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Adventaggedon Day Five – 4/5

Too tired tonight to pull up Thesaurus’ website to properly add this one to the database…

This was a black tea blend, though, we a whole mess of ingredients. The main ones to care about are apple and lime flavouring, since that was supposed to be the primary flavour of the tea, and more awful butterfly pea flower. If Thesaurus keeps insisting on adding BPF to every blend I feel like this may turn into the kind of situation I had last year with Kiani tea adding glitter to shit that just didn’t need glitter…

This one could have been so cool. When I saw the name and the fact it was lime/apple flavoured I figured we were gonna get some kind of cool poison apple type vibe with a tart and sour profile. Instead it tasted almost entirely of butterfly pea flower. Pungent and floral, like yesterday’s cup, but also a little bit stale and cardboard-like and just a bit like burnt sugar. There was a hint of apple and lime on the tail end of the sip but it was soooo faint. It was hard to get through my travel mug of it.

Honestly, this blend was just lacking in so many regards.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClzWCzSvEvU/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkpgz3uQ58U

Advantaggedon Day Five – 3/5

This was my favourite of the day.

In particular, this combination of flavours was just exciting to me as a concept. I did have some worries though; orange blossom is such a delicate flavour and cardamom is not. It would have been so, so easy for the cardamom to totally swallow up the rest of the flavours in this tisane. That didn’t happen, though!

As I said to Marika earlier today, it was just incredible how this ended up being such a strongly flavoured and intense cup with such deep, fragrant notes of cardamom while also perfectly conveying the delicate and more fragile flavour of floral and slightly citrusy orange blossoms. Like, those two things shouldn’t be able to co-exist in one sip as well as they do. It’s crazy. In a very good way.

Also – this is probably the first “orange blossom” blend I’ve ever come across to use real orange blossom and holy shit it makes a world of difference. I love orange blossoms so much; they’re one of my favourite flowers. It’s just a cool inclusion and, once again, speaks to the authenticity of ingredients that EDC always delivers on.

(Tiny criticism though – didn’t really taste the mint in this blend at all! Just blends a little too seamlessly with the camphor qualities of the cardamom.)

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClzWCzSvEvU/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g8x-ER2n70

Adventaggedon Day Five – 2/5

In the grand scheme of advent teas, I think this is going to be a very forgettable one. I see that I’ve rated it lowly in the past, but genuinely I don’t remember ever having it before – so to me that supports this gut feeling I have.

I started my day with this tea and a bagel, and most of the time I was sipping on it the thoughts I was having was that it tasted fine but apart from the pleasant and predictable rooibos base it just sort of tasted slightly sweet and generically “brown”. Not necessarily pecan, or even really distinctly nutty – and not caramel or chocolate enough either. Nothing off putting at all, but simply just lacking distinct enough flavours.

The one thing I’ll give it is that it was exactly the right level of overall sweetness and body to feel appropriate for breakfast.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClzWCzSvEvU/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5YSVDYYGjE

Adventaggedon Day Five – 1/5

Short tasting notes today because I am brutally tired. This was my first day having to balance working at the office with advents, and it was tougher than expected. Definitely, definitely gonna have to get back into the rhythm of doing that…

Kenyan Tinderet has never been a favourite tea of mine, but I respect how approachable it is for a CTC grade of black tea. My word of advice for anyone brewing this for the first time would be to use less leaf than you think you need and keep your steep time short. For my tasting today, I went with just a Western mug that I could sip on in between meetings. Unfortunately, just due to the busy day, most of my mug ended up consumed at room temperature.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClzWCzSvEvU/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW5lcoMIx6s

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.

Adventaggedon Day Four – Tea 5/5

Gongfu!

This was my favourite tea of the day. I was totally surprised to see a yellow tea included in this advent, though I’m not entirely sure why. The dry leaf smelled great though – like golden hazelnuts and warm bread. They were also just beautiful looking!

I ended up stacking my infusions two at a time for a total of eight steeps, though the last ones were a bit of stretch. It was in the same vein of flavour as some of my absolute favourite yellow teas of the past; softly sweet and nutty with flavour notes of peanuts and hazelnuts and maybe even just a bit of sesame. There’s a subtle grassiness sometimes, but it’s fresh and clean and it reminds me more of dandelions and beautiful blue skies and gentle breezes during prairie summers.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClwxRN7O-LO/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHFvp36TfYM

Adventaggedon Day Four – 4/5

This was an alright tea, but obviously not a favourite of mine. I’m kind of getting just a little bit impatient waiting for something to pop up from this advent that’s a bit more overtly festive in nature – but I totally get that this _is_a more wintery profile even if it’s not a Christmas-y one.

The dry leaf smelled so much like cola to me, and that I think tainted a bit of my impression from the get go. Steeped up I thought this was smooth enough with a pleasant body and foundation of gentle earthiness from the pu’erh base. Of the spices, ginger was the most prominent to me but it also still tasted like cola to me and that was just strange. My brother used to mix instant chocolate milk syrup and cola together when we were kids, and I always thought it was pretty gross – but he loved it. I hadn’t thought about that in a very, very long time so (if nothing else) I’m grateful for the hit of nostalgia and this tea returning a fond memory of my brother to me.

