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Drank this one yesterday because I was apparently in a chocolate mood in the evening. It still highly reminds me of White Chocolate Frost though I’ll admit that this second time around I was able to taste the cocoa in it more clearly, which offers a differing taste from WCF which was just white chocolate.

Still quite like this one, though.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-lhB8GF6rE&index=3&list=WL

I love when I close with Sarah because we alternate between letting each other decide what music we’re going to listen to while cleaning, and our musical tastes overlap enough that when she plays something I don’t know, I usually enjoy it. Often that’s french music because she’s bilingual. This song was all her; but I enjoyed it a lot!

Even if I don’t understand it.

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 regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

Cold Brew!

Not just any cold brew, though – I mixed this one 1/3 with a Pineapple and Lychee sorbet to create this slushy type drink that just tasted AMAZING. I mean, essentially it was a super tropical tasting fruit punch sort of creation with really refreshing notes of dragonfruit, pineapple, lychee, and apple and some tartness from the rosehip and the pineapple in the sorbet. Sweet, a little tangy, and SO GOOD.

Even though it’s blizzarding outside, and there’s so much snow and the weather is just hella gross and cold it felt like a little piece of summer here in the house while I drank it.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wga5A6R9BJg&list=WL&index=2

Highly, highly recommend watching this music video if for no other reason than the seriously amusing plot twist at the end of it. It’s just a fun song too, though.

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 regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

So, since I’m living at my mom’s house now I’ve got a different tea set up than when I was at the condo. I actually kind of like this one better too – all my tea stuff is here in my room, including my kettle and mugs/teapots. I have water access literally right across the hall so I just fill the kettle when I need water, and I can make whatever I want in here.

That said, I can also easily bring a tin of tea upstairs too and make something there in the kitchen because my mom’s tea set up is there complete with her kettle and an assortment of infusing options.

Which is the long winded way of saying, I made this cuppa while snuggled in bed with my sister watching some That 70s Show – very convenient and relaxing!

- Sweet floral top notes and hints of cane sugar/honey and fresh fruit
- Like the sweetness of a ripe Gala apple?
- More mild vegetal body notes; crisp, clean, and sweet overall
- Finish is very lightly astringent, but pleasantly so
- Very refreshing/clean profile overall with pleasant natural sweetness

Made as a latte.

I know a Milk Oolong latte feels kind of redundant, but I was really strongly craving milk and I was curious what, if any, flavour notes would come through. Admittedly, this was like 90% just wonderful, creamy steamed milk but the other 10% was a mix of very mild floral notes, sweet grass notes, and butteryness. It came together to make a surprisingly very delightful drink – perfect for my intense milk craving.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J417T5crtm4&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=3

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 regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

I had a fun morning experimenting with some of my new flavoured honeys from the farmer’s market yesterday – kicking things off with this one.

I made mugs both for myself and my mother with some milk and coffee infused honey mixed into the steeped tea. I chose coffee because when I was doing my sommelier course there was a section in the Food Pairing/Cooking course about tea infused cocktails and one of the ways EG was suggested to be infused was alongside drinks incorporating Baileys and/or Kahlua. I can kind of see it, I guess.

Honestly? The coffee honey has a pretty light flavour overall anyway so it wasn’t really intensely present in the steeped tea anyway but the delicate sweet and creamy coffee undertones and addition of the honey flavour DID nicely suit the bergamot in the blend. All in all it came together as a surprisingly delicate, soothing drink with relaxing and peaceful flavour notes.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC34pEYL5Ps&index=2&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ

Steeped Western style at work.

I really appreciate the profile of this one steeped up Western, but I think I enjoyed the drawn out experience of drinking it Gong Fu a little more. The flavour notes are essentially the same though; sweet honey, fruity undertones like that of stonefruits in particular nectarines, and floral tops notes. It’s so smooth and very relaxing.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRwD9JL2sO0&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=4

Yes!

I love the combination of chocolate and orange so I was pretty sure I was going to like this one; happy to see I was right. The chocolate comes through more strongly than the orange, and makes for a sweet, rich top note where as the orange offers a fresh, bright finish as it slowly transitions into the sip. The base comes through quite strongly as well; both roasty and earthy, which compliments the chocolate notes.

I think this one would make a pretty killer latte.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1vQMIisJuc&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=6

Another tea from the Banff Tea Co. that my coworker brought in to share with the staff!

We had this one hot, but we oversteeped it by a few minutes so we added some milk and agave to compensate for the bitterness that was drawn out from the extended steep time. I definitely didn’t like this one as much as the White Vanilla Coconut but it wasn’t bad either. Mostly I thought it just had a relatively generic chocolate and nutty profile. To really make me think of a turtle chocolate I would have wanted more creaminess and caramel notes.

Thanks for the share, regardless, Leah!

Sipdown (203)!

I’m sad to say that this is a sipdown.

I wish we’d never retired this blend – but what can I do about it now? This last cup was more peach than papaya, but more guayusa than peach. Actually, it was a lot of guayusa since that’s mostly what was left at the bottom of the tin. Still tasty though, and super comforting and yummy.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqwYXSG-zuA&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=9

So, one of the silver linings to moving has been that my commute to Value Village in the morning from home has gone from a 55 minute bus ride to a 5 minute one. Not only that, but the bus to get to work leaves later (meaning I can sleep in a little more) but gets me there earlier. So, instead of drinking a tea on the bus I can pack something with me and make/drink it there in the staff room.

This was the first thing I brought – and it was lovely. Very strong roasted quality, peanut notes, wood notes, and hints of spice in the finish. One of my coworkers sitting next to me while it was steeping kept leaning in the smell it because it was SO GOOD.

So comforting, as well.