16357 Tasting Notes
Gong Fu!
Didn’t track this one because I was just drinking the tea whilst reading more of The Runaways. I’d guesstimate I got around six infusions? They were pretty spaced apart because I was slowly sipping, and I’d find myself really pulled into the comic and then I’d forget about the steeped tea sitting in the pitcher on my tray. Most of the cups I drank were cold by the time I ended up getting to them.
This had a smooth mouthfeel overall, though a bit of a tang to the flavour. I think that’s pretty in line with what I experienced last time I had this one too. It’s kind of just like a really robust/full bodied white tea, with an exaggerated focus on the underlying peachy/stonefruit notes sometimes found in a nice white tea. I’d call this more of a nectarine type of thing, though.
Thank you VariaTEA for the tea!
This is another one from March’s ‘Honey’ themed Tea Sparrow box so I brewed this one up how with some added honey since I’m drinking all these teas with honey for the first tasting. Here are the notes from the tasting:
- I’ve had “Eight Treasures” styled teas before, but it’s been a LONG time
- Can’t remember if I liked ’em overall
- Dry leaf smelled a little like sun tan lotion
- But this was very smooth and fruity, and pleasantly sweet
- Strong dual notes of mango and lychee
- Obviously floral, both from the lychee, rose and base tea(s)
- Had some peachy undertones from the green tea too
- And fairly grassy
I was pretty surprised overall how much I enjoyed this, and I have to wonder just how much of that was due to the honey. It’ll definitely be interesting to try it again without to compare!
Iced Latte.
It actually pretty much just tasted exactly like chocolate milk but with this surprisingly bright top note of ripe raspberry that was really tasty, but which also felt really out of place what with the creamy, silky chocolate notes.
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhZMAQLPqgg&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=9
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.
How do you make your iced lattes? Mine always come out weird.
I don’t typically make them at home – instead I take advantage of the easy set up at work. But the way we do it there is four PS in the same amount of water you’d use for a hot latte, but when it’s done steeping we pour it over half an iced tea cup (16 oz, I do believe) filled with ice to cool the temperature. Then top up with whatever milk you’re using.
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this breakfast blend – it’s so different and unconventional. That just made me even more determined to try it, though.
I guess I probably should have known better, but I was relatively thrown by the fact that this tea lacks the strong, brisk and full bodied cup that breakfast teas tend to have. Like, to me a solid breakfast tea is one that takes milk and sugar really well but when it comes to this tea I feel like adding milk would totally obscure the flavours.
I definitely got a strong sense of the muscat notes though; so the Darjeeling definitely comes through, and smoothly too I might add. Other than that, there’s quite a bit of underlying fruitness to the tea as well. I’m guessing that’s largely from the hops, but perhaps also a bit from the raspberry leaf. I definitely think those fruit notes lean more towards red fruit flavours than anything else; strawberry/raspberry and maybe even sweet red currants? Pretty yummy.
I think that’s my overall consensus; really yummy and surprisingly nuanced and fruity but I just can’t see this as a “breakfast blend”. I suppose I just have too strong a preconceived notion of what a breakfast blend is.
Starting my morning technically afternoon; I slept until 1PM off today with a warm bowl of Grape Matcha; just in water today, not milk. I haven’t yet figured out how to keep milk in my room for my bedside tea set up.
Might be time to invest in a mini fridge…
Anyway; this is really satisfying today. It’s got a really strong, aromatic floral quality to it that’s coming through pretty boldly alongside sweet grape notes and mild grassyness. The grape in this isn’t completely natural tasting but it’s certainly not overly artificial/candy like. It just feels very… perfumed? If that makes sense.
Delicious though, and a nice start to the day.
I loved having a mini fridge in my room. Never had a bedside tea setup though and that sounds even more delightful.
When I had a mini fridge it lived right beside my desk and I used the top as an extended tea station. It was wonderful.
Our tea habit just got even more expensive.
So, many months back I tried to make Matcha brittle – however it wouldn’t set quite right, and so it stayed permanently sticky. Delicious, none the less though.
