New Tasting Notes

Another new one from the Wellness Wonders collection!

In terms of flavour this is probably my personal favourite of the new blends in this collection. Elderberry can be tricky to work with since it’s pretty pungent and intense and can sometimes come off as medicinal. However, during the development stage of this tea, people were so consistently surprised and impressed with how pleasant and approachable the tart yet jammy berry flavour was. Just a bit of tangy, acidic and bright hibiscus at the top of each sip before relaxing into a deeper, “purple berry” sort of flavour with a mild floral undertone from the elderflower. I know kombucha can be polarizing because of its vinegar-y funk, but I think this is just enough of a nod to that flavour to be accurate to the namesake without going full funk. It’s just refreshing and balanced!

In terms of function the stars here really are the two namesake ingredients: elderberry for immunity and kombucha powder for gut health/digestion. With how prominent an ingredient elderberry has become for its association with immunity I found it weird we didn’t have a tea where that was the star ingredient, so that was the initial spark of this blend.

Just because that was the initial inspiration doesn’t mean it’s not also just a delicious tea regardless of whether you care about functional benefits or not. I’ve been drinking this tea a lot but hot and iced. Mostly iced or cold brewed, if I’m being honest. It’s got a rich and refreshing flavour and great natural sweetness. I also avoided using ingredients like candied fruit and stevia. Without getting into the stevia debate, I know that both can be polarizing for different reasons – especially candied fruit when it comes to blends meant to support wellness. Since I really believe this tea can be a good fit for all different types of consumers, I really wanted to develop it without either – and I think it came out great!

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.

2023 sipdown no. 113

Steeped, this has a buttery pastry scent. I would say the scent is more enticing than the flavour, but it was still a very smooth cup that I enjoyed. Thanks Martin for sharing!

Well, looks like the dashboard is back up – so this seems like as good a time as any to talk about DT’s newest collection, which launched a little less than a week ago…

I’ve worked on wellness teas before like Immunity SOS & Coffee Break, both of which are being refeatured in this collection. However, this is the first proper wellness “campaign” (ie. multiple teas in one release) where every single tea released is something that I developed. It’s sort of both a personal and profession milestone moment.

This tea in particular is probably one of the most interesting teas I’ve ever developed purely because the process was so significantly different than the normal development for a loose leaf tea. And why exactly was that? Without getting too deep into the nitty gritty, the tldr is that this tea was blended with added probiotics! It’s not actually the first time DT has released a probiotic boosted blend (anyone else remember Probiotea?) but it is the first time I’ve made one. It was actually a very surreal experience having the tables flip from being the one in store selling Probiotea to now re-imagining the concept. We did use the same strain of probiotics (GanedenBC30) since they’re just so well suited to tea because they’re shelf stable and heat resistant. Just really good at taking a beating and still doing their job – which is good because this blend is actually formulated with enough added probiotics that regular consumption of a 16 oz mug of it has noticeable digestive benefits.

I didn’t want to solely lean on the probiotics though, which is why I incorporated other gut-friendly ingredients like oat straw and chicory root, the latter of which is the ingredient with the highest naturally occurring inulin content – a water soluble prebiotic fiber. Part of why I liked working on this tea is because I feel like people are more ready for a blend like this now than they were when Probiotea originally released. It was still crazy cool and innovative back then, but talking about gut health and digestion was so taboo. It’s still kind of like that, but I feel like the consumer awareness and acceptance of that type of language has changed SO MUCH. We live in a world now where brands like BelliWelli go viral because of positive reception to slogans like “Hot Girls have IBS” and it’s not irregular at all to get targeted ads and product recommendations for shakes, yogurts, pills and other things promising to improve your gut health and help you poop better. More people know not just what probiotics are but also understand the differences between pre and pro and their individual importances.

