Featured & New Tasting Notes

Scottish Breakfast. By Adagio.
I got this single-serving portion pouch of looseleaf material as part of a black tea variety box from Adagio when I visited their store in Naperville-IL, this past weekend. Steeped as directed. I found the infusion to be tasty, Assam–forward, and free of bitterness. It contains a blend of four teas, three of which are familiar to me already. The Yunnan Jig is new for me, and it may have contributed some of the complexity that I’m tasting in this cup. Fortunately, there is also a sample of straight Yunnan Jig in this variety box, so I will soon find out what exactly that tea tastes like by itself. I can recommend Scottish Breakfast and give a rating of 75.
Lot no. 95195. FB: n/a

Simpson & Vail Advent 2025 – Day #21
I never even considered ordering this one for some reason, maybe because I have no idea what a goldenberry is… but it’s good! It’s a decent fruity tea with NO hibiscus. It’s sweet, but from the candied papaya. The goldenberry is from Peru, which might be why I have never seen it listed in tea before. Though the description said it would brew up a light pink color, mine was yellow. Maybe my sample missed any of the listed hibiscus? I would say the flavor was probably more sweet papaya and candied pineapple, as the goldenberry was only added flavoring. But maybe these fruits taste similar… I would definitely drink this again though.
Steep #1 // 1 1/3 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

I was doing the last bit of my holiday shopping a week or so ago in a mall that has a DT in it. I don’t typically stop in person at the DT when I’m there because I have enough tea to drown in, and I don’t want to get in the way of the employees (especially during this busy season) while they’re working. However, I was parched so I decided to pick up an iced tea…

You can, of course, order basically anything on the teawall as an iced drink. However, we have a specialty drink menu in most stores that have some more unique/custom drinks that are made with different concentrates and things prepared at the start of the day. They’re usually faster for the tea guides to make because of this. This tea is part of that menu as a tea pop lemonade. I grabbed that because, as I’ve said before, I adore this blend and I wanted to get in and our of the store quickly.

Honestly, the juicy cranberry and sweet orange of this blend shine as a tea pop, and that was such a refreshing first couple of sips after sweating my ass off in the mall in my heavy winter coat. However, this is already a pretty sweet blend and I personally found that the extra sweetness from the lemonade pushed it right up on the edge of too sweet for my own personal tastes. But a cranberry orange tea pop? Boy howdy, do I recommend trying that! Mmmm!

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.

Plum Deluxe Hanukkah Sampler (caffeinated) – Day 5

I don’t think I’ve ever had actual huckleberries, but supposedly they taste like blueberries. Or are they the same thing? A quick internet search did not provide a clear answer. This blend tastes like blueberries and blackberries on a brisk base. It would probably make a cold brew! There’s nothing wrong with it, but since strawberries are the only berries I really like (that I’ve actually tried), I’m just not the right audience.

This tea in a wonderful outer wrapper was pretty tasty. And in the sachet there was a whole rose bud, which… considering it is a sachet only, is a big thing.

As of flavours, they’re were pretty much spot on… peach and strawberry with floral tea base. Maybe too floral. That peach was also somehow bright, and not with its ripe fruit sweetness. If I did a blind test, I would not recognize it was a black tea. It was that floral.
But it worked so well together. I am happy that I could try this one and maybe… maybe I would buy a pouch of 50 grams.

This is supposed to be “sweet and intense créme caramel” flavoured rooibos, but honestly? I notice rooibos only. Yes, there are some hints of some flavouring, but not caramel in my opinion.
But somehow, comforting and nice cup.

This is a good Earl Grey. Really. A robust base (they say Darjeeling but who knows), and a nice, citrusy and not overwhelming bergamot.

Huh… my notes are getting shorter and shorter.

Meh.

This tea was just meh. A classic combo of hibiscus and rosehips, covered in artificial fruitiness.
Nothing to write home (or you) about. Drinkable though.

2025 Steepster Advent Swap: Day 16

Mmm, this is tasty. It really nails the bread (err, pastry?) aspect of gingerbread in a way that many other so-called gingerbread teas don’t. I think it has to be brewed strong to really shine, which I don’t mind. Otherwise it does feel a bit thin.

Last year I noted that it was a bit on the sweet side, but I actually think the suggestion of sweetness works because it evokes the molasses aspect of gingerbread.

Raising my rating this year!

Compagnie & Co Day 8

Oh dear. Along with hibiscus, licorice, and fishy puerh, smoked lapsang is among my least favourite things. Authors who don’t know much about tea tend to have their characters drink smoked lapsang as a sign of connoisseurship, which seems way off the mark to me. I guess readers haven’t heard of aged sheng or Wuyi yancha. To me, smoked lapsang is about as subtle as a hammer. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of heavy smoke, with overtones of ashtray and burned rubber. The first steep has notes of smoke, malt, tobacco, and wood. At a stretch, I could call this pine smoke, but it’s really like drinking the ashes of a campfire. The aftertaste lingers. The second steep still tastes overwhelmingly of smoke, with malt, wood, and honey in the background. The tea is a bit sweeter, but the liquid smoke aftertaste is pronounced. The tea calms down slightly in the final steep, with the smoke being less obtrusive.

