15695 Tasting Notes
Gongfu!
Y’all already know the deal at this point; I’m basically predisposed to love almost any tea that’s been smoked. Shou pu’erh just makes so much sense though with its bolder, earthy flavours and rich body. This one was surprisingly smooth, with heavy notes of petrichor, decaying forest undergrowth, and umami broth. The finish was the most smoked tasting, like licks of flame running throughout a densely wooded forest. From memory, it’s a little tough to recollect how this compares to W2T’s two other smoked ripe pu’erhs, but I want to say this is both the smoothest and the woodiest. Definitely one I’m happy to have added to my stash of smoked teas!!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5l1dauOG-a/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANI19GbLOAY
Gongfu!
I’ve never really been a fan of the more common Chrysanthemum often pressed with or used to scent teas, but this blend uses snow chrysanthemum, which is so totally unlike ‘regular’ chrysanthemum. It has an intense, saturated and syrupy taste that I feel perfectly blends notes of orange (like chenpi) with more herbaceous and almost dill-like flavours – all wrapped up with a softly cooling and pleasantly medicinal finish. It’s perfect for rainy days like today where you just want to be cozy indoors, and the rich and earthy shou pu’erh it’s blended with is such a soothing anchor to the whole session!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5optw1uPGM/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU3-3XQy7JA
When I first saw this tea I incorrectly assumed it was referencing the more British “Banoffee Pie” which is also toffee and banana flavoured. Because of that I was very confused about the inclusion of sesame seeds, which smell pretty distinct in the dry leaf alongside the sweet banana notes. I understand now that the inspiration was different from that. I still thought the subtle undertones of nutty sesame were a little bit strange with the otherwise very rich notes of banana and caramel/toffee, but I’m trying to keep a more open mind since I’ve not tried the Chinese toffee bananas this is actually meant to replicate.
Also worth pointing out that strange doesn’t mean bad. All the flavour notes were really pleasant and well executed and, based on the reading I’ve now done, I feel like this must be very close to hitting all the hallmarks of what Anne was going for. It was just a combo I’d never had before, and I think it’ll probably take a cup or two for it to sort of “settle” into something less novel to my palate.
Cold Brew!
I think this is such a fun tea concept and the dry leaf both smells great and looks stunning with the high contrast red berries against the green tea leaf. Brewed up it’s fairly green tea forward, but really smooth in a way that didn’t bother me nearly as much as most green teas do. The strawberry comes through very clearly and has a fresh, bright tartness to it – not too tart, though. The finish is mostly where I noticed that cream note, but it was a little milder than expected. The whole thing has this nostalgic kind of undertone to it like it’s referencing a Campino/Cream Saver but in a much more natural way.
It’s heeeeerrreee!
This past year I purchased one of Anne’s “Create a Blend” fundraiser perks and I pretty promptly sent her what felt like a million different flavour ideas. They all had one common thread, though. I really wanted a rhubarb tea. I think rhubarb is such an underrated fruit (technically vegetable), especially when it comes to tea blends. You rarely see it used outside of strawberry rhubarb teas, and even those aren’t exactly all too common…
I gave Anne a ton of ideas ranging everywhere from rhubarb and vanilla ice cream to just a straight up smoked rhubarb. What I didn’t realize at the time was that Anne hadn’t ever worked with rhubarb before – so it ended up being a bit of a longer and more experimental process (not that I minded one bit). She even sourced some candied rhubarb just for the blend, and dang it looks cool! Ultimately I had all the faith in the world and was really just excited to be along for the ride.
I’m really, really happy with the final tea though! It’s got that perfect jammy cooked rhubarb note with a hint of tartness that I was hoping for and the subtle additions of cinnamon and Lapsang Souchong (just a smidge) give it that cozy baked pie sort of vibe that was in a lot of the ideas I’d sent. Like a rhubarb pie if you juuusssttt slightly burnt the crust. I happen to love that smokey edge though. It feels very tailored to my own personal tastes.
I’ve already seen that Anne’s used the rhubarb flavouring it at least one other blend, so I’m happy to have unintentionally snuck this flavouring into the 52Teas repertoire. If I may be so bold as to suggest another rhubarb concept, I’ve always adored the more British influenced “Rhubard & Custard” rooibos blends I’ve tried but I’d really like to see the same concept on a caffeinated tea base.
Anyway – the tldr is that I am a happy customer!
PS. The name for the blend comes from the 1989 Batman movie where it’s said by The Joker. It basically means something along the lines of “Don’t mess with my girl”. I just thought it was a fun, nerdy reference though.
Sipdown (2579)!
I mean, how could I resist grabbing a sample of this while in Vegas for the World Tea Expo?? It’s not the first “Bohemian Raspberry” tea I’ve come across and I doubt it will be the last, but the concept of a Freddie Mercury inspired raspberry blend doesn’t get any less amusing every time I find a new one…
I expected this to be really tart/juicy with probably a lot of hibiscus leading the profile, but despite still having a sweet, fresh raspberry flavour and some top note tartness I found the blend was actually more herbal leaning with distinct notes of the rooibos and an overall soothing kind of quality. It very loosely reminded me of Celestial Seasoning’s Raspberry Zinger, but I do think I preferred this tea.
It was really fun – I’m happy to have tried it!
Steeped this up last night and it was very good while it was fresh and hot. Aromatic but still crisp and vegetal with notes of cinnamon to go alongside a bit of a more spicy leaning herbaceous basil body. As it cooled it definitely got both bitter and astringent though, and I found myself regretting not having drank the last third of the mug quicker.
Cold Brew!
This brew definitely leaned a little bit more noticeably citrus/lemon tasting than it’s been in the past, but I shouldn’t be surprised by that given the age of the tea. The fact the cola flavouring is clinging onto that tea leaf so well at this point is still pretty dang impressive. Kind of like a cola gummy candy in taste, at this point. Still refreshing! And exactly what I was craving after so many very fruity cold brews in a row.
Iced Latte!
Yes, it’s April but I always feel like I don’t have enough time to enjoy these more Wintery matcha blends in December because I’m so pre-occupied with advent calendar season. So, I’m making time to enjoy it now!
I made this iced latte with regular old cow’s milk but I did add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some bourbon vanilla paste, which definitely upped the anti on the richness and the strong vanilla notes. It was still very custard-y though with that signature sweet and eggy undertone and hint of warming spices that pushes this matcha past being just a cream flavour and more into its namesake. It was a nice afternoon pick-me-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.
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this here on Steepster yet, but we recently made the decision to make this a core tea – something that pleases me greatly both personally and professionally because not only do I feel like this is a type of profile missing in our year-round assortment but it’s also one of the teas I’ve gotten to develop that most heavily overlaps with my own flavour preferences. I’ve been drinking it a lot, and I just think that the bright lemon curd note with the super creamy finish is that perfect balance of fresh and lively fruits with that decadent twist. And it just seems to fit so many different moods.
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.
