6105 Tasting Notes

74
drank Candy Cane Matcha by DAVIDsTEA
6105 tasting notes

(DavidsTea 2022: 81)
2022 Sipdown 81/365!

Another deviation, and a matcha I haven’t tried before! Drank with milk as usual. This was literally liquid candy cane in a cup; I couldn’t taste the matcha at all, really. Glad I tried it, but mint just is not my thing.

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85
drank Salted Caramel Matcha by DAVIDsTEA
6105 tasting notes

(DavidsTea 2022: already recorded)
2022 Sipdown 80/365!

I don’t have any matchas starting with H-J, so a deviation for this one. It was very strong and quite delicious, but I’m not sure I got a caffeine punch from it?

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81

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 169)

J is for… Jardin de Yvoire!

This tea was pretty tasty! It was kind of like blackerry custard tart with jasmine, although the base tea wasn’t quite as good. But I did enjoy the blackberry/vanilla/jasmine combo, and appreciated that the jasmine wasn’t overwhelming.

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70
drank Iced Tea Blend Green Tea by 52teas
6105 tasting notes

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 168)

I is for… Iced Tea Blend!

Hopefully I’ll remember to cold-brew this next time, as it seems others have done successfully. Instead, I brewed hot and diluted with many ice cubes. The result is nicely refreshing from the spearmint, but the peach isn’t quite meshing for me, especially cold. However, warmed to room temp I feel like the two flavours integrate a bit better. Interestingly – I don’t really taste any lemon, or at least, not any up front. Maybe it’s blending in too well and I’m not paying enough attention? Not a favourite for me as I don’t love mint but it does seem like it would be very refreshing on a hot day!

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77

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 167)

I is for… I Drink and I Know Things!

Whew, finally a day with fewer teas to choose from (so I’m mostly drinking resteeps today). This tea is more or less a medium-bodied chai with a licorice note from the anise. It’s mild and flavourful enough to drink without additions, which is nice, although I did intend to try it with some milk but forgot.

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70
drank Honey Drop by DAVIDsTEA
6105 tasting notes

(DavidsTea 2022: 80)

H is for… Honey Drop!

Another epic oversteep but the tea hasn’t particularly suffered, since there’s no actual tea in it. However – really not a fan of this one. I’m iffy on the “honey” flavouring that many companies use, and paired here with stevia, it’s too cloying for me and I’d rather just have real honey. I should save this tea for my husband’s next cold; I feel like it would work well for him, and maybe require less actual honey than he usually puts in?

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drank Highgarden by 52teas
6105 tasting notes

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 166)

H is for… Highgarden!

Being a green tea, this tea did suffer from my epic oversteep and is quite strong and fairly bitter. Aside from that, there’s a strong lemon verbena flavour, and that’s about all I’m getting. Oops.

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71
drank Holiday Sangria by 52teas
6105 tasting notes

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 165)

H is for… Holiday Sangria!

Epically oversteeped this (and the other two I’ll write about shortly). Multitasking definitely isn’t usually successful nowadays. Anyhow, since this is a herbal/fruit blend, it didn’t really suffer too much. I had some last night and didn’t care for it, but the rest (this morning) is full-bodied (probably from the oversteep), smooth, and kind of a sophisticated orangey bubblegum flavour. Sophisticated because there are supporting flavours that I’m too tired to try and identify, but which temper the bubblegum flavour and add interest.

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81

(52teas (Anne) 2022: already recorded)

H is for… Hot Buttered Banana Bread!

Already recorded this tea when I drank the 2021 advent reblend, but this note is for the 2015 reblend, and yes, this 6.5+ year old tea is my favourite of the day so far (probably will hold up – my last two are herbals and it’s unlikely to bump out this delicious tea). The banana is pretty light here now – almost imperceptible, really – but there’s a lovely nuttiness and buttery flavour that emerges mid sip through into the aftertaste. And, the black base is punchy but not quite astringent – you can taste the tannins but it’s not unpleasant. I’m really quite enjoying this mug.

I can’t really tell here that the nuttiness is walnut, so it is definitely different from the pecan in the latest blend, but both are good. I think the important factor is a nuttiness that is not, say, almond (that would ruin it for me).

gmathis

Look at you burning up the alphabet!

Kittenna

I’m having fun! It’ll be a bit more pathetic after “L” though as I’ll be on vacation, haha. Not the best timing but it is what it is!

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73
drank Honeyed Lemon by 52teas
6105 tasting notes

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 164)

H is for… Honeyed Lemon!

This was’t too bad, and did indeed taste like a light honeyed lemon black tea, but I’d have preferred more lemon. Or maybe lime? Honeyed lime? That sounds interesting.

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Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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