15733 Tasting Notes
Adventaggedon Day 9: Tea 5/7
This reminded me a lot of the Turmeric Relief from World Tea House from earlier in the advent, but without the rooibos and also just less peppery in general. I’m not sure if it’s because I added coconut milk but I also felt like there was something about the finish of this that was very sweet. Kind of in a weird and out of place way. The coconut milk did mellow some of the spice harshness though and complimented both the turmeric and ginger.
I’m not the target customer for this (by a long shot) but I understand that there is someone who wants this kind of blend, and it was nice seeing a very different side of T2 than what has been in the advent so far.
Adventaggedon Day 9: Tea 4/7
The ingredient list of this blend is a little busy, but ultimately it looked like it was going to be a pretty good roasty coffee and spice blend. I steeped it up for almost eight minutes and then added a little bit of cream. It was a nice tea but it was also kind of a weak one too. I didn’t get nearly the level of either roasted coffee flavour or the deep spice notes it seemed like should have been present. Instead it was like a subtle sweet cinnamon and then a silky and creamy coffee note. Not robust or full bodied and challenging to pick out all of the different flavour components which would have been present. I just expected a lot more.
Adventaggedon Day 9: Tea 3/7
Steeped Western because of time constraints today, but also because I didn’t want to commit to a full gongfu session of a green tea or a massive teapot either. I do really appreciate receiving and interesting terroir tea and I’ve enjoyed other teas I’ve had from the Doke tea farm in the past (especially some silver needle white teas). However, right now this tea is taking me back to being a child told to eat their vegetables and I’m just not loving that…
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFOqhucq1I&abchannel=kriillmusic
Adventaggedon Day 9: Tea 2/7
I saw the name of this one in the morning I wasn’t sure whether it meant we were getting a jasmine pearl on a black tea base or if it would be a jasmine pearl coated in the gold luster dust that’s already made a couple appearances. So, opening the package and just seeing a regular green jasmine pearl tea was actually sort of surprising!
…also, in that regard, sort of a confusing name?
I was working in office today instead of at home, and it’s always much trickier to drink all my advent teas and snap photos at the office so I didn’t have as much time with this tea as I probably would have liked. That meant that I kind of just tossed the pearls into a travel mug once I was done getting a photo, and then drank them grandpa style throughout the afternoon.
I imagine that ‘thermos tea’ is probably not the best way to enjoy this tea but it also wasn’t a bad tea. The jasmine did get quite strong but thankfully not at all bitter. It was a little like drinking jasmine and edamame or green beans. Not really a favourite of mine, but pleasant enough. Bolder and thicker mouthfeel than I’m sure is typical, just by way of my steeping choice.
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOPCPUq9f_g&ab_channel=SuLee
Adventaggedon Day 9: Tea 1/7
I’ve been loving how overall balanced all my daily advent selections have been, but if I’m being honest the one thing I’ve felt has been missing is more overtly winter or Christmas themed tea selections. So, it was a really nice surprise this morning to see this tea. I probably could have gone for something even more holiday-ish but I’ll take it!
As I said last time I wrote a note for this tea, I really do prefer it chilled so I ended up making it iced today and then kind of nursing that refreshing iced tea in between drinking my other advent teas earlier this afternoon. I got a lot more of the orange than mint in this go around, but it was still refreshing and not too sweet.
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 8: Tea 7/7
Gongfu!
My God, I needed this today! You all know that I’m a total slut for a good smokey tea so when I saw that the World Tea House advent selection today was a Russian Caravan I lost my damn mind. Advents are keeping me so busy right now that I just haven’t had time to drink much of anything else – smoked teas included. This probably wouldn’t have even needed to be good for me to love it at this point, but it was good and that made the moment so much better.
It’s not even a straight Lapsang Souchong because it’s blended with Keemun, but the smoke note is so aggressive and burly that I was immediately pulled into those late night summer bonfire feelings with the big plumes of sweet smoke. It was deep and robust and hit me in the back of the chest in all the right ways.
As someone who is asexual, I’ve always found the phrase “better than sex” to be rather alienating… But this tea…
This was better than pizza.
This was better than horror movies.
This was almost better than Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Definitely better than season four, though…
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj21oxisMSA&ab_channel=TheSymposium-Topic
Adventaggedon Day 8: Tea 6/7
This was a really interesting blend and, I think, also the most “out there” one that’s been included in the P&T advent so far!? It’s delicate with soft floral notes of elderflower and a light but playful stonefruit finish. I love the clean and subdued sweetness of the white tea and and the slight cucumber pulp taste it had. I could go for more apricot, but what I’ve been present with is gentle and fresh which is lovely.
I think I wanted to like this more than I did but I feel like that’s more a problem on my end because my expectations for an apricot white tea were so high and not because there was actually anything wrong with the tea itself.
Adventaggedon Day 8: Tea 5/7
Not my favourite tea of the day but definitely a super nice one! I think ultimately it comes down to the fact that I just don’t drink a lot of Earl Grey. However, the sweet and floral bright top notes of this EG were a really pleasant addition and I thought it made the overall cup feel so much more fun and lively. I’m used to French Earl Grey typically being an addition lavender and that combination sometimes coming off as too perfumey/soapy but this was almost fruity florals and just… joyous!?
I paired my mug with some white chocolate macarons as well, which was a pleasant addition. The creaminess of the macarons almost acted in a way like a splash of milk, which was nice! It was just a happy moment in the morning.
Adventaggedon Day 8: Tea 4/7
I think I’m an outlier but I really do love teas with cucumber. I find these more cucumber forward than lime, so it’s maybe not the most accurate name. However, the crisp vegetal cucumber pulp and skin notes work super well with the more green and nutty oolong base and the slight lime undertones almost give this a “spa like” sort of vibe in terms of refreshing/hydrating mellow flavour.
I was going to cold brew this today but I realized I didn’t have time to do a second cold brew and still give it the steep time it deserved so I made my cup hot with a little squeeze of fresh lime to boost the citrus since I was making nachos for lunch anyway and already had the lime out to do the same thing to my nachos.
Adventaggedon Day 8: Tea 3/7
Well, no one can say that the name of this tea isn’t accurate at the very least.
I was really worried I wouldn’t enjoy this tea, but it ended up being one of my favourites of the day. The fennel in it is very strong and overall it ended up tasting almost exclusively of sweet fennel/anise and black licorice. I know that’s not for everyone, but I love licorice flavoured things and that strong fennel flavour was spot on as an afternoon cuppa!
