8710 Tasting Notes
#adventageddon Day Six – 5/5
Last one of the day – I mean to brew it Gongfu but honestly time just really got away from me today at work and I never had the chance to so now I’m just finishing the sample as a Western mug. It smells great; very sweet and honeyed with a starchy element…
Taste wise this is pretty awesome; it’s medium bodied and very smooth without ANY detectable astringency or bitterness at all. The first taste is 100% a thick, creamy honey note. However, there are layers to this tea for sure. In addition to that immediate honey, I’m getting malt, baked bread, a touch of raisin, starchy sweet potato or yams, some cinnamon, and a little bit of caramelized sugar.
I’m really feeling like it was a damn shame I didn’t brew this Gongfu! I just looked for it on Tea Bento’s website too because my thought was that I’d just add it to the list of teas I’ve been building from these advents that I’d actually order after the month is up, but it’s not even listed on their website…
Really though – yum!
#adventageddon Day Six – 4/5
This is a really weirdly composed blend and by all accounts I feel like it shouldn’t work, and yet I could NOT get enough of this mug of tea! It’s very herbaceous tasting and a little bit savory, with a nice gingery peppery taste. However, it also has the sweet strawberry flavour of of those little strawberry hard candies everyone’s grandma always seemed to keep in their purse. It’s incredibly weird to be tasting those flavours together, but it somehow worked!?
I have one last advent tea to steep up for the day, but so far this has been my favourite today!
#adventageddon Day Six – 3/5
A bit of a “simpler” matcha compared to the others I’ve pulled from Bird and Blend so far, but it was really nice. Smooth texture, medium bodied flavour – definitely very blueberry tasting, but not really acai!? It’s kind of sweet and jammy blueberry, much like DT’s, but a lot less sweet and sugary – so it would be great for someone who likes that blueberry flavour but maybe doesn’t want all of the sugar.
It’s one I’m gonna keep in mind for myself for future orders…
#adventageddon Day Six – 2/5
Definitely my least favourite DT blend from the advent calendar so far, and the worst of the day IMO. I don’t really think it’s a terrible blend (though certainly the lowest quality jasmine tea that DT is carrying) but I just don’t like green tea and am fickle about jasmine blends as well so I think I’m especially predisposed to not enjoy this blend.
I ate some pomegranate while drinking it though and the sweet pop of juicy red fruit helped a lot with allowing me to get through the cup…
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.
#adventageddon Day Six – 1/5
I was excited to see this tea in the calendar – I actually almost just added a full size of it to the order I received my calendar in because I was so curious about it. I actually liked it a lot though, as with most carrot cake teas, I really wanted more of that tangy “cream cheese frosting” element that I think is so crucial to good Carrot Cake. A little hit of fruitiness to, like pineapple or raisin, could have been a nice addition.
However, the woody/honeyed note of the rooibos works really well with this spice mix to create the base for a nice warming spiced carrot cake, and there’s just a hint of carrot-y sweetness the solidifies the carrot cake comparison. It’s light but not weak, and I think the sweetness level is good too. Biggest win is just that it’s not overrun with a sickly licorice root note like the DT Carrot Cupcake blend.
Not my perfect Carrot Cake tea and I think I’m glad I didn’t order a full size – but I’m really happy I tried it and I liked the cup.
#adventageddon Day Five – 5/5
Last, but not least for the day…
- Also had this one at the restaurant/bar
- Felt awkward asking for a second glass of hot water though so I made this in cold water
- Did it a bit of a “ghetto” style since I lacked proper matcha making equipment
- (AKA I whisked it with a fork)
- It was a thick & fibrous but I don’t know exactly how much of that was bad whisking
- Taste wise this was VERY dense and mineral, and just a little bit bitter
- Really had a metallic vibe to it
- Also a hint of sweetness from this red fruit kind of undertone to it and that was very nice
Didn’t love it prepared this way, but I really do feel like with some tweaking and maybe some milk it could actually be quite nice despite my observations today.
#adventageddon Day Five – 4/5
It was a very busy day today and I didn’t finish all of my advent calendar teas at work today, so I had to sneak them in tonight while out celebrating my one year anniversary as part of the DAVIDsTEA head office – it was actually the one year anniversary of not only myself but two of my very close coworkers as well (different department though) so we organized a large group outing for drinks.
I did have some beer, but I also asked the waiter for hot water to make tea and they served it to me in the FANCIEST looking glass. With the colour of the steeped tea it definitely looked like I was just drinking a lot of really nice Scotch or Whisky. I felt classy AF with their cup selection. The tea was rich, sweet, & just a little nutty; it’s a great balance to a pint of stout and a night with coworkers!!
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.
#adventageddon Day Five – 3/5
No jot notes because I wrote a summary on instagram:
‘White Lynx’ is fragrant and sweet, with notes of honey, orange blossom, sweet grass, meyer lemon curd, cream, and just a hint of straw!
Also, a thing that I didn’t say is that the dry leaf appearance is fucking GORGEOUS!! Plus, this tasted delicious and is the kind of white tea I would definitely purchase for myself.
#adventageddon Day Five – 2/5
- A mix of floral, tropical passionfruit, and a hint of ginger in the finish
- Reminds me heavily of DT’s Green Passionfruit but lighter and a little spiced
- I like it around as much as I like that blend
- AKA not much…
(Though I’ve apparently had it before, and liked it more in the past?)
#adventageddon Day Five – 1/5
So, I just got home from celebratory drinks out with coworkers – more on that later, and I am so tired but I also don’t want to fall behind on advent calendar reviews so I’m gonna write my five for the day super quickly in jot note form!!
- Really excited for this tea since it seems like a really fun and creative concept
- The visual is a lot more plain/simple that I would have expected & doesn’t feel fun
- The taste is very light and mild with a mellow sweetness
- I get A LOT of roasted rice notes which I imagine are intended to be the “popcorn”
- The mint is creamy and smooth like DT’s Santa’s Secret
- However I find this lacks sweetness and intensity that I’d have expected/craved
- But if I accept it as a light and mellow blend I enjoy it a little more