In additional to all of that, I feel like I also got the added boon of knowing all the friction points people had with the original tea – probably the biggest of which was simply the flavour direction. It was a very minty profile with a lot of sarsaparilla. I liked it, but I remember people finding it almost tooth paste-like. The sarsaparilla was especially polarizing. So when I was trying to figure out the flavour profile of this tea I knew I wanted something that people would be more likely to routine around because probiotics are most effective when consumed daily and that was less polarizing overall. I took a lot of inspiration from Greek Yogurt (another probiotic) profiles, and that eventually led to the decision to just make this a simple, smooth and creamy vanilla flavour. It’s definitely not overly sweet or super rich, but I like the pureplay vanilla notes here. They come out more as the tea slightly cools or with a splash of milk. Personally, I’ve really been enjoying it as a late night cuppa – especially when I’ve wanted something just a little bit decadent but without being sugary and cloying. It’s just enough to satisfy those cravings (for me at least).

This is a long tasting note, I know. A lot of work went into this tea though, and I learnt a whole lot through the process. I know it’s a bit of an expensive blend (probiotics are not cheap y’all), but I personally think it’s worth it for the combination of function and flavour. Definitely looking forward to seeing what other people think, though!

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!

Enjoying a session this afternoon as I continue to sip through samples from tea orders that arrived earlier this month. It was the description of cherries and molasses that drew me to this tea; and I would agree that this tea definitely delivers on at least one of those notes. Though there’s something to the finish that is just a bit molasses like, it’s the cherry I find especially on the nose. The top notes of this more medium bodied ripe pu’erh are bright and fruity with a more lively, slightly acidic note. A mix of sweet red cherries and chicory root, perhaps. The mid-sip then shifts into something quite different; a more savory and brothy profile with a slick oiliness to it that makes me think a little bit of Chinese hot pot. The mix of tangy red fruit notes with the more unctuous elements is really unique and dynamic; like a sweet and sour shou!?

If I have any real critique, it’s that all the tasting notes have a rather “surface level” feeling to them; I’d like a little more depth and overall body to the session. However, I think that’s something that may come with time as this tea settles into itself and continues to age…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1Xahr-ObFD/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TUvMf_WkFs

Gongfu!

Steeped this up while trying to block out all the tempting Boxing Day sales. This shaihong (sun dried) black tea is one of a handful of tea orders that arrived in the middle of Adventageddon that I’ve been waiting to have time to properly steep up, so it’s a good one to be drinking to remind myself that I absolutely don’t need to buy more tea right now!

Though the liquor is such a deep red colour, the tasting notes of this medium-ish bodied tea are surprisingly much more bright and lively than expected. Sweet, jammy red fruits and golden honey dominate the profile. Red currant or pomegranate jellies spring to mind. They’re balanced out by a bit of a deeper undertone and backend of the sip – a little bit of leather, and a warming whisp of allspice. Some expected malt. All together something about this makes me think of fruit cake, or the more German style honey-based “Gingerbread” I’ve tasted that has much less molasses and brighter top note sweetness than what we typically associate to Gingerbread here in North America. Very pleasant, and it’ll be interesting to see how the flavours deepen and change with age…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1UyzGyOpIm/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KllxH4qxZZo

I finally caught up with my Paper and Tea order that I thought I would enjoy with my Dad over Thanksgiving. It took them 4weeks to ship my order, but it actually arrived rather quickly when it was finally shipped from Germany. I told my Dad to open it, and he tried a few, but he didn’t continue, he is used to black tea in a full pot, not individual cups.
So I get to do an advent now and this one displays the joy and heartache of Advent tea, you get to try new teas and there will be some you don’t like. If this wasn’t a Yunnan base I would not have tried it, but hey I gave it a shot. It is bergamot to start and chocolate Yunnan to finish so I am torn, do I grimace with each sip to get to the Yunnan underneath or do I just toss it? If you like both flavors, this is a very nice EG, but it’s not for me.

Sad sipdown of Writer’s Blend. I bought this at the Tea Festival partly because I like raspberry, partly because the name made me laugh, but it quickly became my favorite herbal tea and I actually DO tend to drink it whenever I’m writing something. The magic clarity powers seem to come from the balance struck between the mint and the tart herbs, like it makes you awake but in a really calm way, unlike the buzzy feeling that comes from a stimulant.

