DAVIDsTEA

Sipdown (196/198)!

Ok, there was about two cups worth of this but I accidentally dumped a bunch of this onto the floor – so a bit of an unexpected sipdown I suppose. I don’t feel too bad about it though I guess, I have a lot of Genmaicha and this just brings me a little closer to finally feeling like I can open up my Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha.

This is good though; but it’s got lots of little green tea “bits” from the bottom of the bag, which of course escaped the filter. So it is getting bitter a little quickly…

This one was calling to me today. I’ve tried this one before, but Dexter3657 sent a few teaspoons over that I could certainly enjoy. thanks so much! Sometimes I’m in the mood for coffee… but not actually drink coffee. This pu-erh is perfect with coffee. There were seven whole coffee beans floating in my infuser! They certainly add a complement of coffee flavor to the dusky dark pu-erh. One of my favorites from David’s.

On a side note, I also tried the “mystery” oolong that Dex sent over.. I’ll just make notes here since I can’t put the note where it should go. It was a nice oolong! I could tell by the look of the leaves that it would be delicious. However, I don’t think I steeped it properly.. I’ll have to try a few different ways to steep it. I went with Teavivre’s oolong steeping instructions for this one but it didn’t seem like the cup it should have been. It was tasty… but I know it could have been tastier!

ETA: The other tasting note mentions SEVEN coffee beans too. Odd!

I’m on my resteep of this! Yay! I tried all 5 teas today like some kind of crazed DT fangirl.
Which I can be. Admittedly.

This one was ok, but I could take it or leave it.

So, the winners are Cool Cucumber and Blue Lagoon.
Also, whales.
I love how blue my mug is, and I love how the snow out front is melting away and that I’m starting to crave cold brewed teas again.

Feeling ill, love this tea. Saves my tummy all the time.

Made this for my brother today because I thought it’d be something he’d be able to taste. He seems to like fruity (but not hibiscus sour) herbals, but hasn’t had any success with actual tea – and I thought this could be a breakthrough for him in regard to drinking tea with tea in it! He did say it smelled really good…

Unfortunately, while he said he could taste it and that it tasted pretty “decent” it made his stomach hurt a lot and he couldn’t finish the cup. I thinking that was the mate. So, I finished his cup worth for him. It was strong, but that’s because I really overleafed to try and make a cup he could taste well.

My morning cold brew today!

I’m sad this is gone; I’ve really fallen in love with the idea of having a cold brewed pretty much straight up coconut tea around during the spring/summer seasons after trying this one and Zen Tea’s Coconut Oolong as cold brews. It’s like coconut water, but so much better.

If the rumours about Coconut Oolong coming back as April’s tea of month for DT are true, I might be very compelled to get some despite not having tried the much raved about Coconut Oolong yet. Though I’m still hoping they bring back Coconut Grove instead – because DT needs to step up their white selection and this one is fantastic.

When I smelled this in store, it was a very overwhelming spearmint smell with a hint of cucumber, but funny enough, there is no mint in this tea. I suggested to the David’s tea girl that maybe it had spearmint flavour in it because the ingredients just say natural flavours, but she said no there isn’t. My friend at work didn’t get spearmint at all, just melon. It’s kind of funny how everyone seems to smell and taste this differently.

I really don’t like spearmint tea, but I decided to try all of the spring teas just in case. This tea is definitely unique. It tastes very strongly of spearmint to me, but I’m definitely getting the cucumber as well. No sign of the melon though. The dried cucumber slices made it quite unattractive and almost made me gag when I dumped out my leaves into the sink.

Even though I didn’t personally like this tea enough to re-stock it, I have to admit it was quite refreshing and light. I can definitely see how others would like this.

Didn’t travel too well in my timolino, which is a shame. Also, this is almost gone too. But that’s ok, I have loads of other Genmaicha.

Also, Tre just got home. So much for a quiet household…

Having it iced right now … it’s so wonderfully refreshing! I’ll have to stock up so I have plenty this summer. I was worried because the cucumber smell was so strong before brewing, but once brewed the taste is not overpowering at all, it’s just perfect.

I received a sample of this from Allie. Thank you for letting me try this one.

This is interesting. This to me tastes like roasted sugar. I could see how you could get sweet popcorn treat out of this. There wasn’t a lot of tea in this, but it was a nice treat.

Cold Brew: Total of seven hours.

I broke up the 25 oz. of this over two days and had it as a fresh treat in the mornings. It was decent as a cold brew and I’ll likely finish it off that way because it uses more leaf, but I think it was better hot overall.

I’m watching the Big Brother After Dark episodes right now, and I just want to smack the stupid jocks so much! They’re talking about the “amazing health benefits/weight loss benefits” of green tea and the girls are just eating it up. I warn you all that during BB Seasons I live Big Brother.

If I was in the house I’d die without my tea. But, I’d have everyone as “tea snobby” as I am by the end of the season.

Well, I can see the chili’s, I just wish I could taste them. Even so, it’s a decadent, thick and very rich tea, although I get more ‘chocolate tea’ than I do even chai. Hm. Still tasty, it’s just… completely different than what Iexpected based on the ingredient list and name.

Oh, ok, phew. I get this tea now. My first steep last night didn’t go so well—I oversteeped, and the bitterness almost knocked me over. Saved with a heaped teaspoon of sugar, but I wanted to make sure I Did It Right with my next (and last) cup (this was one of my free DAVIDsTEA online order samples). Infused in my Timolino and then brought to work with me, because we all know when I try to steep at work I always oversteep.

