New Tasting Notes

So glad to be back at Dobra Tea in Asheville! This was where my passion for tea started. It was the first time I tried high quality loose leaf tea and immediately fell in love with it :). This one is quite nice. By the feel of the tea, the steeping temperature seemed around 160 F. I would brew this around 120-140 for longer infusion times. I wonder if it might be even more to my liking with that method.

My first time trying a Kabusecha and I definitely see how it is like a hybrid between a gyokuro and sencha. Medium sweetness, no bitterness or astringency, and a very fresh and umami profile overall. Went about 4 infusions.

Wet leaves: Vegetal, umami.
Taste: Sweet, vegetal, grass, umami.

November Sipdown Challenge – National Candy Day

I don’t have a candy flavored tea although I could have stretched my imagination to include some of my fruity or dessert inspired ones. Instead I went with having a cold hojicha latte and two tiny pieces of leftover Halloween candy outside since we are having such a warm, sunny day.

I have had this before but didn’t make a note and I wish I had, because I am a bit stuffy from allergies today and my sense of taste is a little dulled.

Overall, the texture was fine, not gritty. I added about two teaspoons of sugar and then half the milk, frothed and mixed with an aerolatte and then topped off with more milk. I used to underestimate how frothy it gets and make a mess on the counter so this way works better for me. It was almost like drinking a glass of chocolate milk, but for me chocolate milk would have competed with the candy and would not have tasted as good.

This is not even close to a sipdown, as there is a lot in the pouch. I would definitely buy it again. I like it as well as the ones from 3 Leaf Tea so far.

I just had their blackberry blend, and I feel like this wasn’t a great choice to put immediately after it in the advent calendar—they’re too similar. I can’t help but compare the two, despite the fact that blackberry and blackcurrant have nothing to do with each other.

I’d think better of this blend if I hadn’t just had the blackberry one. This one is nice, but the flavour is far too subtle for me. If I had more of it, I’d try it sweetened with Ribena!

[Edit] I’d only had a few sips, so instead of just sort of enjoying the rest of the cup, I added some Ribena. It made a huge difference. Quite lovely, now. =)

Got this in an advent calendar. I was mildly engrumbled about having to look up what kind of tea it is so I’d know how to prepare it. Anyway. It’s lovely! It’s a straightforward blend of black tea and blackberry, and it smells and tastes like it should. Doesn’t taste synthetic, and best of all doesn’t have any chemical weirdness like a lot of berry-flavoured things.

Cold Brew Sipdown (2383)!

I started this cold brew on Halloween but didn’t actually end up getting around to it until the day after. It was very enjoyable though. That classic hard red candy coated apple flavour that I want from a Candy Apple inspired blend but with a strong undertone/finish of creamy, buttery caramel that makes this tea also dip a little bit into Caramel Apple territory.

I still have so many other Halloween blends from Adagio to sip through, but this is something that I could see myself getting again when I’m a little less stocked up on other Halloween options from them. Of their returning/yearly Halloween blends (that aren’t fandom ones) it’s really the only one I have an interest in.

Iced Tea!

Had this one a few days ago at work and really enjoyed it made iced. There was something about how the deeper, “low/bassy” coating sweetness of the anise mixed with the brighter raspberry that created a super dynamic, jammy raspberry flavour that made me think of the filling part of a raspberry danish or croissant. Less so the pastry itself, though that slight buttery element of this tea was still a bit present. It was very refreshing, and I appreciated that it was very fruity but not necessarily very tart. Plus just an overall different sweetness profile than a lot of DT’s other iceable fruit blends…

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!

I’ve had a hard to place tea craving for the last couple of days, and this was exactly what I was looking for. The liquor is smooth and medium bodied with an overall warm, toasty profile of mixed grains and nuts. The top notes have just a tinge of a brassy mineral-type quality, and there an ever so slightly caramel like sweetness to the undertones. I’ve always been impressed with the tea productions from the Camellia Sinensis Tea Studio in India, but this is my stand out favourite!! Such a good kukicha – plus look at the gorgeous silvery colour of those twigs!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzJ9rPMueFF/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WW7cuAm-7Y

Gongfu!

