Featured & New Tasting Notes
HOLY LONGEST DAY EVER FRIDAY THANK GOD IT’S THE WEEKEND.
yeah that’s right. I had this one at some point during the day. I’m starting to feel like in a work environment, mtgs can only be 45 mins long…so there’s always 15 mins to get to your next meeting or go pee, grab a snack..whatever. I was home today thankfully, so i was able to make tea while on a call – something i wouldn’t be able to do at work. this one is almost done and i’m still sort of undecided on it. I like it..but is it snickerdoodle or just cinnamon….interesting to say the least and enjoyable… just not quite what i want
From Sil. :)
My first impression is Whoa, butter. This may partially be contributed to by the cream I put in the tea this morning. As I was steeping it I definitely smelled the caramel and salt.
I’m really enjoying this tea. Hopefully I manage to finish the whole mug. :)
I’m other news, I let my kettle rest and it worked this morning! Yayyyyy!!! Definitely need to remember to unplug it now, but the plan is to try to keep it going as long as possible. Maybe closer to Christmas I’ll get the Cuisinart one from Costco.
haha
An update as I’m almost finished my mug. The tea tastes like it should be really thick (butter, caramel), but it really isn’t. I’m super excited to try the salted caramel oolongs now.
i liked the oolongs better than the blacks
I think that the oolongs natural almost butteriness would work much better.
Yay! Let’s hope it’ll hang in there until the end of the year. Maybe you can hit a sweet sale too.
I hope so! After Christmas sales are the best time to buy new tea things.
Today’s Cold Brew! Very, very tangerine! And oh so yummy!
In other tea related things: someone needs to take my laptop away from me because I’ve caught the teaware bug and cannot, for the life of me, stop looking and different websites and cart building. Currently, I’ve got a $362 cart built on Camellia Sinensis and itchy trigger fingers. I am weak. And the crazy thing is, I’m not even batting an eye at the three yixing pots in the cart – the thing that I’m most torn on is whether or not I want to pick up another fish gaiwan because the fact I broke the lid of the one I currently own is still breaking my heart…
But do you buy a whole new gaiwan to replace it!? I wish you could just buy “replacement pieces” the same way DT sells replacement parts for timolinos and some of the Perfect Mugs. If anyone has a broken white ceramic Gaiwan with an intact lid I’d be more than willing to buy the lid off them if they thought it’d match the fishy gaiwan. I don’t really need “fish” on the lid; I just want one that’s actually intact.
Here’s what fishy looks like: http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/teapot/gaiwan/gaiwan-yu
I’d say go for it! It’s really pretty.
I did not even know about this website. And now I am far, far down the rabbit hole…
Try emailing them to ask. They have awesome customer service and may be able to help!
Fishy is really pretty! :) Camellia also has this yixing teapot I would die for. I think it’s the SG-13 (if I’m remembering correctly) but don’t quote me on it.
When I was working for a larger tea corporation, we got a lot of customer complaints that there weren’t enough products with replaceable parts. It’s an unfortunate blight throughout the whole business — especially because there’s a lot of handmade or mouth-blown (in case of glass) items out there.
You might also try checking out Goodwill and the like to see whether you can find tiny plates that might work. They tend to have all sorts of random kitchen things.
Though fishy is very lovely. If you truly love it, buy another one.
That is veery pretty!
I caved and placed my massive $300+ tea order (with a replacement fish Gaiwan included). I am OFFICIALLY on TEA HIATUS until AT LEAST 2016. No tea or teaware because I definitely just blew my budget…
Oh the joy of receiving the box and trying all the things!
I think this tea has a great name. Not because it reminds me of a snow day, but I just love everything about snow days. I love waking up thinking I’m going to have to go to work. Noting that the weather is a swirling billowing white mess outside, and then getting that miraculous, too-good-to-be-true news that work is closed for the day. My god. And even better if it’s a Friday!
Anyway, this tea. I had it in-store as a latte with soy milk, which was not a good way to have it. This afternoon I made it with a bit of cream and sugar, and it was alright. Creamy, powdery peppermint with a hint of chocolate. Honestly, I far prefered white chocolate frost from two years ago. Will not be restocking, I don’t think. Or at least not much. I do want to find one that was like white chocolate frost. Maybe I’ll try 52 tea’s white grasshopper whatever tea. Hmmm.
In other news, I met up with kitenna today for a brief tea exchange/to get my part of the 52 teas order! It was so good to see her!
Preparation
Snow days are the best. :D
Yes, and you described them beautifully.
Let’s hope we all get one this year! but have beautiful weather otherwise.
Got this in my 24 days of tea + as a 5g sample in my order. Looking forward to trying it!
Interested to read your thoughts on it!