I’m not giving this tea a rating because I knew from the outset I wouldn’t enjoy it. Having said that, the later steeps were more balanced than I expected. I think this tea is of decent quality; it’s just not my jam. I tried a 2015 pine-smoked lapsang from Daxue Jiadao and even that didn’t persuade me to enjoy this type of tea. I have 30 g or so left in my tea museum, awaiting the day that my tastes change or I find someone to swap with.

And with this tea I caught up all the La Via del Té teas.

This one is a green tea blend with scent of cherry and yuzu and while I never had a yuzu in my hand, only yuzu flavoured teas and beers; I think it is pretty much correct.
In flavour, sadly, only cherry is prominent with, not that good, green tea base. That base is drying, while a nice grassy base would be a great complement to the fruits. Maybe it is because older tea used?
Nevertheless, it is nice tea, but it needs fresher tea only. Maybe if there is a little of the citrus peels included, it would be great too.

This was such a good cup! Interesting to choose black tea for a tea that is called White Christmas, but oh my… this was definitely the tea that resmebles buttery, vanilla biscuits so well. While it is quite sweet in flavour, as there are sugar crystals (well, that’s the white from name, I guess!); it was indeed full of baked goodies in a cup.

It has been wonderful!

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 12

This is a dangerous one — the flavor profile (lemon and ginger) screams “calming nighttime cuppa” but the yerba mate says otherwise!

The lemongrass is taking center stage here, but in a very pleasant way. A smidge of ginger comes through on the back of the sip, but I’m not sure I can pick out the yerba mate — I rarely drink it and am not super familiar with it!

I could see this being a welcome change for someone who doesn’t want the harshness of coffee or strong tea in the morning but still wants a gentle kick. Not bad!

Day 12 of the Mariage Freres Advent 2025.

Paris-Provence is a white tea flavoured with lavender, rose, and spearmint. The lavender fortunately is not as prominent as I feared (I’m not a fan of lavender generally), instead appearing primarily as a scent, but also as a soft, sweet background note that I can actually get behind. This means that the creamy powderiness of the white tea base is able to shine, accented with a subtle burst of sweet, crisp spearmint and just a hint of rose. Delicate and beautiful!

AliasHali Advent Tea Day 10

Until yesterday, I had an old-fashioned pink rose in a delicate green glass vase on my desk. I was surprised to see a rose in bloom in the garden last week on the very old rose bush I brought to my house from my mother’s, and I cut it to bring in and enjoy it. (I have rooted that bush several times now and there is one flourishing at my son’s house as well! The rose faded and the color of the petals deepened, so I picked off the petals and scattered them in the path of Mary riding the donkey through the advent candle spiral.

This tea tastes like that rose. The base is mild for a Keemun. The rose scent is delicate and natural, but the more I drink the more it is building up – rose-y and peppery with a little tingle on my tongue. I think this might almost be the perfect rose black tea for me.

I wouldn’t have it for breakfast. This is a tea to drink as I am drinking it now – a relaxing break between tasks, served in a pretty bone China cup – Old Country Roses, appropriately.

Steepster seems to be getting worse. Is anyone else having major issues?

They say this is honey-scented, but I am blasted away with chocolate notes. Ghirardelli milk and dark chocolate. Chocolate shavings. Cacao. At the end, there are some savory honey notes. After smelling my 3 honeys (Manuka, wildflower, and raw beekeeper honey), I think it’s more like a chocolate-infused honey I had once.

The flavor is sweet. Lots of chocolate notes with a honey after note. The mouth feel is silky smooth.

I received these as a gift from one of the ladies who comes to the MN Tea Society meetings.

2025 Steepster Advent Swap: Day 8

Another OBTC blend I’ve been wanting to try!

This is definitely quite nutty, although I’d be hard-pressed to identify it as pecan-specific nutty. I think a large part of the nuttiness comes from a natural flavor that doesn’t quite agree with me, because I’ve noticed it elsewhere and often feel vaguely offput when I encounter it.

Other than that, I do get a bit of butteriness, which feels appropriate. There’s also cinnamon and a bit of cocoa, both of which take away from the “pecan pie” vibes, IMHO. I also find the lingering sweetness from the licorice root to be a bit off-putting. I do like the pu’erh base; it’s present but not overwhelming.

I like the idea of this blend quite a lot in theory, but it’s just not gelling for me as a whole!

I don’t recall seeing Bhakanje either. But the leaves are very nice!

I prepared this tea also gongfu, using all 5 grams in 100 ml. Steeps were 20/30/40/50 and a few longer ones.

In a first steep I got old-well-known Nepalese terroir aromas, those being woody, but also very aromatic herbals, malts (a little like dark, roasted malts) and tannins. Considering that I haven’t made any rinse, this looks good!

