6513 Tasting Notes
Iced Sipdown (229)
After the let down that was DT’s Peachy Lychee I found myself wanting more lychee teas; and this is a sample I’ve been sitting on for a while so that’s what I went with. The sample turned out to be the perfect amount for an iced cup, so this was a “one and done”.
The lychee flavour is prominant, and pretty realistic, I’d say. I wish the black base wasn’t quite so brisk/malty and full bodied because I think it kills some of the sweet, juiciness of the lychee but overall I think this was a pretty good classis lychee black tea. No frills, just sort of straight to the point. Maybe a touch astringent?
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBwS66EBUcY
A continuation of our workplace “Disco Fever” that resulted from someone switching the radio to the Disco Hits station. It was just a fun night though.
Yeah, I know I just drank/reviewed this one but I really enjoyed it the other day so I decided I needed to make it again – plus, it never hurts to have excess product knowledge during a new collection launch…
I’m gonna go ahead and say my notes from my first iced tasting, which is how I drank it this time around as well, hold true – with the additional observation that a longer steep time (six/seven minutes) definitely ups the overall sweetness and makes the fact that the sweetness is coming from literal sugar and not the fruit itself stick out more.
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXt56MB-3vc&index=32&list=PLEDCFD764EFD69518
Whoever opened the store yesterday decided that “Disco Hits” was the station they wanted playing, so in the evening we just rolled with it and had a pretty good staff jamming/dance session to some of the songs playing.
I specifically remember that this was the song playing while I was steeping my tea because no one was in the store at the moment and we were having a really intense whole staff sing along while cleaning. Super fun.
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.
Sipdown (230)!
Finished this one off on the bus ride/walk home.
I agree with my first tasting note that the main flavour of this one seems to be green bean. However, I think these was also a bit of a buttery/artichoke flavour too which I don’t see as something I noted during my first tasting of it. The finish is still nutty, kind of like a Dragonwell. I don’t taste the smoke note I observed last time.
It’s interesting how there are some consistencies, but not across the board.
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS7xudghUsM&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=105
Iced.
But it was a little astringent and too heavy on the lavender, so I added some honey to soften the overall flavour. It was a bit sweet with the honey, but still an improvement. I still really love the red berry notes of the tea overall, and I think that very faint hint of bergamot is a nice touch too. I just wish there was less lavender.
Cold Brew.
Admittedly, I was pretty fascinated by this tea despite the green base. I’ve actually been finding myself craving DAVIDsTEA’s “Grape Freeze” blend from a few years back, and this sounds pretty similar. Also, any tea that tastes particularly grapey is pretty good in my books, regardless of whether it’s candy grape or natural grape.
I think this brews up with a really strong, solid grape flavour which is definitely the most important aspect of it. I’m confidant, that even if I hadn’t read the tea description prior to drinking it that I’d know this is intended to be grape. As well, I taste the currant as secondary fruit flavours too; they’re a TINY little bit medicinal, but not overwhelmingly or to a point where I feel it detracts from the blend.
The green base is pretty present and grassy; it reminds me a bit of lawn clippings or the smell of grass on a really hot day. Do other people notice that too? That there’s definitely a distinct smell to hot grass, that is? It’s not exactly fresh smelling, but it doesn’t smell bad either. The finish comes through a bit floral, as well. Not in any sort of way that reminds me of a particular flower though.
Also, just a touch artificial as an entire brew.
I still liked it overall, though.
Another grapefruit tea! Hmmm, am I on a bit of a grapefruit kick? Maybe…
This was great though! I feel like often I drink this one iced or cold brewed, but there’s something very special about the hot brew too. It’s grapefruit in the way that I wish DAVIDsTEA’s Grapefruit Granita blend would have been this year; bright, sweet, and really juicy without any ‘peel’/rind flavour. It’s further complimented by a very sweet, silky vanilla flavour and a bit of a refreshing peppermint tingle in the finish.
I should drink this one more; it’s so nice for evenings! Especially sitting on the porch, like I did when I drank this cup…
Also, anyone super psyched for AU’s Summer Collection!? I know I got the email for it and immediately pounced on ordering those blends. The apple/fennel one intrigues me probably WAY MORE than it should. I’m just stoked – they all seemed quite good, and I’ve been waiting for new AU stuff for a while now.
So, my mom is currently on vacation in British Columbia right now and like every four or so days she calls me up and is like ‘Hey, at a new tea store! What do you want?’ – so when she gets back this week, I’m going to have quite the tea haul!
That’s great – but the big issue is where is it all going to go!?
So, I’m working on sipping down some stuff in tins right now including this tea, which I actually got from her last time she went on vacation to BC. This was one she blind picked for me, and actually I’ve liked it a fair bit overall considering I wouldn’t have chosen it for myself. It’s very, very grapefruit-y. However, I know one of the places she loaded up was one where I picked another rooibos blend, so I definitely need the tin space for that one when she brings it back!
So… sip sip sip.
Third ever kombucha related drink…
So, Guava/Mango isn’t a new pairing for me – while I’ve tried it in other things, the one that sticks out is DAVIDsTEA’s Guava Cadabra blend though. That one is really strongly guava flavoured, with the second key flavour being the mango.
- This one tastes far more weighted towards the mango than the guava
- I think I actually prefer that flavour ratio though!
- Has the exact same acidity/apple cider vinegar thing going on for it
- However, in this drink it seems more integrated into the flavour of the fruit
- And a little less strong/harsh overall too
- I definitely enjoy this one more than the other one; and this one I’d actually buy again
Second ever “kombucha” related thing.
Someday I’ll drink the proper stuff, and not just DT’s blend with kombucha powder in it and these store bought ones; but considering I’ve only recently learned that it’s safe for me to drink these kombucha teas with my allergies, I’m moving slowly. Baby steps. I mean, don’t get me wrong – I know it’s a bit irrational because the doctor pretty straight up said “Kombucha? Bitch, you’re good to go”! (Not really in those words, but you get the point). However, when you live your life in fear of something/avoiding it…
- Pretty good; definitely tasted like pomegranate to me
- The raspberry was… there.
- Honestly didn’t love it; but was that the flavour or the style it was prepared in?
- Really liked it at first but there’s a “tang” that builds up and gets far too strong
- Like apple cider vinegar
- Definitely that same sort of acidity
So, that was foray #2 into Kombucha.
Sipdown (231)!
Well, made this one iced at work and then I topped off the cup with some of the left over Sparkling water from when we were using it for sampling earlier in the week to make a sort of “matcha soda”. It didn’t taste terrible, but wasn’t great either. Also, the matcha kept settling very quickly; maybe because of the carbonation? I’m not totally sure what the cause was.
It was a strong drink overall because I was heavy handed with the matcha seeing as I was trying to finish off the package. Anyway, this one continued to be very, very floral which I think was bound to be the case regardless of how strong I made the drink. Obviously, there was a lot of grassyness too. The interesting thing with this brew was that the grape took on a bit of a ‘new’ quality. I’ve definitely described it as candy-like in the past, but with this cup it reminded me of straight up pixie sticks. You know the ones; basically flavoured sugar in a little paper or plastic tube. What’s even the point of those pieces of garbage!? Even as a kid I didn’t love them; there’s WAY BETTER candy out there, and if you get one of the ends wet that’s end game – your pixie stick is basically ruined.
So, tldr…
Finished this one off; didn’t love it and likely wont miss it horribly.
Pixie Sticks are trash.
