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Gong Fu!

So recently I decided to treat myself a get a few new Gaiwans from Camellia Sinensis, as well as some other teaware from both Bitterleaf and Teaware House. I’ve bought a lot of Western style teaware this year from DAVIDsTEA but not a lot of traditional stuff for Gong Fu, and I think getting some shiny new pieces could really help me get back into Gong Fu brewing on a more regular basis…

Along with my two Gaiwans, CS also sent along a sample of this tea! Jin Die is completely new to me altogether, so I thought it’d be something nice to explore today. Besides, it’s almost as if CS is going “New Gaiwan? Break it in with this tea”. I can’t argue with that, right? So here are my stream of consciousness notes from the session:

Dry aroma of the leave is very sweet; coming off as notes of caramel/cocoa and lots of fruity undertones. Stonefruit in particular, but orange/fresh citrus too. Really inviting and aromatic! Leaf if visually stunning as well; very golden, and delightfully pretty little curls.

Steep 1/Five Seconds:
- Really sweet right off the bat!
- Top notes of caramel/malt/sweet potato
- Body and finish are fruitier: strong orange notes, hints of stonefruit in a generic way
- Actually almost a candied orange peel kind of flavour?
- Orange zest/candied orange lingers well after the swallow

Steep 2/Seven Seconds:
- Aroma of the dry leaf is INSANE! Very sweet, fragrant with tons of citrus/orange
- Top notes still largely malt dominated
- Also notes of sweet rolls, honey, caramel, sweet potato
- Body is SUPER fruit heavy: a mix of full bodied orange, raisin, dates
- Also Grand Marnier liquor (which I know is orange too, but still…)
- SMOOOOTTTHHHHH

Steep 3/Ten Seconds
- I’ve started snacking on plain, unsalted/flavoured pecans in between infusions
- This adds a different sort of sweetness to the top of the sips; pleasantly nutty addition
- And almost a “maple” quality
- LOTS of malt to the top of this infusion, sort of ‘spilling’ out into the body too
- Less of the honey/caramel sweetness of the first two infusions
- Body of the sip is equal parts malt/raisin/stonefruit
- And then TONS of orange that coats the whole surface of my mouth
- And lingers for such a beautifully long time

Steep 4/Fifteen Seconds
- A little bit tannic at the start of the sip
- This small degree of bite/astringency is the first I’ve experienced thus far
- Otherwise the flavour profile remains the same from last infusion
- Though perhaps a hint more raisin-like taste in the finish

Steep 5/Fifteen Seconds
- Less tannic/astringent, and less malt notes as well
- In fact, this is pretty much only the fruitier notes I’ve experienced
- In the same proportions as the last infusion, though
- And then a hint of complimentary nuttiness from the pecans I’m snacking on

Steep 6/Eighteen Seconds
- Steeped leaf smells like orange, honey, sweet potato, bread, and cinnamon
- In that order
- Infusion is less pleasant; very astringent/bitter which is disappointing
- And feels like it’s coming out of nowhere?
- Almost has a finish that tastes like the pithy part of an orange – bitter!
- Also a little peppery in the body and finish

Steep 7/Twenty Seconds
- Even more bitter/pithy tasting than the last infusion!
- Literally took a sip for my cup and did that kind of choking/gagging thing
- The one people in sitcoms do when they eat/drink something gross
- Only nice thing is that the finish is a little sweeter with floral orange notes
- The rest is TRASH
- Dumped it…

Steep 8/Twenty Seconds
- Still a little bitter/peppery but better; didn’t feel the need to dump this one
- Otherwise the same as last

Steep 9/Twenty-Five Seconds
- It’s not bad, but it’s kind of boring now?
- Not really bitter/astringent though but the present flavours are dull/flat
- Orange, malt, cinnamon, black pepper, raisin
- Yeah, calling this one as my last steep even though it’s not totally brewed out yet

Honestly, I’m probably never going to be a twenty steep kind of person. I just hit a point during my session where I either don’t like enough of the infusions back to back that I don’t want to continue brewing or I simply get bored. Today, it’s a little bit of both?

I also skimmed CS’s website description of this one and I found it very interesting they described it as vegetal ’cause at no point during this session did I really associate the flavour profile with those sort of notes. The closest I think you could get would be the peppery quality I experienced late into the session, but for me I was definitely thinking something more inline with like black pepper…

I don’t know where I want to rate this one overall; I greatly enjoyed the start of the session but the end of it wasn’t so great. I think that probably averages out to a just sort of mediocre session? I’m gonna hold off on rating though until I get a chance to revisit this one either Gong Fu again or just Western style. This session was a pretty nice way to kill a few hours of the afternoon though! Just very relaxing overall.

Cold Brew Sipdown (407)!

