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Cold Brew Sipdown (293)!

So, I started this one as a cold brew AGES ago, and then I kept putting off straining and drinking it because I really didn’t like the tea when I originally had it. So, I think it got like a six day steep? That must have been what it needed though, because last night this was cool, crisp sweet spearmint and hardly ANYTHING else. Like, maybe a bit of licorice root? But not a whole lot, and not much green tea either.

And that spearmint taste was GOOD.

So, I recently placed an Adagio order.

The main thing I was looking for was Jasmine Silver Needle, but since it had been a LONG time since my last order I figured I’d poke around and look at the new fandom teas since I’ve definitely joined some different fandoms since my last order. One big thing I noticed as different is that the site now offers fandom blends in sample sizes outside of the themed and featured “Fandom Samplers”. That’s new to me! Also, a big improvement I think – if I remember correctly last time I ordered I got the Hobbit sampler and then the other three teas I wanted to try I had to order in the 3 oz. size…

I’ve also tried enough Adagio blends at this point that I’m not just looking for fandoms I like or specific characters; a blend has to sound like it’ll actually taste good and the flavours will compliment each other for it to catch my eye too – and that’s how I wound up getting this Steven Universe tea over many of the others! Lets be real, Watermelon Steven isn’t exactly a character – it’s a cute/weird thing that essentially happens in one episode. I like that it’s loosely fandom though, and the flavour idea seemed pretty solid so I decided to give it a shot!

Actually? I think this is probably one of the better Adagio Fan Blends I’ve tried! I mean, reigning favourite is still Cara McGee’s The Woman BUT this is actually really pleasant, and I feel like it finds a good balance between both tea in the blends with accent ingredients that actually do something too.

The top note is Watermelon; a softer, mellow one with a touch of sweetness and a slight nip of tangyness, exaggerated by the tartness of a few other ingredients like the hibiscus, rosehip, and cranberry. I was worried the watermelon actually wouldn’t taste clearly like melon, but I’m pleasantly surprised that it does! The body is more a mix of fruit flavours: apple, cranberry and watermelon specifically. You can totally that the hibiscus, but in a pretty light and restrained way. I definitely wouldn’t call hibiscus one of the main flavours in this cuppa.

I found in that body sip/main flavour that’s kind of where the vanilla honeybush introduced itself: the sweeter, mellow apple/watermelon combo kind of gives way to this really quite delicate vanilla flavour in the transition of the main flavour to the finishing notes. I don’t think it packs a punch, but then again neither does Steven either. I like that it’s more delicate and then in the finish of the sip a little more fully realized alongside the woody/honeyed quality of the Honeybush base. It’s a nice way to end the sip, and keeps the blend from feeling overly fruity.

I think actually my favourite thing in the blend was the consistent undertone of rose, though! The floral flavour was a great tie in for the mixture of fruits and then the vanilla and honeybush. It’s not that they didn’t fit together on their own, but this made that blend seem a little more smooth and seamless. Ignoring the fact this tea is inspired by Watermelon Steven for a second; I also think that undertone of Rose kind of poetically parallels the character of Steven Universe as well. He is Steven; his own distinct being BUT his mother Rose Quartz will always be a part of him, and is essential to his character as well. This is just Steven Universe… but also watermelon.

ANYWAY! Overall? I’m impressed! Not just with the tea, but the tie in to the character as well – and with these Adagio Fan Blends I think you need both for them to be successful.

While I have certainly tried different tisanes from Dammann Freres before, I’m pretty sure this is the first one I’ve actually purchased myself. I just don’t find them as unique or stand out as the rest of the teas they carry, typically – so I’d generally rather put my money towards other teas.

This one just caught my eye though; I’m a sucker for pistachio flavoured this and I was really curious how they were going to convey that pistachio flavour effectively in a tisane with A LOT of tart ingredients like hibiscus/rosehip (that often drown out other flavours) and no actual pistachio in the mix. The price wasn’t bad, so I figured I’d just find out…

I drank this one hot the first time around; but I feel like it’s much more suited for iced or cold brewed preparation – I was just too impatient to wait to try it as such initially.

- Very sweet strawberry; juicy AND tart
- Hibiscus-y undertones, as well
- It would be pretty generic if it weren’t from the pistachio
- It’s not SUPER realistic/natural tasting… but it is really present as a top note
- Kind of like a pistachio candy!?
- I wasn’t sure how it would work with the strawberry, but I actually like the two together

I’m actually surprised just how well the pistachio came through all things considered – and I bet if I did make it iced like I originally thought it would be suited for that the pistachio would be even clearer since there would be a lot less tart hibiscus flavour that hot brewing results in. Overall? It’s actually pretty good/unique!