I totally get a nose full of maltiness from this tea now that I’ve sorted things out with my second brew. It’s rich and the hint of bitterness is probably what leads people to the coffee conclusion but for me it’s definitely just a heavy tea tannin, really gutsy. Lovely. Glad I sorted this out but now sad I don’t have more, hahaha.

Quick sip down. Thank goodness I didn’t buy more than 10g. I tried it without half and half this time, and wow, is it ever overwhelmingly sweet. Tastes more like something that Della Terra would offer.

Ugh, the day, actually the week, is just wasting away. I’ve barely done any school work over these past few days due to running errands, appointments, and apartment hunting. Useless me!

I immediately want 100g of this. It does remind me of blue whale candy.
And it’s in my blue whale mug! They match!

(I on the other hand don’t – blue sweat pants and a bright orange tank top. I’m staying home today, can you tell?)

I’ve got the used leaves cold-steeping right now and I am very excited to try it later on!

BLUE WHALE CANDY TEA!

Had this hot in a timolino – which was weird; I usually have it cold. It was nice though; thick mouthfeel and creamy sweet Pina Colada. Mmm!

Thanks to Scribbles who sent me more of this! I’m not sure whether it was intentional, but it’s a personal favourite of mine so more (especially in a sealed packet) is always welcome!

Can you say Summer Staple?

EDIT: Also, I tried going through all the tasting notes over the last four but I ultimately gave up when I realized how many that is. So, I just went through the new DAVIDsTEA collection notes instead. I’m excited for Cool Cucumber and I think maybe Peaches & Cream too despite my fickleness towards peach.

What surprises me is the Grape Expectations. I had really low expectations for that one because it’s green and has raisins – but the positive notes on it do have me a little curious. We’ll see if I cave and check it out. Heh…

My mind isn’t made on Blue Lagoon yet. The pineapple excites me – but I don’t do artificial blueberry (in anything)…

I’m back!!!

Tre left Tuesday morning for Regina and took his laptop with him, but today my Dad and brother came up for an early birthday celebration and brought up my newly fixed laptop! I have to start from scratch; none of my old files or anything, but I have a computer again! Woot! So much to catch up on, tea related or not.

So quick summary? In my short absence from the computer I’ve:

- Gone to a metal show (which was super weird)
- Watched the first and seconds season of Pretty Little Liars; and am living vicariously through the characters (Hanna/Caleb and Spencer/Toby OTPs!)
- Finished Breaking Bad
- Acquired some new tea (birthday presents from Cuppa’T from my mom and a swap package from Scribbles)

And… Best for last!

- GOT A JOB!

I start on Monday, and I’ll be a sup. at Dollorama – working a short 10 minute walk from my house! How great is that!?

Of course, for the time being until then I plan to catch up on all my backlog, because there’s lots of it (and of course I made notes on nearly everything I drank). Plus, I need to get my Big Brother Canada game on! I’ve already watched the first two episodes I missed, and now I’m watching the after show! I’ll probably have the live feeds going in the background the whole time I’m writing backlogged tasting notes. Any other BB fans?

If anyone else is watching the Canadian season right now I’d love to have people to gab with!

My season picks (at the moment) are: Kenny, Jon, and Arlie. I can’t say I’m feeling the girls so much right now. I think maybe Heather will surprise me though. So glad Anick is gone – I thought she totally made a bad impression. And, I’m not a fan of Paul right now. Ick.

As for this tea: It was just a nice treat in my timolino that I enjoyed while I was helping my friend Kristina move into her new apartment. Her new roommate seems nice and the place is cool.

She was amazed at the concept of this one; I might have to hold “regular” tea drinking “classes” and get her some loose leaf education now that she’s living a five minute walk from me.

:( Sipdown.

I really really liked this tea. So sad it’s (almost) gone.

Cold brewed overnight. It’s delicious and easy and not plain water.

I’ve resolved to make greens & lightly oxidized oolongs my priority, after reading a Verdant blog post saying they only stay fresh for about 4 months. Let’s just say I have my work cut out for me.

Dry leaf smells a bit like being on the coast – herbaceous, but with a whiff of ocean air. After being rehydrated, the leaves appear very delicate, almost the texture of seaweed. The flavor is light and similar to the aroma; very clean, with a satisfying thickness to the liquor. It’s very similar in taste to a Japanese green, and quite different from the only other Korean green I’ve tried, which was biscuity and fruity-sweet.

I was expecting a lot worse, considering the overall rating! Yes, its flavor is barely-there at times, but so is the tea I’ve had at most of the Japanese restaurants I’ve been to. I’ll have to seek out some other Korean teas.

I agree with previous estimates – this does taste more like an oolong. Like an oolong soaked in grape kool-aid. In the best possible way, it’s really good. I drank about half the cup hot, and it was more oolong-y. The grape became much more prominent as it cooled.

Had to wait like two hours to drink this after getting it in-store because I had them make it in a Timolino. Over all, it was pretty tasty, but reminded me of Chocolate Cake. Had a bit of a cinnamony sparkle to it, but nothing special.

I’m really glad I decided to grab a go-cup of this before buying any for home. I found the melon in this over-powering and a bit nauseating. I had about five sips before I threw it out, and three hours later I still have heartburn.
I’m not sure why this one had such a negative effect on me! I was really looking forward to it.

Hot, this is…okay. Good, but not as mind blowing as iced. Still, it’s pretty dang good!