16603 Tasting Notes
Cold Brew Sipdown (2620)!
My mom was recently in Winnipeg and I asked her to stop at Cornelia Bean for me to pick some teas up – this was one of the ones on my wishlist but I guess they don’t carry it anymore. It’s a shame because it’s such a unique flavoured pu’erh blend!
Anyway, without the ability to restock it, I figured it was as good a time as any to finally finish off the last bit I’ve been holding onto. It was just enough to make a cold brew, which seemed like a fitting send off. Definitely a very, very smooth tea with a grounding earthiness mixed with the sweet, fresh flavour of peppermint and spearmint. The hint of lime adds brightness and really ties the whole Cuban Highball profile all together.
I will miss this one!
I haven’t had this tea in ages, but I was really craving something fruitier but not super sweet a few days ago and I saw this while looking for options and it just jumped out to me. I had forgotten how aromatic the citrus notes are, but also that the balance of flavours here is more than just orange. I tasted a hint of tart hibiscus, the more bitter edge of the tonic flavouring, and the brisk black tea itself too. Though the finish is a little sweet and lingering, it’s not a sweet orange profile overall – definitely captures that pithier and more boozy edge of a good Negroni. Delicious.
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.
Soooo this week I made S’mores Chai Ramen.
Probably one of the weirdest things I’ve ever done with a tea, but we made a Green Onion Latte for the DAVIDsTEA TikTok/IG accounts a few weeks back and it really popped off on IG so we were looking for other weird tea and food things we could try out too. Cop of Noodles recently released a limited edition S’mores flavoured instant noodle cup, so riffing off that seemed like a not terrible idea…
Anyway, here’s the video if you want to see it being made: https://www.tiktok.com/@davidstea/video/7387881333625769221?lang=en
Honestly, it wasn’t terrible. I mean, it wasn’t good but definitely better than we all expected. So, so weird though. The “broth” was basically just our super strong cup of S’mores Chai that the noodles were cooked in, and it tasted like rich chocolate with a hint of cinnamon and salt. Honestly, probably the best part of the dish. I could see, with some additional spices, it actually working as a legitimate stock. The weirdest part was the noodles, which were shockingly marshmallow-y tasting. Like, more marshmallow that I typically taste in the tea itself. They really, really soaked up a lot of flavour as they cooked in that steeper.
Basically, I think this is probably as close to a “dessert ramen” as you could possibly get. Worth trying for the experience, buuutttt not something I’d probably ever make again.
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 Sipdown (2621)!
I believe this pressing is sold out now, which is a shame because it’s settled into such a soft and creamy leaning sheng with buttery notes of leafy green vegetables and herbs, with a sweet lingering finish and hint of stonefruit in the finish. It’s one of those teas that slowly builds and then hits you all at once with both an explosion of flavours and all those warm, glow-y body feels. Definitely something that I regret not getting more of when I had the chance, but I just didn’t know how much I was going to love it when I grabbed this sample. I do see that the 2024 pressing is still around though, and if that’s the case whenever I place my next inevitable BLT order then I can almost guarantee one of those cakes will be coming home with me…
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9DjmUXujTY/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxlwL6FzPYA
Gongfu!
Drank this yesterday morning while catching up on housework – very casual, laid back with long, drawn out steep times. The first thing that really stuck with me about this session today was actually the finish and aftertaste of most of the infusions. Very mouth coating, sweet and woody with a lingering taste that makes me think of ginseng or licorice root. Aside from that, much of this is the same profile I typically get with this tea – albeit a little stronger from the bolder steep times. Soft but savory overtones of smoke and tobacco with a mid-sip that is a mix of fresh apples, white cranberry, and very dry, brittle Prairie hay or straw. A bit oak-y, perhaps? Definitely less sweet than some other golden flower bricks I’ve sampled, but I love the complexity and that combo of light smoke with the apple notes. This style of brewing definitely resulted in less steeps overall, but it was a very solid session to get to return to and reward myself with in between completing tasks.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9FonwguXoO/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uyLQpWc9ZQ
Grandpa Style!
I’m quite enjoying the well balanced sweet and savory profile of this hong cha, though I’m sure the flavours will settle in different ways both with time/age and alternative brewing methods. The liquor is smooth and full bodied with golden-leaning overtones of sweet potatoes, treacle, candied pecans, and fresh baked caraway bread – very much my speed. The undertones, while much more subtle, as a tinge herbaceous with the most memorable tasting notes being Thai basil or tulsi. Very slick, and coating on the palate. Super excited to get to know this tea a little better!!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9H9A-cO-lI/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC7AZKDrZW4
Cold Brew!
Definitely not really juniper flavoured, but this was a very nice cranberry flavoured rooibos blend. A little bit jammy, but also a bit brighter and tart. Kind of had undertones of like red currant or lingonberries, too. Fresh, smooth and pleasant with a woodier undertone that suited this sort of red forest berry kind of vibe. I wish I got more of the piney notes of the juniper, but still a solid brew.
Iced Latte!
I made myself this to enjoy with lunch yesterday and I just found myself completely and utterly underwhelmed. In general I’d had a hard time with this particular matcha, but in this case the disappointment was because all I tasted was matcha. No orange. No chocolate. Maybe a little bit of biscuit in the finish? But it was so light. Now, I do love a nice plain matcha latte but that just wasn’t what I had been in the mood for…
So I guess I was maybe in a subconsciously strawberry centered mood this week because I only just noticed while writing tasting notes that I made myself four different strawberry blends over the course of two days. All very different styles of strawberry, though. This one was very soft and mild with a lot of floral undertones to the otherwise gentle berry flavour. As much of a “pink strawberry” feeling strawberry flavour as you can probably get without the presence of cream or vanilla.
I swear this tea was a little more sweet and syrupy last time I made it, with a more distinctly soda-type strawberry flavour. This time around I found myself really noticing the presence of the hibiscus in the blend. Juicy still, but accented by a lot of top note tartness. The finish was still pretty sweet though with more of the over ripe strawberry notes I was initially looking for when I picked this one out.