We were sampling this one yesterday in stores, and I found myself constantly drifting over to the sampling station and slurping back tiny little sample cups of the brewed up iced tea…

It was weird though: every time I’d sip the sample cup down and just shudder and make some comment to the effect of “Ugh; that’s far too tart/sour!” but then half an hour later I’d go right back and do it all over again. This tea and I definitely have a love hate relationship.

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.

Drank this one last night before bed.

At a certain point, I almost forgot that I was actually drinking tulsi because this was so clove-like in flavour last night! Legit, my sister asked what I was drinking and I actually responded with “steeped clov- wait, no shit! It’s tulsi not cloves!”. She just shrugged; I’m sure she really didn’t care either way and was just making polite conversation.

I do really love this one though; it’s nice having it as a herbal/before bed option instead of all the really fruity herbals in my stash. It’s more ‘tea like’ in a way…

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCF9bm-vTqE&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=4

(I’m really into Foster The People’s new music!)

Iced.

Really, really heavy on the buttery coconut notes today. In fact, that flavour was so dominant and in your face that literally everyone I shared this with today made comment of that – and between sharing sips with the not-boyfriend and my coworkers that worked out to, like six people!?

Custom tea number three from BlendBee!

This was the only one I made with a honeybush/caffeine base – and interestingly, the package it shipped it actually has it marked as containing caffeine despite there being no chocolate/tea leaf in the blend. I wonder what the ingredient is that’s supposedly “caffeinated”? This was also sort of an experimental tea/idea – I wanted to convey an emotion/feeling rather than a specific taste or imagery. I also wanted that emotion to be something more… obscure?

So I went with Monochopsis, which is something I can related to a lot of the time. Basically, Monochopsis is “the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place”. So, lets get tasting!

- Feels accurate to the name
- The flavours are really nice; but without ingredients they’d be hard to place
- And a little… off beat? In a positive way. It works with the name meaning though!
- That said, the lemon/apple do come through distinctly to me
- And the whole cup has a very rich and distinct honey/caramel sweetness
- The honey feels VERY MUCH like the ‘honey flavour’ AQ2T uses…
- Getting to a point where I mentally compare flavours from different companies is odd
- The rest (coconut/elderflower/rosemary) all muddle in a unique way
- It’s hard to separate them from one another though
- It’s interesting, and one of a kind! I’m into it though!

This is one that I think I’d need to try several times to get a good hold on the flavour profile, but I am initially fascinated by it and I did enjoy the flavours – plus I think that idea of it not instantly ‘clicking’ for me does work with the whole goal of conveying that emotion/feeling rather than a specific, targeted flavour.

I’d be curious to try this sort of experiment again with a different type of emotion. Something either with more of a positive, happy connotation to it or maybe something more mellow, sad and melancholic.

I think I’ve changed my mind about this one a bit.

All the flavour notes I described last time are still accurate/present and I do enjoy the flavour but after having it again I find that it’s actually not quite heavy enough on the flavour of the ginseng itself. I don’t think I noticed the first time because it had been a while since I’d last had a ginseng oolong. Now, in retrospect, I just want more heavy handedness in regard to that flavour…

Bring on the ginseng!

I don’t know why, but I kept putting off trying this one. I brought it to work five days in a row to drink and each day it ended up being the only two from my work haul that I hadn’t made a cup of. Eventually, I asked a coworker to pick a tea for me because I was being indecisive and this is what she chose – purely because of the packaging/art on the label, for the record. Turns out, I shouldn’t have waited to try it! I actually really liked it A LOT…

Anyway, here are my notes:

- Quite a strongly roasted oolong flavour overall
- Notes of char/butter/roasted peanut/cinnamon
- With herbacous and almost buttery dill top notes!?
- Finish is a little more well rounded and sweet, with plummy/stonefruit undertones
- Very smooth/pleasant medium bodied tea overall

There’s not much of the sample left at all, which is a shame because I’d really like to see how this would turn out Gong Fu. That just means it’s something to keep in the back of my mind should I ever decided to place another Octavia Tea order, though.

From my mom’s vacation haul – her pick for me.

To be honest, I wouldn’t have chosen this one for myself. In fact, last time mom went on vacation and she grabbed a tea for me all on her own she chose a rooibos that was actually surprisingly similar to this? She seems to kind of just gravitate to whatever rooibos blend has the most ingredients in it…

That said; this one doesn’t taste BAD. It’s very, for lack of a better word, generic though? I mean, bottom line it’s like a spiced apple flavour. It’s a bit on the sweet side, so lets call it a cinnamon apple pie with cardamom, to be generous. There’s some lemongrass undertone to it as well. I really don’t dislike it but this is the sort of flavour that I’m probably just never really going to crave because it isn’t unique in any way, so it’ll probably take forever for me to finish it.

Oh well. It was free, and a gift so I can’t really complain too much.