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Liquid. Motherfucking. Malt.

Normally, I’m very very into this one.

Last week it was one of the featured TOTDs and at the end of the night when we were closing down the brewers for the night I decided I’d grab a cup of it to sip on since it’d been a while since I revisited it. It definitely wasn’t a bad cup, but it was a strong and sweet cup. I think ultimately I just like having the control of making my own tea, because I would have made it a little milder. The softer sweetness in this blend is just a little more enjoyable for me.

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.

Made this one iced, and it was mostly really good. Definitely moments where I would take a sip and all I could taste was the combination of everything beautifully forming creamy, vanilla laced rootbeer. On the whole though I just felt it was very, very astringent and it’s not that it was bitter, per say, but rather that it lacked sweetness. Rootbeer tea is something I’m actually very ok with being quite sweet because the drink itself is really sweet.

I think I liked this about as much as I did last time I had it, and I definitely stand by my first impression that all the ingredients in the blend compliment one another so damn well. However, I found myself a little put off by the mouthfeel of the tea this time around; the liquor was very muddy/cloudy from the cocoa powder and I felt like some of that powdery quality was coming through in texture too. Probably just the fine little bits that the strainer didn’t catch. Not a deal breaker; but just broke the illusion of a smooth profile for me. Other things are that the ginger was maybe a little stronger this time? I like the chocolate and ginger pairing, but I found the more I taste the ginger the less I taste the pear and I really, really want to be getting the pear from this one.

I don’t know; not a bad cup but some trade offs from my first experience for sure.

I’m honestly just at a point where I’ve given up with tea at restaurants. I’ve officially become that person who brings my own tea, in a teabag, and just asks for a pot of hot water…

Maybe that’s bad restaurant etiquette – but do I care? No.

This one was great; I do find that it really reminds me of sweet, but also kind of supple and just a little bit spiced (with cinnamon) apple pie filling. There’s not much going on, or at least with this cup there wasn’t anyway, to make me think of the pie shell/crust itself so I don’t feel like I get the ‘complete’ picture. However, with how tasty that filling component is with the hints of cinnamon and coconut undertones I really don’t mind or feel I’m missing out. So it all works out overall!

I wonder if I’ll ever get past the “Ooh, so pretty!” stage of loving this tea. There’s just something really, really magical about such a vividly red looking matcha powder…

I only wish I felt the same spark when it comes to the flavour of the brew; I don’t dislike it, but it doesn’t really wow me either. I actually think I’d probably really love it if it was solely licorice flavoured or solely black currant flavoured; the combo just doesn’t work for me. The licorice makes the currant too molasses-y and medicinal tasting, in my opinion, and the finish is cloying. It’s a shame Bluebird doesn’t make more red matchas with a better variety of flavour. A strawberry one would have been killer!

I’ve yet to try this as a latte though; so who knows, maybe the usage of the milk will be the bow that ties all of this together? One can hope.

Finally getting around to trying this fan favourite; I’ve been sitting on a sample of it for what feels like ages now and as much as I’ve always felt really intrigued by it there always seems to be something just a little more interesting that catches my attention in the moment when I’m selecting a tea.

I’m going 7g/100ml – and will take jot notes with each infusion. I don’t think I’m going to time the infusions out though; I’m mostly just in the mood for something a little more casual and experience based. It’s been almost two weeks, I think, since my last Gong Fu session. The manager at the store I work at got fired a little while ago, and since it was so spontaneous we didn’t have a new manager found yet. So, I’ve been running our store in the interim until we find someone new – which means I’m working literally seven days a week. Literally 60-80 hour work weeks. This is the first afternoon I’ve had off in two weeks; and only because I finally just sort of buckled and said ‘nope; can’t do another nine hour day! I’ll open the store, take the afternoon off, and come back and close in the evening’. Fuck me, I’m tired.

Oh, also, gave this a rinse first! A pretty long one, because I’m spacey AF.