It got better as it cooled and more of the chocolate notes started to come through. Not a rich and creamy milk chocolate, but more of a raw cacao/cocoa powder kind of vibe. Sometimes I like chocolate and ginger and sometimes I don’t, but I thought this was a nice balance/ratio. Still, just a hint of cola. Couldn’t get past that.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClwxRN7O-LO/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=satAqbkC80Y

Adventaggedon Day Four – 3/5

Ah, Steven Universe. There is well documented proof on Geek Steep of how much of a Steven Universe fan I am, so I had high expectations for this blend.

It was kind of weird though, not gonna lie. The dry leaf smelled fine – kind of like freshly peeled clementines with a hint of something floral. Nothing to write home about, but promising enough. I started to get concerned as it was steeping though. The liquor was a very unattractive dark swampy green colour that didn’t feel fitting for any of the Steven Universe characters, let alone Rose Quartz. Plus, it started really smelling pungently of butterfly pea flower. Ick.

My first few sips felt a bit like a chore, and I was kind of crushed because of it. Too much butterfly pea flower in taste, just a little bit bitter and pithy, and the jasmine green was overly floral to the point of being a little like perfume. However, I powered through and the cup got better. Not great but, well, good enough. As the liquor cooled I tasted the butterfly pea flower less, and the orange took more of the lead. Slightly sweet, and a good distraction from everything else.

However, I probably wouldn’t revisit this one, which is sad for me to say. It also just doesn’t feel appropriate for the either the character or the fandom. I know it’s supposed to be an orange ginger blend (didn’t taste the ginger), but what about Orange Ginger says Rose Quartz!? Maybe that would work for Sardonyx? The whole cup just left me a little confused.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClwxRN7O-LO/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHg50mdODFM

I guess technically my pairing was more with the show itself since I decided to rewatch some of my favourite episdes while sipping on this. However, this song is part of those episodes – and I think my favourite of all the SU songs in the series.

Adventaggedon Day Four – 2/5

Since I had two chai blends today (boo!) I decided I wanted to brew them in different ways to keep things a little varied. I decided to do this one as a stovetop chai simmered straight in coconut milk. I wasn’t 100% sure if this particular mix of spices was necessarily the best suited for this preparation method, but very rarely does Chai not go great with pretty much any type of milk/alt milk.

(I know Marika is reading this, and I’m sure she can tell me the many different kinds of chai you shouldn’t add milk to – but today I don’t particularly care.)

The most prevalent aroma coming from the pot as this simmered was a combination of mace and black pepper. It was interesting because those aren’t two spices I would probably match up together. But what do I know about spices. Once I had strained everything out, I was really mesmerized by all the black flecks of vanilla bean within the cup. They were so beautiful against the creamy rich brown liquor. It’s a sight that you don’t really ever see with “vanilla chai” blends because they rarely use authentic vanilla and, when they do, not enough of it for it to be as visible in the cup.

…and after all of that, I didn’t really like it. I mean, what did you except? This is a chai-y chai, and a chai drinker I am not. However, EDC never skimps on the quality of their spices and I have to say that this was a complex and nuanced blend with a lot of really distinct notes. I tasted the cinnamon, the mace, the fennel. Definitely the pepper. I think it would appeal to so, so many people. I am just not one of them, haha.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClwxRN7O-LO/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLgwCQKBcP8

EDIT: I wanted to add in/point out that this song has one of my favourite lines of lyrics that I’ve heard in quite some time. Well worth a listen, IMO.

Adventaggedon Day Four – 1/5

This is such a classic tea, but honestly pretty solid for just standard peppermint. I brewed this one long and strong. Crisp and cooling, with a clean menthol finish. Not quite as muddy as European peppermint leaf, either. I actually had a bit of an upset stomach earlier this afternoon, so the timing on these tea was also perfect for that reason.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ClwxRN7O-LO/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtTBqIAQ434

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.

Adventaggedon Day Three – 5/5

More green tea… but with soba!

I actually just got a giant bag of Soba from Harney & Sons during their Black Friday sale because I enjoy it so much, so I was interested to see how the taste would suit this Korean green tea. I mean, basically today’s selection is just Korean Genmaicha.

Normally I steep my Genmaicha at a boil for about a minute because that pulls out more toasty rice notes and less of the green tea, but because this was my first tasting of this tea I dropped the water temperature down to about 85C and gave it a little bit of a longer steep time. It’s still plenty roasty toasty with a lot of pleasant and slight caramelized nut and grain notes. Snap impression is that I’m actually enjoying it more than the standard Genmaicha. That’s probably because there’s just a lovely absence of those marine tasting notes that turn me off Japanese green tea so much.

So, this one is a winner in my books!

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CluMZkouA7b/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW-fppK8vew