I was looking for something to cold brew last night and I came across this one that, if I’m being honest about, I’d forgotten was still in my cupboard. I used to really, really like this one for a fruity/berry option that was highly caffeinated but as of late I’ve replaced it with DT’s Just Beet It blend so there’s really no reason for me to hold onto it anymore…

It is very sweet and fruity though; I’m getting lots of notes of mixed berry with an almost maple like undertone and a bit of grassiness from the base. It reminds me a little bit of Saskatoon Berry, or even just raspberry or blueberry, syrup. The kind that, as a kid, I used to just LOAD my pancakes and waffles with. It doesn’t really have any tartness from the hibiscus/any sort of “bite” to it either, just a smooth mixed berry flavour. I bet if I’d let this cold brew for much longer it would have been a little too sickly sweet, but as it currently stands it’s pretty perfectly smooth. A mix between juice-like and syrupy, but still with tea/yerba mate elements.

Song Pairing: https://youtu.be/apvtTQ6BjXA

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.

I’m a bit behind on How To Get Away With Murder, so I made myself up an extra special tea treat/dessert to both sip on and eat while I watch the three episodes I need to get through to catch up…

What is that treat, you ask? A cold brewed Nutty Granola Crunch “float”! So, basically, I took my 25 oz. mason jar and cold brewed some of this one just like I normally would. However, then after I had strained it I added in two and a half scoops of vanilla ice cream, a cocoa dusting on top for aesthetic and a hint of flavour, and some candied cherries! So pretty looking, so decadent, and so much yum!

This was really delicious! The tea itself is quite creamy already with notes of smooth, creamy peanut butter and coconut undertones. The vanilla ice cream doesn’t at all change that but instead amplifies it so that it’s creamy and rich to an extreme level. Plus, it’s got that super thick creamy “melted icecream” mouthfeel too now, which is just the bomb. Literally, it’s just the sweetest creamy peanut butter flavour! Plus, the bites/sips with the cocoa powder dust on them almost have a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup vibe going on.

Ahhhh! Dessert tea overload, in the best way!

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.

Midday cuppa.

Opened the bag of this to measure out the leaf needed for the brew and I just instantly knew that not only would it be a good cup but it was gonna be a good afternoon too. This is just one of those teas that is reassurance in a cup. Sweet, refreshing, upbeat and positive! I love the brightness of the orange and like that it’s not acidic because I think that if this tea had that acidity to it that the bite from that would take you out of the cup and the experience too much. The cucumber? It’s cooling and refreshing and makes everything feel fresh!

Sadly the coffee store that carried this one in town, where I originally got it from, no longer carries it which is just awful news. It’s not on Tiesta’s website either – so now I’m stuck in the hard place of deciding whether or not to ration this/hoard it forever or to embrace a sipdown sooner rather than later…

Tough choice to make.

Iced tea.

I was really, really craving the strong and sweet grape/currant notes of this one so I decided to dip into the small bag I stocked up on before we sold out of this tea during the summer. I cracked open the bag and took a big inhale of the aroma and it was so satisfying. Seriously; it was exactly what I had been craving in terms of flavour.

I brewed my iced tea exactly the same way I would have if I had been making it in store while I was working and I was so excited to try it after I had it all strained/prepared. However, I took my first sips and my excitement soon faded. It was weak. Like, really weak – at least compared to the delicious, and hella satisfying aroma I had only just inhaled. What the heck? I’ve never had issues with this producing a weak brew before! I mean, it was good but just NOT as satisfying as I wanted it to be…

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.

I was just in the mood for something really different this morning, so I opted for this one.

I did add a little honey to it because as much as I just wanted something different I wasn’t quite ready to kick off the morning with something so earthy/savory without getting a little sweetness out of the cup. It was actually very good with the honey; it exaggerated some of the notes that are often present in the cup but not main focuses like nut, cocoa, and espresso notes! The rest of the flavour wasn’t so much “bean-y” as it was earthy – really earthy, actually with soft smoke undertones and a roasty toasty quality.

Love this one! It’s so unique, and pleasant and smooth.

Had this tea for supper today… Kinda.

No, I didn’t just make a bowl of soup/broth and call that my supper; instead I made mashed butter potatoes with a tablespoon of this mixed into them to season/add flavour. Add a tiny baby handful of shredded cheese on top and you have supper! I think I chose this one for seasoning as part of the rosemary kick I’ve been on as of late; the flavour was actually significantly more weighted towards the black pepper in the tea/soup mix though so that was basically the bulk of what I experienced. Still really tasty though! I definitely plan on using this one a lot more with cooking.

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.

One of the teas I grabbed from C4 when I was on vacation!

I’ll be completely honest; I think this tea was SUPER overpriced for what I paid for it, and I looked at the ingredients prior and I’m almost positive that steeped up I’m going to find the taste of this tea average at best. I still felt like I needed to buy it though; there was something about the idea of buying fandom inspired teas at Comic Con that just deeply drew me in as a concept. I was also thinking a little bit of my sister when I chose this one in particular; I don’t dislike Harley Quinn myself but I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan either. My knowledge of the character is probably pretty average. However, my sister is obsessed with Harley Quinn so I thought that this was something I could probably also share with her that she’d have a strong appreciation of.

