Featured & New Tasting Notes

New tea, who this?

If I’m being reallllyyyy honest – I’m surprised this is the first time DT has carried a jasmine rooibos. I would have very much expected this to be the kind of bordering on “classic” sort of tea profile to have made its way into the collection sooner. If I’m continuing with the honesty… this isn’t what I would have pictured that classic profile to look like. Based on the name, I really would have expected a quite simplistic blend of majority rooibos with some jasmine oil or flavouring and maybe some flower petal accents.

Simple. Classic.

Does that mean I dislike this tea? No – definitely, not. It’s just not what I’d have expected. I mean, it does taste very jasmine forward – a more fresh and sweet jasmine than a super heady/perfumey one in my opinion. I actually don’t taste rooibos – I know for many that’s actually a good thing but any time “rooibos” is in the name of a tea I personally feel like the taste should be a bit more present. Not overwhelming or anything, but there – y’know?

Aside from that more fresh and dewy jasmine, there are other things going on in the blend – a touch of apple sweetness and, more interesting to me personally, a lovely light orange blossom undertone. I actually adore orange blossom as a flavour and I think it’s really highly underrated so I LOVE the addition of it here, even though it doesn’t fit with my idea or preference for a “straight forward” jasmine rooibos. More than anything else though, it just strongly makes me want a new orange blossom tea where THAT is the star ingredient/flavour…

I guess the only other thing maybe worth throwing out is that I find this tea very similar to Sleepy Lychee, minus the lychee flavour of course. It’s the same style of jasmine though so if you liked that little bit of jasmine in Sleepy Lychee then you’ll probably really like this one where it’s much more front and center. It’s a nice option for those seeking a caffeine free jasmine, all in all.

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.

Instead of Alice (see derk’s note) I decided to brew this one today.
And honestly, I was afraid this one would be too dessert-like to me, though I was craving some sweet one this afternoon. But I have hoped it won’t be that bad.

After opening the pouch, I needed to let the tea “breath” a little as it was highly aromatic! I took about two teaspoons, with quite a nice combination of black tea with contrast white and yellow safflower petals.

It was just right amount for my 300 ml cup and I steeped it for around 3 minutes but haven’t measured exactly today. It has got similar colour as pictured.

I am not sure which note is stronger, if the bergamot one or vanilla. But they work very well together nad both are very nicely present.
The citrusy note of bergamot is tingling a bit, but feels natural and not artificial. Kind of pleasantly sour too. On the other side of spectrum there is sweet vanilla note, coating whole mouth with vanilla custard; while it’s hot drink. Again, a natural feeling of it. Kind of unfortunate, the base is so hidden of flavourings and thus I haven’t noticed that much. But this tea is one of the dessert ones I will drink when craving for some sweet one. Similar as Lemon Kandy.

My glob, today it tastes like finding a slice of banana nut bread inside the mess of jasmine next to the front door. Wouldn’t it be nice to find breakfast ready and waiting for you as you poke through the garden every morning?

Second tea of the battle of the caramel teas. Check out my review of the other tea, Caramel by TeaG here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416011

This one and the other are actually quite similar. This one, however, has a bit more of the black tea base coming through. I don’t love Bird and Blend’s base, though its not bad so it doesn’t ruin the tea. What it does do is take away slightly from the caramel notes at times. Other times it heightens the caramel. Honestly it was a close call but with the base peaking through, it can get a touch astringent sometimes and that’s why this one lost.

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge Friday, March 5th: National Day of Unplugging Tea #1

Well, hilariously enough for “Unplugging Day” Steepster is frozen again?  Anyway… when I think of a comforting tea, this is most definitely one at the top of that list. (Another probably would have been the recent tea Reichenbach Recovery!)  This is a perfect tea.  I would buy ten pounds of this stuff.  It’s just chocolatey, dark, malty and sweet enough with that touch of marshmallow.  Aging amazingly.  (The chocolate has lost that alcohol quality…) sigh. I love it.  The base alone would be perfect.  I must raise the rating YET AGAIN from 94. Two more tournament books on the way in the mail, so I really need to get reading, which is the perfect excuse to “unplug” and also, you know, Steepster is down anyway.