I hope this isn’t a temporary tea. I might have to cry.
Now this is a dark, roasty oolong. The base reminds me of something I had from… I want to say Teavivre? It’s been so long. Without looking at the ingredients, I thought this was chocolate almond more than anything else, but the chocolate notes fade away once steeped.
The scent of the steeped tea has shifted to almond vanilla. Perhaps the chestnut is blending in seamlessly with the roasty base.
Flavour-wise, I’m getting mostly roasty oolong and toasty nuts. I like it but I’m not enamoured of it.
Oh man, this tea. It’s so good! Even though I ended up having to make it with boiling water this morning.
You see, my variable temperature kettle has lost its capabilities. It doesn’t understand the temperature presets, and it also doesn’t know when to STOP BOILING. So I made my tea, and hoped, and the tea is fine! Yay Lupicia and the ability for their teas to withstand boiling temperatures!
Boo, broken kettle.
So I’m in the market for a new one. I’m not really sure what to get, but my budget is tiny. And because my budget is tiny, I can’t order from the States as the exchange and shipping kinda ruin any “reasonable” price. Walmart seems to have a couple things. But IDK. I need to find my old regular kettle that still turns off when it boils, and I’ll try using that for a few days I guess.
I already miss the variable temperature options. Already.
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That’s brutal! How long have you had it for? And I hope you didn’t pay too much for it. I don’t even have it. But maybe someday I’ll get one from Walmart since I, at the moment, can’t justify paying $150+ for one.
It is just over 2, and I use it multiple times a day, so IMO not such a bad lifespan. I think it was maybe $60? There are loads of options between $50 and $100. Costco even has 4 or 5 available, and the price online includes shipping to your door. They have the Cuisinart tea maker one for about $100, which is a good price, and their return policy is WAY better than London Drugs, which is the other place I’ve seen it regularly.
Walmart has the Salton glass tea maker thingie with variable temps available locally to me for $70. But I’m not sure about the quality, so I might go check it out today and see how sturdy it feels.
This is one of the only black teas that I find myself craving! I just love it! I have a Bonavita variable temp kettle that was $60 from amazon, but has had to be replaced by them twice now! Everyone recommended their gooseneck option, but I got the cheaper short spout thinking it would be the same, but apparently quality control is lower on that model!
Oh yeah, Costco is always a good idea, and that seems to be a typical lifespan nowadays anyway. I’ve been wondering about Salton too. I hope whatever you choose will be a good one!
I have an Aroma from Walmart and love it. I used it side by side with a Cuisinart for a while and ended up picking the Aroma. The good thing about WM is you can always take things back when they break.
I don’t think Aroma is available here. But Wal-Mart and Costco seriously have the best return policies. And with Costco I could order it tonight and it could be delivered to my house on Saturday! :D
This tea is a favourite. I wish it was easier to get in Canadia!
You can always have things sent to me and I’ll reship them to you.
Aww, thank you! But I think Lupicia’s shipping is about $1 per tea, if you get 10 teas. So it’d be just as much if I were to send to someone to reship. I’ll just wait until we end up doing a bulk order. :) It’s bound to happen sooner or later!
Enjoying the “Gold Hai Lang” as my breakfast tea. Light fermentation shu so it is mellow, smooth, and richly flavored. Nice choice for the first cup of the day!
Preparation
Second tea from my order…….
I was really excited when I saw the listing for this one. I’m not the biggest maple fan (I know it’s almost against the law here in Canada) and most pancake teas are maple something. This is Banana Nut Vanilla Butter Pancake. That makes me happy.
I like this – I really like this, but as others have commented I think it needs more banana. The banana flavor is really nice and should shine more.
There has been some conversation about the base in this one. I actually like it. I think there is just a hint of astringency and that helps cut the sweetness, it helps with the balance. I also like the mouth feel. Bold and thick aren’t the right words, but this isn’t thin and weak – it’s just right. Something about the mouth feel helps with the buttery aspect of this.
I’m rambling – Nutty, buttery, hint of vanilla, some banana, nice base. Really good – could be amazing with more banana.
Just a note – this is a really heavy tea, there isn’t much in the 1oz bag. That’s not a criticism – I’m just saying that there are lots of nut chunks in here making it heavy. If you want lots to play with order 2oz. :)
Yep – This needs more banana. The second steep is sooooooo smooth and comforting but ZERO banana. Ahhhhh if there was just a little more banana…
I think I mentioned it on another post, but I’m definitely working on a more banana powered version after all the feedback! :)
IMHO I wouldn’t take it too far. Over the top banana wouldn’t be that appealing, but I would be happier with a touch more. :)) That said – the second steep of this could be my favorite vanilla tea. I almost couldn’t believe how warm and fuzzy it was. That hint of vanilla with the nuts – you just want to hug your cup. :))
On behalf of the RCMP (Royal Canadian Maple Police), this is your one and only warning to stop breaking the Canadian Maple laws!!!!
