16384 Tasting Notes
So, I set this one up to cold brew… six days ago.
What happened was that I initially forgot that it was cold brewing, and then my mom was reorganizing the fridge and shoved the mason jar of it way in the back where it no longer was visible. Only reason I remembered it was there was because I went to grab a jar of salsa today that was as equally shoved in the back and I saw it while doing so.
Let me just be blunt; six days is FAR too long to let this one steep. It’s not unrecognizable from its usual self; the finish is actually pretty almond-y/marzipan heavy. However, it’s also VERY intense and astringent and after about a third of the brew I just gave up trying to make my way through it. I’m very frustrated with myself for forgetting about it, and letting such a good tea go to waste. Ugh!
Nothing I can do about it now, though.
Normally I wouldn’t have bought straight up hibiscus for myself because I’m really not a fan, but it was a gift so I’m trying to find creative ways to use it where I don’t have to experience the taste of straight, pure hibiscus…
The first attempt at that was with a homemade hibiscus brown sugar syrup! I was making ‘two ingredient pancakes’ (the ingredients are banana and egg) and I didn’t want standard syrup with them. I also added some fresh sliced kiwi to the plate, as well. I think on its own this syrup would have been too bold, fruity, and tart to work with the pancakes which ARE very banana flavoured and sweet, but not so much in a way that would work with the sourness of hibiscus. The kiwi was a good bridge between the flavours because it’s also fruity and works with the banana, but has an acidity to it that ties in with the sweet, sour syrup.
Overall, as a dish, I think this worked – and the syrup was easy enough to make as well: concentrated hibiscus brew mixed with ground cinnamon and brown sugar and reduced until it has the consistency of a typical syrup. Easy enough!
Pictures: https://www.facebook.com/resteep/posts/10210814283367095
I drink straight up hibiscus near daily. When I get bored of it straight, I add a bit of herbal blends to change it up. Sorry, it’s still hibiscus heavy.
Different strokes for different folks! Just ‘cause I don’t personally love hibiscus doesn’t mean it’s not perfect for other people :)
Interesting that straight hibiscus to me is preferable to some of the hibiscus heavy atrocities flavoured with even more acidic/sour things.
Summer Tea Cocktails!
- One parts lemonade, two parts vodka, two parts tea
- And a handful of crushed/muddled cherries! (Pitted of course)
- Super refreshing, with lots of sweet red fruit notes
- And a soft, rosey finish!
- Remains light and fresh from the white tea
- With a smooth but nuanced fruit counterpart
- You can clearly taste the lemon, orange, cherry, hibiscus, rose, and apple
- Hints of tartness from hibby and lemonade; but only in a playful way
- Epitome of summer cocktails!
This was such a polarizing tea…
Just glancing at the reviews of it here on Steepster, they vary SO MUCH and it makes me really sad because I actually found it phenomenal and arguably the standout tea of the whole second half of the year in 2016. It’s just SO bloody good! However, I’m skeptical we’ll ever see it return with such mixed views on it.
And so therein lies the dilemma; do I hoard it forever or do I drink the crap out of it? Currently I am of the mind to drink the shit out of it and enjoy it for all it’s smooth, peanut buttery goodness but that’s mostly because it’s got coconut in it and I’ve very nervous about the coconut turning and spoiling all the flavour…
Anyway, I made this one as an iced soy latte the other day at work; it was nirvana! Literally, it’s like drinking the inside part of a Reese’s peanut butter cup. You know, sans the chocolate of course. Why aren’t people into that!? It’s rich, creamy, and perfect.
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.
It’s back!
So, I nabbed more of this in my more recent Camellia Sinensis order because I was looking at adding more white teas to my current stash and in general I just always love the ones offered by Camellia Sinensis. Only problem right now is that their selection is so limited/small that I’ve tried them all now! It’s been a white since I had this one though, and it’s quite different from everything else I currently have going on that it’s the one I knew I wanted to nab more of.
This first cup was good – very, very licorice/anise heavy. Was that flavour always so damn strong? I can’t recall…
Not that I mind a strong, rich anise note though: I actually love the flavour of anise/black licorice/licorice in general – it’s licorice root that’s the one I dislike. The pear was subtle, mostly an undertone to the anise that was only really present in the finish of the sip. All in all, it was very smooth though, and it definitely pushed all the right nostalgia buttons.
Impulse purchase while I was out at the drugstore buying bleach and hair dye; I’m dying my very, very short (about one inch) hair pastel purple for the summer. I mean, it is the summer of pastels, after all! I saw this though while going through checkout and because I’d never heard of the brand before I was intrigued enough to pick up a bottle.
- Not as tangy/acidic as I’ve come to expect from kombucha
- Almost has this yeasty/bready kind of quality to it though!
- Combine that with the peach and you have… peach strudel?
Midday cuppa from yesterday.
This was really sweet and smooth; it had more of that distinct, pomegranate heavy grenadine flavour than I think I’ve experienced from it in a LONG time and that degree of flavour and sweetness was EXACTLY what I wanted. Paired alongside some cranberry tea cookies, it was even more decadent and over the top fruity as well.
Just delicious.
I’ve always wondered about this one. I drank through 50g/2 ounces of the decaf version and didn’t get any grenadine/pomegranate. Mostly white peach and apricot when I drink it. I’m wondering if I’m somehow missing it or something. Every other reviewer seemed to taste pomegranate and I couldn’t taste it anywhere. Could be the batch?
It’s totally possible that it’s just the batch – but also decaf teas tend to have less flavour in general.
Hot cuppa, alongside a pretty awesome evening breakfast.
Last time, I found that the brightness of the strawberry was a bit much for me but this time around I actually really, really enjoyed that element! It was almost this candied strawberry sort of thing, with a faint touch of roastiness that sure, while it did feel a bit disjointed, was also equally pleasant. Perhaps the difference is the meal I was drinking it alongside; two ingredient "pancakes’ (they’re made from banana and eggs) with a hibiscus brown sugar syrup and some kiwi slices. Since it was a meal that already had a lot of fruit flavour and brightness, I could see it elevating the brightness in the tea a bit – pulling it up and tying it in to the rest of the dish.
Latte!
Thick, creamy mouthfeel with a flavour that was a mix of nutty, kind of sugar cookie tasting notes and light, elegantly spiced cherry notes. The spice coming from the ginger, obviously. I actually really, really enjoyed this one as a latte; it had some nuances to it and a few different kinds of flavour dimensions but nothing too crazy. Also, it was fruity without being in your face or overly sweet.
Elevated, if you will.
We were demoing how to make matcha in store the other day for a few interested parties of people, and that resulted in my nabbing an iced peach matcha since we ended up making an extra one just to demonstrate the differences between hot and iced matchas…
It tasted pretty good; a little too sweet though – but the peach flavour was really satisfying and refreshing! It felt super summery, too. I mean, if we hadn’t have been demoing anyway I definitely wouldn’t have thought to make this one for myself, but it was a happy enough accident!
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.
