22 Tasting Notes

45
drank Forever Nuts by DAVIDsTEA
22 tasting notes

Day 9 DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea advent calendar – Forever Nuts. I love the idea of this tea. Nuts, apple, cinnamon — these ingredients speak to me. I even love the scent of this before brewing, reminiscent of fresh baked goods warm from the oven. But in the cup, it’s a let-down (to put it nicely). Most of that can be chalked up to the highly artificial aftertaste. Some of it can be chalked up to this tea really wanting a less cloying nut than almond. I want this to have pecans. Or maybe walnuts. (Or both?) And 100% less ‘artificial flavouring’.

Tried a bit of it on its lonesome and the sugarbomb and fake-y taste were too much. Decided to go out on a limb and add milk. It was pretty much that or just chuck this out & hope tomorrow’s tea is better. It went against my nature to add milk, as this tea brews up very pinky-red thanks to the beetroot, but it looks like it ought to be hibiscus-y because of that same colour and hibiscus + milk sounds like a pretty not-good combo. But I did it anyway. Milk added in (far more of it than I would normally ever put in tea, too) and this tea was a bit like a cross between a warm apple cinnamon bun and strawberry Pocky, but in beverage form. And it looked insane, the color of pink, pre-made birthday cake frosting from a tub & just about as sweet. This is tea Hello Kitty should drink.

It was weird, but I grew to quite like it. Still, it’s a peeve that this is undrinkable without other things added in, so I can’t exactly recommend it, but I can’t give it too low a rating either.

Highly dessert-y, requires milk or some other addition to begin to approach palatable, sorely disappointing lack of agreement between the pre-brew scent and the post-brew taste (again, DT keeps pulling this particular fast one, not cool). Had high hopes. They did not survive the experience of consuming this.

Flavors: Apple, Artificial, Cinnamon, Nuts, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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12
drank Coffee Pu'erh by DAVIDsTEA
22 tasting notes

Day 12 DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea calendar – Coffee Pu’erh. I was only able to have about 5 sips of this. The coffee beans made this a digestive minefield for me. I got into tea b/c coffee was giving me terrible nausea after decades of loving the stuff. Tried a few sips, waited, started to feel not so great, stopped. The overly cloying sweetness from the almond did not help either.

So, for anyone else who is coffee sensitive but thinking this tea might be weak enough to be okay: be wary still.

It did remind me how much I miss coffee, but it also reminded me how much I hated flavoured coffee. This was sweet and, as mentioned before, the almond and also vanilla were far too strong & the whole thing is underpinned with an artificiality that was not pleasant. If you dig General Foods International instant flavoured coffees, you’ll probably like this. Everyone else: steer clear.

Flavors: Almond, Artificial, Coffee, Sweet, Vanilla

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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70

Day 10 DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea advent calendar — Walnut Orange Scone. Interesting choice for today’s tea to be heavily nutty after Day 9 was also a very nutty tea. I think I would have preferred if they’d mixed it up a bit more and spaced these away from each other. But I’ll try to keep my feelings on the other from influencing my notes on this one.

As I’ve done with others from this advent calendar, I split the brew into two mugs & added milk to only one. The milk-less mug had a bit of a bitter aftertaste, but the milky version was much smoother, the bitterness was balanced out. So my recommendation is based on this addition. Without milk, I dunno if I’d serve this to anyone. And even with milk, you gotta like walnut for this tea to work, as it’s pretty notable. But anyone drinking a tea with walnut in the title who doesn’t like walnuts and blames the tea, well … you knew it was a snake when you picked it up.

The orange-ness is not as in your face as I thought it might be, it’s nicely balanced there: noticeable but not overpowering. I also kind of expected this tea to be quite sweet, but that was, pleasantly, not the case.

So, yes, I’m saying Recommended, but it’s a pretty mild, caveated one.