@Dexter I’m personally not a huge banana fan, so I couldn’t in good conscious crank it up too far! I’m a strong beliver in tea being a gigantic hug in a cup, so glad to hear that it gets hugs back! :)
There would be a lot of us who don’t believe there is ever enough banana flavor in tea, so do feel free to go hog wild with banana flavouring one day if you’d like!
I agree @keychange if it’s a banana black or banana green tea – but in this application I think too much banana would spoil/conceal all the other fun things going on. :)
@Lala – I bought Maple Walnut Ice Cream today – will that be enough to satisfy the RCMP ?
I guess we can put up on maple probation…for now :P
Finally a Kashmiri Chai from DAVIDsTEA. I’ve been obsessed with the stuff ever since taking my first sip of Remedy Cafe’s nearly seven years ago. Steeps’, another local company, loose leaf version didn’t quite cut the mustard but going from the scent of the dry leaf alone, this seems a little more promising.
I’ve had this a few times now, with coconut milk and sugar, without anything, with some half and half, and of course, I’m liking it the best with a touch of half and half and sugar. I purposely made the last cup the strongest, using the last 12g (although I was expecting more like 8g to be leftover in my bag so for me, this is really being luxurious) in my Nordic mug and let it steep for approximately six minutes.
The two most prominent spices are the cinnamon and cardamom, followed by the clove, and maybe a hint of ginger, but I get no nutmeg. The first two are quite powerful, constantly struggling to claim first place and the clove is at a distant third.
This is good but I’m not sure if I’d keep it stocked in my cupboard. Maybe I should get more though and experiment more with steeping parameters. Perhaps with the right parameters, and ratios of milk and sweetener, this could be wonderful. If I do get more, I should pick up some star anise to add to this since Remedy’s version is heavy on the anise, which I love.
A very valiant attempt, DT.
I was almost upsold to try this one while at DavidsTea on my lunch break due to the sales lady mentioning the comparison to Remedy’s version, but I wasn’t in a chai mood haha :)
It’s funny that she compared it to Remedy’s because when I asked the sales associate if it at all compares to Remedy’s, she said she never knew about theirs. Like whaaaa? Your store is merely a couple blocks away from one of their locations!
Haha weird, were you at the Whyte Ave location? I was in Kingsway, was not impressed with the ridiculous amount of upselling..ended up with a bit more tea than I wanted and I was pretty firm about amounts and what I did want. Ugh, I hope they don’t all end up like that!
Yeah, Whyte Ave! They’ve been annoying with upselling as of late too. Too bad Kingsway is like that too. I’ve had better luck at Southgate, at least.
Yes Southgate is my usual haunt and they were good the last time I went, I will not be returning to the Kingsway one unfortunately it really annoyed me :(
I smelled this recently, and picked some up today. I’m glad you said it was fine with half and half, as I was not sure if the base would handle the dairy or not. I have milk, but not half and half…still, ought to be ok, I think.
I hate those mornings when you wake up and are craving a tea you know you don’t have in your cupboard anymore lol. This morning, it was Laoshan Village Chai for me, which I haven’t had for ages! The chocolate notes of LB are what I needed, and I couldn’t find my sample of straight LB either (if I still have one even, I might have drank it!). So I got out the next closest – Verdant’s delicious Earl Grey, with LB!! The chocolate notes are present that I was craving, albeit quite muted due to the travel mug I brought this tea in to work haha. But it will do. See previous notes on this tasty tea!
I could go for some Village Chai right now too!
I don’t ever think I’ll be over it. It was so good.
@Fjellrev and @KiwiDelight – I agree with you both! It was excellent and I miss it so :( I definitely don’t think I could blend my own lol even from the recipe they posted
Oh what a wonderful cup for the morning. This is some serious yum! I think Mazi said it, I am turning into a fan girl. I am already plotting the next purchase, b/c I mean who could pass up a sweet potato pie keemun? I am drinking this tea straight, which if I had my drothers I would be adding milk and sugar to chai, but those are off limits for now. Just straight it a decent chai. I get some spice, who the heck knows what kind, plus some maple for sweetness. I am not really able to pick out pumpkin in this one, but it is still delicious. The base works for me on this one. Not too strong and not too weak.
EDIT: As it cools I definately was able to pick up more of the pumpkin spice flavor. Also, I am finding 2 tsp for about 8oz of water is the sweet spot for these.
You are tempting me!
I am not sure what shipping is for you, but he sample pack is pretty fun.
I’m not sure, either. A few other Canadians have given it a go though, so I can’t imagine it’s too ghastly.
