15575 Tasting Notes

Sipped on a super frothy bowl of Raspberry Matcha on Monday morning. Though the Strawberry Matcha will always have my heart, I’ve been gravitating towards the raspberry more and more over the last year. It’s light and refreshing with the perfect kiss of sweetness, and even better when sipped alongside a pint of fresh berries to be nibbled inbetween sips!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnfOny7u0DD/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y9gxXsFoI8

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.

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Grandpa Style!

Manifesting warmer weather and sunnier days with this solar named heicha!! Equal parts toasty brown rice syrup and light, fresh notes of sweet apple. Super easy going! I could have probably gone with more leaf – I felt like my cup was pretty underleafed. On the flip side, that choice may have contributed a lot to why this read as so fresh and uncomplicated.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cnkoe2pO6fS/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHyWxHQpLHw

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Grandpa Style!

Long days call for comfort teas so I brewed up a nice chunk of this tea earlier in the week. It’s rich and robust with a lot of my favourite parts of both tea types (shou and black) all beautifully woven together! Still earthy but also malty with chocolate notes. Surprisingly complex yet smooth.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CniHVlBOcRm/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUO6XoJruNw

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drank Pink Juniper Sling by T2
15575 tasting notes

Cold Brew!

Picked up all three of the newer flavours of T2’s Cold Brew line. All three seem to be loosely cocktail inspired, which I find interesting. It does look like this is more of a pink grapefruit flavour, based on the ingredients list and web copy, so it’s interesting to me that they went with juniper as the main name callout.

I thought this was nice, though pretty herbaceous overall and less bright and juicy that I’d expected it to be based on the ingredients, flavour descriptions, and all of T2’s marketing photography. Does taste like grapefruit, but in a softer and borderline muted way. Also, despite being so herbaceous, it’s not actually a super particularly juniper forward flavour. I didn’t get the pine notes I’d have expected to.

I think I’d be interested to try this with a doubled up dose, like I tend to do when I drink most cold brew sachets from other companies. They’re just a bit too weak for me otherwise.

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90
drank Singapore Breakfast by T2
15575 tasting notes

After the recent announcement that T2 would be closing their stores and online presence in the US and UK I knew I had to place an order. I managed to scoop up my two favourite blends, and several that are new to me, before they sold out and I’m very grateful for that! As you can see in the second picture, I just had to make a cup of Singapore Breakfast ASAP – it had been far, far too long since my last. It’s always been very challenging to get ahold of any of T2’s teas from here in Canada and unfortunately it just got a whole lot harder; my heart breaks for all of their fans in the US and UK who are now facing the same reality.

I saw a lot of differing opinions from people in the tea community following the announcement of T2’s closure and not all of them are something I would call positive. Personally, if you are a lover of tea in any capacity, I think it’s naive to celebrate the closure of ANY tea company. For something enjoyed globally, our industry is small. T2 was (and still is) a pioneer of specialty tea across the globe. Whether the style of tea they sell was something that appealed to you or not, it’s ignorant to ignore that they introduced tea to many people who may have never touched a cup at all otherwise. All awareness is good. And, I cannot stress this enough, ALL tea and tea companies are good – even if it’s something you eventually move away from in favor of another company or style of tea, like a more traditional straight tea oriented route. When one of us succeeds, we all do.

I know I usually stick to more light-hearted tasting notes and reviews with pretty teaware, but I just wanted to share this perspective as the reality set in today that this is probably the last tea mail I will receive from T2 for quite some time.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnnVTMuOuJU/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U1Zr0mP-44

Flavors: Coconut, Coconut, Cream, Cream, Sticky Rice, Sticky Rice, Toasted Rice, Toasted Rice

Martin Bednář

I was ready to place an order today morning (on the way to work) to find out they don’t send anything to the EU, because Brexit! What a shame!

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73

Liked this more than I expected to!

It’s very flavourful for a sachet, and the green tea is pretty unoffensive and smooth for as fine cut as it is. Though, I bet this tea definitely oversteeps quickly so gotta be mindful of that! The pomegranate is just sweet enough, though comes off a bit more like a generic red berry note versus distinctly pomegranate. Could maaayyybeee use a little bit of tartness or acidity, but that’s if I’m being super nit-picky. The mint is great though! Tastes very crisp and clean; not muddy at all. Leaves a pleasant cooling sensation on the bed of the mouth after each sip.

And, of course, bonus points for being heavily caffeinated.

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87

Cold Brew!

Y’know, this tea doesn’t hit as hard chilled… pun intended. Y’know, ‘cause it’s inspired by a Monk. The DnD class that literally punches people. I’ll see myself out.

Seriously though. It’s still tasty and I feel like the three key components of the blend are still present – Earl Grey, mint, and dark berries. They’re just not nearly as sharp and punchy. Also the bergamot note is now the strongest flavour, which I think feels a bit like a downgrade. That’s heavily biased, though.