Flavors: Orange, Walnut

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 45 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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45

Day 8 DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea advent calendar – Buddha’s Blend. Once again DT has tricked me. In the jar and while steeping I got a really nice, strong fruity note from the scent, but in the cup that gets overpowered by the floral factor and winds up leaving me feeling let down. It does not help that my current daily AM wake-up tea is an super fantastic, in your face Peach-Apricot Ceylon (from Genuine Tea). I think this faltered a bit in inevitable comparison. But that’s a black tea, this is a white-green and is meant to be more delicate. However that just makes me wish all the more that they had gone easier on the florals. A light fruit note more or less on its own would have been much nicer, IMO, maybe with about 1/3 of the floral action going on here. BUT: I am not a floral person, outside of a few well-vetted hibiscus-y iced teas. I am just not this tea’s target market.

I will say that it was nice that it was not overly sweet, nor was the tea-ness of the tea masked by the various flavours in the mix. So I’ll give it that, it’s pretty well-balanced for what it is. But it still just is what it is.

For those of you who are into florals: you’re probably going to really like this one. For us anti-floral folk, however, it’s a pass. I will finish the mini pot I just brewed up, but afterwards that’s it for me and this tea.

Flavors: Astringent, Floral, Jasmine, Peach, Sweet

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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75

Day 7 DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea advent calendar — Organic Saigon Chai. Nice, solid, gets the job done tea. I’m a cinnamon lover, so this was right up my alley. Looked awfully pretty while steeping and smelled lovely. Luckily, unlike some DT offerings, the scent and flavour profiles jived. The pink peppercorns are a nice touch & the assam base gave me the kick in the pants I needed after being out a bit late and not getting enough sleep. The ingredients list on the DT site says it has ‘organic vanilla cream’ but I failed to detect it, which was actually a nice surprise since all too often anything DT describes using the word cream is also often overly sweet and cloying. I suspect it added a nice base note that I just wasn’t fully tasting, but that’s as it should be.

Not the heftiest or boldest chai & nothing particularly unique or unexpected going on here, but I’d drink it again, though I doubt I’ll buy this tea. There are certainly jazzier chais out there. However I would never turn down a cup & if I needed a quick tea-to-go from DT I might choose this one.

Good for morning wake-up tea or anytime you need a perk.

Flavors: Cardamom, Cinnamon, Clove, Ginger, Peppercorn, Spicy

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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91

Day 6 DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea advent calendar — Organic North African Mint. When I hear North Africa and Mint, I think licorice. So when I brewed up this tea and gave it a whiff, I was surprised to find it to be spicy, earthy and even almost a little pleasantly musky, but I picked up on no licorice, though it is in there. It’s fairly light, much lighter than most licorice-mint blends, despite the strong spice presence and it’s immensely refreshing. Now, I know not everyone likes mint. If that’s you, the mint is still pretty in your face, so you guys should give this one a pass. The addition of green tea for a light caffeine pick-me-up is a nice touch, too.

The flavour profile reminds me a tiny bit of some of my favourite unisex scents: earthy, spicy, but fresh and coolly stimulating. The chill bite of the mint is balanced quite well with the warmth from the spices, working particularly well to temper the black pepper which has a tendency to overpower things.

Great mid-afternoon tea or after a big meal as a digestive. Unexpected, in a good way. I could absolutely see buying this one after the calendar is over. A real winner for mint lovers out there!

Flavors: Black Pepper, Cardamom, Clove, Earth, Fennel, Mint

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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39

Day 5 of the DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea advent calendar – Glitter & Gold. I missed Day Four. I mean, I was extant and that day occurred and I even pulled the little drawer out to check what the day’s tea was and put it back thinking I’d brew it up a bit later, but then fell asleep and didn’t. I’ll go back and do that one, though. For today I’m staying on track numerically and jumping feet first into a mug of Day Five’s tea.