This sounds absolutely delicious! :)
I ordered 5 oz and shipping was 7.50…
I ordered 4oz and it was 7.00 so it looks like there is not much difference between US and Canada shipping.
Well that’s just weird. I often add a splash of caramel and vanilla syrup to my morning green tea matcha latte. It is pretty good. Today I decided to use 1/2 tsp each of Red Leaf Tea’s Caramel matcha and French Vanilla matcha. I love both of them, just not mixed together apparently. It is kind of bitter and the flavors clash. Not sure why I keep thinking I am going to improve on something I already think is perfect. Oh well, its gone already and I don’t have to repeat, but I probably will and that’s just weird.
eh, you wouldn’t’ve known if you hadn’t experimented! all in the nam eof science haha.
For Science!
Go figure! Sounded very promising. Do you have two different syrups, a caramel and a vanilla, or is it one caramel vanilla flavour? If it’s the former, I wonder what it would be like to add the opposite flavoured syrup to the matcha. i.e. Caramel syrup + French Vanilla matcha.
I use two different syrups that I get on the coffee aisle at the grocer. The syrup is simply a vanilla not French vanilla. I guess the difference is French vanilla has a egg based custard taste. I think I could add my vanilla syrup to the caramel matcha and it would work well. Not sure about the other way around. We must experiment!
For Science!!!
So even though I’m on a tea buying hiatus (a BIG one) everyone on Steepster has been seriously tempting me with their tasting notes from Quarter to Tea and so I decided to bite the bullet a week ago and treated myself to a small package of seven different samples and upon opening the bag this morning I’m oh so glad that I did!
I overleafed this and maybe thats where I’m seeing the difference but this tea is FAN-FRIGGIN-AMAZING Like drink it forever and I’d be happy amazing!!! Authentic cherry and chocolate flavors with a kick of coffee – this may just have replaced Cocoa Amore for me as my go to cherry tea because (1) its seriously delicious and (2) its actually available unlike Cocoa Amore!
Buying more right now!!!
haha YAY!
You have no idea how happy this tasting note makes me. :)) I too saw another tasting note on this tea and rushed right out to buy a sample (and a few others). Really makes me happy that you loved it too – now if my package would just hurry up and get here. :))
This was my favourite of my three samples, for sure! @Dex I know you really love cherry tea so I’m crossing my fingers you’ll enjoy this one. I’d order more from Quarter to Tea myself (so many others I’m curious about) but Etsy is being an absolute butt.
@Dexter It just cleared customs, so hopefully soon! I hope you enjoy it too! I really, really enjoy this one!
@Roswell Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with on Etsy. If it insists on being worthless, I can always invoice using PayPal or whatever would be best for you :)
Thank you @Mad Hatter – I’ve been watching it. Processed through Mississauga – I might get it Friday if Canada Post is kind to me. :))
@Rosswell – yep always looking for good cherry teas. The good ones are few and far between. Most are either candy or cough syrup. Really looking forward to trying this one.
Nice! You make me want to follow suit and order too.
@Hatter Placed an order for the 7 sample pack a few moments ago; I had to go through paypal to do it. For whatever reason Etsy wouldn’t let me do it otherwise, but that’s an issue I’ve had in the past with other Etsy stores. The last time I bought septum piercings from Etsy it was damn near impossible :/ Etsy just doesn’t want me to have nice things!
this will go on my list to try!
My package is showing successfully delivered this morning. I find that odd considering I’m not at home. Will find out after work when I get home….
envelope likely so it fit in your mailbox :)
Dexter, how long did it take from the time it shipped to the time you received it on your doorstep?
i picked this one up without trying it in my august uncommon order because of the description: Feels Like: morning in an old library i hate descriptions like this…how does that tell me what the tea is like? yeah it doesn’t. until you drink it..and then you’re like OMG i get it!!! i love libraries and reading…and i am super happy with this tea. Dry, this smells like delicious chocolate and guiness. brewed there’s a slight amaretto/marzipan taste underlying the chocolate. i love this one. I love it slightly less than the passage du desire, but this is still a great tea imo. Different, smooth..soo nice.
Is this the one with the caraway?
yes
Ok, I’m more curious now. Old books too? Papery and earthy?
Haha obviously, I’ll send some when I get around to mailing things to people. I have 120g so lots to share.
No rush. I have a box for you too! Also, I found the French butter keeper. But it’s blue. You interested?
the what now? OH we got one from the wedding..ian wanted to keep it. so we did. well it’s jsut a covered butter dish.
The one I have keeps butter fresh even in summer outside of the fridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_butter_dish
Does it smell anything like an old book? Like those old books that smell like vanilla and musk?
a little bit. :)
Tried this again just to see and yep, same deal. Sadly there isn’t much left in my sample so this is an almost sipdown, with enough left to fill a teeny cup.