Second steep was very malty and adds baked bread notes, which are extremely pleasing to me. There is a little dryness, but nothing too much. I haven’t noticed that much of herbals and florals as Leafhopper, but in the major flavours we noticed the same.

Following steeps were pretty much similar as others, always with some note being more dominant and others were weaker. I would not consider it very drying, but I was drinking it rather fast, that’s true.

I really like this one. But I am a little biased towards Nepalese teas, so that’s why. But it is also just a delicious tea. I will definitely keep this one in my wishlist.

Note: As I go tomorrow for 3 days long business trip, I won’t post any new notes. It will be hard to catch up, but hopefully I can make it!

It seems that this tea puzzles me.
Once it was fine; once it was bad. And today, in advent calendar it tastes like something different and fine.

I have steeped all 5 grams western today morning and steeped those in 80°C water (a little colder, actually) for 2 minutes.

I have received a tasty cup with lots of fruity, tropical notes, which were pleasing to drink. As of now, writing this note much later, I can’t recall exact fruits. The base was a little rough though. While not exactly bad, it was a bit astringent and maybe a little bitter for me. But it was strongly prepared, that could be the cause.

Anyway, it was fine… though agian not a tea to keep in the cupboard.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – December 2025 Tea #1 -A tea with fruit flavors

It was time for this one to go — at this point it is just mostly resulting in a spicy cup, with no hint of blackberry or earl grey.  I really should have finished it sooner.  Take note:  52Teas is one of the shops that does a GOOD blackberry flavor.
2025 Sipdown total: 82
2025 unique tea sipdowns: 65

Whoops, this was for day 5 and today is just day 4! So, tomorrow will be day 4 tea.

I hoped to like this. It contains eucalyptus, not so common ingredient, but also pine buds which have relaxing properties and that is something I would love today.

But alas, I don’t like it too much. It was very floral and heavy in herbal notes; and from the ginger I barely noticed anything. Nothing warming, nothing spicy from that.
I think that the eukalyputs here was the strongest and sadly overwhelmed all the other ingredients. Well, not all teas can be winners, right?

Advent Calendar 2025 – Day 3

This one… It just tastes like Darjeeling to me, I can maybe detect a tiny hint of spice if I squint, but I wouldn’t know it had any flavoring additions at all by the taste. It’s pleasant enough, definitely a later flush sort of Darjeeling with bready and hay notes. Maybe it’s better this way, since I am not a clove lover anyway heh heh… :P

As for jam, today it’s Plum Pear Star Anise Spread. Plum might be my favorite fruit for jam, so I was excited to see this one. It’s a nice mix of plum and pear, with the plum adding that stonefruity tang and the pear adding syrupy richness. I don’t actually notice the star anise, even trying it plain, but I’m enjoying the two fruits together so I don’t mind!

It seems we had this tea in the very same time with Leafhopper but I am writing a note a little later, as I went distracted a bit. Also we did very similar steeping parameters. It would be fun to prepare it together and share the impressions with each other right away.

Well, I have to agree that vendor’s notes about aromas are just right. Honey, fig, little smoke, wood. I would add another description and that would be tobacco after making the leaves wet.
The flavours are pretty much similar and it was nice and fruity and while I couldn’t point out the fruit on the first sight, it was the fig. I need to have more experience with this fruit apparently. It was very round and sweet, however a bit longer steep turned it a little drying, exactly how Leafhopper notices too.

In conclusion, it was very tasty and enjoyable tea from a little less common terroir of production and maybe just because that I am biased — and raising a rating because of that. I have used all 5 grams for 100 ml gaiwan.

2025 Steepster Advent Swap: Day 1

Iiiiit’s advent season! And this year it’s already bringing me a lot of joy. We had to say goodbye to our nearly-16-year-old pup the week before Thanksgiving, and the grief has been tough. We’re riding it out, but yeah… tough. She was my first dog as an adult and had been with me since I was 24 (I’m 38 now). Life without her is just not as bright.

Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to the festive fun of advent season. Michelle was my homemade calendar swap partner this year, and rather than label/number her teas, she suggested a random pull — with the instruction to choose another if the randomly selected tea didn’t bring joy. Well, I love that approach! Happily, my first random pull did bring joy: this lovely cookie-flavored black blend.

I am not Italian, but I did grow up in a state with a large Italian-American population, so pizzelle cookies were a staple of the holidays for me! My Portuguese grandma had a pizzelle iron and always made them for her annual Christmas party. I bet she still has the iron, actually — maybe I could veganize the recipe.

Pizzelles are very delicately flavored, in my recollection, but this blend does them justice, thanks largely to the anise and vanilla. It would’ve been easy to be heavy-handed with the anise seeds, but the blend has just the right amount. I’m not getting much orange, but that’s OK — I actually don’t remember tasting orange in the pizzelles I’ve had.

All in all, this is a tasty, simple, gently holiday-inspired blend that brought back some lovely childhood memories for me. A good way to start the advent season. :) Thank you, Michelle!