It looked and smelled promising: black tea with a citrus-spice vibe. Cute little candy stars. It looked pretty in the infuser as I waited for the timer. I thought I was in for a probably pleasant-ish cup. But I was wrong. I was hoping for a lighter, more gold-toned brew, but it was very dark, almost black. The scent and flavour profiles do not match up. It smelled nice, both light on the citrus note and grounded with the spiciness, not over-powering like some DavidsTea offerings. But the flavour just fell flat. It was oddly weak. I’m getting not much in the way of discernible notes of clove or lemon peel. It just tastes like black tea that has been vaguely adulterated in a too-tepid manner to have much taste at all. The add-ins are enough to keep it from being a nice black tea, but not enough to make it anything but an sweet-ish brew of utter ‘meh’-ness.

I am not even halfway through the mug as I write this and I doubt I’ll bother finishing it. The Day Four tea I skipped was a jasmine green tea that might have been a more enjoyable tea experience. Kind of wishing I had skipped this one instead.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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33

Day 3 DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea advent calendar – Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait. Aaaand, we have our first ‘nope’ of the advent calendar. Only 3 days in, that was kind of fast. I was apprehensive given the word parfait in the title. Then I opened the sampler tin and gave it a whiff. My suspicions deepened. I knew I might be in for a less than appealing mug of tea.

But, I’m dedicated. I’m in. I’m gonna try all 24 of these puppies, come hell, high water, overly aggressive stevia content, teas that smell like a child’s dream birthday cake, or whatever the heck else this calendar can throw at me. So, I steeped it up. The colour in the mug is quite lovely, a deep red-violet. As I was a little less than certain about this one, I went easy on the steep time and kept it to 4 minutes (on the low end of the recommended 4-7). Maybe other flavours would have unfolded with a longer steep that I liked better? I doubt it, but it’s not entirely out of the question. I won’t be giving it a 2nd chance to find out, though.

The flavour was not quite as much of a total sugar and yogurt bomb as I feared, but it wasn’t not that either. The strawberry is pretty front and centre, which was a little unexpected given how low both it and rhubarb are on the ingredients list. I like a good apple-hibiscus based herbal generally, but it’s overpowered by the yogurt pieces that add a really synthetic, candy-ish tone to the whole affair. For those who really dig that sort of thing, this might be a good tea for you. I, however, am not this tea’s target market.

I gave it a good 7 sips before giving up on it. But I had an idea: I had a very tart, undersweetened lemonade in my fridge, so I tried adding a bit of this tea to the lemonade. It worked out pretty well! The lemon beat back the yogurt candy vibe enough, the tea’s sweetness made the lemonade more pleasant, and the rest of the ingredients (berries, rhubarb and fruit mostly) worked nicely with the tart citrus. So, would I drink this as a tea? Not if it were up to me. But, it was fine as a lemonade addition. Might work okay as a cocktail with some soda water, fresh lime juice and vodka. Maybe. If anyone tries that, let me know if it worked out for you.

Def. not buying this one — or anything with the word parfait in the title. Or anything containing yogurt bits. Ever. Bleh.

Flavors: Apple, Hibiscus, Rhubarb, Strawberry, Sweet, Yogurt

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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85
drank Chocolate Macaroon by DAVIDsTEA
22 tasting notes

Day 2 DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea advent Calendar – Chocolate Macaroon. I had some trouble getting into this tea — & I mean that literally. The wee single-serving tins that holds each day’s tea in the advent calendar are adorable (and possibly reusable if washed and thoroughly aired out, given how strongly aromatic DT teas are), but today’s tin was cross-threaded and very difficult to open. I had to resort to a pair of vice grips, which still did not help me loosen the lid, but I was able to use them to mash the tin’s weak sides in a bit, releasing its death grip on the cap. So much for reusable this time.

