16396 Tasting Notes
Drinking this one now while I wait for the bus to head home; this was a rare evening where we actually finished everything we needed to for closing AND everything extra to prep for tomorrow’s opener early so I get to take the last few minutes of the night to pop up a tasting note.
It’s been a very long time since that happened.
Maybe it’s the age (it’s probably the age) but this is kind of… ‘bleh’ to me. I mean NOT bad tasting, but just almost entirely bland with no real defining notes of qualities. Basically, it tastes like the sort of SUPER generic black tea that’s used for low to mid quality flavoured blends as the base. Maybe a little citrus-y? But I feel like even describing that flavour is a stretch. I have a feeling, as I head out for the night into the cold, it’ll be the kind of thing I drink for warmth more than anything else.
No rating – I know I’m not trying this one in its prime.
This cuppa was very jammy, with a lot more currant notes than anything else. The black tea itself is a little bland tasting, but the added in flavours are truly lovely. Didn’t get much florals from this cup though.
Biggest thing I dislike about this one is just the general inconsistency.
Latte!
This was a lovely latte – the matcha itself is already really sweet and creamy, but then it has this strong buttery quality that really conveys that popcorn element of the tea. It’s very indulgent – not the kind of thing I could drink all the time but that just makes a really satisfying treat and conveys that caramel flavour in a way that’s unique.
Not my favourite…
Oddly something about this smelled of citrus to me, and that weird citrus aroma ended up being carried into the steeped up taste too. Mostly tasted of lemon, licorice root, and some herbs to me. It was sort of gross; not because of the lemon that shouldn’t have been there but more because of the licorice root taking over the cup. Bleck.
Cuppa from last week.
Kind of just tasted like a relatively minty green tea; but with just a touch of roast to it. It’s not bad; not something I find I deeply crave either. I think finishing this one off will be a slow process ultimately reliant on how often I find the fact these are sachets more convenient than brewing up loose tea.
Iced tea!
Wasn’t sure how to feel about this one at first; mango is already a hit or miss flavour for me and I don’t like ginger much so that wasn’t the most sturdy foundation going in. However, the ginger teas I do like the most are ginger and fruit combos so it wasn’t a total lost cause.
The other thing I sort of have an issue with in regard to this tea is the classification; DT calls this one a herbal tea but it has matcha powder in it, and that bugs me because it’s NOT caffeine free/there’s actual tea in the blend. However, obviously you couldn’t call this one a ‘matcha tea’ either because it’s got the fruit chunks and stuff in it so it isn’t straight powder either. Would calling it a green tea be accurate? I don’t know – it doesn’t really have any whole green leaf in it at all – only a small amount of powder. It’s all very confusing, and bottom line calling this a herbal is weird but I can’t think of a better solution either.
Now, as for the flavour – I actually found this on shockingly delicious! It’s really sweet and juicy and reminds me almost perfectly of the sweet mango flavoured gummy candies I like to buy from Superstore/the Asian market. However, the lychee is also very strong and the overall flavour does almost have like a straight up lychee juice with mango undertones sort of vibe going for it too. It’s a really tropical, refreshing combination that plays beautifully on the idea of natural fruit juices and candied fruit. The ginger is present, but very soft and is just a sort of undertone adding nuance and counterbalancing the sweetness. It’s perfect.
In fact, I wound up getting 100g of it on the spot. Now, to be fair it’s a VERY heavy tea so 100g isn’t actually a lot, but even still…
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.
Iced!
This was good iced, very tropical and juicy with bright notes of guava, orange, and red currant. I find it pretty natural tasting and not overly sweet, and I really like that sort of profile in combination with the fact it’s a lighter more refreshing profile. Plus, I can’t taste the green tea base much at all. It’s a little grassy, but so delicately and only in the finish. I’ve heard so many people comment on how much they pick up the coconut though and that’s totally weird to me because I don’t think I’d even know there was coconut in the blend at all if I wasn’t familiar already with the ingredients.
I do prefer it hot though, weirdly enough.
I think I’ve got like 20g at home now? I’m on the fence if that’s enough for me or not if if this is something I’d want like an extra 50g of to have around. I mean, it’s good but is it good enough to stock up on? Or unique enough that I feel like I wouldn’t be able to find similar from a different company? I don’t know.
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.
First time in what feels like a long time revisiting this one without any vanilla agave added to it. It’s kind of my jam when it has the vanilla agave, but on its own it’s a little more mediocre to me. Just slightly too tart, and not nearly enough exaggerated buttery elements for me to feel like it reminds me of a muffin. That said, I was still able to have some appreciation for it – the blueberry notes in it are fantastic regardless of whether you’re drinking it with the added agave or not. I definitely just prefer it with the vanilla.
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 (520)!
Thanks again for this one Kittenna! Mostly this cup was very sweet and apple heavy. I’m still sad that I never really got any cucumber from this one at all, but it was a delicious tea otherwise and I really, really enjoyed that I got to experience AQTT’s wonderful apple flavouring in a different ‘style’.
Solid offering.
Tasted like fresh squeezed lime juice, with granny smith apple undertones. I don’t know how they did it, but I felt like I got the distinct taste of the apple skins as well. Again not as much mint as you’d expect from a mojito but it was present in the finish just slightly following the wave of acidity from the lime/apple combo.
It’s kind of a weird profile, and I don’t hate it – in fact I think the lime and mint is totally growing on me, but it’s definitely not something I’d say is ideal for hot tea which is how I drank this cup.