I think the major problem here is that I just don’t care for the base. I find it earthy in a strange fashion. Not quite musty, or dirt like… I dunno, can’t put my finger on it!
A little bit of mushroom going on as well.
Mushroom! How strange.
mushroom… mmmmm
Mushroom cheesecake, anyone? Seems odd. Do you think the sample has gone bad?
oooh! now i wonder that too
Wow comment explosion haha.
I’ve seen mushroom notes in puerh before. I think its just how the base is. Also I never found it a traditional cheesecake flavour
I hate writing a bad review. I always try to weigh my personal likes and dislikes against what the tea is intended to taste. No matter how I look at it, I just can’t get positive with this one. It is almost entirely mango and pineapple in taste, which admittedly I don’t care for, but I can’t find the orange, lemongrass, or lime at all in the flavor. It has a bitter aftertaste like stevia but there is none listed in the ingredients. Maybe it is the licorice root, but I normally don’t mind it. I think it may be the chamomile that is the biggest offense – and I normally like chamomile. This just smells like pee to my nose. I have had 8 different teas from Good Earth now. Six have been extremely good. Two have been undrinkable to me personally. I guess if there is a bright side, I would rather see an epic fail than just another bag of meh.
I fell in love with this tea in Summer of 2014. I believe that batch was a combination of Fujian Black and Dian Hong. The first sip of this… damn the FB is not there. It is way more smokey/savory without the sweet deep chocolate note that I loved from FB. I quickly went to the website to see what was replacing the FB. Xiao Zhong, yep that would explain the smokey/savory note. I like it, but I am not as in love with it as I was with the Summer 2014 version. This is missing the sweetness of the other version and it seems a tad thinner than before, but without a side by side comparison I can’t say for sure. Still a wonderful tea, just a little different.
The teas in this are the same…sadly though heavy rains this spring killed the chocolate notes in almost all black teas. Hoping for a dry spring next year. I really miss that dark chocolate too. :-(
Agree with you on the thinness, but also agree that it’s still an excellent tea!
Aw, interesting… I had never seen the name of FB then…. Thanks for the correction! I still love it, maybe next year deep chocolate will come back:)
How can it be Monday again already? Anyone else notice how quickly the weekends seem to disappear? The good news I guess, is the older I get, the faster the weekdays seem to fly as well… Its an unusually cool morning here in Southern California, we’re actually expecting our first winter storm of the season to hit today and tomorrow which hopefully translates into some rain here where I am. This tea seemed perfect this morning due to the cooler change but its definitely seen better days! The flavor is starting to fade and although still tasty its not quite as good as I remember it. Another one to add to the sipdown pile to enjoy before it becomes flavorless.
Based on the intense marzipan smell of this, it instantly became the tea in the winter collection I was most excited about. Along with the deep, very sweet marzipan smell of the dry leaf, you do get a hint of that smell you first notice upon entering a place like an outdoor sporting goods store or Canadian Tire. I swear, just sniff it and think of those things-I can’t see how you wouldn’t smell it! haha. But it wasn’t evena little off-putting.
I brewed it for three minutes, and the scent wafting up from the cup was still quite marzipan-esque, although there was an underlying “grassiness” that put my nose on alert. I don’t actually dislike green tea, but if it’s too vegital, I find it kind of distracting. Anyway, I didn’t get enough of the marzipan flavouring, and I kind of wanted to be knocked about by it. I did get an underlying vegital kick from the green tea, which seemed a bit odd, and so I added in a bit of rock sugar hoping that would help. But that just ended up overwhelming everything and I dumped the cup because ain’t nobody got time for bad tea. Maybe a shorter steeping time? i don’t know. It’s just that the taste does not reflect the smell, and that’s just so disappointing.
Preparation
sweet mother loving crap this one was delicious. Those of you who have been around a while, know that i adore mousse au chocolat from mf. this is as brilliant as that tea, while being a very different tea. black tea base? check. chestnut? check. rich chocolate? check. seriously. I wish i’d picked up a tin of this one.
whoa!
Sounds good!
Uh oh. I might be becoming very very tempted.
Poke me before you do omg. I may be ordering a tin of this one but I want to try a few more of the teas I picked up first. Free shipping to Sharon over 50$
I think I need to commit to more of the teas I currently have though. :/ They stress me out. But they’ve been narrowed down to the very delicious. Mostly.
So I have a job interview at a university tomorrow morning and I’m semi-stressing out. On the way to Dollarama to grab a folder for tomorrow’s reference list/resume and a stapler, I passed a DAVIDs and it reminded me of the winter collection that just rolled out so I decided to swing by on the way back (and also made stops at… five different grocery stores/pharmacies to look for discounted Halloween chocolate when I realized such sales happen!) to grab some small amounts of some.
