65
drank Apres Ski by DAVIDsTEA
6105 tasting notes

Another tea that my memory tells me I wasn’t fond of the first time I tried it, although I did pick up an additional 10g when I heard it would only be available online, just so I could give it a fair shot.

I find it interesting that people are getting an “outhouse” smell to this tea. I’ll admit, the dry tea does smell a bit off, but I don’t really think it’s that bad. I think it must be an odd ingredient combination – I don’t recall Forbidden Fruit (with figs) having quite the same odd aroma, some perhaps it’s the burdock root? Anyhow, it doesn’t smell weird enough to turn me off. Peppermint teas, on the other hand…

Steeped, I’m no longer getting any off-putting smells. It smells sweet-ish and a rich sort of fruity. I wouldn’t have pegged it as fig had I not known the tea ingredients.

It tastes rich and a bit sweet and fruity, with a bit of a woody astringency in the finish which is not really to my liking. I can tell that there are some more complex flavours going on here, but I’m not good enough at this yet to be able to pick them out. I have to say that I actually like the smell of the steeped tea better than the flavour – if I tasted a bit more sweetness and fruitiness without the astringency I think I might like this, but still not enough to pick it up again.

ETA: Taking a quick look at the ingredients, I see orange peel and cinnamon. Another sip confirms that I’m tasting a hint (but barely) of orange peel, but I’m really not getting any cinnamon whatsoever. Perhaps it’s because I just drank the cinnamon-laden Forever Nuts, but I doubt it… Anyways, the next cup of this I have will be from my new 10g sample bag instead of from an online-purchase sample pack that I first opened in late December and probably improperly stored until now, so maybe I’ll pick up on some more flavour then.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 45 sec
Azzrian

I hope it is more satisfying in the new pack!

Kittenna

Me too, but I doubt it’s going to improve enough to make me actually like it.

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Comments

Azzrian

I hope it is more satisfying in the new pack!

Kittenna

Me too, but I doubt it’s going to improve enough to make me actually like it.

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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