Sipdown 49- 2021
This is a flavor profile that my boyfriend really loves, so he drank most of this pouch. But, I had a cup and it was quite tasty! Syrupy sweet blueberries and vanilla are most dominant for me, with just a touch of cinnamon in the finish. The honey bush works really well here, adding to the cobbler aspect of the flavor.

additional notes:  I broke into my 150g pouch that I just had to buy during the sale… I was thinking of buying some anyway because I once saw it on the VIP page so I thought it might be leaving.  So I went for it during the sale.  Upon opening, I realized there aren’t any caramel cubes… to me it’s an entirely different blend now.  What makes it “toffee” without the caramel cubes?  I asked B&B and they said they removed those from the blend three years ago.  Ack.  But really, it doesn’t seem like the same blend even if it had the caramel cubes.   The black tea seems lighter even with two teaspoons, the apple is lighter, which makes the smoke seem stronger. So I’m sorry if my praising of the past versions of this blend had anyone buy the less great recent blend.   I just don’t love it anymore.

Dry leaf is long, thin mostly dark green needles with some of of the typical white hairs. I smell some musty hay, faint smoke, rich undertone of white chocolate or cocoa butter.

Taste is full of white chocolate, hay, melon and minerals with slight herbaceous-vegetal-zucchini tone. Nectar sweetness that I find typical of silver needles. Creamy lychee-oat aftertaste. Rather drying.

I had this a week ago and my notes were rushed, my recollection fuzzy. The flavor profile was unique and I can’t remember enough to say why. Maybe the tea had a deeper, earthier feeling to it… I really enjoyed this one, though, especially the white chocolate note which I was not expecting after reading Leafhopper’s review. It seems like our experiences with this tea differed a bit. Thanks for the share, Leafhopper :)

Note 900

My Dessert by Deb ordered arrived today and it was so exciting because it was my order and my sub box and wrapped with so much love. Part of it was literally gift wrapped and it just makes for such an amazing experience! I planned on taking pics but I was so excited I ripped through everything before I did. Oops

Part of the order were teas for Sil and teas for Roswell Strange. They both grabbed this tea and while I was curious, I didn’t want more than a sample. I snagged a cup from Sil to try so thank you, Sil!!

It’s a nice tea. I don’t know if it screams pear so much as just a generic and soft orchard fruit note. It also has turmeric but it’s subtle and alright. Overall, it’s fine but it’s not for me.

I really love this tea. It reminds me of being in Salem, sipping on tea on Halloween. Such a wonderful trip. Hopefully I can visit again soon!
As for the tea itself- it’s a lovely smoky vanilla. A nice balance of the subtle smoke, and richness of the vanilla.

Thank you for this, AJRimmer!  It’s snowing!  So ’It’s Snowing!’ the tea blend came to mind.  On first sip, I thought “yes, this is a perfect snowy day blend.”  It’s not a chai, but that’s ok!  You can’t drink chai on every cold day.  First, the coconut flakes look fresh and TASTE fresh.  So nice.  Then hints of ginger and cinnamon on a smooth yet dark enough black base.  I love that the coconut is so present.  It’s a smooth, comforting cup for this endless winter.    I MUST finish the last steep session before next winter and the coconut is older.  It’s so good now. 
Steep #1 //  1 1/4 teaspoons // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 4 minutes after boiling // 4 min
2021 sipdowns: 25  Della Terra – Café Vanilla

Last traveling tea box sample from 2020. Hmm this is much more mildly flavored than I expected. Hot, it tastes like rather plain black tea. I’m not really getting caramelized sweetness here. I imagined it being much richer than this. Once it had cooled, the base was a bit more metallic than I prefer, but I also got some burnt caramel hints, which were pleasant. I feel like I did get some nougat in the end, but I wish the flavors were stronger.

I thought this was the nicest of the teas I tried from Hotcups yesterday, and also the most interesting/unique. Cherry and almond are such complimentary flavours and this is an intense and juicy take on both of them – robust and sweet with this tangy candied cherry and boozy amaretto profile that loosely makes me think of an Amaretto Sour. I believe this is the best selling flavour from Hotcups and I can understand why. It was great hot, but it’d obviously ice very well too – just punchy and straight forward without sacrificing having some layers to the flavour to make it a bit more dynamic.

