15695 Tasting Notes
Dipping into my nearly empty reserve of this tea to enjoy a briskly steeped mug this morning with a splash of coconut milk. So rich and robust, even with the age of the leaf. I love the notes of graham and malt that come through so clearly and the bready and fennel leaning sweetness that clings to the tip of my tongue in the finish.
Discounting scented teas, I think this might be my favourite straight/traditional black tea that DT has ever carried – it’s something pretty special and I definitely regret not buying more when I had the chance.
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.
Cold Brew!
I’ve read a couple reviews of people saying they just don’t get any maple from this tea and, respectfully, I just don’t see it. Every time I drink this blend I’m delighted by how well balanced the sweet ripe blueberry notes are with the maple sweetness in the undertones. To me, it’s just the right amount of maple to give that nod to pancakes and keep the blend sweet but not intense and cloying. It’s fun, and flavourful and I just loved this cold brew.
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.
Measured out a cup with extra juniper berries and then took the time to crush them all before steeping, resulting in a super pine heavy cuppa with that jammy strawberry note that works so well with the heavy denseness of the blend. Like some kind of craft gin based strawberry cocktail. YUM!
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.
Earl Grey is usually a morning time cup of tea for me but for some reason this past Friday I found myself deeply craving a cup of this blend at like 11PM at night and, y’know what? It fucking slapped. Very sweet and juicy ripe strawberry note with the thick and floral leaning bergamot and lemon notes in the finish. Just smooth and flavourful and all around quite enjoyable.
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.
Gongfu!
Anyone who knows my deep love of Lapsang Souchong, and smoked tea in general, will understand how there was never a universe in which I didn’t order this unique smoked shou puerh and it’s smoked sheng counterpart. I’m thrilled that it lives up to my expectations! There’s a fruity sweetness to the undertones of this tea that reminds me of black cherry jam, but mostly the flavour is a dance between thick campfire smoke and petrichor and wet decaying wood. I described it to someone as “walking up to a summer campsite and smelling the smoke in the distance mixed with the freshness of the surrounding forest” and that’s not a bad description, but I think it’s more like that late summer bonfire right after you’ve doused the fire: that sweet smoky steam that fills the air over the newly soaked fire logs and soil. Fucking exquisite, either way!
Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CV2y6c9Ak1-/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kCmdrd0DXQ&ab_channel=SANHOLO
Cold Brew Sipdown (1531)!
This was a little bit of a strange one to me because it wasn’t weak but it definitely seemed a bit watery or as if it was lacking some substance. The start of each sip was a pop of tart red berry and hibiscus with elements of elderberry and currant but this initial burst of flavour was fleeting and the sip afterwards felt like a shadow or after image of that first taste. A little hollow/empty – just a reflection of what was. The finish? Super clean. Nothing unpleasant tasting here by any stretch, but those sips just felt unfinished and left me wanting more out of the overall brew. It’s hard to explain, but hopefully that ramble of words does it some justice…
Cold Brew Sipdown (1532)!
I had low expectations for this one based on dry leaf smell. I wasn’t getting any lychee and the jasmine seemed dull and somewhat chalky smelling!? Steeped up it’s not too bad though; certainly vegetal and very clearly green tea but relatively smooth and approachable with heady thick jasmine notes and a pinch of juicy sweet lychee. I absolutely find myself wanting much, much more lychee flavour and wishing the overall profile was either lighter or brighter or both. However, it’s drinkable!
I was skeptical of this tea because, even though the dry leaf smelled pretty incredible, the ingredients list definitely seemed to have a couple things in it I felt would detract from the butterscotch taste or, at least, “taint it”. Like, I don’t want to taste cacao shell in a butterscotch tea. Nope, no thank you. Actually, though, it’s pretty darn good. Like, I definitely think I would have blind identified this as butterscotch and I’m not sure I would have actually named the cacao shell as a flavour I was getting? I mean, I get it a LITTLE BIT as I’m sipping now but I feel like it’s half placebo from knowing it’s there. The butterscotch flavour is a good level for me, and I like that it’s kind of matched by a nice full bodied and brisk black tea. Not cloying at all.
I do get a sense that you should steep this carefully though – I could easily see oversteeping leading to this brisk black base being more aggressively tannic and astringent and just unpleasant.
Definitely just slightly over did the steeping here because the sip started off with a bitter steamed kale type of note that I found a little off putting, but after the initial taste the flavour was very creamy banana in a way that was a bit like banana pudding with a super rich and sweet custardy finish/aftertaste. I definitely distinctly taste the licorice, but it worked for me when paired with the vanilla/cream flavours to convey this type of really rich sweetness.
I’ve only been buying tea regularly since 2016, and while I’m a green/oolong/herbal(/tisanes) type of gal, your description makes this taste delicious. From when to when was this out?
It was a limited edition tea from, I believe, 2015? I might have the year wrong though – it’s been a while, haha.