DAVIDsTEA

One more cup and this is gone. I’ll see if I can pawn that cup off on Tre later tonight when he gets home…

I added milk to this cup, but I don’t think it took it exceptionally well. I find this one has an oilyness to it when consumed straight, and that mixed very funnily with the milk. There’s a whole layer of oily scum on the surface of my tea which is offputting; mostly because it translates into the taste. I want this to be a tea that I can relax with – but everytime I drink it I find that it’s… Distracting? And not in a good way.

Plus side – the tea liquor is a really beautiful colour despite the oil drops. The artist in me had to go scour Google Images looking for visual representations. Something like these:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-U30zqUrq4NM/T3BI0zatdWI/AAAAAAAAG38/WFU2GtgaJIc/s400/cherry-0810-4-mdn.jpg

http://www.africanafrican.com/PhotoAlbum3/fullsize/cherry-wood.jpg

http://www.art-paints.com/Paints/Marker/Liquimark/Global-Colors/Mahogany/Mahogany.gif

The colour is so relaxing (I would want my dream house to incorporate this colour; either on the bathroom walls or in hardwood, accessories, trim, something…) but why can’t the damn tea be just as relaxing?

Only one of two more cups of this one left. I may give them to Robyn, or see if I can throw them into a swap or something…

This smells really foul today – oily and fishy and gross. However, it’s not nearly as rude as far as the taste goes. In fact, it’s fairly light in comparison to the highly aromatic smell that’s filling my kitchen. So that’s not so bad, I guess.

Right now I’m just killing time while my nail’s dry – and then I’m out for the day! I have to go fill out some forms and stuff at the bank, and then I’m meeting a friend downtown at DT before we head to a metal concert. I’m gonna be pretty out of my comfort zone there, heh…

I don’t really do things, and specifically I don’t really do things in loud concert settings. Plus, I know next to nothing about metal music. But, she invited me and it is a chance to get out of the house so I guess why not?

Tasting note 600!

It was only like two, maybe three, weeks ago that my tea twin VariaTEA and I were both at 500 – and now she’s nearing on 700 (knowing her, she’ll likely be there by the end of the day). Dang sore teeth! She totally, by a landslide, wins our tasting note competition though. ‘Mad props’ to her, and so forth.

Anyway, for my 600th note I wanted to do something ‘monumental’ – so this note will be marking my first ever taste encounter/experience with the highly complicated tea category Pu’Erh. I decided to approach this as a total tea newbie – someone who might go into a DT store and pick this out, not knowing anything about Pu’Erh (like the fishiness, or how it gets better with age, that it comes in cakes, etc.) and who maybe was just interested in the flavours.

Out of DAVIDsTEA’s Pu’Erh options, this one sounds the most appealing to me.

Dry, the smells strongly of oranges, chocolate, and something else somewhat unidentifiable. A tad “fishy”, I suppose but if I had no idea that was a descriptor associated with Pu’Erh I’d probably be more likely to describe it as “oily”. Sort of like cooking oil.

My parameters for this cup were 1.5 tsp. of leaf in 8 oz. of boiling water, steeped for four minutes. To play into my “tea newb” approach, I did not do a rinse because this is something an uneducated tea drinker would not know to do and because I know, at least in my area, DT employees do not advise customers to do this.

As far as steeped smell goes, there is a strong presence of orange and a lesser one of chocolate. The same hard to place (likely the Pu’erh) smell carries over into the steeped aroma. I should note that while it smells odd it doesn’t smell bad. I’m interested to see if Tre would be able to smell it (he’s not home, so that’ll have to wait until another time) because his pallet (well, at least in regard to tea) is undeveloped like a complete tea newb’s would likely be – plus he often tastes peculiar/highly different notes in the tea I make him.

Taste wise – it’s really not so bad. Maybe that’s because I went into this with so much trepidation and hesitation, though. Anyway, I most predominantly taste the orange which is like a combination of orange zest/actual oranges and juicy (not sour) orange candy. This is the first taste, and the strongest. In the middle is the taste/smell that is harder for me to identify; likely the Pu’Erh. I imagine as I drink more Pu’Erh this flavour will become less abstract to me. I’m just thankful that the highly oily/fishy smell that I’m totally experiencing hasn’t carried into the taste. Finally, the chocolate kicks in after the Pu’Erh and carries into the aftertaste along with remnants of the orange flavour. I can see, based on this, why this has been characterized by some people as tasting like a Terri’s Chocolate Orange.