The last tea from my Mountain Stream order before I move on to Floating Leaves. This one turned out to be the best one of the bunch. I had a very similar Orange Blossom from Mountain Stream a couple of years ago – it might even be the same tea – and there are a few differences in this one. It’s cleaner tasting while the other was more rough around the edges with a sharper orange taste.

Grandpa steeped 1.2g in an 8oz glass using 200 F water. Dry leaf smell is very inviting and juicy. Creamy with citrusy notes of tangerine and bergamot. The brewed tea tastes like perfumery orange blossom water and apricot. The taste is evocative of baklava with its sweetness and exotic floral flavor. After topping off with boiling water, the orange fades and gives way to jasmine like florals. Doesn’t become bitter as long as you don’t overleaf.

A great scented tea if you’re looking for a citrusy floral oolong.

I’ve been really impressed with everything I’ve tried from TeaVivre. This is no exception. It’s quite complex and multidimensional, and was an extremely enjoyable drinking experience.
It’s thick and slightly savory. Notes of molasses and white flowers follow. Baked brown bread and raisins are in the finish.

Nichole sent me Birthday Cake in my last order, and she didn’t even know that my birthday is next month! Naturally, I decided to save this to open on my birthday.

Naturally, I didn’t.

It started innocently enough. I would just SMELL it. That’s all.

I opened the pouch and sniffed and it smelled exactly like Birthday Cake Oreos! Or….like birthday cake but we always do chocolate or lemon cakes so I didn’t associate it with cake first!

The next step in this parade was that “it wouldn’t hurt to try just one cup.” After all, it resteeps twice more so I could have a lot of tea with just one teaspoon gone and still have plenty for my birthday.

It does not taste quite the same as it smells. It tastes better, way better, because I don’t like overly sweet bakery cake and cupcakes with towers of icing. The reason it is better? The base here is the same very “adult” black tea that I loved in Vanilla Black and Peach Vanilla. It is a sophisticated tasting black base. It is forward enough to keep this from tasting like a syrupy sweet children’s tea party tea. The base has the raspy unsweetened cocoa “feel” that I enjoy.

The aroma of the steeped tea is largely caramel to me! It smells really good! So good that I asked Ashman if he would sniff it. You know where that went, right? Another teaspoon bites the dust. The vanilla and cream are there for sure, but the caramel got its hooks in us.

Giving up entirely on the notion of saving this for my birthday, I made a huge pot of it for breakfast the next morning. I guess I am going to have to order a new pouch.

Thank you, Nichole! We loved it!

additional notes:  I’m having my own themed day and having three pancake teas for PANCAKE DAY (also will be having pancakes for dinner.)  Just finished a pouch of this.  It’s sadly losing some of it’s flavor at this point, though not that old.
2021 sipdowns: 21

2016 harvest, sealed sample packet from Leafhopper!

Dry leaf is pungent! chestnut, cacao, an impression of cherry pie filling. The look of it reminds me of Laoshan green. I’ve had this as mini-bowl tea 1g:100mL and teapot 2g:190mL, 3/4min. Prefer the bowl.

Let’s see… lemony, roasted chestnut, pan-fried green beans for sure, steamed escarole, gentle floral-powdered sugar high note, underlying umami. Vegetal, salty-nutty-brothy-sweet ending brisk and tart with a light bitterness on the swallow. Aftertaste is at first metallic, turning into a salted citrus rind tingle then apricot to a subtle impression of violet and lavender.

It’s not extremely vegetal or too robust, has a range of flavors that are well rounded. Pretty dang good for 5 years old.

So glad I bought another pouch of this tea, especially in the midst of this brutal cold spell that’s hit Chicago and doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon (thanks Polar Vortex). The windchill was -15 F the other day and I knew my usual morning green tea or green oolong wasn’t going to cut it. I was craving something warm and toasty and this tea came to the rescue.

It’s been a year since I last had this tea which was picked nearly 3 years ago. Despite the age it was still mind-blowingly good. Credit to TTC’s hermetically sealed foil bags…I wish every company packed their tea like they do.

