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I had a cold brewed travel tumbler of this the day after Billie/Dylan’s wedding – I’m skipping over all the tasting notes I have from Wedding Prep day and the day of for now because I don’t have the time or energy to write something that long yet (those notes are definitely going to be a lot more focused on story telling than tea information, like this one shall be).

I was pretty damn hungover, and had gotten like five hours of sleep max before having to get up and ready for work so knowing I already had this brewing in the fridge I decided it would be a day of treating myself to good Butiki blends! This one got like a three day long steep in the fridge because I spent two whole days with Billie where I pretty well didn’t spend a minute at home, and I forgot that was going to happen when I starting steeping this one earlier in the week.

It tasted very, very good though – the oolong base was pretty evenly matched with the incredibly lush, flowery taste of lychee. When I got to work, and was very visibly in rough shape post wedding (most of the supervisors knew that I’d been at a wedding day before) one of the supervisors remarked that I was drinking some kind of ‘magic hangover potion’ and while she was obviously joking it actually sort of felt like it.

This was hydrating, and the pretty concentrated amount of caffeine (from the extended steep) really helped with the pounding headache. Plus, I’ve semi-recently learned of myself that not only have I taken more of a liking floral tasting teas in general but I really like floral things when I’m hungover. It was super, super satisfying drinking this one!

Last tea of the night!

I picked up a 10g sample size of this when I was getting the Summer Collection. It was an ‘on a whim’ purchase; I saw the tin on the wall and it dawned on me that it’s been over a year since trying it and not liking it. In that year, my palate and tastes have dramatically changed and I thought this would be a really good way of seeing just how much they’ve evolved. Would I like this tea given that I definitely didn’t last time around? A year ago I barely drank straight/pure teas at all…

It’s definitely a remarkable improvement! A year ago this tasted very similarly to water to me but now I’m getting very strong and defined notes of vegetal, buttery stewed or cooked spinach and kale, creamy coconut shreds, and the faintest floral finish. I’m really liking it a lot!

I look very forward to actually preparing some of this sample in a Gaiwan; something that a year ago I absolutely would have been intimated by and definitely would not have known how to approach. This has been a great way to very clearly see that not only is tea a strong passion of mine, but something I’m constantly learning and a skill I’m developing as well. For what ever reason, it makes me feel really validated.

Cold Brew!

Drinking this one today while I enjoy an actual passion fruit at the same time; I must say the direct comparison between the two has pointed out some things. I still think this has a pretty authentic passion fruit taste but I’m noticing it’s not as potent or tangy as your run of the mill passion fruit!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Passionfruit_and_cross_section.jpg

Instead it’s reminding me more of a Granadilla; which I tried for the first time yesterday when we got our shipment of ‘exotic’ produce in (the same time as when I bought this hoard of passion fruits)! A Granadilla is in the same family as Passion Fruit, but like I described it when I had it yesterday it’s a more ‘mild and subdued flavour’.

http://www.naturespride.eu/typo3temp/pics/e08266cdab.jpg

I have a different perspective on this blend now; but regardless I still think it’s the bee’s knees. I’ll be sad when it’s gone – but I’m going to work on making that happen sooner rather than later; I’d like to have the tin space for one of this year’s Summer Collection blend I hope to restock.

Sipdown (113)!

I’m suddenly very sleepy, so I may have a nap after I finish this tasting note…

My notes have been pretty painfully out of order this week; as it stands I finished off this tea in a timolino roughly a week ago at my friends Billie and Dylan’s Bachelorette/Stag party. Since then, they’ve actually had the wedding which I’m going to sort of right about later…

The party was really fun though; it was just a few really good friends and family members; all of which I’d met previously except for Billie’s brother Giles – who was super nice/chill. We all had a few drinks at Billi’s, and then went out for supper at a Brazilian restaurant called Saboroso. It was my first time there; and it was a really, really nice restaurant though Vegetarian options were heavily limited, and it was incredibly expensive. I certainly wouldn’t go there casually but for the occasion it was appropriate.

I found out afterwards that I was the only person from the party that actually tipped the waitress; and I love my friends and I know that almost all of them struggle a lot more financially than I do (and I’m not well off to begin with) but that frustrated me a lot. My personal belief is that if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out. It’s that simple.

Then it was back to Billie’s for more drinks! It was such a fun night with so many drinking games, and we all got so drunk – but it was perfect because none of us got so drunk we were sick, and no one blacked out either!