Overall, I think this was a good introduction and I’m thankful that I found the cup drinkable – I was very worried I’d take a sip and feel highly compelled to dump it. Now that I’ve lost my Pu’Erh virginity I think I’ll be more welcoming to trying Pu’erh in the future – though it’s not something I want to rush into. I’ll start with the two small samples I currently have already, and we’ll see how it goes from there.

I love this tea but it certainly tests my patience when drinking it. I find that initially, when the tea is piping hot, I get a real over abundance of grassy notes from the white base. However, as the tea cools, more of the cherry starts to show up and the tea becomes a lovely fruity, yet floral tea. I think this is a delicate tea which can be really great, but is also super fussy with steep time and optimal drinking temperature.

I think this becoming a crossover tea for me. I am usually really not a fan of anything floral but I really like this! It is floral, but only subtly so. The cherry is the dominant flavour and it works nicely on the white base tea. This is a great, light introduction into the world of floral teas and I am heartily enjoying it!

My Cherry Blossom arrived to try. After all the hype of this being re-released, I must admit I had pretty high expectations for this tea. When the postman brought it, I immediately set some water to boil and brewed some up. First off, the smell of the leaves is amazing, it smells like ripe, tart cherries. Brewed up while it still smells divine, the cherry taste is definitely more muted. The main notes I got were some cherry against a subtle, floral background. I didn’t get a ton of taste from the white tea base.

The first few sips I wasn’t sure about this. It smelled so good, but the taste was not what I was expecting compared to the scent of the tea. However, as the tea has cooled I am falling more and more in love with it. The cherry notes are starting to pop more and I am really appreciating the delicate flavour of the tea.

Once I had let go of my preconceived notions (which I really have to stop forming before I actually taste teas), this is a super good tea. I am really impressed and glad I have some of this to work my way through!

**Please note, by berries I am referring to cherries and by flowers I, of course, mean roses. None of which I can pick. How unfortunate that I don’t spend more of my day drinking teas reminiscent of asparagus, fish broth, green beans, lima beans, peat moss, or cannabis…..

Sooo pretty. My colleague brought some blooming tea at work this morning along with his glass teapot so we could drink it all day and feel better ! It was such an amazing idea. We started with the strawberry one, and then this one. Both were so great to look at, but I liked the strawberry flavour better. This one doesn’t really taste like peach. Well the peach is there, but it’s more like a very far away aftertaste. Sort of. But I’m still enjoying it, especially since I can’t drink any tea from my timolino today because it’s all tainted and the tea tastes awful. I need to find a way to wash it thoroughly. I’ve read about using baking soda and vinegar and I’ve tried it during my lunch hour but I will need to do it again. Do any of you guys have any other particular trick that could help me ?? I’m desperate here :( I need my tea at work !

Wow, so pretty ! One of my colleagues brought this to work today so we could share it. That was so nice of him. I loooved looking at his glass teapot as the leaves unfurled. It was so beautiful and made me want to drink it all. The tea was very nice, too. It tastes like strawberry candy, sure a bit artificial, but very good anyway. Plus it’s just so pretty to look at !

Don’t you just hate it when you feel like you’re coming down with something, but you’re not fully sure until the next day? I discovered the benefit of eating raw garlic during my last cold, as it dramatically decreased it’s severity. I decided to begin last night before bed, just in case I was right. Unfortunately I was and I awoke with a fun sore throat. Yay! Luckily it has not gotten worse, but I am still loading up on water, bone broth, garlic, and tea. I received the cold survival kit the last time I was sick, but never opened it until now.

The dry smell of this tea is delicious! It mainly smells of almond. Then again, tree nuts are a staple in my diet, so this tea is up my alley. Brewed, it is a very mellow tea that is lightly sweet and well rounded. Nothing that is strong in flavor, which is perfect at the moment. I taste a bit of licorice, though I am not sure if I taste much of the goji berries. Even so, this is definitely making me happy at the moment and I will enjoy this tea until it’s out.

My package from VariaTEA arrived! I didn’t think I’d ever say it, but: too much tea. No more. At least not until I’ve cut down by at least half. Ideally I’d like to stay under 100 teas (why does that sound so unattainable?!).

Anyway, I went for this first because of stomach trouble again. There’s ginger in it and I also remember MissB saying that pu-erhs calm her stomach, so I thought I’d try it out. I admit I have very little experience with pu-erh but this seems like a good way to try it since I know I like oolongs.

Ooh, this tastes good! I’m getting mostly orange and ginger with an earthiness in the background. It tastes sort of like an herbal, actually. I don’t know if the effect will be permanent, but it is soothing my stomach, too. Hooray!

