15695 Tasting Notes
Gongfu!
Started my Sunday with a coin of this ripe from BLT’s five year anniversary sale. Though my experience with yiwu shou is much more limited than with sheng, I have tended to enjoy all that I have tried and if this tea session is only doubling down on that sentiment; the liquor of this shou is thick and creamy, and the taste has a deep earthy and savory quality that is offset by a syrup note of oranges. It’s sort of boozy tasting and with the complex undertones of vanilla and wood the combination of everything is really making me think of Grand Marnier liqueur!! Paired with some raspberry dark chocolate, and this is just a nice hit of deep, dark flavours with the perfect pop of fruits! Mmmm…
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZXFuZ7u3Yz/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=226a6l5WIu0&ab_channel=pizzagirl
I don’t know what to say about this tea.
I think I’m just having a day where all my senses are so over stimulated that it becomes almost impossible to focus clearly on any one thing. Writing tonight has actually been helping a lot but I went through most of the day feeling like I was functioning simultaneously at both a “level two” out of ten, and also a level eleven. So… this tea has a taste.
It’s actually really pleasant and I’m enjoying it a lot but my brain is refusing to properly breakdown the overall flavour composition like it normally would. I taste a fruit, and some kind of mint, and a general herbaceous undertone. I think that’s what we’re going to be working with tonight though in terms of specificity. I even resteeped the leaf (something I rarely do with Western tea cups) because I enjoyed it so much and wanted to be able to capture why better. However, this resteep is much, much milder so even though it’s still pleasant it’s not going to help how I wanted it to…
Grandpa Style!
I nursed a cup of this at the office today for much of my workday. It started off so delicate and sweet with this flowy floral notes and the most pleasant thick liquor. However, as it sat over the day I was a little surprised by how bitter it ended up getting. One of the reasons I reach so much towards Jingmai, and Bitterleaf Tea’s Jingmai in particular, is because of the soft floral character of it. It was fine because I’d just delute the cup until it was more where I wanted it to be.
Just caught me off guard, is all.
In the tea’s defense, it may have partially been me. I have been working at home so much lately that being in the office can start to feel quite over stimulating and I definitely think I was experiencing some sensory overload at different parts of the day today.
This one is another new tea from the Spring Subscription boxes. The Garden To Cup themed subscription box in particular…
I’ll be straight. I like our Bai Hao Yin Zhen, which is the only core unscented or flavoured white tea that DT currently carries, but I think I like this one a lot better. While the buds are overall much smaller and have a slightly more course appearance to them, the taste is much more in line with the flavour notes I personally gravitate towards when selecting non-aged/compressed white teas for myself. The main ones being the sweet, crisp vegetal cucumber and sugar snap pea notes!
I’ve only tried this a few ways so far: as a hot tea steeped both Western and grandpa style. I brought enough of it home to try a gongfu session sometime in the future, but I’ve enjoyed playing with this tea over the last short while and I find it makes a really approachable and nice tea to reach for when you want something more delicate and refreshing but still caffeinated!
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZAWCcQuyBU/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Y9Xc3zX6M&ab_channel=MiyntMusic
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.
I’m never sure when I should write tasting notes for the brand new teas that come out in the DT subscription box – I don’t want to write them too early because I don’t want to spoil things for people waiting, but I think I’ve seen enough people posting about this one on different platforms that I’m okay writing about it now…
This is a new tea that’s exclusive to the “David’s Picks” subscription. I’m not joking when I say that variations of this tea have been in development since before I started working at the head office – so, over three years now! It’s been a long time coming trying to find a good place for this blend to finally come out, and I’m happy that we finally got there because (at least to me) it’s a good banana tea!
I think the name we landed on is really fun and I’m proud to come up with it because it reminds me a lot of the old school DT names that I used to see when I first got into tea – like Pink Flamingo, Midsummer Night’s Dream or even Jumpy Monkey. It’s always nice when I can come up with a really fun one for new blends!
As for the taste of the tea I would say that this is sweet banana first and foremost. It reminds me of a couple different banana flavoured things included both Banana Cream Pie as well as Banana Pancakes. Definitely rich and decadent, and a little creamy as well. It was originally, way back when, inspired by Buckwheat Banana Nut Crepes which (while delicious) are maaayyyybbeee not the most relatable thing people have tried!? So I’m glad that’s not the name direction we landed on in the end. However, that original “banana nut” inspiration carried through and as a result there’s a milder sweet nutty almond flavour to compliment this fun and flavourful rich banana blend!
I am probably at least a little biased both in the normal bias I have just from working in R&D for DT but also because I love most banana teas in general, but I will say that I’ve drank A LOT of this tea over the last three years and it’s been a frustrating waiting game of seeing if and when it would get released so that I could talk about it! While I usually just steep it up hot and straight, I find it reaaalllyyy pleasant as a latte too! Both iced and hot. Definitely indulgent, but worth it.
Can’t wait to hear more reviews from people!
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.
I noticed so many white chocolate pieces in the leaf I measured out for this cup and so, of course, it was no surprise that steeped up the liquor was a bit of an oil slick. However, the rich creaminess and deeper milk chocolate notes were lovely and combined with the bright juicy strawberry I was very satisfied with the overall taste. Exactly what I was craving when I pulled it out of my stash to steep up…
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.
From this past Matcha Monday! I decided I would dip into my much beloved and reserved stash for the perfect sweet floral start to the week. Nothing better than gentle floral flavours with the energy punch of a strongggggg cup of matcha – and the matching rose teacup I whisked it in was the cherry on top,
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZHuAIru46L/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9owz_fa5Bc4&ab_channel=TheInkSpots-Topic
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.
I don’t think I’m ever going to top describing this tea any more than how I did for the Geek Steep episode about V for Vendetta – which I did write a tasting note for. Like, to me, that is the exact feeling I get as I taste this tea and I don’t think that’s changing any time soon. However I will add that I steeped this up on a cold morning when I wanted to feel a sense of importance, and in addition to the distinct and aromatic sandalwood I got quite a hit of anise in this mug though that did not detract from the taste analogy I’ve made in the past.
Cold Brew!
Honestly cold brewing this tea may just be the best way to go with it. For me, at least. While I’m not always a huge fan of osmanthus scented teas or even just the flower itself, this dancong is so smooth and sweet and really captures the honey notes and aromas of osmanthus incredibly well! However, it’s not just that floral honey sweetness since the slightly toasted nut and minerality of the dancong is kind of this grounding backbone that offsets that body and top notes floral sweetness. It’s distinct, and it’s nice!
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZK3eb9uENs/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEj7BWsziVY&ab_channel=RubyWaters
Gongfu!
I’ve been waiting to steep up until a bright, sunny day when I had lots of time to really sit with the tea. Even from the first infusions, this is a warm and cozy tea. There’s a consistent gentle honey sweetness throughout, but what’s really pulling me in are the medium bodied notes of fluffy fresh baked brown bread and wild rice. As the steeps seems to get thicker and more syrupy as this tea session progresses, I’m getting a slight bit of a fruity apple undertone as well. It’s somewhere between a sweet honey & custard notes of a Mutsu or Golden Delicious, but with the creamy floral tenderness of white apple – especially evident in the finishing notes.
I can’t say, based on this session, that it’s something I would necessarily want to repurchase but I am very happy that I decided to order it and I think it’ll be enjoyable to finish this sample off at my leisure.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZFBs2zOcik/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhg94k7Q1ZA&ab_channel=SufjanStevens
