15724 Tasting Notes
Cold Brew Sipdown (229)!
Welp, I definitely think this one is just a bit better hot but it’s not unpleasant as a cold brew either. It’s very lemony, and in that way it tastes a lot like a traditional Southern iced tea. It’s also just a bit pithy, but in a way that seems pretty balanced with the rest of the bright citrus.
Honestly, I’d totally consider ordering this one again.
Sitting on the front steps drinking this one outside right now, it’s pretty gorgeous outside so I thought it’d be nice sitting out enjoying the fresh air with a mug.
One of my coworkers is debating a Dammann Freres order right now (shout out to Mackenzy!) so I told her I’d send samples of the three Dammann Freres teas I have her way; and while I was packing those up tonight I decided on a cup of this one too – it’s been a little while! I’m actually greatly appreciating the smooth orange notes and light cocoa sweetness tonight. I’ve never been a big chocolate in tea person, and to me this is a really great example of a tea that uses chocolate to add sweetness without making it the main flavour or over the top sweet. Also, since it’s not chocolate chips there’s no weird melted down chocolate goo in the mouthfeel either.
Between the ‘vodka flavour’ in the tea and the chocolate notes, which are kind of chocolate liqueur tasting, there’s a real alcoholic vibe to everything tonight too; but in a classy and very well balanced way. This isn’t “dumped a shit ton of vodka in my tea to spike it” alcoholic but more like “hand crafted cocktail using several mixology techniques on top of well crafted flavour pairings and contrasts”. Like, the difference between a Screwdriver cocktail verses a Negroni or really well done Old Fashioned.
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHUb5v_UmK8&list=WL&index=2
Yup definitely a distinct “A Quarter To Tea” flavour to some of the teas…
I was struggling to pinpoint exactly WHAT that distinct flavour is but I do think I finally nailed it! Thoughts below…
- Same honey flavour that I got from Honey Mead Genmaicha
- Like, IDENTICAL; though I do know I’ve tasted it in other AQ2T blends as well
- Very smooth and sweet, with lots of malt and starchy/potato undertones
- Bit of a sweet potato flavour too
- Hints of muscatel darjeeling
- The more I try this honey flavouring in various AQ2T blends the less I like it though
- But still a good cup overall
It’s been off and on raining all day, but nothing super heavy. Drizzling, really.
I’ve been waiting literally all day to head outside in the pouring rain and drink a cup of tea, but honestly it’s getting so late now and I’ve kind of given up on waiting for the rain now so I just kind of went “fuck it” and brought my Gong Fu tray and a carafe outside, set up my laptop in the boot room with a good album playing and just enjoyed my tea outside with a journal to scrawl out some notes.
I started with a wash, and then each infusion afterwards I increased by seconds starting with five seconds for the first proper infusion. I think I got a pretty good session out of the tea, and most importantly it was very peaceful and relaxing.
- 1st infusion:
Roasty/nutty with clean profile and no lingering notes in the finish
- 2nd infusion:
The same but with lingering plum-y sweetness on the roof of my mouth
- 3rd infusion:
Roasty, nutty, wet wood, mineral, sweet, raisin, malt, plum (in that order)
- 4th infusion:
Touch of astringency/pucker, more mineral and raisin with aftertaste of leaves and bark
- 5th infusion:
Sharp decline in liquor colour; surprised at the lack of longevity this is showing
- 6th infusion:
Moving away from the roasty/nutty/woody side of things towards sweet, mellow fruit
- 7th infusion:
Plum, raisin, apricot, fuji apple, banana peel and hints of almond/marzipan in the finish
- 8th infusion:
Liquor is almost running clear – faintest notes of plum, marzipan but not much else
- 9th infusion:
Oversteeped this one but even still it brewed up like water; leaf is officially spent
And for anyone curious, the album I picked out was Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams album. It’s just such peaceful, easy going music – and I feel like his voice perfectly matches the soft, soothing roastier aspects of the tea as well as the sweetness of the fruit.
Also, I have to say I was pleased to see many of my initial observations when I drank this one Western style still held pretty true for the Gong Fu method of brewing.
Cold Brew!
I was a little nervous about this one if I’m being honest – so more tisanes have promised to deliver me creamy berry flavours: strawberry cream, blueberry cream, raspberry cream, and you get the point. However, time and time again they just end up tart and soured by the hibiscus in the blend. Since this blend also has hibiscus (as the first ingredient, even!) I was sure that was the route we were going to be taking…
However, this is pretty enjoyable. I mean, point blank it’s not exactly creamy. However, it is pretty juicy and has a really nice realistic strawberry flavour that’s not muddled by other ingredients or overly sour/tart. In fact, I hardly taste the hibiscus at all! Through and through, this is a straight up pleasant strawberry tea. It’s even almost sort of juice like! Yeah, I wish it had creamyness to it like the name says it should but at least it’s not sour and gross and that does distinguish it from all the other “generic berry and cream” teas of the past.
