14833 Tasting Notes
Iced!
The other day at the office someone made a giant carafe of this iced to share among people. Definitely not the first tea I would have thought of to make iced, and certainly not something I would have ever made for myself either. However, who turns down free tea!?
It was pretty lavender forward, and I found myself slightly turned off by how heavy handed the florals were in the first couple of sips. However, I acclimated pretty quickly and eventually I found myself enjoying the mix of floral and citrusy bergamot, and even appreciating the natural sweetness to the finish. I ended up drinking and decently enjoying a full 24oz iced cup of this!
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.
Cold Brew!
I hate writing tasting notes when the dashboard is stuck but I think this is the longest it’s been messed up in quite some time and my backlog/queue is getting really nasty and long sooooo gonna try and power through some today…
This tea is ancient at this point. Like, somewhere between four and five years old I’m pretty sure. However, I still love it despite its weird citrusy funk. Not the nicest anymore when you make it hot, but as a cold tea more of the tropical banana notes come out and I can still taste the memory of what it once was!
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.
Gongfu!
Finishing off seven days of shou pu’erh with a tea session enjoyed in the park!! Jingmai productions of ripe pu’erh were some of the very first I ever found to be enjoyable, back when I was really first starting to build an appreciation for this style of tea – so they hold a bit of an extra special place in my heart. I found this one to be slick and syrupy in terms of mouthfeel, with a flavour profile that was about as rich and starchy as it was brothy and earthy. Kind of like a savory porridge type of flavour, but with elements of beets and brown sugar in the mix too.
This past week of enjoying only gongfu sessions of shou has been really interesting. Of course, outside of gongfu, I drank other tea types and blends throughout the week as well. However, really sticking to one tea type in such short of a time span is something I haven’t done in years. I felt it really made me focus on the qualities I love about shou while at the same time really showcasing just how widespread the different tasting notes can be within just the one style of pu’erh. I am excited to switch things up again next week, but I wouldn’t surprise myself if I decide to repeat this exercise with a different tea type sooner rather than later…
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxTJ7ObO_n3/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XQTrLq6M8Y
Gongfu!
If I hadn’t already been transfixed because of the subtle green melon aroma I was getting from the dry leaf, the explosion of fresh and aromatic florals that flooded my senses the moment the water hit the water would have gotten me. Perhaps it’s partly because I’m coming off a long stretch of pu’erh, but the bouquet of this Taiwanese Grand Cru oolong is just insane.
Steeped up, the liquor is smooth and buttery with just a hint of the green melon I was picking up as dry leaf. Though grassy, the flavour is also quite floral – like a bouquet of white Spring flowers lightly dipped in fresh sugar cane. The finish introduces hints of coconut milk, which lean further into the buttery quality of the tea. Divine!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxV9tY6OQcx/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKbH0eZDSO0
Gongfu Sipdown (2366)!
This sheng definitely had some bite to it, and I found myself initially somewhat taken aback by the sharp astringency and bitter and medicinal green vegetal flavours. However, with some course correction, I was able to draw out a bit more fruitiness and this introduction of peach skin and raisin-like flavours helped balance out the vegetal sharpness and lingering bitterness in the finish. Overall, though this wasn’t a tea particularly in tune with my own preferences for raw pu’erh, I appreciated how this tea challenged my palate and I can still see why it’s something others would enjoy!!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxYrp3lO15B/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS9F8yvBc8I
Grandpa Style Sipdown (2367)!
As y’all know, I love a good smoked tea, and this one definitely delivers. It’s smooth and oak heavy with a mix of medium bodied smoke, vanilla, and stonefruit notes that almost make me think of a really good Bourbon or Scotch. In particular, I really enjoyed the natural vanilla notes with this sweet smoke; it feels like it could be a really approachable Lapsang Souchong for people who aren’t as into something more aggressive or in your face..
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxbYx6ggZ0P/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUv0xw3Srro
Gongfu!
W2T’s description of this tea as “Yiwu Style” is definitely what caught my eye, and I feel like this tea delivers on that expectation. The liquor is slick and smooth with a pleasantly sweet and fruity overall profile. Apricots, violet, and meyer lemon or candied lemon peels. The sweetness never gets to the point of being cloying, and with slightly longer steep times this sheng will bite back with a snap of pleasant astringency and bitterness to the top notes before falling back into that delicious place of fruity familiarity.
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cxd5dZ8OziL/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPzzCA4xFg4
Almond Milk Latte!
I’ve been so fascinated by the concept of powdered olive leaves as a caffeine free matcha alternative ever since first coming across one about a year ago, but this is my first time actually trying one – thank you my coworker Billy for helping me to finally scratch that itch of curiosity!!
Dos Alque Mistas markets their Olive Dust as the Mediterranean answer to matcha and I have to say that, well, I get it. Aside from the obvious similarity in colour, the powder is quite smooth and mellow with many of the same umami/vegetal elements I love about matcha. There’s definitely a density difference, and someone expecting a one for one equivalency to matcha would probably be unsatisfied. However, I’ve tasted A LOT of powdered teas and tisanes, and I still find the mouthfeel much better than much of what’s out there being sold – and, in a latte form like this, there’s nothing unpleasant texturally at all! There’s just something really, really cool about this!
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxgUoZZu2w2/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL-oAAL0Xzk
Gongfu!
This tea is expectedly delicious; there’s a reason it was such a crowd favourite of W2T’s black tea offerings. Syrupy and sweet with pungent notes of overripe red fruits, leather, and honey. The finish is surprisingly kind of earthy and mineral with a bit of mix between beetroot and red clay notes, which makes me nostalgic for my time spent in the pottery studio. I feel like I’ve unlearned a lot of those skills, and would love to get back into it…
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxjHPgAOj8t/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLHUVCyLVXk
Had this one last night!
This is from Magic Hour’s Wanderlust Collection which, if you’re unfamiliar, is a monthly release of a different globally inspired tea. I’m obsessed with the concept, and the profiles they’ve come up with (and the accompanying artwork) is just so standout.
This one is essentially a bit of a souped-up take on a Moroccan Mint, which is pretty fun. I love when people make riffs on what are typically really established, classic tea profiles. Overall, I enjoyed the cup. It’s tough for me to say that I loved it though. Not because it wasn’t good quality – it was. The balance of the different types of mint with the spices was quite well executed – you even still get some of the green tea base, which is challenging to convey when working with so many aggressive and boldly flavoured ingredients. The spearmint was my favourite part, and something about the spearmint with the cinnamon and nutmeg was especially appealing to me – it was cooling yet cozy and very fresh. As a whole, the tea does make me think of DT’s North African Mint blend. The spearmint branches it off, though.
It’s just that, composition-wise, this is just one of those flavour profiles/styles of teas that isn’t really in my preferred wheelhouse. Even with my scary stash of 2000+ teas, herbaceous spiced/mint type profiles are pretty underrepresented. I don’t reach for them often. Not compared to fruits, decadent profiles, straight teas, or even “pure mints”. However, I can see this blend working for a lot of people. My slight ambivalence is purely a reflection on my own tastes, and not commentary on the blend itself.
It must be fun to see what blends other people enjoy and make for their coworkers! And be able to share your favorites, of course. :3
It’s honestly one of my favourite aspects about working in the open concept office – rarely are there days where people aren’t swapping mugs of tea or brewing large pitchers or pots of tea for meetings.