I feel horrible saying this but the sales associate was so damn annoying. Just as I was about to reach the tins of the winter collection on the counter, I was stopped in my tracks…
SA: Oh ma gaaaaaaaaah have you checked out the Advent calendars?
Me: I know about it but it’s not really my thing.
SA: Reeeeeally?! starts walking over to display of them and motions me to follow
Me: Oh yes, they’re very beautifully designed.
SA: talks for about two minutes straight about the features and how amazing the product is … and they’re selling like hotcakes! They won’t be around for long! One lady came in earlier and bought TEN OF THEM.
Me: Wow! Well, I’m interested in trying a few of the new teas.
SA: Well, check this out. turns around to face the winter collection display shelves You can smell them here since we just poured them into these little glasses so they’re nice and fresh. proceeds to talk about every single one for another few minutes
Me: Mmm, I love the smell of the Cardamom French Toast especially. And the Sweet Almond Green is so Amaretto.
SA: You can buy all of these in this collection because really, 25g gives you an idea of what they’re all like and it’s a really good price. [which is always bullshit]
Me: No thanks, I always get a little of the ones I’m interested in and then decide on what I want more of.
SA: Oh ok, then [clearly not happy with my answer]
So choosing the above two plus this one, I wanted 10-14g of this one and around 20g of the other two, because of course, one only needs to try them once or twice in order to get an idea of how it tastes.
For this tea in particular, on the first pour, she managed to get 12g in here, so I thought she’d print off the sticker and that would be that, seeing I asked for 10-14g. But she then proceeded to scoop more, and right when she was about to pour it in, dumping the first two grams in (out of, I’d say was another ten grams in the scoop), I said it was ok, that that would be enough, and I tried to say it in the kindest way possible. Then she went on and on about how sometimes the above smaller amounts aren’t enough because teas are heavier, blah blah blah, and would only be enough for one cup. Seriously? What are you making, an udon bowl full of tea in one go?
I’m sorry, but I’m noticing this behaviour more and more at DAVIDs. Always trying to sell the collections and saying it’s cheaper, overpouring, claiming 10-20g isn’t enough to even make one cup, etc. Yes, there are heavier teas out there, like Banana Nut Bread, which I can see needing like 8g of for one standard-sized cup, but man oh man.
The 14g ended up making one Nordic-sized mug + one standard-cup of tea for my mother and me. I guess this is where the actual tea review kicks in (sorry)!
I didn’t even notice that this was a pu-erh blend in the store. But I can tell from the smell of the loose leaf alone that it’s not going to be too earthy or dirty. Or fishy. Or anything else bad that pu-erh can sometimes be. There’s a generous amount of chocolate chips in the mix, so let’s go…
The Stevia Monster is out full force in this one. It’s seriously overpowering those earthy pu-erh notes that are struggling to be noticed. The liquor is murky, probably from all the chocolate, yet, I don’t taste much chocolate in here. It’s there but it’s a little waxy. The kind of waxy I get from other DAVIDs chocolate blends like Love Tea #7 and Chocolate Chili Chai. Cheap waxy chocolate lollipops shaped into roses and witches and shit that you get as a kid, because children don’t deserve better-quality chocolate or something.
Seriously, this reminds me of sitting on the swingset in the backyard when I was around six-years-old, and my dad brought me a heart-shaped chocolate lollipop for Valentine’s Day. A very nice gesture, for sure. This tea tastes like that first bite of the waxy chocolate whilst smelling the earth from our nearby garden.
But that stevia, though.
TLDR: Hot Chocolate = waxy chocolate lollipops on Stevia ‘roids. Sales associate tried to sell me shit I didn’t want.
Eee!!!! Fingers crossed for you tomorrow! Job interviews are so stressful, but jobs are good. ;)
Thanks, I seriously need all the luck I can get!
Seriously the last interview I had I was a nervous wreck and couldn’t stop talking. I was thinking, “Oh gods just shut me up!” But I think I got it. If not, I’ve applied for other jobs too. :)
Basically, that means (sorry I’m a little tipsy) that you will kick butt and ace it even if you’re nervous. You can do it! Google interview questions and prepare with examples for the hard ones. Like… have you ever received constructive criticism and can you give an example. And… why should we hire you? (UGH I hate those ones so much!)
Haha tipsy OMG is always awesome. OMG is always awesome regardless. But I’m glad you think it went well overall. I’m so nervous about not being able to answer a question properly, or not being properly prepared. I think I’m up against like 3-4 people out of who knows how many applicants (50-100? Who knows) so to blow it now would suck.
