16384 Tasting Notes
Hmm, I think this one is growing on me.
The more I drink it, the more I think I’m actually picking up on the fruit notes! I’d say, arguably, this is more mango than anything else? With hints of red fruits. Still not the most vibrant “punch” flavour though. I think maybe the mango explains the pine note that I’ve experienced a lot with each infusion though (including this one). Underripe mango tastes a lot like pine to me, so that could be the solution to that weird, out of place flavour.
Made this one iced at work.
I still hate this one; it’s basically a vile hibiscus ‘punch’/concentrate. At times though there are bursts of currant (red and black) that poke through all the terrible hibiscus taste. I even tried adding some agave in the hope that would soften it a little bit, but it really didn’t do much except make this a hibiscus explosion with a cloying finish. Bleck.
Of course, my coworkers loved it. They also steep their Queen Of Tarts for forty minutes though, so I mean that doesn’t mean too much to me…
Another one from my mom’s BC trip/haul.
I had actually asked for their Buddha Dragonwell because that’s a bit more unique/hard to come by, but my mom didn’t know the difference between than one and regular Dragonwell so she just got this one. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed because you can get a Dragonwell just about anywhere so there’s not really anything special to it, but I can understand the confusion and I appreciate her just grabbing tea for me at all on her vacation regardless.
This one isn’t bad, it’s lightly astringent with a vegetal bean/artichoke-y sort of quality. More than anything else, it’s quite nutty though. Of course, that’s not surprising since that’s kind of the defining/separating trait of Dragonwell in the first place. I guess as a green tea in general, it’s pretty tolerable but really nothing special at all.
Sipdown (243)!
Finishing this one off after having had it in my cupboard for a long time.
Against my better judgement I actually followed the package directions to a tee this time: 95 degree Celsius water, four minute steep. Honestly, that seems way to hot to me for both a Darjeeling tea and a yellow tea, but what do I know?
Anyway, it was ok. Like other times I’ve drank this one it had the same sort of grassy and nutty combination of flavour, but it’s a bit more astringent than I’ve experienced with it before – almost to an unpleasant point. I mean, it’s totally tolerable but I’m not loving the dry mouthfeel here at all. Now, is that ’cause of the hotter water/long steep time? Probably? So, maybe I should have just trusted by gut.
Oh well, regardless I’m done with this one now and it’s not something I’m going to order again so it’s a bit of a mute point.
Tried this one again,
The coconut was very buttery and pastry-like, and I really enjoyed that aspect of it slightly contrasted against a lighter, earthy base. However, something about it also VIVIDLY reminded me of sticky rice. It just had the same sort of glutinous, starchy sort of flavour. Kind of odd, admittedly, but also weirdly comforting.
New Company Alert!
So, I was looking for new flavoured teas to try and I realized that I really wasn’t sure what company to order from that would be new to me and carry things that were unique/hand made and not just sourced from a larger company like MTC or East Indie’s. So, I started looking on Etsy (because there are a few companies popular on Steepster that started off on Etsy) and this is one I stumbled upon! It’s a mix of fandom inspired teas, mythological teas, and a collection of horoscope blends! Pretty cool concept already, and everything looked pretty unique on top of that.
I was actually very impressed with my experience ordering from them; once stuff had been shipped out it arrived really quickly and it was packaged really well. Plus, the packaging of the tea itself is pretty nice; everything reseals and is sun blocked and even the sample I got came in a sealed foil bag rather than just a crafting style bag.
I was going to get her Pisces blend because that’s what I am but honestly the flavour profile of Pisces didn’t appeal to me at all so I got this one instead because it jumped out to me the most flavour wise. Also, cantaloupe! Holy shit am I down for more cantaloupe teas in my life. Plus, fruity rooibos/honeybush is something I’m always open to as well. I like having lots of night time drinking options.
- Smells great; strong kiwi, lemon, and… pine?
- Mostly tastes of kiwi; in a very realistic and natural way
- Though just the sweetness of the kiwi; no acidity at all
- Melony as well; but I wouldn’t describe it as cantaloupe
- The lemon is interesting: it’s strong, but not as strong as the kiwi
- It also pairs very well w. the kiwi; takes me back to Kiwi’s Big Adventure!
- Which was a DT blend with kiwi/lemon/apple
- I’m also, weirdly enough, still getting a bit of that pine taste
- Though confused about where it’s coming from, I think it actually adds nice dimension
On the whole, I thoroughly enjoyed the cup though I don’t think it was without areas of improvement. Personally, I wish the cantaloupe had been a more distinct cantaloupe flavour instead of just melon, and I’m still totally baffled as to what what giving this that strong pine flavour, even if I liked it overall. Still this makes me really excited to see what else this company has to offer, and very eager to try the other two things I picked up from the company.
