16384 Tasting Notes
Apparently I was in a bit of a spice mood yesterday because this is the tea I chose to follow up my cup of Chai Apricot with. I did add some milk though, for some extra creaminess that I thought would compliment the honeyed ginger/warming quality the tea already possesses. It resulted in a cup that tasted a bit bland/watered down though, despite a thicker and richer mouthfeel. I think that the addition of milk could have worked; but to prevent that flavour loss I think I’d have needed to compensate with either more tea leaf or a longer infusion.
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7fzkqLozwA&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=3
It’s been so weird not having a Tea Desire less than a twenty minute walk from my house since I moved back to Regina, and I’ve definitely been slowly but surely sipping down my built up reserve of Tea Desire blends so I finally caved and placed an online order with them. I kind of hated having to pay shipping for a company I’m very used to having immediate access to, but I have to say that it actually was a really pleasant ordering experience overall and everything arrived SO quickly/efficiently.
So, it’s no secret that I’m really not a Chai fan – but this one has always had a bit of a special spot in my heart. I’ve stocked it off and on over the last four years, and since I’m at a point again where I really just don’t have a Chai in my cupboard I thought it’d be a good idea to pick this one up since I was ordering anyway.
This Chai is a bit of a rulebreaker, and I think that’s why I like it so much. It’s got a green base, which makes it a bit lighter in flavour overall, and it’s sweeter as well because of the apricot. Plus, the spices are a lot more weighted the ones I really enjoy, like clove and fennel, over the ones I find more aggravating like ginger.
All of those things I enjoy about it were present in this most recent cup; the slightly vegetal and nutty green tea base with its whisps of sweet smoke, and a sweet tangyness from the apricot that reminds me of apricot jelly! I also felt like there were some apple notes, even though there are no apples in the blend. The spices were smooth and consistent, and I greatly enjoyed the sweetness of the fennel and warming quality of the clove. Clove has always been a big soft spot for me, and while in general Chai and I just don’t get along I’ve always been more open to ones with higher ratios of clove. Then the finish was hints of cinnamon and ginger with that peppercorn tickle in the back of my throat! Very comforting, overall.
Happy to have this one back and stocked.
More latte practice for the new tea guides at work.
They’re totally nailing it, by the way – every latte they’ve made me has tasted delicious and perfectly made. It’s just that I think they lack the self confidence a little bit. Making lattes can be hard to perfect! So please, Steepster friends, next time you get a latte at DT and really enjoy it let your Tea Guide know! It could totally make their day.
Anyway; I have some of this at home but honestly I’ve been struggling to drink it because up until now I’ve really only enjoyed it when prepared as an eggnog latte. The cardamom in the tea is just so complementary to that eggy/custardy flavour and light nutmeg! Sadly, you can’t really get eggnog year round so it’s just been sitting in my tea cupboard…
However; this latte is a game changer! I know that personally I find this one really astringent with a tendancy to feel heavy on the spice really quickly, so I asked my tea guide/coworker to steep it for three minutes instead of the normal time and paired with regular milk that totally works. It was sweet, and creamy and had some really stellar spice notes but I definitely didn’t find it too over the top or astringent, and the creaminess that I love when I do this up as an eggnog latte. Delicious!
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.
Grabbed a sample of this one because I thought it had potential to be something interesting, even though the ingredients seem somewhat simple and safe. As well, even if it did turn out to be that sort of simple flavour I thought it was one I’d likely enjoy regardless.
- Iced and straight
- Smooth with strong honeyed/woody rooibos and rose notes
- Just hints of lemon; honestly expected a lot more lemon flavour overall
- In a way, the lemon tasted a bit of generic lemon water
- Not bad but I imagine it’d be better hot, and the flavour combo isn’t new to me
- It was just a sort of average cuppa verging a little on the bland side of things
A little cider-y? With undertones of cocoa and overall spice notes.
I don’t know; I’m sort of over this one for the moment so I might just table it/set it aside until the fall when I know I’m going to be craving these pumpkin teas a lot more. Hopefully it’ll still have some solid flavour a few months from now. It’s herbal though, so likely…
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 (231)!
Second hard sipdown of the week…
Finished this one off hot, straight and pure. That back to basics style of finishing it off seemed the most appropriate way to honor this tea – my first Butiki tea. It’ll be missed, always. The best watermelon tea I’ve EVER tasted, and likely ever will.
Sipdown (232)!
Welp, that time has come…
Finished this one off as an iced tea with a splash of milk and I have to say that drinking that sweet, creamy pina colada beverage felt like everything ‘summer’ coming to a head. That bright, creamy penicillin yellow beverage is just SO incredibly good. A million thanks to VariaTEA for sending more my way and extending my experience with my absolute favourite tisane from DT…
Maybe next summer, Tropicalia, we’ll reunite again. Maybe next summer…
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 (233)…
More of a chamomile flavour than last time, which resulted in a much more unpleasant flavour overall. I still enjoyed the bright mango notes, but they were fleeting and drowned out by that nasty, floral sickly sweet and gross chamomile bullshit.
Oh well, at least I was out like a rock not twenty minutes from finishing the cup.
Cold Brew Sipdown (234)!
Finishing this one off this afternoon as a cold brew, just to do something different with it. I actually really like this cold brew – like, A LOT more than I enjoyed the hot cups of it. It’s really quite silky and smooth with primarily bergamot notes and then hints of jasmine and something creamy in the undertones. It almost tastes like it could be a cream Earl Grey blend, but I don’t think there’s actually vanilla in this tea so I don’t know where that’s coming from…
Really though, it’s great. Even if the vanilla flavour winds up being a ‘phantom note’ concocted by my subconscious, this is a very smooth brew with the perfect ratio of bergamot/earl grey flavours and floral notes.
Quickly whipped myself a cup of this one right before I took off from work to head home;
I know I understeeped it because I was rushing to make it to the bank to drop of the night’s deposit and still get to my bus on time but even still I thought the honey note was beautiful and soothing, and I appreciated the red fruit undertones that were just present enough to be identifiable. It was also very lightly grassy, and the finish was sweet and a touch nutty.