I hate those questions too!
I’m so sorry to hear the staff were off their game today. I actually really like the service I get at DAVID’s (usually) but it pisses me off when they’re just pushing products. This summer I was in one day and one of the sales associates kept on insisting it wasn’t possible to cold brew tea (okay, then what have I been doing?) and insisted I needed one of their perfect pitchers. As she was outlining all the features to me I couldn’t help but laugh (I bought two for various mother’s day gifts and could’ve explained it better myself). Whole thing really pissed me off really. Otherwise, never had a bad experience with the Halifax stores.
And good luck with the interview! My first one I was a hot mess (it was for the military and I didn’t realize I was supposed to pick three specific positions and they send my out into the reception to read up on some before we continued), but I still got it! Moral is people understand and are fairly forgiving. Just be enthusiastic and show them you actually WANT the job.
Ahh!! Fingers mega crossed then! You can TOTALLY do it. And at the end, ask them if there’s anything you could improve upon that would increase your chances, or something like that. I see that recommended everywhere, but I haven’t ever really cared enough to do it. :D
Break a leg tomorrow!
I’m part of a group on Facebook about teas and many people complained today about DT associates trying to sell them the calendar when they had no interest at all :( Such a shame!
Interesting how there have been a lot of complaints about overzealous employees pimping the calendar. It’s kind of contradictory to be so pushy when under the same breath, they’ll also say that they sell out really fast regardless so ACT NOW! So if the product speaks for itself and they always sell out quickly, then why the pushy attitude?
That’s good that your experiences with the sales associates are overall positive, Fay. It seems to be a mix here in Edmonton and in Victoria. Some are relaxed and respectful, then others are overly pushy. It probably comes down to management + the own individual’s personality. And I had no idea it was impossible to cold brew tea! I guess all those cold brews we do are a figment of our imagination. ;)
Thanks for the good luck wishes, all! I’m definitely going to throw in a couple fluffy questions for them at the end to help drive home the point of how enthusiastic I am about the position. I never did that in the past too, OMG, but have noticed how a lot of online sources say that that is a nail in your coffin to not come with your own questions. So many rules to follow when interviewing, it seems!
“What does a typical day look like?” Pretty good one, if it hasn’t already been gone through. :)
Exactly! Or “What have past employees done to succeed in this position?” Play the game, play the game.
Once I was enough of a regular at the Saskatoon store (I knew the associates by name, brought them in tea samples from other companies, had ‘partied’ with a few outside of work) I always got great customer service. Here in Regina I know some of the associates from highschool so I get great service from them. The others, I find, I have to really bite my tongue so I don’t say something like “You can stop; I know more than you do…”.
Good luck!!!
Good to know on the stevia front. Good luck with the interview my friend! You’ll kick butt!
Sorry to hear about your experiences with DAVIDS lately. I guess the sales associates must know me at my local DAVIDs cause they know not to bullshit me lol.
Ooh that’s a good one. I should have used that one. Oh well.
Your review made me laugh. It reminds me of the time I went into Lush to get a single bath bomb and got bombarded with three sales staff trying to get me to buy things I didn’t go in for. I was so peeved.
I haven’t had a bad experience at Davids yet, but perhaps they got a memo telling them to push certain products more than others?
Good to know about the stevia. I did buy a calendar from their website because I’ve wanted one for years, and I know one of the days has this hot chocolate tea in it— and I dislike stevia. Wonderful review though!
I hope your interview went well. I ended up getting 10g of this one, because I was afraid of the stevia. I hoped that the puerh and chocolate would reduce the stevia in this, but I’m guessing that it doesn’t based on the comment of STEVIA MONSTER. Makes me sad. I don’t know why they are adding sweetener to a CHOCOLATE tea. Chocolate not sweet enough? Given stevia or coconut sugar, I’ll take the latter…but even so, why don’t you let ME add my own sweetener (and amounts) DAVIDs, huh? Please don’t do it for me, thanks.
Thanks for the good luck wishes, everyone! I think they helped. :)
Great minds think alike, Alyssa. When I was writing this review, I was so tempted to write about how the above behaviour reminds me of Lush employees haha.
It seems like most people dislike stevia. So what gives putting it in a whole bunch of your teas, DAVIDs?
Here in To, I don’t notice DT people being all that pushy. He/she usually will suggest something or other once or twice and then I’ll mention that I am pretty familiar with their teas and products. Often, they’ll suggest that they’re hiring—ha!
