16396 Tasting Notes
So, the other day I measured out 300g of this for a customer.
The entire store smelled beautifully of tangerine, and I realized it had been months since I last drank this tea. Of course, that same day I wound up buying a small 30g pouch of it to have at home. For a while this was one of my most consumed teas, back in the days before tea swaps and frequent online orders.The smell and taste of it is almost nostalgic that way.
I brewed this one up hot, at home, because I had no patience to wait to make an iced tea. The tangerine notes were lively, and vibrant and it was almost as if they were dancing on my tongue! It felt like a reunion. Not a crappy family or highschool one either, but like a reunion of a long lost friend or your dog that ran away, that you thought would never come back – but look, a week later something is scratching at your door and low and behold it’s Fido! He’s found his way back home! He loves you!
Yeah, like that – except it’s tangerine, grapefruit, and eucalyptus and it’s been nearly a year and not a week…
You get the point.
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 (338)!
Wow, my cupboard has just exploded…
With how much my cupboard has expanded, I knew it was time to get in some sipdowns and while I’m personally quite sad to see this tea go, this was a very enjoyable sipdown flavour wise. I just need to have some self control now, and not go out and buy more of it.
But yes! Deliciously strong fennel/anise notes contrasted by a super vibrant pop of candied green apple flavour! I think this tea is so unique, and distinct tasting and I absolutely love the flavour combination. At times I think it can tread a little too much into that overlap of astringent/bitter but the sweetness of the ingredients used generally saves it. It’s also one of those teas that I badly want to share with other people, but also that I feel the need to completely hoard for myself.
It’s a good thing that my boyfriend can’t drink it anyway; the apple in this would kill him. That makes me feel a lot less guilty for not sharing…
So, I have had this one before – however it was years back and I don’t at all remember what I felt about it. Judging by my “60” rating I’m guessing I likely thought it was relatively mediocre, though?
It’s one that I got my mom to pick up for me on her last trip, specifically because I know it’s relatively popular and I wanted a mix of things that were popular and that personally interested me for this, likely, last Teavana order.
I made this one iced, and I’m not really sure what I expected but I don’t think it was the flavour that I ended up getting. It’s not that it tasted bad, it just tasted very, very light/mild. Like, a super watered down strawberry flavour with some hints of floral rose in the background. More of a soft, rose water kind of floral though than anything with real weight to it. That’s not a BAD thing – but given that the dry leaf certainly has much punch to it, I found it very surprising.
The other thing that kind of tripped me out was the lack of mint flavour! I could sort of smell it in the dry leaf (it wasn’t super strong there either though) but in the infused cup I found it completely absent. Since this has both peppermint and spearmint in it I just think the flavour should be at least lightly present! It’s weird that such a key element of the tea was just non existent.
Anyway; it was more that drinkable overall and really refreshing. Just not what I’d expected. I actually feel like my ‘60’ rating from years ago it probably still really spot on!
I bought this when I first got into tea and didn’t know I hated Teavana yet
And what did you think of it back then?
I liked it at first but then I think I stopped liking it when I realized there were better options. I wonder if I sent some your way and that’s when you had it before?
It’s totally possible! I think a lot of the Teavana blends I’ve tried prior to now have come from you :)
So, my Step Mom actually recommended this company to me because she knew that I was getting a bit more into Kombucha – I’m not sure for what particular reason, but I’m pretty sure this is her favourite company that sells Kombucha.
I started with trying their grape flavour, because it seemed a little more unique to me and I do really love grape drinks…
I actually thought it tasted surprisingly like Grape Crush/Fanta but just less sweet overall. That really surprised me, because as far as I’m aware Grape Crush is largely artificially flavoured and this uses actual grape juice!? However, it was a pleasant surprise because without the overwhelming sugar the flavour of grape soda is pretty damn tasty.
It also has that acidic/vinegar like quality that most Kombucha has to me; however I don’t mind it even a little bit in this one. Maybe that’s because I’ve tried enough kombucha now to get used to it? Or maybe it’s because that vinegar quality easily hides itself in something grape flavoured. I don’t know.
Anyway; this one was REALLY good. I think, actually, the best bottle/over the counter kombucha I’ve tried yet!
This is a queued tasting note.
So, the flavour of this one continues to feel just slightly out of place to me and while that would normally be a negative, in the case of this tea I think it works perfectly.
I will say this last cup was fairly heavy on the combined sweetness of the caramel/honey notes, and that the lemon was a distinct flavour however everything else just comes together in this very pleasant but hard to pinpoint amalgam of other flavours. A little coconut, a little apple, some rosemary…
You get the idea.
Still, it’s sweet, fruity and… other. I love it.
Iced latte.
Something about this one as an iced latte reminded me really strongly of chocolate milk, but with a sweet banana undertone to it. Hints of coconut, as well. Really, really into this one lately…
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.
Latte!
Mostly just sweet, creamy and melon-y. It’s got a very strong honeydew flavour, and something about it REALLY tastes familiar to me; so much so that it’s giving me a bad case a deja vu. I can’t place what the honeydew is reminding me of, 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.
Sipdown (310)!
Thanks VariaTea for this tea! I was curious about it, but not enough to buy it when it came out so this is a good opportunity to sate that curiosity. Turns out, I missed out by not buying it because this is actually REALLY good.
I expected the smoke notes to be a lot stronger, but this is actually pretty sweet with lots of fresh tasting coconut notes! It’s very light, all things considered and I enjoy that it reminds me of sweet, buttery coconut pastries! The smoke is present too, but it’s more of a soft, subtle smoke that creeps in from the back of the sip and slowly builds upwards – though not penetrating the top notes at all. It’s both an interesting compliment and contrast to the coconut notes…
Definitely one of the better coconut teas I’ve had in a LONG time.
So, I’ve decided that regardless of the fact that this tea is caffeinated it’s the most perfect before bed cup of tea, because the combination of sweet, natural tasting wildberries and cooling, crisp mint in the finish is SO incredibly relaxing/pacifying that after slurping down a mug of the tea I can’t help but conk out and go right to bed.
In a very, very good way.
Damn this tea was one of the best tea decisions I’ve ever made. Honestly! I think I 100% need to get more of it blended for me, in a larger quantity once I run out of this small batch. Mmm!
Oddly spicy!
Notes of cumin, cinnamon, and bark and then the more typical notes of malt, and cocoa. If I hadn’t have known better, I almost would have said that the spicier elements of this tea reminded me of a Keemun (without the underlying fruity/jammy qualities) or August Uncommon’s Port of Shadows tea…
Very different compared to the last two cups I had, for sure.
