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Tea Press!

Ok, I’m learning! Last time I thought this was way to weak/watery tasting so this time around I doubled the amount of leaf I originally had used, and gave it about three more minutes of steep time. The resulting brew was way more satisfying! Very sweet with, in my opinion, quite a distinct winter green flavour without that kind of harsh minty/menthol finishing that sometimes winter green flavoured things, like candy or gum, have. I also thought it had a touch of a herbaceous sort of undertone, which does make some sense to me since this is actual wintergreen leaf and not just a wintergreen flavoured tisane/blend.

I shared it with some coworkers too, without telling them what it was. Both agreed it was minty, but likened the flavour to bubblegum as well. I definitely didn’t personally see that beforehand but after having it pointed out to me I can see where they were coming from.

Song Pairing: https://youtu.be/oTgYqm76ILo

Another more unique flavour Pu option from Cornelia Bean!

To be perfectly honest, when I grabbed this one I wasn’t totally sure I was actually going to like it but I thought it was super unique/I’d never seen a pu’erh flavoured like this so I figured I’d probably really end up kicking myself if I passed it up. Today, I made it iced in my tea press because I figured that it’d likely be well suited to iced prep since it is inspired by a cocktail.

I actually enjoyed it quite a bit! My first observation was actually just how straight forward I found the flavour to be. The top notes are light, fleeting earthy tones from the Pu’erh base and then the body is a very full bodied, stretched out lime note that persists for quite a long period of time, but then finishes really crisply and cleanly. I think a lot of that freshness and crisp/clean profile can be attributed to the mint in the blend, although I don’t actually think the profile of the tea tasted all that minty. It was really unique seeing a lime flavour on a base like this, and I liked that it was sweeter and not really acidic/sour. Really satisfying, actually!

I think this would make a KILLER cocktail base too! Maybe I’m influenced a little by the music I was listening to, but I’d like to see it either paired with tequila or a mix of rum and ginger beer! That would be so good.

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

Cold Brew!

Sipped on this today while we got a new dryer installed.

Ours kicked the bucket about a month ago, so for close to a month now I’ve been very slowly trying to use as little clothing as possible because while we had a way to wash it, we had no method of drying it. The installation today was good timing ’cause I was down to one more viable pair of pants, and only a few more more pairs of PJ pants.

This was my first time trying this one cold brewed, and I have to say it makes a world of difference flavour wise. For starters, it’s really not tart or hibiscus heavy at all. Or, at least, not in the way that it is as a hot or iced tea. Instead it’s mostly very smooth and mellow/fruity cherry and cranberry notes with some other nice, pleasant fruity undertones such as the apple and pineapple. Didn’t really get much fig, and didn’t get any of the peppercorns. The small bit of tartness that is present comes from the cranberry, and it’s pretty well balanced out with sweetness.

Just overall a very, very delicious cold brew that basically highlights all the best aspects you get of this one as a hot and as an iced tea!

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 from today.

I’m on a big rosemary kick right now; teas with rosemary, rosemary in my cooking, rosemary infused hand lotions and lip balms…

I mean, there’s no real reason for it at all; it’s just one of those phases you stumble into and they just kind of roll with. So, I think I subconsciously gravitated towards this one today because it’s got those strong rosemary undertones to it. I know there are other flavours present for sure but today those were the ones I focused in on, and nothing else.

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

Mix this song and the cup of tea, and you have a very zen/peaceful and relaxing online Christmas shopping and sing-a-longs. Good thing the only person around to witness it was the cat.

Grabbed this one around a month ago when I was looking at adding more rooibos/caffeine free options to my cupboard. The name is what originally caught my attention; it’s really weird, and I still don’t understand what the inspiration behind it was?

Visually, this is a really pretty tea – it’s got snowflake sprinkles (a pun on the “cool” part of the name?), shiny silver ball sprinkes, and almond and fruit chunks. I think what I’m most excited about in terms of flavour is the possibility of an almond/fruit tea that doesn’t also include spices. For example, I like DT’s Alpine Punch and Sleigh Ride blends but they’re very similar to me and I’d like something in the same flavour family but with a more simple profile. Dry aroma is very, very heavy on the almond.

Steeped up? I’m a little disappointed that I can’t taste the papaya at all. That said, I did get my wish in terms of a simple flavour profile because this is like 90% just the flavour of almond/marzipan with like 10% rooibos base undertones. I think when I get used to the fact this is just a really almond heavy flavour I’ll enjoy it a lot, but right now I’m a touch disappointed. It’s smooth though, and a little creamy with good body and sweetness proportions. Likely would make for a good latte, or now that we’re getting into the winter season an eggnog latte?

Yeah; I’m down with that idea.