One more cup of this left – it’s probably my favourite of these Critical Role inspired teas, so I’ll be sad to finish it off.

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Sipped on mid last week, as a Western style cup. It was so rich and chocolate forward that it was hard to think of anything else besides that slightly bitter (but still very pleasant) fudge quality, though some sips had slight hints of malt and bread and a couple reminded me slightly of roasted peanuts.

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I think this is probably my least favourite hojicha blend that I’ve tried for Deb so far. The hojicha itself is so lovely with toasty roasty popcorn flavours – sans butter. The thing that detracts is the apple note itself. It’s not unpleasant, but it just taste very flat and a bit of bordering on stale dehydrated apple slices. Just lacking any life to the aroma or flavour. I think I need to try this was something like agave or honey – maybe the sweetness will carry the flavour enough to give it just enough sparkle to make this a little more appetizing to me.

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Cold Brew!

Usually I drink this tea hot, but I had a particular craving for something crisp and cool on the afternoon I brewed this up. It definitely delivered. This method draws out a lot of those cooling camphor/menthol notes from the mint and cardamom and it really exaggerates that sensation of fresh mountain air that inspired this tea. The ginger and black pepper also seemed a little lighter, which made the mint more of a focal point without totally sacrificing the depth that those ingredients add to the blend.

I will definitely have to remember that this works so well as a cold brew for future times drinking it – I feel like it was so refreshing that I practically chugged the 24 ounces I’d infused!

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.

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Profile

Bio

Hello! My name is Kelly, though many people in the tea community call me Ros or Roswell.

I am a mid-twenties tea addict, blogger, and all around nerd. I grew up in the Prairies, but a few years ago I relocated to Quebec to pursue a career with DAVIDsTEA in the tea industry! I’m still working on getting my French language skills down…

My first introduction to tea, in any form outside of instant and bottled iced tea, was about seven years ago when I happened to stumble upon DAVIDsTEA while looking for a birthday present for a friend! I tried their Birthday Cake rooibos blend, and I’ve been hooked on tea ever since! In those seven years; I was introduced to the online tea community, expanded my interest in flavoured teas to include a deep love and appreciation for straight teas and traditional brewing methods, got a tea themed tattoo, started reviewing teas, amassed a sizable tea and teaware collection, became a TAC certified Tea Sommelier, & even came full circle by beginning a career in the tea industry with DAVIDsTEA!

I consider myself a Jack of all Teas, and strive to have a knowledge and appreciation of all tea types, formats, and styles of drinking. I don’t like to feel boxed in to just being a “flavoured tea” or “straight tea” drinker – my expectations may vary depending on the type of tea or how it’s been processed/prepared but if it’s good tea, it’s good tea no matter how it’s been made!

You name it, I probably drink it- and I’ll absolutely try anything at least once.

My default method of preparation is hot, Western style, and straight – but I’m not opposed to additions if I’m in the right mood. If I ever add something to a tea or use a different method of preparation I will ALWAYS call it out in the tasting note though.

I like to listen to music when drinking tea, especially when I’m brewing a large pot at a time or steeping Gongfu. Often I curate very intentional tea and music pairings, and sometimes I share them here in my tasting reviews. Music is something that I find can deeply affect the experience of having tea.

I’m also one half of the “tea and fandom” podcast GeekSteep where, weekly, we discuss newly explored fandoms over tea as well as try to figure out the perfect tea to pair with each fandom. You can find us on Spotify and Apple & Google podcasts.

Favourite flavour notes/ingredients: Pear, lychee, cranberry, cream, melon, pineapple, malt, roasty, petrichor, sweet potato, heady florals like rose, hazelnut or walnut, sesame, honey (in moderation), and very woody shou.

Least favourite flavour notes/ingredients:
Lemongrass, ginger, strongly spiced profiles (and most Chai in general), mushrooms, seaweed, chamomile, stevia, saltiness or anything that reminds me too much of meat that isn’t supposed to taste like meat…

Currently exploring/obsessed with: Sheng from Yiwu, Yancha (Qilan in particular), anything with a strong sweet potato note. Also, I need to try ALL the root beer teas! Searching for a really good caramel flavoured blend, ideally with a black tea base.

Please contact me at the instagram account listed below if you would like me to review your teas.

Currently I’m employed in the tea department of the DAVIDsTEA head office. While I’m still sharing my own personal thoughts on new & existing DAVIDsTEA blends, I am no longer numerically rating them due to the obvious conflict of interest. Any comments expressed are a reflection of my own thoughts and opinions, and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of the company. Any DAVIDsTEA blends you currently see with a numeric score were reviewed prior to my being hired there and have not been adjusted since becoming a DAVIDsTEA employee.

Location

Montreal, QC, CA

Website

https://www.instagram.com/ros...

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