Once I was able to open the darn thing, though, the delightfully indulgent aroma of nutty chocolate turned my mood right around and I couldn’t wait to get this puppy to steepin’. I gave it a solid 5 minutes of steep time and was rewarded with a tasty yet oddly (and pleasantly) light brew. The initial scent smelled like a dense, moist chocolate muffin w/ nuts in it. The brew was nowhere as heavy tasting or feeling as I was expecting. I put half in one mug with some milk and half in the other with no additions. The milky one definitely was the favourite, so much so that I ended up just adding mlk to both mugs. Sans milk’s it’s still fine but the flavour profile warrants a level of creaminess not quite supplied by the tea on its own (almost, just needs a little extra push). With a dash of milk, it’d make a fine, lighter substitute for winter hot chocolate: indulgent but without the same calorie impact. The nuts and chocolate lay a good foundation and the coconut adds in a lighter, sunnier vibe on top. I didn’t even mind the stevia this time, which is usually a turn-off for me. My only regret here is that I drank it at 11pm, which is a bit late for this caffeine level. I might well buy this one after the advent calendar is done.

Flavors: Chocolate, Coconut, Pecan, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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75
drank Let It Snow by DAVIDsTEA
22 tasting notes

Day 1 DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea advent calendar - Let It Snow. Here we go! I have shied away from a lot of the DavidsTea offerings in the past as I tend to prefer tea that tastes like tea, not like a dessert concoction. I’m the same way with coffee (no flavoured syrups, no PSL) & even cocktails (if they have more than 3 ingredients aside from ice and if any of those ingredients are sweetened, I’m usually tapping out unless I know I am in the hands of a master mixologist). So, I surprised myself by buying the DavidsTea advent calendar for this year. But I figure it’s the holiday season, the one time of year that I tend to indulge in sweets, so why not have it be daily calorie and carb-free tea sweets instead of baked goods or candy?

This tea basically embodies everything that has made me avoid DavidsTea in the past: added sweeteners, stevia (which I am not a fan of ever), a potpourri-ish mish-mash of ingredients, a flavour profile that is basically the equivalent of someone driving a fruity, white-chocolate Mack truck into your face. But, I gotta say (and this is why I just clicked Yes on Recommended below), going into this experience expecting a ‘dessert tea’ not a ‘tea lover’s tea’ I found myself enjoying it. The cinnamon and clove rescued it, IMO. I could 100% do without the stevia. That stuff always makes everything taste a bit fake-y (ironically). With the otherwise tasty pile-on of fruits/candied fruits and white chocolate, it really did not need stevia in there mucking up the flavour, would have rated higher without it. I barely even discerned any green tea-ness to this tea. Good for people who like dessert tea, sweets lovers, people who want to drink fun tea but maybe do not actually like the tea part itself. All-in-all I’ll give it a Pretty Good, which is much better than I was expecting!

Flavors: Apple, Candy, Cinnamon, Clove, Fruity, Pineapple, Sweet, White Chocolate

Preparation
165 °F / 73 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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Profile

Bio

Tea lover, number cruncher, gin reaper, clown wrangler.

New to the world of tea, only been drinking it regularly for 2 years and spent the 1st year mostly just enjoying a few nice oolongs from a sampler someone gifted me and the odd breakfast assam, not experimenting really at all. My tastes are, overall, in tea and in life, both undeveloped and unrefined, though I have always tended towards unadulterated or, if flavoured, lighter fruity teas. Not a sweets person in general. Still discovering what I do/don’t like in the realm of tea. But when it comes to my other liquid love, gin, I do know I’m all about the herbaceous, the earthy, spice, citrus, and unexpected flavour profiles, but almost never sweet or floral. So, I’m gonna guess odds are that my taste in tea may prove to run along similar lines.

Joined Steepster largely to document my adventure into the world of potpourri dessert teas, also known as the 2017 DavidsTea 24 Days of Tea advent calendar. Bought it on a whim & am ready for a journey of … some kind. Could be delightful discovery. Could be daily disappointments. We shall see!

Location

Toronto, ON

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