16396 Tasting Notes
Admittedly, it was the name of this tea that initially caught my eye but when I saw the ingredients I found myself as equally intrigued by them as I was the name.
The idea of lemon and mint isn’t really unique, but I don’t know that I’ve tried them yet on a black base without other ingredients thrown into the mix that were more dominant flavours than the two. Plus, the fact it’s spearmint is also just a hair more unique. Now, the tea was intended to be drank as a cold brew or iced tea, but I’ve had an irritated throat/bit of a cold the last week so I opted to first try this as a hot tea since both lemon and mint are things that can be relaxing/soothing when you’re ill.
Flavour wise, this was really solid. I firmly believe that it reads as so well executed and balance because of the simplicity of the ingredients, though. You don’t need an ingredients list a paragraph long to put together good flavour. Now, I’m not saying it’s not possible to have a tea with that much going into to that teas good; but sometimes things just get muddled. This is smooth, rich and full bodied with equal parts sweet spearmint, bright lemon, and complex black tea. The lemon is tiniest bit pithy, in a pleasant way, and the black tea is a mix of malt, cocoa, and cinnamon notes.
With a hint of honey this could make a REALLY killer sick tea, but I’m also looking forward to trying it iced – I imagine it’ll be smooth and refreshing!
Iced, with honey.
Brought some of this from my personal stash with me to work to drink there since we’re all sold out of this one now at my store. It’s one I really like, but I bought so much of it when it was announced that it was retiring that I didn’t feel guilty using some of my stash during the period where I was feeling a touch sick/had a cold.
Mostly when I’m sick I drink hot tea, but I felt like I was overheating at work a little bit so I went for an iced tea instead. Like always, it was insanely fruity and juicy with very bright, sweet and plump notes of pomegranate and undertones of sweet grass, and raspberry. Even with the honey, it was a very crisp, clean profile and taste!
Uber hydrating.
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.
Another one, from the period of time where I was sick but not really ‘full blown’ sick.
I know this is definitely not a conventional ‘sick tea’, especially when you’re talking about DAVIDsTEA – a company that actually has a whole line up teas meant for when you’re feeling under the weather. I don’t know though, I just really lean in hard to citrus teas when I’m feeling ill. Hot lemon or orange is… comforting?
I don’t know that they actually do anything other than the small amount of vitamin C I may be consuming because of them? I’d think that would be pretty small though. It’s relaxing though! That’s almost especially weird in the case of this tea too, since when you steep it hot it’s pretty much a sour orange flavour, with tart apple and passionfruit undertones. Sour/acidic orange is not what I’d normally go for in a hot beverage.
The body wants what the body wants, though.
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.
Hot, with milk and honey.
This is another that I grabbed to drink because of the mild cold I’ve got going on. I figured that with how much I’ve been struggling with this one as of late, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if it tasted a bit weird or was even just flat out undrinkable. I mean, it kind of borders on that during a good day, so…
Actually; it was probably the best it’s ever been though!? And of course that raises the question of whether or not that’s because I was sick and my palate was off in the first place OR if the milk and honey were just really good additions. I mean, it certainly felt like/tasted like they were softening/mellowing out the chalky and chemical notes in the tea, and just really embracing the creamy element of things, with a soft peach undertone. It wasn’t amazing, but it was good.
And in the case of this tea, good is as good as I’ve gotten…
I’m getting a cold, so I’ve been drinking a lot of tea with honey.
It’s not a full blown cold yet though so I haven’t switched to pure mint/Cold 911 mode yet though. So, I’m drinking teas that I enjoy but that I wouldn’t be heartbroken about if they tasted a little off or were spoiled a bit by a messed up palate.
This didn’t taste bad though! Just very light and sweet, with smooth floral notes of rose and jasmine and a brighter, juicy mid note of lychee. All accompanied by the flavour of honey, of course. Very peaceful/relaxing and not even remotely off. Maybe I’ll luck out and this is the worst this cold will get…
So, I stole this from a 7-11 the other day…
Not consciously, of course! I was grabbing some ice cream, and I noticed that the store had switched bagged tea brands so I decided to see what the offerings were. Generic chai, Earl Grey, Chamomile, green tea, nothing really exciting. Except for this herbal which looked like it had the potential to be interesting.
I paid for my Ben & Jerry’s and walked home, only then did I realize I still had the teabag in my non dominant hand… Oops!
‘ll just pay for a tea next time I’m at that sev, and not take a teabag. That seems like it should balance out, right? I did try the tea though; hot. It wasn’t anything super unique/special but it wasn’t bad either! I thought it was pleasantly tart, and had a good mixed berry flavour. Blackberry/blueberry is sort of what I was leaning towards in terms of flavour. I knew there was something else too; but I couldn’t place what exactly until I saw the entry for this on steepster – it was the orange in the mix! It didn’t taste super citrusy in the blend, but I think it added sweetness and a touch of diversity to the flavour.
Not bad, honestly! I would drink this again, but not pay for it (or steal it).
Cold Brew.
Not at bad as the last few times I’ve tried this in terms of sheer bitterness/astringency and chemical flavour – however, it was still a little artificial and had a REALLY pithy tasting lemon flavour undercut by the orange notes. Drinkable, but still not pleasant…
I don’t know what I’m gonna do with the rest of this one.
Latte!
I’m just enjoying this one at work before we sell out of it and it’s gone forever. It’s not one I plan to stock up on at all, but I do like it so getting in a cup every now and then is still worthwhile. We’re down to the last quarter of the tin of this, and then for my store at least it’s gone for good…
This latte tasted like chocolate milk with nutmeg; enjoyable and simple. Oddly enough, the froth/foam had a touch of blueberry to it, but I didn’t notice it in the bulk/body of the profile like I normally do. Not complaining; just a quirky observation.
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 (339)!
Finished off as an iced tea.
I over leafed this one a lot; both to finish the tea off quicker but also to try and get more ginseng flavour. Obviously, I accomplished the first part of that strategy. As for the flavour? It worked… kind of. I did think this was stronger, with a sweeter and more prominent ginseng flavour and a nice woody/sap quality too. However, it was also a little bitter and tannic from the excessive amount of leaf. So a mixed bag of pros and cons.
Oh well; it’s done, and I don’t need to worry about it.
Sipdown (340)!
This is a really frustrating sipdown for me – but probably not for the reasons you’d think. I finished this one off this time around as a latte and it was absolutely delicious. Sweet, bright notes of kiwi (kumquat?) with a really rich, thick mouthfeel and creamy/tangy cheesecake flavour amplified by the latte format. It was insanely delicious, and really unique.
I’m frustrated thought because this is such an insanely unique tea and I really, really would have liked to continue exploration of it – but I only got two cups of it. I mean, that’s 100% my fault because it was this latte that just totally murdered the leaf/used it all up. If I wanted more cups, I should have split up the leaf and steeped this normally as a hot tea.
So I’m stuck between the fact I had an AMAZING latte that I do not regret making, and the fact that I really wanted to have more experiences with this tea…