Not really my normal “style” but I wanted to switch things up a bit…
As a latte, I was surprised how much I liked this. It’s REALLY heavy on the ginger, but with all that foamy frothed milk and creaminess that actually results in a very calming/peaceful sort of flavour that feels very comforting. I also liked that the orange notes were just barely present, but when they did slip in as undertones they provided a bit of uplifting brightness and pop of flavour that kept this from feeling one dimensional.
Downside would be the licorice root sweetness, but it felt tempered slightly what with the milk – you know, just a subtle lingering sweetness on the finish but nothing assaulting.
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.
So, this is a new company for me – and one I had asked my mom to check out ahead of time. In a perfect world, I would have got her to get more than just three different teas but there were so many stores she was stopping at, so I tried not to overload at any one place…
I realized early on that most of what I’d requested was black teas or just caffeinated teas in general so I asked for this one as a bit of a change of pace. Additionally, even though I’ve tried tulsi I’ve never had it on hand to play with before, and I think this particular varietal is a new one to me as well. It smells great though!
I’d love input from others – but how does everyone on Steepster here like Tulsi to prepare your tulsi? I went with a Western infusion, but I’m wondering if this would hold up to being brewed Gong Fu because I feel like it could make an interesting option for late night tea making.
My western brew was great though: obviously it tasted strongly of basil because that’s essentially what tulsi is. However, the company description says “clove” as well, and I was skeptical of that, though I definitely do think this had that strong but sweet sort of spiciness that I’d associate with clove so I think I was a bit hasty in my skepticism. I love clove though, so it was just this wonderful added layer of flavour.
I was REALLY happy with this tea.
Also worth noting, of all the tea places my mom stopped at for me, she said that this was her favourite. She loved getting to speak to the owner (she’s a sucker for that kind of thing; as am I, honestly) and she said she felt very welcomed as someone who doesn’t know much about tea at all, especially because this is more of a specialty store/“store for those who kind of know what they’re doing” (in her words) compared to companies like Davidstea or Teavanna. Her and the owner had a long conversation about how the owner had gotten into tea, and about me as well. They also took the time to explain exactly what all the teas I was getting were, and what made them special/unique and she got to see some pretty cool teaware demoed. You know, the full blown experience. Just, she was REALLY impressed with the experience overall. Coupled with this first impression of their tea/tisanes – I think this is a store to keep an eye on…
Another tea from the haul my mom brought back from vacation!
This one I specifically asked for because it sounded really interesting and somewhat unconventional/unique. I think that the flavour pairing sounds really brilliant, and if well executed I could totally see myself loving it. My big fear is the black currant: sometimes it comes out medicinal tasting, and when that happens it can really ruin a tea. The aroma of the dry leaf is promising though: very fresh and jammy, with that black currant sweetness that’s just so good… and British.
Thankfully, it brews up rather smoothly/pleasantly and I can tell right away that the black currant is not going to taste medicinal. My biggest complaint is that the finish is a little drying on the mouth – but the currant tastes really sweet and jammy, without being candy like or artificial. I always associate strong black currant flavours with Britain because it’s such a popular flavour there, and I have to say that this feels very British to me as I sip on it. The elderflower isn’t missed on me either; while I want to fixate on the black currant, this flavour note is also totally present and very well mixed in with the fruity sweetness. It’s floral, fresh, and a really nice compliment to the fruit notes.
All in all, I’m just very impressed with this one. It’s exactly as advertised, and the flavour combination just works for me. Thanks, mom, for scooping it up!
So, I missed my bus home after work so I’m stuck here another hour. I prepped as much as humanly possible for the opener tomorrow, and now I’m catching up on tasting notes because why the fuck not? I’ve gotta kill that time somehow…
This was my first tea of the day/morning here at work: while I’ve largely purchased this one to be used in my Hojicha dedicated yixing pot I thought it’d be good to taste it ahead of time and sort of get a feel for the flavours.
Hojicha doesn’t seem to vary too much from company to company; you can always tell what it is, the degree of roasting just seems to change slightly and I’ve found sometimes the level of sweetness too. I find this one is actually fairly lightly roasted because I can still get a good degree of grassiness in combination with the roast. It does have that barley/buckwheat kind of cereal flavour to it that the company is advertising, and it finishes with a big of sweetness that lingers for a pleasantly long time on the sides of my tongue. I’m definitely enjoying it, and excited to see what will come of it once it gets brewed in the yixing pot.