Grandpa steeped 1.3g of leaf in my 8oz mug @ 200 F. I was immediately greeted by that familiar yet delicious honeyed flavor. Nectar sweet with notes of wildflowers, toasted pine nuts, and caramelized minerals. As the tea steeps, wildflower honey gets mingled with a subtle bug bitten sweetness. A wonderful example of a skillfully roasted tea that brings out complex flavors without tasting roasty.

My tea came today! This is the one that incited me to order so I had to try it first.

I opened the pouch and sniffed and my knees trembled. Literally. You think I am joking? Watch the video. There is no video so just imagine it. It really happened.

It smelled so good that I thought my heart would break if it didn’t taste the way it smelled.
Since there are orange peels and chocolate chips and I know I am going to triple steep, I used a teaspoon and a half.

I am going to cry.

This is so good. It tastes like it smells. I think I had Jaffa Cakes once in Ireland. BUT easily available in the US are orange Pims (also in raspberry) which are nearly the same. And when my two youngest daughters and I first started having tea together and wanted to be fancy we bought Pims. Back when you could have people over for tea, remember? Back before viruses and nasty February weather that keeps you from even having tea with friends outside.

And this has taken me back to the best memories of those days.

The orange is fresh “peeling-an-orange-and-the-juice-lightly-mists-your-face” orange. Up front the aroma is all orange orange happy orange. Aromatherapists know that orange scent is a mood lifter and even peeling one can make people feel better. (I am so tired of all the orange, clove, and cinnamon teas though.)

As you swallow, the back and sides of your tongue are drenched with chocolate, which haunts your mouth after swallow. Orange up front, chocolate lingering after.

Tonight as I am sleeping, I will be whispering, but if the Ashman leans close to hear what I am saying, all he will hear is, “Jaffa Cakes.”

I prolly need more.

There’s a break in the impeachment trial. Such disturbing, horrifying, sad unseen footage shown. Thought I’d write a quick review during the break.

It’s been two years and these improve with age so thought I’d try another today. I put the dried tangerine stuffed with Pu-er in my little gaiwan and rinsed it with boiling water. It barely fit lol. The liquor is a really dark reddish/brown color, tangerine scent. Afterward, I did like 5 to 10-second infusions. So many times that I lost count. It’s fallen completely apart now lol. I can not emphasize enough just how mellow this pu-erh is compared to many. I am reluctant to even put “earth” in the taste profile because it’s that mellow. I haven’t been in the mood for any pu-erh tea for months but this was just wonderful and warm.

It’s a really nice, mellow pu-erh with no leather, fishiness, or strong overbearing notes. Tangerine, citrusy notes and aroma, filling the room.

So time did, in fact, make this even better. I have a couple more. I just ordered from TeaVivre and I am looking forward to trying Quanzi green mandarin pu’er. I added that as a sample. If it is as good as this, I’ll be a happy camper.

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge Tuesday, February 9th: National Pizza Day –Tea #2

additional notes:  YEP, I’m a pineapple pizza fan!   This tea is a mighty fine pineapple tea – straightforward pineapple on a brisk mixture of black teas.  I’ve written about it before, so I will refrain from saying more.  (Also having a stromboli today for pizza day!)

I was sitting on the couch trying to put out some work fires and felt like I wanted to make another matcha latte because I really enjoyed my first cup of Teavivre’s matcha last week. I Iazily didn’t want to get off the couch but then saw the matcha Monday post from VariaTEA and it motivated me to get up haha.

I made this latte with soy milk and maple (instead of almond milk and a date) and it’s come out differently, yet still tasty. I think I almost prefer the date, but I’m going to make a date paste next time that will be incorporated better. The soy milk has made it thicker, but it still has that delicious matcha flavour with almost no bitterness.

I broke into my stash of this to work as liquid courage. I hate selfies but decided to post one on the Sororitea Sisters instagram page as part of a Meet the Sisters series I wanted to start since the new year. My hair, which I have been attempting to perft with the curly girl method, was looking alright and I decided to just go for it. You can see the post and learn a little about me (though if you read my notes, you likely know most of the info) here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLAUzdlgYZ5/

As for this tea, its one of the oldest in my stash and I have a lot of it but once it is gone it is gone. That’s sad because this is spot on for a lemon poppyseed muffin, the bright yellow one bursting with citrus flavor and topped with a vanilla glaze. It’s accurate and delightful and just what I needed.