ETA: As this cools the aftertaste is less bitter and more of a candied-ginger kind of thing. I love it so much I’m upping the rating.

So it looks like every company has a version of this type of tea: Tiesta’s Nutty Almond Cream, Davidstea Forever Nuts. I think most of them have a version. I didn’t buy a bag of this but two of the sachets came in a sample set I bought and I brought the set into work. While loose tea is great, bagged is definitely easier at work. This is a nice apple-based tea with creamy almond notes. I add sweetener because I have a major sweet tooth but I’m sure many would enjoy this plain.

I got the Tiesta version for a ridiculously good price during Black Friday and I hope it lasts till this year’s holiday because I think it’s the cheapest I’ve seen this type of blend. Though if Davidstea had this on sale for any reason, I’d certainly stock up (doubtful given it’s popularity).

Backlog from yesterday. I’m not giving this one a rating until I tweak my steeping method.

I could see how this tea gets the name “buttered rum” as it is evident an attempt was made to make the tea taste like that. The main flavor present, however, is coconut.

There’s nothing wrong with that as I love coconut, but this isn’t so much a buttered rum as a hot coconut milk with buttered rum aspects.

All this being said, I do plan to experiment with this tea. Both in the form of steeping and additives.

I have had this sample kicking around for a while. I know I tried it before, but don’t remember if I reviewed it or even liked it. Dry it had little to no scent and once brewed I smell something like kind of like rice with something else. I got only one juniper berry in my infuser and left six or so in the last serving of this tea, so I’m curious as to how it will affect the taste.
It kind of has a weird citrus like taste to it, but it is nothing like lemongrass. The more I sip it, the more I think of broth without salt. I’m getting a little ginger. Tempted to sweeten it, but I’m enjoying the savory broth taste and don’t want to ruin it. WOW, so I added a pinch of salt to it and it is like a really good soup base! Is it the juniper that makes it so interesting? Now that I think about it, it is a little gin like. I’m going to have to look up how much this tea is, if they still sell it and think about cooking with it!
I set aside a portion of it to try with sugar and the sugar really changes it. It has an almost caramel finish to it once it is cool. This. Tea. Is. SO. Weird!

An interesting cup so far. I am not terribly impressed with it, yet. I do taste the pineapple and peach, a sweet with just an edge of peachy tartness. I don’t really taste the odd after taste that some people have mentioned, maybe it’ll show up when it cools down.
Despite my not being impressed with this tea, I am not opposed to getting more. As I need more teas that strictly herbal/non rooibos blends for times when rooibos doesn’t appeal to me.
With the change of the website, I’ve decided to go back to rating my teas, I stopped before because it was set up kind of weird and was hard to adjust.

The temp I used was 190, though the average temp used by users on this site was 195, that is not a option on my kettle and I hate trying to guess when the best time is to pour, so I went with 190. My tea thermometer/timer is broke…(The day I got it, it accidently landed in a pan full of water. It worked…more or less after that quite a few times, but then I got out of the habit of using it. So I guess it just fizzled. Ahh well. Not sure if I’ll get another one, if I do it won’t be from Teavana.

Update:I just took a huge swallow of this tea, there was a distinctly metallic taste…so lowered the score even lower. (Was an 80, which is the ‘Interesting’ catergory. Now it’s 70 which is the ‘Not cupboard worthy’

While I might change my mind…I highly doubt it. Bah!

I really want to like this tea. I mean, it’s great, the aroma’s an aphrodisiac, but the tea itself lacks body.

I tried brewing this tea in countless ways with no satisfactory result (other than the smell). I recently dropped in to DT to ask them if that’s normal and the wonderful employee said that he also has the same problem with the tea. Phew, so I’m not crazy. He said that Agave could help to bring out the flavor’s but I’ve already finished my 50g pack and won’t be trying it again so that’s that for this tea for me.

Weak flavor, amazing aroma. Use when bringing a girl with a delicate tongue home.

Backlog:

A really nice medley of flavors: Soft citrus-y notes, exotic jasmine, and a vegetative taste from the greener Oolong used as a base for this tea. The Oolong has a buttery taste, a slightly creamy texture and this goes very nicely with the lemony citrus, giving it an almost “lemon-curd” like taste. And the jasmine comes in and offers an alluring floral note.

Nice. Even my daughter enjoyed this one.

1. 90C 4min
Smells lovely like a slightly artificial cherry with a soft floral background

This is very in your face floral. It taste’s like flowers, not even like cherry blossoms though a less distinct and more artificial floral taste.
Admittedly though, mine was brewed way too strong! I would either reduce the brew time or put in less tea for next time.
Hiding behind the overt floral is this faint sweet cherry flavor that I think is really delicious.
The cherry actually tastes like real cherries, sweet a little bit tart and really beautiful.