Well, I found another brittle recipe a few days ago for “Hibiscus Brittle” that looked a little more simple to make, and which used less ingredients. I was intrigued, so I subbed out the “hibiscus flowers” that the recipe called for to be steeped into the water for some Guava Cadabra tea. I figured that would nicely compliment the one other ingredient in the recipe other that sugar and water: lime juice.
I’m still having issues getting my brittle to set completely correctly – but this was a lot better than last time. It just had a sticky residue to it that I couldn’t get to go away. Any tips on how to prevent that would be really appreciate, honestly.
As for the flavour – really delightful! I was worried the distinct taste of the tea wouldn’t come across as well as I wanted it to, but this really genuinely tasted like guava and mango! Plus, the additional lime just made the sweetness of the mango and guava really pop. Acid is a flavour carrier, after all. It was just super fun and tropical. I even paired some of it with a pineapple sorbet to really emphasize that tropical quality!
It’s gorgeous, right!?
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.
Drank this one earlier in the week with a splash of Amaretto added it it. Personally, I find this has that rich, sweet amaretto flavour normally and I thought the addition here would only serve to make that even richer/more full bodied.
The flavour was AMAZING. Certainly, all the amaretto notes both natural and added were very robust and comprised a lot of the surface flavours. The other notes in the black tea weren’t drowned out though, and rich, nuanced notes of malt, honey, graham, and molasses all still showed through in a way that made the flavour of this tea especially well rounded and indulgent.
This is how you do tea and alcohol pairings properly!
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZTKn-IIrN8&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=10
Iced Sipdown (216)!
Finished this one off at work the other day, with an added pump of agave.
I still think this one tastes tremendously like root beer and for that I love it. Also, quite a bit of strong cinnamon flavour, especially in this last tasting. Does it taste like butter beer? Not quite what I’ve always imagined butter beer to taste like. I picture more like a cream soda, vanilla, butterscotch, and rum amalgamation – and I’ve always pictured it served hot as well.
I’ll miss it though, regardless.
Drank this one last night with some added in Cinnamon Bun creamer!
I think the cinnamon bun creamer was a really nice compliment to the already sweet, spiced pumpkin notes in the tea. You got a medley of sweet, warming spices notes including nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon and then rich pumpkin, and an accompanying sweetness from the “cream cheese icing” part of the creamer and the maple in the tea. It was a really sweet cuppa overall, but perfect for late night sugar cravings!
Interestingly, because the liquor for this tea sometimes steeps up really lightly coloured and the creamer is such an intense white that made for a liquor that was almost pure white with little specks of “floaties” in it from the fine rooibos that made it through the filter and from the cinnamon/nutmeg. It was really pretty and unique looking.
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.
Cold Brew!
So, I spent the better part of drinking this trying to figure out why it tasted so painfully familiar to me. It took the better part of 25 oz, but eventually I landed on the fact that it’s really similar to DAVIDsTEA’s Strawberry Shake! I mean, I even went and double checked the ingredients to see how much overlap there is… and there’s quite a bit.
This has the green base, papaya, and the strawberry. Only thing missing is the yogurt, and then of course this has pineapple and rose which the DT blend does not.
That makes sense to me because the sweet strawberry and papaya notes were both really present but I didn’t get the light creaminess that’s in Strawberry Shake. I do enjoy the creaminess in DT’s tea, so the absence was a bit odd. However, I think because of the additional pineapple the fruitiness in this tea is a lot more robust and distinctly tropical tasting so the trade off is more than worth it. I couldn’t taste the added rose, though.
Overall I liked this one! I thought it was fun and rather appropriately Spring/Summer flavoured. I do think the choice to name it after a cereal is kind of odd? I guess I’ve never had Fruity Pebbles before so I don’t know if the comparison is realistic, but nothing in this reminded me even remotely of cereal and I can’t see it going well with milk either. As a dupe for DT’s Strawberry Shake though, I think this COULD work if you were looking for that kind of thing.
You’ve never had Fruity Pebbles?! Oh man, my all time favorite kid cereal.
They’re not sold in Canada; at least, not easily. You can get them in some specialty stores though that sell foods exclusive to other countries. Can’t say I’ve ever gone to the effort though.
Well that makes sense then. Remind me if we ever swap to send you some Fruity Pebbles with the tea :)
