Whisky White

So, I’ve never actually tried whiskey so my comparison for this is not the best. But it sounds so interesting for a tea that I just had to get a sample from ne14t in our swap! I mean really, a whiskey tea. DAVIDsTEA has the wackiest ideas sometimes.

This tea is… odd. It’s kind of rich and nutty, but at the same time very light and airy because of the white base. My tastebuds are confused! It’s kind of woodsy as well and there’s a whiff of smoke in the background. You know what this is? It’s a manly tea. Some teas are light, floral and totally girlie. This tea just screams I AM A MAN TEA HEAR ME ROAR. But it’s not too much because of the white base. Certainly an interesting blend!

First of all, I need to thank Jenn for sharing some of her Whisky White with me. Thanks Jenn!

This has a strong whisky scent but the flavor of the whisky is very subtle and smooth. I can taste a barely there hint of peach and a nutty background, and the white tea is also distinguishable amid these other flavors. Quite a nice flavored white tea.

Decided to do a mini sipdown of a handful of teas since I suddenly have an overabundance of tea that I still haven’t tried. Pretty much I wrote down all the untasted teas I have on strips of paper and tossed them in a jar, then pulled a few out. Otherwise I have a hard time deciding what I want to try.
So this was tea #1 for today, thanks to Shmiracles for the swap!

It smells fruity and just a bit flowery-ish in the bag. Brewed…I’m not really sure what to think about this. If I had to identify something, it’s got a smell kinda like overripe bananas, which is a bit odd to me, but it’s the first thing I can think of.
A fruity taste, maybe a bit nutty but there’s a taste in here that I’m not really sure how to explain. It’s all a bit mixed together and I don’t have much of a desire to keep drinking it to see if I can figure it all out. I’ve never had whisky since I don’t drink at all, so maybe the taste that I’m not able to identify is what’s supposed to taste like whisky. /shrug/ It also might be the stevia that’s been added. I’ve never had a tea with it added so I’m not sure what to expect.
Overall, I’m pretty sure I don’t like this. I certainly don’t care to finish off this sample or order this myself. It’s just not for me.

Hummm Wisky? Not that much.

First sip i’ve taken remembered me of Banana… Yep. BANANA. (Hot sip)
Mild sip really shown the little Wiskey flavor, but… Yeah that’s more a “bubble-gum/banana” feel than the alchoolic Wisky taste.
Last sip, fruity again, same as mild.

So… Buttered Rum is one of my favorite DT tea and this one is just… Good!
But, not really close of the legendary wisky feel.

I know, it’s a good tea anyway.
Love you Wisky White.

With love,
Max. (Just imagine a fancy signature.)

I don’t know why I keep brewing my whites according to the instructions given because it never turns out how it is supposed to. Seriously, does anyone have any luck with the whites done that way, and if not, why on earth don’t they change the recommendations?

Anyway, so I brewed this one up for the first time full of trepidation. I’m not a whiskey fan at all, and dry it definitely has that liquor smell. Actually it’s so strong dry it almost turns my stomach a little. But I’m determined to try every tea on that wall, so away I went.

Brewed, I was happy to note that it didn’t smell as strong. It was actually almost pleasant. I took my first sip and . . . weakness. I can’t even find notes to it because all I’m getting is a slightly sweet weak white tea in my cup.

Looks like I’m going to be playing with the brewing and seeing if I can get a solid steep.

I’m having this now, and I don’t know how I feel about it. I did this brew, sans milk, and only with a spoonful of brown sugar. I can taste the whiskey flavour for sure. The tea is a lot heavier than expected. I taste a little bitterness or dryness, though I don’t know if it is the whiskey flavour, or my poor brewing skills. I kinda lost track of time while it steeped, and I have no way of knowing if the water was the right temp. I think I need one of those thermometer timer thingies they sell at DAVIDs.

So, judgement will continue, but…I think it is good I only got about 2 servings worth of this.

Mmmm. Got to try this today. Not usually a fan of whites, but I had to try this one. Whiskey galore. Nice little smoky whiskey flavour without the sharpness of the actual alcohol, definitely could taste the peach in it as well. Very tasty.

I had been hesitant to try this one for a while, and I’m glad I finally tried it! This is one of the best white teas I’ve purchased from DT.

This was one of the first two teas I have received from my initial online order from DT. As I mentioned with Lapsang Souchong Star I am a huge fan of Whisky so this was a must try for me and well honestly I cant say it tastes like any Whisky I have ever had.

Dry this tea has a sweet peach aroma to it with a light nut undertone from the macadamia nuts, and is loaded with colorful bits of fruits and other goodies, nothing here gave me the distinct reminder of whiskey; however it also doesn’t smell bad. Steeping brings out the peach aroma a bit more but otherwise it was fairly unchanged.

The final brew is golden in color and retains it peach aroma, it has a sweet taste on the tongue that as I mentioned does not remind me of any type of whisky I have ever had. Almost reminds me of Life Long Oolong, so while it doesn’t really live up to it’s name it is a decent blend.

Shared with Ryan, and he preferred this to the other white tea we tried recently. I was surprised by how much the brewing tea smelled like whisky, and initially I got a strong whisky note when drinking it. This disappeared after a couple of sips, however, and the tea became more of a general fruit and nut flavoured blend. It was tasty for sure, but I was confused about the naming of this. Sure it had a whisky note if I thought about it, but it was definitely not the overwhelming flavour or impression of the tea. Why add so many ingredients and flavours that have seemingly nothing to do with the flavour you’re going for? The first pot of tea had a strong nutty flavour, and when I resteeped (with a much shorter brewing time after reading some of the comments left here) the peach came through the strongest, resulting in a fruity cup with a nutty aftertaste. Both enjoyable, but neither ‘whisky’. This likely would have been given a higher rating if it were named differently.

Thank you Janelle for sending this my way with one of my first ever swaps! Yikes, I’ve had this too long… Sipdown 120/395.