15695 Tasting Notes
Sipdown (1526)!
Okay, this one was a hard sipdown.
I had it earlier in the week and realized I only had a single cup left and it just felt like it was the right time to finally steep it up and let this gem go. I steeped it hot, Western and straight to really enjoy and appreciate this last cup and all the natural robust flavour present in these leaves. It’s just such a malt bomb with sweet graham and fresh baked bread notes throughout. Probably my favourite “Orange Pekoe” type tea of all time.
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.
Sipdown (1527)!
Somewhat bittersweet sipdown, but I feel like that’s true of any A Quarter To Tea sipdown. The aroma off the steeped mug is bright, sweet cranberry but taking a sip I get brown sugar first on the palate before a very thick floral and sweet cranberry jam note takes over. The finish is cranberry juice, but without the tartness. It’s smooth and full bodied, and is really hitting the spot this afternoon.
Sipdown (1528)!
I feel like at this point I must have mentioned it but, if not, I’ve been on vacation all this past week, and it’s been really good for my tea consumption/sipdowns!
This is one that I finished off on Thursday evening while watching the Critical Role livestream. So, sipped in between chaos and laughter watching this week’s campaign three shenanigans. Very rich and creamy, the banana pudding profile was perfect for the mood that I was in. Just a hint of licorice and a hit of greener underripe banana edge, but mostly just silky decadence.
Sipdown (1529)!
Finished this one off Western style, which was honestly a bit of a break through idea! I just wasn’t into this tea steeped Gongfu, but it was soft and silky with very dominant bamboo notes when prepared this way. I almost could have mistaken in for a white tea, in truth! I would never reorder this tea because it’s just so tightly compressed that it’s a total bitch but I feel very satisfied that I figured out a way to steep it that really worked for me on a flavour level.
Gongfu!
Inspired by Theoolongdrunk to dip into this sheng yesterday afternoon with a whole heap of juicy fresh blueberries! Truthfully, while I love blueberry flavoured things, I’m not the biggest fan of actual blueberries because I find the taste and texture often too unpredictable. However this was a pretty sweet pint, and I thought complimented the more green bell pepper & overall vegetal leaning taste of this sheng. While it does have a strong lingering sweetness (a bit like anise) in the finish, I generally don’t favor more vegetal teas so the additional blueberries were an improvement on the tea session for me!
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CV5qh0irF6i/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUSr15Lrdxc&ab_channel=TheOrionExperience
Gongfu Sipdown (1530)!
Even though shpu pu’erh stuffed oranges are my preference, there’s something incredibly juicy, bright and vibrant about this black tea and tangerine combo. The body of the black tea combined with the sweet punchy ripe citrus notes really captures the energy and happy nature of a sunny Summer day & that makes it the perfect choice for an early morning session! Steeped this bad boy out fully, and it took about nine infusions to do so – definitely very impressive!
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CV8GO4oAPeN/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxIypo5BoUk&ab_channel=ZellaDayVEVO
I made a bit of a matcha affogata/float type situation for myself yesterday morning with some guava icecream (which is fucking delicious! Tangy, sweet and creamy tropical goodness), coconut milk, and the matcha floated on top. It reminded me a bit of this guava flavoured bubble tea with matcha that Boba Boba here in MTL makes but I liked this better because it was a creamy tropical vibe with the grassy umami matcha and it was overall much less disjointed tasting then the very tart guava and rice milk combo of Boba Boba’s bubble tea drink.
What brand guava ice cream did you use? I wonder if it is available here.
https://www.sweetnnice.ca/pages/flavours This company! They also have the best Rum & Raisin icecream I’ve ever tried.
Thanks, Ms.Strange! It doesn’t look familiar, but I’ll keep my eyes open for it.
I remember reading about this ice cream and meant to go check it out. It is actually made in my city! On it.
Cuppa slurped in that perfect temperature state when it’s hot and soothing but not scalding. Made very, very late at night because one of the advantages of being on vacation is getting to stay up super late and sleep in without an alarm clock in the mornings. More lemon than lavender, but a sweet and full bodied lemon with just enough tartness and the depth of the added lemongrass. A little spicy in the finish. Tasted like it was good for my soul, and helped me feel much more relaxed before bedtime.
Steeped this up Western style but didn’t take notes, which I’m now regretting. I feel like it will be most interesting once brewed Gongfu, but I did enjoy this last mug quite a bit. Hits deep in the back of the chest, and is earthy and dank in the way a root cellar is. Good. Tasty. Comforting.
Cold Brew!
Most of the way through this cold brew – it’s keeping me company as I write tasting notes this afternoon. Plum is a tricky flavour to get across in tea but I was recently surprised and impressed by a plum tea from Tea Runners so I decided to give this one a shot. Normally I probably would have been skeptical and skipped it over.
It’s plum… ish.
Definitely stonefruit notes and it has the slight tartness to the top notes before moving into more of a sweet and coating fruity flavour and that does play into the idea of a plum flavour to me. I feel like it’s a little bit more clearly schisandra in taste though – that same tartness and sweet almost waxy fruity body/mid note. Regardless of the accuracy or not, I do like the flavour a great deal – it’s not too tart (very restrained hibiscus use here!) or cloying and the slight minerality and roasty undertones of the oolong compliment extremely well and add depth/nuance to the overall profile. You could argue it sort of makes it taste like a grilled plum, and I think that wouldn’t be massively off.
I’m glad I gave it a chance!
