13 Tasting Notes

75
drank Chocolate Chili Chai by DAVIDsTEA
13 tasting notes

I don’t really consider this a chai. It technically is a spiced tea, but it’s missing the usual spices you see in a chai, and therefore doesn’t have that distinctive chai flavour. Also, this tea does not use an india black base but a chinese black. So in my mind it’s not actually a chai, but maybe I’m being too narrow minded.

Ignoring the naming, I’ll get on to the tea itself. It tastes mostly of chocolate and tea, with a bit of warmth from the spice. Good, despite being kind of a novelty. I don’t think I’d drink this tea all the time, but it’s very nice on a cold day.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 30 sec
mirthmatter

Techinally speaking, it’s a chai. :p Chai just means “tea” in a whack of languages (except in Hebrew – chai means “living”. And Kashmiri chai is traditionally made with a green base…

But now I’ll stop being a jerk and agree that if I didn’t know the ingredients or name of the tea and had some, I would not go “OH GOODNESS THIS IS A CHAI ISN’T IT?”

Mir

I know chai means tea, I just figured it was just easier to go with chai and not masala chai because some people may not have heard that use before and wonder what the heck this “masala” thing I was talking about is.

mirthmatter

I figured you knew. I just like to be a sassy jerk sometimes.

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80
drank Creme Caramel Rooibos by DAVIDsTEA
13 tasting notes

Okay, another DavidsTea rooibos. The last one… for now.

This one has a smoothness and fullness similar to the Creme Brulee, but not quite as full feeling. I guess that’s the ‘creme’ part of the flavour? This one is sweeter and more caramel-y, but I find them quite similar. I like this one more, though. If you’re not much for sweet teas, the Creme Brulee may be a better choice.

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec

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75
drank Crème Brulée by DAVIDsTEA
13 tasting notes

I get a really creamy, smooth cup. Not an overwhelming creaminess but something really full seeming. I can almost imagine it’s food and not liquid as I drink it. The tea is not as sweet as one might expect, but it has nice hints of caramel. I haven’t ever actually had creme brulee dessert because I don’t like the texture of custard, but I imagine this makes a decent approximation of it.

It’s not as exciting as it all sounds, though. The flavour is quite mild even though it’s so creamy.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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60
drank The Earl's Garden by DAVIDsTEA
13 tasting notes

This tea was kind of disappointing. I got it as a gift, and it sounds like it would be a great tea, but on first sniff it smelled strongly of berry bubblegum. Fruity to the max, but in an artificial kind of way. Once steeped, the flavour is very similar to the scent. The bubblegum is slightly toned down, but it’s still not the true berry flavour I would have liked.

I had a friend over who quite liked this tea, and the friend who gifted it to me loved it, too, so I think I’m the only one who’s getting this artificial kind of bubblegum note.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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55
drank Taffy Terror (Organic) by DAVIDsTEA
13 tasting notes

Tried this again. It tasted better, but I wasn’t very impressed. Once again it smelled nice, but it didn’t translate into the taste. At least it wasn’t bitter this time, but it tasted pretty much like regular green, maybe with a bit of sweetness. Not bad, but not exactly taffy flavoured. I may try sugar to bring out the flavour, but I doubt it’ll do much.

Honestly, I think I would have preferred the taffy with a black base. Greens are too… vegetal? Something like that. Just not very suited to overly sweet flavours.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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85
drank Oh Canada! by DAVIDsTEA
13 tasting notes

Okay, DavidsTea has me convinced. I do actually like rooibos – with the right flavours.

The smell is purely maple. It is so authentic smelling that I keep wanting to pour my tea on a stack of pancakes.

The flavour of the tea just plain delicious. You get the sweet maple syrup with the woody rooibos to counterbalance it. I feel like I should be walking through a forest during the harvest season as the sap of the maple trees are collected in buckets.

edit: increased the rating by 5 points because I can’t stop drinking this blend!

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec

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75
drank Coco Chai Rooibos by DAVIDsTEA
13 tasting notes

This surprised me. I don’t really think of myself of a rooibos fan, but I’m starting to think that maybe the stuff I had tried in the past were just poor examples of rooibos. I also think that I enjoy rooibos best with other flavours. On its own I find it too… woodsy.

I actually quite like this blend – I think it’s the peppercorns that give it an unusual spice at the end that you don’t get with most chais. The spice makes it feel energizing without any caffeine. You still get that woody note from the rooibos, but the spice holds up well with it.

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 30 sec
mirthmatter

Of the two rooibos teas I got, I prefer this over the Creme. I think the peppercorns balance out the sweet woodsy-ness of the rooibos itself.

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35
drank Orange Pekoe by Tetley
13 tasting notes

This is the tea that made me think I didn’t like orange pekoe. No matter what I do, it always gets super bitter. If I make a full pot of tea instead of a cup and steep it for only about a minute it turns out drinkable, but still not very good. I’ll have it with a lot of milk and sugar if there’s no other options (like when I’m visiting family) but definitely not my tea of choice.

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55
drank Taffy Terror (Organic) by DAVIDsTEA
13 tasting notes

I’m pretty sure I oversteeped this one. It smelled like delicious caramel, but just tasted bitter. Going to take more care next time, and I’ll be back with a rating.

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70
drank Vanilla Oolong by DAVIDsTEA
13 tasting notes

I’ve never had a flavoured oolong so I wasn’t quite sure how to take it. Black? With milk and sugar? I decided to go with milk and sugar because the scent was so creamy and sweet it seemed right.

At first I was disappointed. The tea is so fragrant but when I first tasted it, it was very mild. I continued to drink it, though, and with each sip that buttery flavour everyone is talking about became apparent. I think I’d still brew it a bit longer next time.

Quite a unique experience. Not an every day tea, but definitely something worth trying.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 30 sec

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Bio

I’m 22 and I’ve been drinking tea like an addict for quite a long time. It’s only been in the past few years that I’ve really gotten into loose teas, though – they used to seem like too much effort for every day drinking, so they would only be a very occasional indulgence.

The bulk of my teas tend to be flavoured blacks, Earl Grey being my staple. I drink certain types of tea ‘black’, while I drink others with varying amounts of milk and/or sugar. I’m not a one-way-fits-all kind of girl; different types of tea need to be treated differently.

Some people give different meanings to certain rating grades, so here’s a guideline for how mine work.

90-100: Delicious. Teas that I will always have stocked in my house. Quality tea with great flavour.

80-89: Tasty. Teas that will show up in my cupboard every now and then, or quality teas that may just not be my cup of tea. (Is it weird to use that saying when actually referring to tea?)

65-79: Drinkable. Teas worth trying if available, usually something with a unique or interesting flavour but isn’t amazing, or decent teas without any outstanding characteristics that are good for having around when guests who just like a simple cup of tea with dessert are over.

50-64: Tolerable. I’ll drink it if offered to me, but you probably won’t find it in my house.

26-49: Meh. Poor tea or tea with not a very good taste, but I can see how others may drink it. If it’s the only option and I’m really desperate for a cuppa, I will drink it.

0-25: Ew. How can anyone drink this?

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