Song Pairing: https://youtu.be/mSeavLw703I

Sipdown (407)!

Finished this one off yesterday with a bit of milk splashed in too.

So; I bring with a little clutch bag of different tea samples to work every day just depending on what I’m in the mood for or what I want to sipdown and I’ve actually had this in that bag for over a week now. I just kept putting off drinking it because I wasn’t in the mood – finally I told myself yesterday that I needed to brew it up because I’d been putting it off for so long. I’m glad I did, once again I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked this one!

Very smooth and soft flavours with the sweetness of coconut and then a lemony body note from all of the lemongrass. I got to learn all about lemongrass harvesting today in a webinar I went to so even though I wasn’t as informed when I actually drank this one I’m definitely in an appreciative mindset of all the work that goes into it as I’m writing this tasting note today. Lemongrass and I have a polarizing relationship; but I think there’s definitely more respect towards the people who grow and process it now.

The finish was spicier; definitely the heart of where the “chai” part of this tea comes into affect. Cinnamon and ginger notes for the most part. Pretty soft and warming all in all with a nice creamy undertone from the coconut/milk.

I think I’d be really interested to see this sort of flavour done with a bubble tea; but as for this specific tea? I’m happy I tried it; it took me out of my comfort zone in a few different ways. That said, I wouldn’t want to actually spend money on it so I doubt we’ll cross paths again.

Cold Brew!

Sipping on this one right now; there’s still a very artificial/chemical quality to the flavour of this one but I do like it much, much better than I did the first time around. Definitely a drinkable brew, even if it’s not a very enjoyable one. Flavour notes are basically gross apricot and overpowering bergamot, and then a really artificial nutty finish. Toss in perhaps some funky floral undertones and you’ve basically got the whole thing packaged up. Not a pretty package though; like something wrapped with written on looseleaf and tied together with yarn.

I started sipping it at the beginning of an online webinar about herbal tea/botanical harvesting though, and it was an hour long webinar so once it had started I couldn’t really walk away to get make something else for myself. So I actually did finish the whole thing. Twenty five ounces of it…

The webinar was really interesting! It was very cool seeing some of the harvesting techniques for different herbals because they very so greatly from Camellia Sinensis. In particular, I was fascinated learning about Rosehip in that degree of detail, as well as Chamomile. Like, personally I hate chamomile but it’s still fascinating the process it goes through!

Definitely a good class!

Evening pot of tea!

One of the things I found really cool about Cornelia Bean when I went to the store was the diversity of their Pu’erh selection. A lot of local tea stores or tea/coffee joint stores tend to have VERY limited Pu’erh options: a generic shou, maybe a sheng, and possibly like a dessert pu’erh? You know, chocolate or toffee? Cornelia Bean had some really unique options though, which I definitely took advantage of – grabbing three of the several flavoured pu’erh options they carried.

Dry, this one smells strongly of black licorice/anise. Obviously that’s to be expected with a name like “Anise Pu’erh”, so if you’re smelling this one and expecting that not to be the case then that’s kind of nuts? If you do like anise/licorice, though, then this is right up your alley! So potent and aromatic. Just rich, indulgent and so intense.

Steeped, it’s a lot less monotone in flavour than the dry aroma would have you believe. I mean, it’s clearly a really strong black licorice/anise flavour but it’s not the only thing coming through. There’s also a mix of fairly strong earthy and woody notes, which give this a bit of an unrefined/natural sort of quality that I’m digging quite a bit. Other things going on in this are some cinnamon undertones, and a bit of an almost salty finish? The saltyness of the pu’erh combined with the black licorice notes REALLY makes me think of Salmiak, ie. Finnish Salted Liquorice.

It’s very smooth overall; and makes for a sweet and relaxing evening pot of tea that works as a dessert flavour, albeit not your typical one. I’m a fan!

Tea Press.

Yeah, I messed up and oversteeped this by a lot. I was making it in the morning before I left for work to bring with me and I got really caught up in getting ready and forgot the teapress was on the counter waiting to get pushed down. I don’t know how long it steeped in total.

What I do know is that this had a very bitter/astringent edge to it and I wasn’t able to taste any of the beautiful, silky vanilla notes that this tea should have. So that was a big disappointment. It wasn’t so bad I couldn’t drink it, and I did eventually add some milk and that helped soften some of the roughness. Totally not what I wanted from this one though when I chose it this morning.

Latttteeee!

Ok; this is 100% a new guilty pleasure of mine. I mean, it’s so incredibly sweet but I’m a sucked for that really rich, creamy mint profile! Add a little vanilla agave swirl to the top of the tower of milk foam and it just pushes it as close to the extreme as you can get, in terms of cloying flavour, without actually going across the line.

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.