This is where I saw the note about pushy DT salespeople lol, and I must say I had a poor experience with one today, also in Edmonton! I have never been so pressured into purchasing tea at DavidsTea before, my friend and I were given a free sample of the Chai and Mighty then attempted to be sold the Kashmiri Chai as well, then when that failed, into the advent calendars..which I am not interested in at all as I’ve tried lots of the teas included (and I don’t need that much tea lol), then into the winter collection boxed set, I said I couldn’t have the one because of nuts so I didn’t want the box set (little white lie, I can have almonds but did not want to spend on the boxed set). Finally I asked for 15g each of 3 of the winter collection teas, and I got 26g of the first, 28g of the second which I made her pour some back to get to 20g, then 14g of the last, as well as she overfilled my free 50g by about 14g so I had to pay for part of it!! And on top of that, tried to sell me paper filters. I am rather disappointed, and sorry for the long venting lol, but it was just the worst customer experience I’ve had with DavidsTea, and I am quite a loyal customer so it makes me sad. :(
wow that’s not cool misslena :(
Ok, so this was one of the samples I was offered as soon as I entered dT today. And I have to say: very underwhelming. I could taste the chocolate, and a bit of the earthiness of the puer, and that’s about it. I couldn’t really detect the black base, although I did get the impression that the whole thing would be next-level awesome with a bit of milk and sugar (because you seriously cannot have watery hot chocolate, you just can’t. I think it’s illegal, even). So I did pick up some to try out at home, but I wasn’t overly sold. I also just think that when it comes to hot chocolate, I’d always just prefer the real thing anyway. it’s like all the milk substitutes that, for me at least, don’t measure up taste-wise.
That said, dT was just such a happy place today. I’ll always like going there.
Preparation
I’m brewing this at this very instant! Guess I won’t expect much going into it. :)
Hey, you might be pleasantly surprised! I look forward to seeing what you think :)
Oh man, I smelled this one today and I have to admit that I really dislike the DavidsTea chocolate flavour. I couldn’t even try it, and I was really looking forward to it!
Definitely not for everyone. Also: real hot chocolate.
mmm, real hot chocolate. Made with milk, and chocolate. :D :D
I’ve only had a few chocolate blends that really satisfied me, and at least half of them include barley as an ingredient. Barley really complements the chocolate flavor and makes it taste much richer and less watery. Although most of them are also even better with milk.
I woke up at 6 today since I went to bed super early last night and that dratted time change happened. I’ve been puttering around, getting things done in the apartment before I head out to the mall to run some errands. Sadly, the mall doesn’t open until 11. Yeah. It’s like half my day will be over by that point.
Anyways, I went through my teas again last night and (gasp) threw some out that were old and icky. Set some aside to send to my brother. Put a couple out to taste again before I get rid of them.
This is one I had totally forgot I had. And it’s so good. I made it and sipped on it while I set up a chicken and wild rice soup in my slow cooker. I think I have 1 or 2 cups left, and I should really go ahead and drink them. The other teas are straight blacks, so they’ll be fine for a while if I throw them into a tin to protect them a little more from the air.
I used this recipe, but with more of everything since my slow cooker is ginormous. http://pinchofyum.com/crockpot-chicken-wild-rice-soup I’ll also use tapioca or sweet rice flour to make the thickener. And I’ll get some almond or cashew milk today to make it creamy.
Preparation
You early riser, you!
Going to bed at something like 8pm really does wonders for getting up early. Haha.
I wish I could do that! I have to get up at 6-6:30 tomorrow and dread it. Ugh.
Hahaha. I have to be at work by 7:30 tomorrow morning, which is going to be soooo painful. But there’s an online meeting and if I do the meeting at home I don’t get in until 10 or later.
That’s brutal. :/
Well, kinda yeah. But if I get a Real Job instead of a Make Your Own Hours Job, I’ll need to be at work around 8am every day anyways. So I’m going to try my best to do that every day!
That’s a good habit to get into now, for sure. I need to do that since I’d also need to be at work for 8am if I get this job. Did they let you know when they were going to get back to you?
Yes. About 2 weeks as the interviewer was going on vacation. So we’ll see. :)
That’s nice that they gave you a time frame. I hope you get it! But it’s kind of funny how long the hiring process takes, eh?
Government jobs are THE WORST. I’ve applied for 2 now and the wait is 3-4 months minimum. UGH.
Ugh, good to know. I applied to this one in mid-September, along with some Alberta government positions, which I haven’t heard from (and assumed by now, would be a no go), but I guess you never know when you’re going to get a call.
I’ve applied for Federal stuff, and it takes FOREVER. I’d imagine Provincial gov’ts would be similar.
Makes me wonder what the turnover rates are for these types of jobs. Granted, when it takes that long, I doubt anyone who is lucky enough to land one would walk away that soon. But still. Nuts.
Yes. 45 minute meetings FTW.
(Also, at home you can MUTE and go pee. Hahahaha.)
I’m paranoid that mute will fail.