I’ll take that compromise.
Sloppy Gong Fu.
- Four infusions
- Really smooth; thick mouthfeel and no astringency
- Malt, cocoa, sweet potato, grains, honey, stonefruit
- In that order!
- Also some red fruit undertones
- Some of the most gorgeous dry leaf I’ve seen in literal months!
Really enjoyed it; will try to do better notes next time.
Cold Brew.
Very, very floral without much sweetness at all. Still pretty good, though all the heady floral notes definitely would have benefited from a bit of sweetness. It just would have felt brighter, you know? I’m trying to enjoy this one for what it is though, because my tin is almost empty now and based on how unpopular this blend was when it came out I’m doubtful we’ll ever see a return of it as much as I’d love it to come back.
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.
I never did try this one. I probably am missing out on some great blends, but I usually don’t drink greens. If I ever see it back, I’ll have to try it out. It’s always disappointing when they don’t bring something back that you loved. I’m disappointing that cotton candy is not at DT right now. It was much a tasty rooibos.
Hot latte, with some coconut agave.
So, the coconut nectar in this has always upset me, but I figured if I made it into a latte with the coconut agave I might not mind it as much because the coconut flavour would feel more cohesive, and it’d be there purposefully.
It kind of worked – the coconut was definitely much stronger, and it did feel more like it was supposed to be there. I think overall the latte was just too rich with the sweetness from the agave though, and so it wasn’t the best latte overall. Maybe with some tweaking with the ratio of agave to tea this COULD work better, but it seems like a lot of work to 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.
Well, the May Tea Sparrow box from the subscription that VariaTea got me arrived yesterday so of course I had to break into it and try one of the new teas!
Side note – VariaTea please tell me this is the last one, ‘cause your generosity is just putting me to shame! I know you keep saying you don’t want more tea, but seriously! I feel like the recipient of so much kindness and I want to repay it somehow!
Anyway – this tea smells pretty amazing. Lots of rich vanilla notes are coming from the dry leaf, and while I’ve never considered myself a huge vanilla fan I have to say that the last few months I’ve tried a couple REALLY good vanilla teas and it’s kind of converted me. So, I’m pretty psyched for what smells like it’s going to be a really nice, silky vanilla flavour.
The flavour delivers pretty well: dominant note is 100% a strong vanilla flavour with lots of creaminess and body. I do love that it isn’t a plain vanilla flavour though; the cinnamon in the undertones is the perfect thing to make the vanilla feel even softer and more comforting. It’s just a light dusting, really, but very satisfying paired together. The biggest aspect of the tea that I dislike is actually the rooibos base; while I don’t think it’s terrible, it is pretty strong and woody and distracting from the vanilla flavour. Also, at times I found it a little bit peppery.
Overall, does this remind me of Bourbon? No, not really at all.
But is it a good vanilla tea? Yeah, absolutely!
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4NgsbkyeJs&list=WL&index=3
Sipdown (230)!
Finished this one off Western style on the walk home from work.
It was about eleven at night, and everything was silent and calm with a gentle breeze and the kind of coolness and stillness that comes right after a rainfall. Really, it was the perfect set up for a long, contemplative cup of tea while deep in reflection.
Flavour wise, this was really rich and had the sort of damp, wet earthiness of a garden after heavy rainfall – you know, that petrichor quality. There was a cocoa quality to the body of the sip which made it feel indulgent and comforting, especially tied in with the physical warmth of each slow sip. That date note I observed when I drank this one Gong Fu was still present in the undertones.
Even though I was outside surrounded by cool air, it was the sort of cup of tea that made me feel like I was inside, curled in a big fluffy blanket with some sad music playing in the background and a warm cup of tea in hand. I’d be sitting by the window, with it cracked so I could feel the coolness of the breeze, and hear the impact of heavy rain falling on the ground outside. One of those evening where there’s peacefulness in the sadness of it all, if that makes sense?
Anyway – I’m really happy I got to try this tea. It was a really beautiful experience, and the flavour was really solid whether I was looking at it from a more analytical perspective while Gong Fu-ing or from a more artistic and open for interpretation stance while drinking it Western.
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T4XH-q8ELY&list=WL&index=4
This is totally the kind of music that would be playing in the background while I watched the rain. Beautiful, slow, and reflective…