Steep One:
- Very strong camphor really right off the bat
- Intensely aromatic, with woody notes all throughout the sip
- A little bit bitter in the top of the sip, but sweet undertones

Steep Two:
- The aforementioned profile, but a little less bitter and a little raisin-y
- Astringent finish

Steep Three:
- Camphor, mineral, raisin, petrichor, wood, bittersweet chocolate, pine, leather
- Already feeling quite the buzz from this, and I’m only three steeps in!
- I actually think this is wicked smooth too; very pleasant overall!

Steep Four:
- About the same; perhaps more emphasis on the pine and leather?
- More sweetness creeping in, as well!

Steep Five/Six/Seven:
- I think this is the sweet spot for this tea; it’s got all the aforementioned tasting notes
- With absolutely no astringency, and a thick mouthfeel!
- Best part is the extra push of pine and petrichor, and the sweet finish

Steep Eight:
- This was the steep where I really started to notice the decline in flavour
- Mouthfeel also seemed thinner/more watery

Steep Nine:
- I definitely wouldn’t call this the point where the tea was ‘steeped out’
- However it was quite a bit weaker than I really wanted it to be
- And most of the wood notes had subsided
- It was also the last of the water in my kettle; so this just seemed like a natural end

Overall? I was a little intimidated by this tea both because of the reputation it’s gotten but also because the way it’s described on W2T’s site is a little scary. However, overall I GREATLY enjoyed this tea! It was a really good session that highlighted what are actually my favourite flavour notes in Shou overall (sweetness, petrichor, wood, etc.) just in general but especially within the last month or so. I don’t know if this is in stock at all still, but it’s something I’d actually probably cake.

Photos:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg1rnHkAhHq/?taken-by=ros_strange
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg1zxwQA8Uh/?taken-by=ros_strange

Album Pairing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WroKVtlRWOg&t=1579s

Sipdown (526)!

I’m a little sad to see this sipdown happen; but it’s time – I have enough jasmine white teas in my life at the moment and there’s no point holding on to one last, sad cup of tea.

I made the most out of this last cup though, and I whipped together a stellar tea cocktail for myself! I was inspired by the fact that, despite many people thinking I’m wrong in this comparison, jasmine scented teas almost always remind me of grapes. So, to play off that I muddled a large handful of grapes with a little bit of sugar, some vodka, and some peach schnapps. I added that mix into a cup, then filled the cup with ice. From there I just simply poured over a very strong, slightly over steeped mug of Silver Cat and made myself a light, refreshing and crisp mix of fresh, fruity notes and delicate florals! It felt like a very, very elegant kind of cocktail and I loved how much the jasmine and freshly muddled grapes really made one another pop!

It was amazing! Something for me to keep in mind to recreate with some of the other jasmine teas I have on hand…

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/BgfRxNAhYIC/?taken-by=ros_strange

Sipdown (527)!

Made this one with a little chocolate agave for extra ‘oomph’.

I also just realized that this is my third sipdown in a row that was a tea I got from Sipsby; that’s a total coincidence, but I still find it kind of funny. This one actually was a ‘real’ sipdown though, and not a giveaway. It tasted like fudge, with a hint of earthiness to the undertones – and it made me very happy.

Unrelated – did anyone else watch the first episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race tonight!? I know it’s too early to have any real ‘front runners’ but just based on first impressions I’m really fascinated by Aquaria, Miz Cracker, and Yuhau Hamasaki!

Sipdown (528)!

Another sipdown that’s not really a sipdown as I passed this one along to a coworker as well. It’s not something I’m going to miss; I had a hard time making this tea work for me as it has a lot of herbal ingredients that I just don’t like very much in general, and the combination of all of those things is very overpowering to me. Props though for being a nice afternoon/evening kind of blend though because this one is really relaxing, and sometimes I can put up with a tea I don’t like the taste of just because it puts me in a good head space/helps me unwind and de-stress.