If I could find a way to cut down of the harsh floral over tones and enhance the cherry I would really like this tea.

Also, the added flavors are so long any ‘white tea’ taste is completely lost.

So I let my first cup go cold – and OMG it was delicious! The first sip still is still in your face floral but then it softens into Sweet tart cherry with just a soft gentle floral background. The cherry doesn’t taste at all artificial, really tart and juicy, like a good unsweetened dried cherry.
Maybe this tea is not meant to be hot…
Seriously cold has completely changed my opinion!

I can’t taste the coconut at all, but there seems to be very little in my pouch (I noticed one piece so far).

2. 83C 5min
oops, let the water get too cold, so re-brewed at a very low 83C.

Now I can finally taste the green tea, as a backdrop to the floral taste. The floral notes are vaguely rose.
The cherry is only detectable as a slight aftertaste.

3. Unknown temperature, 6 minutes
Best cup yet. I can really taste the green tea, and now the floral component is just soft and delicate with a hint of cherry.
If every cup was like this i would be a huge fan of this tea!

Conclusion: For a floral tea, this is very nice. It’s not overly artificial and the cherry flavors are delicious. BUT It really is a floral tea, and the white tea component is completely over powered by the other flavors.

This teapot is easy to clean. The infuser is sturdy, and since it’s perforated steel instead of wire mesh, it’s much easier to clean, and doesn’t discolour as easily. However, it’s very big, and I have a habit to underleaf tea in big teapots and oversteep them to compensate. This is a good teapot for company, but it’s not good for individuals unless you’re absolutely sure you’ll be able to drink a full litre of tea in a few hours. I suggest putting a tea cozy on this one just in case.

There are only 2 things wrong with this teapot, and both of them involve the lid: 1) The “stem” that forms the handle on the lid is hollow, so if you want to lift up the lid, it will get too hot to pick up easily. 2) There is no hole in the lid to equalize the pressure from pouring out the tea. If the lid is on in just the wrong angle, the tea will come out in spurts rather than as a smooth, steady pour – this is much more apparent on the 45 oz pot compared to the 24 oz one.

An excellent teapot – it pours well, is easy to clean, and is just the right size for a 2-3 mugs worth of tea. The infuser is sturdy, and since its perforated steel instead of wire mesh, it’s much easier to clean, and doesn’t discolour as easily.

There are only 2 things wrong with this teapot, and both of them involve the lid: 1) The “stem” that forms the handle on the lid is hollow, so if you want to lift up the lid, it will get too hot to pick up easily. 2) There is no hole in the lid to equalize the pressure from pouring out the tea. If the lid is on in just the wrong angle, the tea will come out in spurts rather than as a smooth, steady pour.

Another wonderful sample from my swap with Teatiff! I tasted this at first after the recommended 4 minutes of steeping and it was too bland so I steeped it longer. After over 10 minutes, it still tastes a bit bland to me, even with almost 2 teaspoons of tea for 8 ounces of water. Perhaps it is the brazil nuts that have a large volume and less tea leaves are making it into the cup? I did notice a bit of a sweet, artificial taste towards the back, but no real flavor.

I love this tea. It is chocolaty and minty and so comforting and relaxing. It tastes great with a bit of milk or even as a latte. The dry leaf smells a lot like chocolate with a hint of mint. Its appearance is adorable with the red lips and mini chocolate chips. This is one of my favorites and I would highly recommend for any chocolate lovers.

This is the first and only matcha I have ever tried. It’s actually quite nice, smooth and creamy. It taste stronger than normal bagged green tea. It has a slight vegetal or planty taste but not bitter. I like it best with a bit of agave and milk but that’s personal preference. I usually have a cup a day or every other day after reading about it’s many health benefits. Overall, great tea. I kept my rating in the 80’s because I have nothing else to compare it too but I do like it.

It’s not as good as I thought it would be. The smell of the dry leaf is very similar to that of Birthday Cake, which I didn’t like because it was rooibos, but I thought with a black base it would be amazing. It is actually quite nice, but not my favorite. I get a lot of sweetness and a bit of cake and chocolate, but the black base is too strong for my taste. I’ve come to realize that I’m always a bit disapointed with teas that have chocolate in them. Maybe I expect too much. I would be very interested in trying some from another company though because I’ve only had some chocolate teas from David’s Tea so maybe I’m just not a big fan of their chocolate flavouring. We’ll see!