
Overall, this was pretty satisfying. The other “mulled cider” tea that I have a lot of familiarity with is DT’s Spiced Apple and I spent the whole time sipping on this trying to decide which of the two I liked better. They are quite different, but honestly? I still can’t decide which was the better one!
Sipdown (409)!
Finished this one off at work today! It’s one I’m not hurt to be out of; it was pleasant enough but the profile doesn’t stand out all that much and I imagine in a few months I’ll likely have completely forgotten about it.
I brewed this one hot, and topped up the cup with frothed milk. I didn’t directly pour the milk into the tea, but of course some of it ended up mixing together with it. The main idea was just to sip it through the thick layer of frothed milk, though.
Flavour wise, it was almost entirely a licorice/anise/fennel dominated flavour, however the clove, cinnamon, and mint were present in more of the second half/finish of the sip. It made for an overall herbaceous, spicy, and minty drink with a lot of background sweetness. Which was… alright.
Again; not really anything stand out about it.
Hmmm….
So, when this one first came out I was really into it; and I still enjoy it but I think my love for it is definitely fading a little bit. I had it hot the other night, and it was a good cup but it wasn’t “wow” levels of good. I think the biggest reason for that is actually, for me at least, not the stevia but the fact that the more I drink it the more I seem to fixate on the peach notes in the blend over the pear. What I really, really initially enjoyed about this one was the pear so if that’s coming through less and less for me then obviously that’s going to affect how I view it.
I just want juicy, in your face, no holds barred succulent pear notes! Is that too much to ask for!?
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.
Teapress.
Not sure if it’s the method of prep or just the fact that since I’ve now tried this I knew what to expect from the flavour profile (maybe a mix of both), but I enjoyed this one a lot more this time around than I did the first time. I thought it was smoother overall, and had less of that perfumey/artificial floral taste I kind of thought I was picking up last time. In fact, it was almost entirely a boozey prune/cherry sort of flavour with just hints of creamy white chocolate in the finish.
Yeah, just a lot smoother and more seamless.
From a recent 52Teas order.
I almost didn’t get this one because of the ginger, but ultimately I’m glad I did because it was really delightful! I’ll be perfectly honest though, ever since I cracked the code of ingredients generally used to recreate this ‘cola’ flavour in teas I’ve found that cola teas are a lot less magical tasting for me. It’s just citrus (lemon or lime) paired with a mix of chai spices – generally cinnamon, black pepper, and anise. And boom – cola!
The flavour is really strong in this one though, and quite smooth! Even now that I know the magic combo often used, I had a hard time mentally separating the ingredients in this one. Even the ginger just melded with everything else so smoothly! Though there were a few sips that brought me back to ‘Drink, Don’t Eat Grapefruit Sugar Scrub’ – probably because of the use of the candied ginger.
It’s actually probably the best cola flavoured tea I’ve had all year – and surprisingly I’ve had quite a few this year – like, probably at least ten? If you’re down with cola flavoured teas, I totally recommend this one!
Recently got a cake of this one, so now I don’t feel like I need to hoard the rest of my sample any more! So it’s with that mentality in mind that I decided to brew this one up last night to enjoy before bed – with the tiniest pinch of brown sugar mixed in.
I liked the addition of the brown sugar; it kind of played up the natural honey-like sweetness of this blend and added a little bit of extra depth/richness.I think that richness really compliments the very viscous mouthfeel this one has, too. Otherwise this is just really smooth and floral. It’s hard to describe the floral characteristics though because they’re just so unique to this tea. Like, a mix of peony, rose, and orange blossom sort of comes close but it’s just really an approximation.
I love it, though! Very happy I’ll be getting more of it.
Tried this at work today.
I can tell right away that this is something I’m going to need to play with a lot to be really satisfied with it. It’s not that it was gross, but it was just really lacking in flavour all around. Really bland, and just a little bit stale tasting. The way it was stored prior to my buying it is probably a factor here – big glass jars in direct sunlight. I fucking hate when vendors do that. It just degrades the quality of the tea so rapidly…
So yeah; hints of apple and some creaminess from the yogurt drops but not much going on here. Really had to focus to get any sort of clear flavour imagery. Bleh.