I actually drank the tea, which I made the day of the party, from a timolino the morning after. Obviously it had gone cold, and it was sort of astringent and bitter from sitting around such a long time, but all things considered it held up very, very well and tasted incredibly similar to the cold brew I had earlier in the week.

Cashew Milk Latte!

This is actually my favourite cashew milk latte yet; all the flavours of this tea compliment the cashew milk so well, and I think the orange is popping more than it ever has before. Plus, the creaminess of the marshmallow is really drawn out and for some reason that flavour combined with the texture of the cashew milk is making me think of marshmallow fluff. The weakest flavour, is actually the chocolate itself – I’m only tasting it in the tail of the sip.

I also made Minion (from Despicable Me) Sugar Cookies today; I really badly burnt them because I forgot they were in the over, but they’re perfect for dunking in this. With the cashew milk, they become softer, kind of roasty tasting creamy orange wafers of deliciousness.

Today’s word of the day is… quiddity!

A quiddity is “1. an eccentricity : an odd feature 2. the essence, nature or distinctive peculiarity of a thing”. I actually really, really like this word! I’m going to be looking for excuses to use it all day.

This is a queued tasting note.

Another cold brew – next time I’ll have to try this one hot so I’m getting to taste it in a variety of ways. I still have a decent amount of leaf left; this one is so light!

New observations: with a longer cold brew time this tastes pretty well exactly like I described with my first tasting note but with a more distinct flavour from the Hojicha. I don’t know if I prefer this with more of the added flavours or more of the base flavours. Both are quite good!

Since I’m going to be putting in another Red Leaf Tea order soon, I’ve been looking at chawans online all morning. Not that I plan on buying another; I have a hella nice one. It’s fun to look though.

http://www.rikyucha.com/item/list2/157961/

I just about pissed myself when I saw the price tag on that one though. Definitely not worth it, in my opinion – although it is really beautiful. But damn!

Well, this is the last of the summer teas! I think this was secretly the one I was most looking forward to, despite the abundance of hibiscus in it. I just can’t get enough pineapple in my life, and Pina Colada is one of the best flavor pairings to ever be thought up, in my not so humble opinion. It’s better than Peanut Butter and Jelly! I think the only thing that could rival it is Ham & Pineapple; and I’m going on scent alone (because I don’t eat meat and haven’t actually tried the pairing) there…

I actually don’t know how DT managed to pull off a collection with only one hibiscus inclusive blend. Well, now that I think about it maybe I do; they stuck coconut in everything. As a company, they’re definitely guilty of over using those two ingredients. Mmm, the dry leaf smells exactly like promised; rich Pina Colada with fresh strawberries. It’s got a faint tartness to it because of the hibiscus. I’m preparing this one as a cold brew; I’m worried that if I make this one hot than the hibiscus will take over too much.

The taste is… It’s amazing.

There’s nothing overly fancy about this blend, if I’m being honest. But it’s exactly as advertised and that’s a pretty rare thing; it’s Pina Colada with semi-tart strawberry juice, and the hibiscus actually blends really naturally into the strawberry. When you get past bold, vibrant strawberry top notes there’s a really solid, fresh coconut foundation and sweet, candied pineapple notes that are taking me back to DT’s Tropicalia Blend – which is one of my all time favourite blends from them. This is definitely my favourite of the five Summer Collection teas; and I don’t know if that’s really predictable, because of how I feel about Pina Colada, or surprisingly given how I feel about hibiscus.

Overall thoughts about the collection as a whole?

Just Peachy and this blend are my favourites and I will be picking up more of each. I’m kind of leaning towards a full 100g of Just Peachy because it’s so different from the other tisanes that I have on hand, but while this is my favourite I know I wont get more than 50g. I made the mistake of getting a ton of Tropicalia (over 100g) and the coconut turned before I finished all of it. Pom Tango was solid, and I might pick up another sample size just to try it in a few other ways. Coconut Ice and Hard Candy were easily my least favourites, though neither were necessarily bad. But there’s no way I’ll be spending money on either again.

As a whole, I think this is the best collection DT has had in a long time – though more variety would be welcomed.

Cold Brew Sipdown (114)!

I’m still not really into this tea, but at least the cold brew had a bit more presence to it. I thought it had really weighty, earthy Pu’Erh top notes that made it feel a bit more commanding, and a little bit of a sweet body. It was still nothing like described though – and of all the Ette Blends easily the worst.