I was actually looking for a different sheng initially, but the jammy fruit notes coming off the dry leaf of this tea sample made me change my plans! I know W2T describes this as a more savory and broth-like tea, but I find the liquor to be quite viscous and syrupy with a lot of upfront sweet, fruity flavours: cassis, nectarines, candied lemon or orange peels. If the flavours were a painting it would be a weird mix of berry-like purples and sunny oranges and yellows. The latter steeps do pivot a little; the syrupy liquor starts to get an astringent “fuzziness” at the edges that’s pleasing texturally and the fruit becomes less intense and a greener, borderline medicinal undertone starts to build up and push into the mid-sip. It still feels a far distance away from something I’d describe as soup-like, though I love the flavour very much.

I would be so curious to hear what other people thought of this tea! I know tasting notes are always highly subjective, but I don’t know if I’ve ever had a W2T tea session where my notes differed so drastically from Paul’s…

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

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L56YYQYkPnM

My new affordable daily drinker. Not the most complex but very drinkable. I like the woody flavor. Better with white or light brown sugar over dark brown. Not good iced. Prefer slightly without milk.

Lazy Saturday breakfast treat. The sample Michelle sent my way was marked for a two minute steep. I was a little bepuzzled, but set the timer accordingly. Longer would have turned it into a cup of mud. As it is, we have a lovely malty, bready cup that I’m thoroughly enjoying. Thank you, friend!

This tea proved to be a delightful and easy-to-sip experience, embodying the essence of a quality Dragon Well tea. Its easy drinking nature only lends to it being a fantastic example of why Long Jing has remained so popular for over 1000 years. The leaves are a visual testament to the craftsmanship invested in creating this tea. As the first sip solidified the notion that this was a solid daily drinking tea that anyone who enjoys a quality green tea could truly appreciate.

Holy Moly – This one is a surprise hit with me. I continue to be very impressed with this tea. Bumping up my rating.

I was never a big fan of jasmsine tea until recently. This was probably because I had mostly low-quality jasmine teas and/or incorrectly brewed them. I had kind of written the jasmine tea category off as more of a one-note, you’ve-had-one-you’ve-had-them-all type of thing. But still nice to sip on one for an occasional change of pace. Yet I did recall some Trader Joe’s jasmine dragon pearls bagged tea I had a long time ago which was pretty nice.

Recently I had a sample of jasmine pearls from Goartea which was great, and I also have a tin of jasmine pearls from Mighty Leaf which I am liking.

But this one really takes the cake as far as I am concerned. The pouchong tea is really present here, reminding me of the spring pouchong I’ve had from English Tea Store. The leaves are not nearly as pretty in appearance, but the essence is here. The feel, sweetness, body, fruitiness, and non-jasmine florals of that oolong pretty much seem to be here, with the added dimension of the jasmine fragrance. That is important to me in a jasmine tea – Having a strong and interesting tea base as a foundation. And this one really makes it happen. All at a much lower price than the typical dragon pearl tea would cost.

Still on the preemptive immunity kick, but to jazz things up a little, have been varying what goes in the cup besides the berries each night. Last night, it was one of Martin’s bilberry teas for a little sharpness; tonight, I tossed in a bag of Celestial Seasonings Cinnamon Apple Spice. The elderberries, straight up, have such a raisiny/date personality, that anything with a kick improves them. Further suggestions?

25th and final day of the Kiani advent calendar. It’s labeled “glamorous earl grey” but I’m pretty sure it’s the same as this one. This tea is suitably festive because it’s glittery and I won’t pretend to mind. I’m a sucker for the entrancing, shining, sparkling swirls that glitter teas make in my mug. Definitely a trend I’m not sick of yet. Otherwise, though, this seems like a pretty standard earl grey. Which is… fine? Earl grey just isn’t my favorite kind of tea, so I don’t really feel that I can speak to a specific blend’s relative merits with a whole lot of nuance. The bergamot here is definitely strong but not overwhelming or alcoholic. For a blend that I’m not super fond of, I did manage to finish the mug and even finish off a second steeping, though that was in significant part because I was more interested in the sparklies. Still, if the tea itself had been appallingly bad, I wouldn’t have been able to drink it no matter how pretty, so there is that to commend it.

