16002 Tasting Notes
First tea of the morning, with honey.
It was really interesting trying this one with honey – it kind of changed the flavour distribution quite a lot. Like, this was still very roasty/nutty but the sweeter, fruity notes of blend were really exaggerated and I got more of a brightness from the plum notes which I usually don’t. Other fruit notes too though; like apricot and nectarines! Very fascinating overall and really damn tasty. I’d very much like to try it again to see if this was a one off or if that flavour distribution could be recreated.
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.
Welcome back to my cupboard, yummy tea buddy!
I got several new things in this most recent 52Teas order but this was the one thing I picked which I had tried before sort of; Butter Beer isn’t new to me but Anne’s reblend of it is that I simply just wanted more of…
This weekend I’m having an “only oolong” themed weekend because I just ordered a ton of it and so I wanted to show some love to the oolong already in my stash. I had pulled several things from my cupboard to have session with, but I’ve been feeling a touch under the weather/light headed today so instead I recoiled under the bed sheets, ordered pizza, and have been drinking Western cups of tea all day instead, whilst finally watching Stranger Things.
Honestly, this isn’t the most delicious thing I’ve had all day but it is the thing that’s made me feel the best. The ginger is good for my upset stomach, and something about the grapefruit is making me feel a bit more grounded. I’ve been very light headed the last few hours. I don’t know which is the two main ingredients is responsible for this, but it’s also helping to take the edge off a headache I’ve been nursing too.
Not going to lie; I took my first couple of sips and genuinely started crying. Not because of the tea, mind you, but for completely unrelated reasons. However, my roommate didn’t know that and from his perspective it definitely 100% looked like I took a few big sips and started crying because of the tea. He just sort of muttered to himself, under his breath, “Jesus, if I ever start crying like that over my Scotch shoot me or at the very least get me into rehab”. Is tea rehab even a thing? Probably not; but even if it was I’m not ready nor willing to go.
And with the way this community enables one another, there’s going to be no intervention forcing me there any time soon.
I was gonna drink this one Gong Fu the other night, but ended up having some Yabao instead notes from that session to come later. I had already pulled this one out of my stash though, and it seemed a shame to put it back without having tried it…
So I drank it Western which I felt like, at the very least, would give me a starting off point for what to expect when I do eventually Gong Fu it.
- Dry leaf smells wet/dank/musty/earthy (pleasantly so)
- Reminds me of old books? In a good way
- Smooth, sweet and earthy with lots of wet wood/decaying wood notes
- Petrichooorrrr!!!
- Finish is honey sweetness
- Resteeped; same notes
Sipdown (179)!
Yes! Finally finished this one off! And about time too, it was one of the oldest teas in my cupboard…
I really enjoyed this one when I first got it, but excessive consumption of it and the fact my leaf had aged/gone pretty stale made these last cold brews far less enjoyable. This one had some strawberry notes in it that were nice, but it was pretty dull too. So I’m pretty happy to have finished it.
Maybe in the summer I’ll look for another bamboo tea alternative because I do enjoy bamboo based blends – but I’ve had enough of this one to make do for a LONG time.
Commute tea!
I enjoyed the range of mild spice notes; they all seem to fuzz together a bit to the point where they weren’t super identifiable but it did do a nice job to create an overall “spiced cake” vibe/feeling. The carrot itself was lighter, more in the second 1/2 of the sip and finish. Top notes were sweeter coconut.
Pleasant, and warming! Really nice for shitty winter weather and snow.
Sipdown (180)!
So, if the picture of this tea looks familiar it’s because Matcha Outlet is the name of the new website that Red Leaf Tea has moved over to! I actually placed a Matcha Outlet order around a month or so ago and my matcha recently arrived! So, I’m looking forward to trying some new flavours.
This one came as a little sample with my order. Can I make a confession? I never actually ever tried RLT’s Caramel Matcha. It was super hyped, and I always meant to but there were other things that always seemed more interesting. So, I’ve tried Creme Brulee and Caramel Popcorn and a ton of other sort of similar variations but not just straight up Caramel. Technically this is a different company, but it’s still the same matcha/product so I feel like it still sort of counts…
I latte’d this: in cashew milk ‘cause it’s what’s on hand at the moment.
It was SO good! Very very rich, even though I’m pretty sure this sample was only delicate flavour level. The best part was just how creamy it tasted though. In many ways I felt like the caramel was melting in my mouth. It reminded me a lot, actually, of Macintosh Toffee bars! Of course, nutty undertones from the cashew milk I used. Still really good though; and the nutty profile complimented the gooey caramel.
Yum yum yum!
This review is for the Guava Cadabra infused White Chocolate.
So, we’re selling a whole bunch of the chocolates from previous collections right now as part of our Boxing Week/Semi Annual sale and I’m taking advantage of that a bit to try some of the ones I missed throughout the year.
I was, of course, drawn to this one in particular because it’s white chocolate. And actually, it’s really solid! I like that despite having the creamy white chocolate this is still really robustly fruity, just more of a creamy fruity. I tasted very, very ‘guava-y’ with just a hint of the mango. No big bits of stuff to hurt your teeth, either!
I’m glad I tried it.
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.
This is a queued tasting note.
Had this one iced the other night while we were doing set up for the Feel Good collection. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to drink, so I just let one of my coworkers pick for me. This was her choice. To be honest, I wasn’t SUPER thrilled but I went with it. This isn’t really a favourite of mine, but it actually tasted pretty solid; very melon-y. So I guess that serves me right for being so judgey about it.
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.
#ProjectTeaWall
Grabbed this one to drink today after I got off work at job #1; I figured I’d need to extra boost in caffeine to help me get through an unpleasant evening of adulting. I went to the bank, bus depot, paid bills, post office, and grocery shopped. Now I’m home, and damn I’m exhausted…
I’ve had straight mate before; just not the DT one. It’s not really any different than any other company’s offering of it though. Basically, it’s a combo of earthy and grassy notes, with a bit of a smoky quality in the finish and some sourness in the top of the sip. Relatively sweet, I suppose. Enough so that sweetener isn’t needed; it’s the sort of natural sweetness from fresh veggies/leafy greens like spinach or arugula though.
My favourite thing about this tea is when customers refer to it as “Green Mate” the same way you’d say the ‘mate’ half of playmate, roommate or teammate. It’s an easy mistake; one I was definitely guilty of making at one point in time. It just makes me chuckle a little now, is all.
But yeah; good for a quick caffeine boost and easy enough sipping.
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.