However, the Ette group order was a really, really good experience overall! I really liked, Lychee Konnyaku and Mango Sticky Rice – and though I’m still finishing off Pandan Chiffon, it’s been really solid too. All three of those blends are ones I’d consider ordering again if I was a more rich person.

This is a queued tasting note.

Summer is finally here guys! How do I know? The store got the first shipment of good summer fruit; though I mean good as in good quality, not good as in personal favourite fruit. Except I kind of do mean that too; we got passion fruit! The fruit I’ve been searching Saskatoon for since moving! I bought ten of then yesterday. I’m prepared to overload on passion fruit!

I grabbed a very small sample of this from DAVIDsTEA when I was picking up the Summer Collection – only 8g. The sales associate, whom is new to my location and doesn’t know me yet, tried to convince me to get more (“It’s a heavy blend”) but I definitely did not want more. I just want a taste to see if it’s as disappointing as I’ve heard. One of the associates who does know me pretty well was sort of snickering as she tried to up sell me.

To be fair, I’ve looked down on this one since getting it; I just don’t expect DT to have the same quality matcha base as I’ve gotten used to from Red Leaf Tea, and I hate that this is sweetened with coconut sugar. Plus, I’m not entirely convinced that sweetener isn’t just filler to stretch out the actual matcha.

Visually, this doesn’t look great. It’s more like tiny green tea pellets than powder; and the lumps are pretty hard – sifting didn’t help at all. Instead I just kind of crushed them up with my clean hands. It still didn’t whisk all that well into my milk, though.

The taste is… Well, it’s not bad.

But RLT has spoiled me a lot; this cup is far too light for my tastes and it tastes obviously sweeter than it should be and I’d like it to be – it’s more ‘vanilla mint’ than just peppermint. I’ve had RLT’s Peppermint Matcha and it’s superior is just about every way I can think of. And on that note, I just got my income tax return and while most of it is going into savings, I think I’m gonna treat myself to a RLT order! I’m building a mock cart right now, and am very excited!

So far I’ve got the new sampler thing, and a 3+1 deal. I’m leaning towards Champagne, Pistachio, and Sangria for sure. I just need help deciding between Rich Berry Pie (which I’ve had before and know I like a lot) or Apricot, which is new to me and I’m really curious about, but the reviews are kind of bad…

I’m thinking it’s probably not worth my time to try out DT’s other two offerings…

This is obviously a popular blend because this is the third, I believe, year it’s come back in a row! It’s also the only non-herbal blend in this years collection. This is my first time trying it. Similar to Just Peachy I’m not really big into mango as a flavour, though you wouldn’t be able to tell based on how much of it I’ve been drinking lately. This year I’ve been much more open to trying things I’ve previously avoided, so I figured it was time to try this one out and see what the big deal about it is.

I prepared it cold brewed for my first tasting; based on the smell of the dry leaf I’m expecting more mango flavour than pomegranate though the smell of the tea steeping did smell strongly of both mango and pomegranate so I could be pleasantly surprised here.

The first thing I taste is indeed a very strong mango flavour; but it’s vibrant and juicy and I don’t mind it at all. The pomegranate flavour is pretty strong too. I don’t think I’ve ever tried mango and pomegranate paired together in anything, but they work really well together! The sweet, almost berry-like pomegranate flavour and tropical mango have really great juxtaposition and are just phenomenally mouth watering. I really, really love the flavour of pomegranate but it’s one of those fruits that I never think about or crave so when I do have it I kind of have that moment where I mentally go “I love pomegranate – why don’t I eat it more often?”. I’m definitely doing that right now, and kicking myself for not trying it sooner.

Other notes observed are sweet red apple, not surprising given that pomegranate is often described as tasting like a cross of cranberry and apple, and very juicy, ripe orange. The black base is smooth and mild, providing the perfect background for the lovely array of fruit flavours. Overall, this is a hydrating, robust and ultimately fun tea. I can definitely see it lending itself well to hot preparation methods, or to tea soda!

I may end up purchasing more of it so I can test out both of those methods of prep, though I don’t see myself getting a larger quantity because like I’ve talked about neither of the primary flavours, mango and pomegranate, are ones I lean towards heavily in every day drinking. I finally understand the popularity of this blend, though!