I’m glad I tried this advent calendar, but I probably won’t do it again. The teaware was fun but I have that now! I never even opened or used the matcha scoop because I already have one and I rarely drink matcha that fancy (if anyone wants it, it’s yours free, just let me know). A pretty significant disadvantage of this advent is that it only provides enough leaf each day for exactly one serving, so it’s hard to experiment with optimal brewing methods and preparations.  While many of the teas were tasty, some would have benefited from gong fu brewing vs mug steeping, or vice versa, and I just wasn’t able to test that out. I was most intrigued by the Iranian teas, so if I order from Kiani again in the future it will probably be to just get more Iranian tea rather than an advent.

It also took me almost a year to finish the nine advent calendars I got in 2022! That’s too many! This year I only got three that I’ll be opening in December, so hopefully that will be much more manageable. 

Circling back to Day 1 of the Kiani advent calendar so I can finish it off. My partner drank most of this because black tea often doesn’t agree with me, but I tried a little so I could write it up. It was surprisingly smooth for an English Breakfast! A bit dry, sure, but more bready, sweet, and comforting than aggressive like I tend to expect from breakfast teas. Plus, glitter! Totally unnecessary but always fun.

Day 24 of the Kiani advent calendar. I accidentally oversteeped, so added just a bit of water to cut it. I like this one! It’s malty with a touch of sweetness – cocoa? honey? both? Very pleasant cuppa.

Day 23 of the Kiani advent calendar. For some reason, based on just the name I assumed this would be a straight mint tea. Which, there already was a straight peppermint earlier in the calendar, and I would have remembered that sooner if I hadn’t taken almost a year to finish this! Once I opened up the packet, I realized that it’s a mix of peppermint and cacao shells. I had no idea that After Eights are a specific thing – apparently a British mint chocolate candy. So I can’t judge how close this blend is to the flavor of the candy it’s named for! I am enjoying the pepperminty-ness of it, though I wish the cacao shells had a more potent taste. It’s not just a matter of age; I went back and looked at my note for the straight shells 11 months ago and found those weak too. 

Tried again. Maybe its more powdered ginger than fresh ginger?

Still an element that makes me think of plastic more so than ginger or tea. Tossing the rest of this. Just not my thing.

Adjusted rating for new system.

Sipdown

I had this yesterday with Ashman and finished the last bit today on my own. Every time we drink it, Ashman asks me if there is chocolate in it, and I tell him there is only vanilla. It is very rich so I see where he gets that from the combination of the natural flavor notes with the vanilla.

This tea deserves one’s attention for its stellar aroma if nothing else. There is so much to uncover there. Dry leaves smell of dried fruit, port wine, and earth. During the session, it becomes much more fruity and flowery.

On the other hand, I found the texture to be a bit boring for the most part. Nevertheless, the mouthfeel does have a pleasant numbing and tingling sensation. Also, after swallowing I detect a curious mixture of throat-warming and mouth-cooling sensation.

The taste is brothy and mineral at first. It has a touch of sourness that makes me think of coffee, but also a good umami. It can get quite bitter when brewed too long. The aftertaste is generally pretty strong and lasting. It is a bit abrasive and biting, and bring flavours of baked lemons and cherries.

This is an interesting tea, the first green tea I have had that reminds me a lot of Sheng Puer tea. Upon taking the first sip I noticed right off the flavor profile was quite unique, not bad just very different than other green teas I have been accustomed to drinking. My first thought was the flavor was mature, a touch of earthy flavor.

I haven’t had it but it made me think of what Maocha might taste like, the base leaf that is used to make puerh teas.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – November 2023 Tea #1 – Nov 1 – National Stress Awareness Day

A day late for this prompt again!  I knew precisely which tea I would use for this prompt.  A black tea!  With bergamot!  And chocolate flavoring!  That is a definite remedy for stress relief right there.  I love this blend.  I feel even if I am not stressed, it’s like waiting around for an impending stress bomb anyway. ack. That is a terrible way to be, so this was a helpful prompt to remind me to breathe.  (and a tea I would recommend for this.)