Peach flavour tasted artificial but I still liked it. A bit too sweet.

Sipdown! (1 | 414)

Finally got around to entering my Dessert by Deb order into my spreadsheet. I had placed it around the end of September, excited for all the new hojicha teas for fall, and then I didn’t end up actually receiving it until the end of November, by which time I was no longer in fall mode, and was getting in gear for advents. So by then I just wasn’t excited for it anymore. Anyway, all that to say, because of that I neglected to catalog the teas or even open the box until recently.

This was one of the free samples Deb included, and one of the few hojicha blends I didn’t order because it just didn’t sound good to me, and because of the rooibos. And that was a good decision, because it’s just not very interesting. The rooibos mostly overpowers the hojicha, and the pineapple flavor is quite muted, so mostly it ends up tasting like woody rooibos with a hint of roast and a touch of candy pineapple. Oh, and a bit of cinnamon.

I think it could’ve maybe been nice if it was just a hojicha? Not sure why this one needed three different bases tbh. Oh well, always nice to get free samples!

It probably wasn’t wise to precede this sample with a hefty helping of Freestyle Franken-Mix…my son and I dump in half-bags and boxes of whatever happens to be open and use Chex Mix seasoning to homogenate it a little. This batch’s rogue ingredient was crispy chickpeas.

So there was so much salt residue on my tastebuds, at first, all I could get out of White Peony was “plant.” Not unpleasant; just not much there. However, toward the end of the cup, I could pick up the faintly floral flavor (say that five times fast!) as advertised.

This company makes great bubble tea, London Fogs, Rooibos Lattes, Chocolate chais’ etc but sencha and matcha needs to be done right. I don’t have high expectations for this. Oh, well, right oh the bat. Color me surprised. That is a nice-looking leaf. Needle-like, mostly. Glossy and deep green. The aroma is quite nice with a mixture of sweet grass and bits of hay and bamboo. I’m so excited. My mother-in-law bought me a shiboridashi. This lady ios quite possibly the kindest in-law ever. She also bought me this tea. The smell that came up from the leaves as it was hit with the water was very pleasant. Summer and cut grass piles. My computer ran out of battery and shut down just now. But the note saved. Fascinating that computers don’t shut don’t and lose everything these days. Anyway. The flavor is nice. Nothing too spectacular but the subtle vegetal notes that mix in with the grassy notes. I will explore this one over the next few days and update this when needed.

This has such a nice milky oolong scent in the bag! Once steeped, the peppermint is present, but not overwhelming. I get some of the cocoa notes adding depth. The added flavors don’t knock out or overwhelm the flavors of the oolong. I can still pick out the milky flavor of the tea and the buttery notes behind it. Enjoying this cup, but not feeling the need to keep it stocked permanently.

This was my final tea for the B&B advent calendar. It’s mint, Not much more to say. I like peppermint team and I liked this version of it too. Nothing outstanding, nothing disappointing. Just an ice mint tea.

Over the weekend I pulled out 2 huge plastic storage bins in the basement of tea. This is not surprising, I have 2348324294823049124 boxes and bins of tea mostly in my “tea room” (spare bedroom) and basement (but also all over house, all over my office at work, in my backpack/tote bag I carry with me everywhere, etc.). One was a Dessert by Deb filled bin from the early years of buying her tea. The other was ONLY boxes of teabag tea. A lot of Stash and David’s Tea, and this included a DT “Festive Favorites” tea wheel. 6 teas with 6 teabags each. 3 herbals, 2 black, 1 green.

Yesterday and today, I made my morning hot/plain cuppa as this tea with 2 teabags.

If I’m doing hot tea and want white or green, I do that in home kitchen as I’m getting ready for the day (have a kettle with different temp. settings, the only nice thing an ex-boyfriend ever bought me LOL). Work is only the tap in the breakroom (or yesterday at my parents or my boyfriend’s sister C’s house would have only been heating up water in microwave or something like that) where I mainly do herbal or black tea.

