16790 Tasting Notes
Gongfu!
Right around the start of the month, I got my rather large Black Friday order, so I’ve been enjoying slowly steeping up and exploring all of those teas in between the advent madness. It’s easier some days than others. This one was so lovely, though! Deeply full-bodied with a thick, syrupy liquor. The tasting notes are a mix between dark woods, malt, and leather and punchier, more saturated flavours of waxy red fruits and black cherries. Just a bit of spice that dances on the tip of the tongue and rounds out the finish. If you’re a fan of black teas from Thailand or just looking to try this somewhat lesser-focused on terroir, I think this is a really great tea!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDe4y0fRYOa/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLrQ_A7mVsw&ab_channel=ObongjayarVEVO
Gongfu!
Love the slick, syrupy liquor and coating mouthfeel of this tea. The top notes glaze-like with dark, golden honey flavours that blanket a more dense, malty and cocoa tinged middle sip with undertones of cooked down, darkly sweet stonefruit. However, the tasting note that struck me the most in this session was a rich and nearly constant present taste of graham crackers. Between the malt, honey, and cocoa it was hard not to think of teddy bear graham cookies at different parts of this session which was actually quite nostalgic. I feel like the last time I had those cookies may have even been in school lunches. I have such a craving for them now, and I don’t even know if they’re still made…
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDkC6I7pgJa/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7qEPGmpTgU&ab_channel=MICKEYDARLING
Adventageddon Day 14
One of my all time favourite blends from Dammann Freres, so I was excited to see it today! True to expectations it was a nice medium to full bodied cuppa with brisk, malty and floral black tea perfectly suited to the sweet, bright and effervescent notes of ripe red cherries. Those flavours were met with subtly earthy ginger and a bit of a nuttiness along with general spices that almost bleed together into the cherry to give off a little bit of a Cherry Cola kind of vibe. No complaints – this was delish!
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDkyWWISpLo/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAMJECUtBxU&ab_channel=MeagreMartin-Topic
Adventageddon Day 14
I don’t know if this is my favourite tea (well, tisane) from Inoki so far, but it’s definitely high up there. Obviously the lotus blossoms are absolutely stunning to look at in the cup but I thought this was also really educational for me too. I’ve had lotus before in different blends, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever steeped it up on its own and I thought the flavour was very pleasant. Soft and just a little bit sweet with a very clean earthiness to it that made me think a little bit of petrichor and the smell of my grandma’s garden after watering the flowerbeds during summer mornings. However, it also had this sort of pleasantly powdery cocoa note to it that I wasn’t expecting. Very raw/unrefined but quite lovely in its simplicity.
Inoki doesn’t actually sell any of these teas straight yet – I have a sneaking suspicion that might change after the advent depending on what the overall reception is like. This is one of a small handful of things I’ve tried that I would easily purchase again though.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDkyWWISpLo/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdcbB7KNKYc&ab_channel=JoyAgain-Topic
Adventageddon Day 14
I bowl brewed this one.
I swear that between all these advents I’ve probably had more chrysanthemum in the last two weeks than in the rest of the year combined. Interestingly, I seem to be kind of growing a bit of a taste for it. The more cups I have the more I’m really appreciating that sort of black pepper sort of quality.
That said, I have to say that this one definitely didn’t seem to be as nice a quality as what’s been included by Inoki in their advent, and the goji berries in the little packet basically didn’t contribute jack shit flavour wise. But, I suppose there’s an argument to be made that maybe they have some functional benefits. Maybe.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDkyWWISpLo/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsqU6n7BJnQ&ab_channel=TeenagePriest
Adventageddon Day 14
Was not expecting to pull this one from the advent this morning – I’d totally forgotten we included it this year, and it’s such a sort of “out there” flavour that between all the spiced, decadent, or festively fruity blends it had just fallen off my radar.
I debated making it cold brewed, but I waited too late into the day to start the cold brew so I just had it as a late afternoon hot cuppa instead. It was very nice though! I’ve been really indulging in different sweets and things along with my advent teas, so this was almost a bit like a digestive what with all the tummy-soothing botanicals in the blend. Smooth and just a little bit citrusy with that tonic-like and piney juniper note rounding out the mug. I also tasted a bit of licorice root and a very subtle earthy undertone from the turmeric. Nice and aromatic, too!
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDkyWWISpLo/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng-YWz1W1iE&ab_channel=AndreaChahayed-Topic
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 and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.
Same thing for this RTD as the Magic Potion one I just logged: quickly popping a tasting note into Steepster because I had a can of it at our office holiday party and I know if I don’t do it now I’ll probably forget to record it in the future. Love how bright and tart this is, and I felt like this can had an especially crisp and clean feeling finish after each sip. I’ve been drinking a ton of cranberry ginger ale (the soda, not the tea) lately because it’s in season and there’s definitely a quality shared between these two canned beverages that I vibe with very much.
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 and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.
What!? A tasting note for something other than advent teas!?
I just wanted to quickly log this one even though I don’t really have much extra to add here because I drank a can of it at our office holiday pastry today and I know if I don’t pop it in here to Steepster that this will be an easy one to forget about.
Smooth blue raspberry and black currant! I love that the RTD is stevia free since the LLT of this blend is heavy on the stevia. It’s a much more enjoyable way to enjoy the berry flavour of this blend to my palate.
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 and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.
Adventageddon Day 13
To be honest I probably did have time today to brew this one up gongfu, but I just really wasn’t feeling it so I just went with a Western style mug. Personally, this was a little too oceanic tasting to me. Though the mouthfeel was pleasantly buttery I couldn’t get past the almost spirulina-like flavour of the brew. Though, it had undertones that made me think of alfalfa, which were a bit more neutral to my palate. Nothing against the tea though – I think it was a nice quality sencha. It’s just a style of tea that is a personal dislike.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDiNdwYye3L/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMD-R70Lnhw&ab_channel=WaxJackets-Topic
Adventageddon Day 13
To be honest I thought this was a pretty boring tea choice for DF’s advent, but the tea itself was just fine. Smooth for a mate with a milder overall flavour. A little grassy and mineral with just the faintest sort of smoke note. I could see that it might be a nice introductory mate for someone who’s never tried it plain before.
As I just mentioned in another tasting note, today was our office holiday party and one of the activities was a pre-registered flower arranging class. Since I knew I was going to be doing that today I brought a couple floral teacups in the hope to get some pictures. I think this one came out okay! It’s very green tinted but, to be fair, the bouquet of flowers I made was also very, very green tinted. At the end of today’s advent photos are some extra flower shots, including the bouquet I made.
I was the only one who brought a mug of tea to the class which, given that we are a tea company, feels like it shouldn’t have been the case. I guess everyone was just really focused though. In the end this ended up being a nice “backdrop tea” which I did the workshop.
Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDiNdwYye3L/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1E7QbiC5lEg
