11399 Tasting Notes
Sipdown (1401)!
Thank you VariaTEA for the share – looks like this is another strawberry blend to add to the list from this past week…
I have to agree with Sil that I didn’t find anything in this tea macaron inspired unless we’re just counting general sweetness? But even then, it’s not an especially sweet tea. There’s astringency to the sip which feels out of place for a macaron blend, but I did like the texture it added to the profile since that added some interest to an otherwise very straightforward flavour profile: sweet (though somewhat artificial) strawberry and brisk black tea with some muted floral undertones. I appreciate tasting the black tea base, but I wish this was… I don’t know, more!? It’s a nice tea but it’s also simple.
Didn’t realize until just now but I must have been craving strawberries this week because I had this one on the weekend and it was the sweet strawberry aroma coming off the dry leaf that attracted me to the sample. Thankfully, despite my not timing the steep, it didn’t come off as bitter – I need to be better watching for that with Adagio’s black teas. The taste was a bit artificial/fake tasting, but still a pretty nice strawberries and cream black tea. Hot the spot in terms of cravings.
Cold Brew!
This is pretty good! I actually didn’t think I was going to enjoy it based on the smell but I’m happy to be proven wrong. The aroma is definitely very strawberry forward with some creaminess but it also smells a bit plastic-like and artificial. Did anyone else have those strawberry scented Strawberry Shortcake dolls from the 90s? That’s what the smell reminded me of and, while it _was) nostalgic, nothing plastic smelling usually tastes that good…
Here’s a photo of the dolls if anyone wants to take a trip down nostalgia lane: https://allisonveneziowrites.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/snapshot6-2.jpg?w=640
The steeped taste is very soft and refreshing though – also not plastic tasting at all. I would say I get some of the grassiness on the front of the sip first from the green tea, and then it’s a light to medium bodied whipped strawberry and coconut sort of medley. Not necessarily “cake” but confectionery in a lot of regards. It’s still refreshing though, and not sugary/too sweet. It’s working well for me tonight!
I totally remember those dolls! My sister had a few of them and I can still picture the smell in my mind’s eye…
I remember once one of the books in our library’s children’s collection was scented with the “little girls pink plastic stuff” smell. I am not a fan of it… (but, it also wasn’t the worst smell I’ve found on a book, either).
Okay, now this is a tea that I had fairly high expectations for – it won VariaTEA’s March Madness tournament so that’s high praise in an of itself!
I can’t remember if it was here or on instagram but I remember someone described the taste as either “strawberry cream” or “strawberry marshmallow” – something like that, anyway. I think I agree with the latter; I didn’t expect this to be as fruity as it was but I kind of liked it!? It’s candy fruit, and light/sugary with some creaminess. I suppose if the inspo cereal was something like Lucky Charms then the strawberry marshmallow direction would make sense/line up!? For a blend with so much coconut in it, I thought it actually didn’t translate that much in the cup aside from an oiliness. I mean, it does still have coconut notes – but light ones.
I find myself perplexed because this doesn’t line up with my expectations but I’m also not really sure what my expectations were in the first place!? Is it a nice flavour profile though!? Yeah, it’s pretty good! Not mind blowing, but solid. Need to mull this one over a bit; I have a feeling it might be more one of those teas that slowly grows on you over time instead of sweeps you off your feet right away.
I definitely feel like I didn’t appreciate this tea enough when I worked in store. Hell, I’m still not sure I appreciate it fully – it’s never one of those tea blends that jumps top of mind for me but I always love it so much when I have it. The cardamom note is simply unparalleled in how warming and cozy and aromatic it is while being matched by notes of maple, cinnamon, nutmeg, and custard. It’s a full package, well balanced tea that perfectly rides the line of “sugar and spice”, Why does it never stick in my head!?
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.
Cold Brew!
Alright – I will be the first to admit that as a cold brew this was weird. The lavender was nice and cozy, and not too strong. However the buttercream was pretty thick and heavy handed – especially with the mouthfeel!? The thick coating mouthfeel caught me offguard because that wasn’t a quality I remembered this tea having. It was a bit like a vanilla and lavender fondant, and y’all know that I am a fervent hater of that nasty sugar dough. This wasn’t as bad as fondant, but it was dipping into that territory in a way I didn’t love. Also, the finish was almost cooling in a “sweet mint” kind of way!?
What happened here!? This was just so bizarre and atypical of this blend.
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.
I had a mug of this one on friday night while I was writing some podcast outlines. I won’t give away what fandom I was outlining for, but I will say that this was the first outline that I actually got emotional about while writing – and I definitely teared up. Not even the Princess Jellyfish podcast got me like that, so I needed a comforting favourite to sip on. This creamy and delicious vanilla and golden apple blend was right on the money.
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.
I’m usually really good about labeling my bags of tea but I happen to have two unmarked silver “refill” bags of tea in my white/green tea blend sample bin – one that’s filled with Seaberry Spa and one filled with this tea…
I was actually looking for Seaberry Spa today, knowing it was in an unmarked bag, and had forgotten about this bag. So when I found the plain one I grabbed it and then went over to the kettle to measure out the leaf in my waiting mug. Of course I was a bit surprised that I was met with the aroma of cardamom and sweet purple grapes – but I was already here and I love this tea quite a bit already so I rolled with it! It was a very, very tasty and cozy mug. Truly such a unique blend, and I think criminally underrated.
Someday I will remember to label the bags – but today was not that day.
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.
Happy Matcha Monday!
I was inspired by my friend Siply Tealicious on instagram to brew this one up as my matcha this morning – I was craving a fruity matcha anyway to combat some of the rainy day blues from the grey and stormy weather but this was just a spot on pick! Usually I find that this is a surprisingly creamy take on Strawberry (not that I mind) but today I found this much sweeter and fresh strawberry than usual. Maybe the doom and gloom outside my window made the flavours feel all the more summery?
Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQG6vrVgSNg/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rN1l6SiVK4&ab_channel=HarryTeardropHarryTeardropOfficialArtistChannel
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.
Gongfu!
Enjoying two summer favourites yesterday morning! Smoky Lapsang from The Tea Practitioner with grilled & salted watermelon!! The savory, brothy smoke notes work perfectly with the slight notes of char and pop of salt from the melon, while also making all those sweet notes of the watermelon seem even more juicy than usual!! Both flavours are just total explosions of flavour and create such a fun and dynamic contrast of one another.
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQEHvyugFEu/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyiIGEHQP8o