Aesthetically speaking, the tea is pretty gorgeous! The sprinkles in the blend actually add a really stunning pop of colour – the greens/blues in particular really appeal to me since they’re something you generally don’t see in tea blends with this sort of pigmentation. It doesn’t stop there though; the peppercorns add an equally pretty red colour and I find that with how many there are in combination with the black tea base that it’s actually channeling that red/black colour pairing that’s so distinct with Harley’s traditional appearance. I’ve always loved that look more than the red/blue that’s associated with her so much now because of the Suicide Squad movie.

The aroma, but dry and steeping, is very chocolate heavy. Hints of strawberry and just candy in general. I guess that sort of sweet candy/dessert tea flavour makes a lot of sense to me with her character. For whatever reason I don’t think that’s what I would have chosen if I were making a HQ blend myself but now that I’ve been presented with it as a concept I’m on board. There’s also this sort of romantic connotation, I think, with the whole “chocolate covered strawberry” thing too, and while I don’t personally love Harley & The Joker together because of the abusive nature of the relationship I think it’d be remiss to not have some sort of nod to that relationship since it is a BIG part of her character. And the little bit of spice from the peppercorn also feels appropriate.

Taking my first sips now…

Yeah, it’s very chocolate heavy in terms of flavour. Like, the whole sip is just dominated by the presence of this milk chocolate taste. It doesn’t particularly strike me as a nice milk chocolate flavour though: quite artificial, and it even has that waxy quality that low quality milk chocolate has. The rest is a bit of a mess. Hints of strawberry in the top of the sip, but it’s a quick hint of flavour, and then it vanishes. I actually want more of it; a lot more of it – I think it could probably salvage some of the clusterfuck that comes next.

So, after that fleeting strawberry taste, I’m hit with the peppercorn and I have to say that I really don’t like it. It’s not that it’s too spicy or that it tickles my throat in a bad way or anything: it just tastes really dull and stale and I’m sorry but the taste of stale peppercorns is pretty fucking low on my list of preferred flavours. Then there’s this flavour that’s a little hard to explain: I don’t know where it’s coming from but it’s REALLY strong in the finish and quite lingering. It reminds me of… bell pepper? But also not as fresh/natural as a bell pepper. It’s almost like an artificial bell pepper flavour, than then was paired with cheap milk chocolate. It’s kind of awful.

I don’t know, in theory this had a lot of promise and conceptually I don’t think the ideas/ingredients were bad both in terms of character representation or with how they should have worked with one another. The execution is just awful though, and it makes for a mighty unpleasant cup of tea.

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

So, I have a theory that you could pair ANY Lorde song with Harley Quinn as a character and it would work perfectly. However, I like this one in particular. Not totally sure why; just really vibes well with me. If the tea was actually good tasting, then I think this would have been an EXCELLENT pairing.

Hot cuppa, but with a twist.

So, DAVIDsTEA is selling tea infused hot chocolate sticks this year. Basically, it’s a giant cube of tea infused chocolate with an identically sized marshmallow on top that you stir into a cup of water or tea, and when it melts it infuses into your water/tea making a very rich tea hot chocolate.

One of the flavours we’re doing it a Matcha Matsu white chocoate and while I was steeping this I couldn’t stop thinking about how that would probably be a really nice pairing with this tea. I mean, it would amp up some of the green tea notes in the tea, and Genmaicha/green tea in general already pairs so well with white chocolate: strawberries too, for that matter! I really wasn’t interested in the marshmallow though, and I didn’t want it to be as strong as the whole ‘cube’ or matcha matsu chocolate would make it. So instead I just bought one of the matcha matsu mini chocolate bars and mixed in a single piece of it into my steeped tea.

It actually worked really well too! I was correct, and the steeped up tea and chocolate combo tasted a lot more vegetal and green, with some distincter marine qualities to it too. That actually wound up being the main flavour of the whole cup. It also tasted creamier, although the mouthfeel was NOT as creamy as the flavour. It was actually kind of oily, from the melted down chocolate. This wasn’t shocking though; in fact it was pretty expected. Both the soft strawberry notes and roastiness kind of settled into more of an undertone/finishing note in the sip. Softer, but not lost.

I actually really liked it! It was something a little more different I could do with the tea to change up the flavour, but that wasn’t too crazy in how it changed it. I mean, it still tasted like Strawberry Genmaicha – just with a little “extra” going on.

Tea Press!

So, I bought this one in July and I remember being SUPER excited about it because of the fandom aspect and then also just the description of the tea in general. I don’t know why it took me so long to even get around to trying it, honestly…

I’m actually a little disappointed though. The listing for this tea describes it as tasting like rootbeer, which is the element that made me very excited for it. However, in practice I don’t think there’s ANYTHING in this that reminds me of rootbeer at all. In fact, it’s actually pretty darn similar to The Forest Witch’s Butterbeer blend just without the creamy/coconut components. That’s not terrible but it’s not what I was stoked about. So basically, it’s a very allspice and clove heavy profile with some cinnamon undertones too. I like clove a lot, personally, so I’ll definitely finish this if it continues to be a really clove strong flavour. However I didn’t really need another spicy tea added to my cupboard.

Welp.