If you missed my note from 3 years ago, it’s pretty much the same thing. This is definitely the tea that was a gateway into exploring green tea (and along with herbal/tisanes, white, and oolong are my favorites general tea types). But as green teas go, sipping this is more nostalgia factor for me as this wouldn’t be a tea I would go to anymore…well also the fact this is old and I know green tea isn’t made for my long term hoarding er, storage, habits.

It will be fun to sipdown this box (a January 2024 goal) – even though it is from 2016 – as the other flavors are more old school DT flavors (Snow Day, Apple Cider, Sleigh Ride, Santa’s Secret, Chocolate Covered Almond).

Now that advent calendars are all done, time to finally break into my December tea club shipment from Old Barrel! They’re probably my favorite new-to-me company for this year, and I thought it would be fun to try their subscription. They only send out boxes on a quarterly basis, so I made sure to sign up in time for the December box, since fall and winter are my favorite seasons, in general and in terms of tea releases!

Anyway, starting off with a favorite. This is their winter seasonal tea, and I already have a tin of it, but I love it so I was disappointed to receive another one. It’s essentially a peppermint mocha puerh, with coffee, mint, and chocolate flavors. But I love that it’s not too sweet, and the coffee part comes from real coffee beans and grounds. It melds so seamlessly with the smooth puerh base, and then the rich cocoa and fresh mint just dance over the top. It’s just so stinkin’ good! Perfectly balanced, and I can taste all of the flavors (including the oak chips) without anything competing with or overpowering anything else. There is flavoring, I assume probably chocolate and/or mint, but I don’t notice any of that artificial chocolate taste so that’s a win for me. :P

Excited to try the other five teas from the box! I have tried one of them and parts of some others before. I find it so interesting that Old Barrel offers blends of their own teas – so for example, one of the teas in this box is Blueberry & Vanilla Rooibos, and it’s a half-and-half mixture of their Blueberry fruit tisane and their Vanilla Rooibos. They also offer blended teas like this in their shop. Just seems like an interesting way to expand their selection without having to blend new teas. Will be interested to try!

This was a free sample with my Christmas-gift order of teas from Sazen. Figured I’d start with the sample cuz why not :). This one is, I suppose, a kabusecha. But I say that simply because of the price and it has been shaded for under 20 days. They don’t specify which type of tea they consider this, but it certainly has gyokuro characteristics.

For the price, this tea is really quite amazing. Absolutely no bitterness or astringency, even brewed at 70 C. Nice lingering sweetness. Fairly well-balanced with fairly light flavor profile. This would be a wonderful option for a daily drinker with my next purchase from Sazen.

Harvest: May, 2023
Location: Tongu, Tsuchiyama-Cho, Koka-shi, Shiga Prefecture
Altitude: 260 m
Cultivar: Saemidori
Shading: 18 days

Dry leaf: Umami, grassy
Wet leaf: Same
Flavor: Grass, umami, sweet, vegetal

I love this tea! I got another tin when I was in Japan earlier this year. They have a bunch of Fauchon locations in Japan! The tea wasn’t as delicious fresh as I recalled my first tin being. I think it’s one of those teas that improve with age as the flavors meld and mellow. I didn’t have this on Xmas eve, but I was sipping it Xmas day while watching the spawn open gifts. I’m resteeping this morning with a little fresh leaf added to my steeper. It seems to be a similar flavor profile as their Melange, but with ways more depth to it that makes it a much more interesting and enjoyable cup. There is orange, there is the depth of the raisins (which I wouldn’t have thought would be interesting in a cup) and it all blends together into an almost caramel orange like taste. It really reminds me of Panettone, which may have been what the blenders were going for in an Xmas tea. This is one that I doubt I’ll ever get tired of and will want kept in stock in my cupboard.

One of the last teas in my Steepster Advent box. I saved it for this day since eating can be heavy. Couldn’t really gauge people’s reaction though I think it was mostly positive. I enjoy barley. The toasty notes are always a nice accompaniment to a few of the pecan/raspberry cookies that my mom-in-law made.