15678 Tasting Notes
This is the other brand new tea introduced in the subscription box!
If you get the subscription box then the tasting menu in the box has info pages for each tea with little QR codes that link you videos with the tea team talking about the teas. For this tea, I’m in the little QR code video discussing it my coworker and friend Celia, who conceptualized the original tea that became this blend!
To simplify… it went through A LOT of changes!
My favourite thing about this blend is honestly that it’s on a pu’erh base – it’s been such an incredibly long time since DT has done a new fruity pu’erh blend and I just felt like it was about time! We have so many sweet and indulgent pu’erh blends, and that makes sense because the rich full body of shou pu’erh compliments flavours like chocolate or caramel really well – but they aren’t the only thing that they go well with! Darker forest berries – like blueberry, blackberry, and elderberry among others – honestly go SO WELL with earthy, robust pu’erh and they bring out a different kind of richness – more like dense and juicy/syrupy berries just bursting at the seams with flavour. Well, if berries had seams, that is.
So, what is a bumbleberry!? Well, it’s not really one specific type of berry but more of a word for mixed berries – typically three or more – that is used here in Canada. It has origins in the maritimes and you’ll most commonly see it used as the flavour of pies or jams! Bumbleberry also usually has apple in it, and sometimes the pies will have spices too. Since this blend originally started as something that was inspired by Prairie berries, but then changed concept gradually over time, I thought the name Bumbleberry was a really beautiful homage to another part of Canada – and accurate for the blend too since this tastes like a juicy, sweet and tart mix of blueberry, raspberry, elderberry and hibiscus with hints of apple and warming spice note undertones from the ginger and nutmeg. I love the natural earthy shou notes that come through alongside those punchy berry flavours as well!
While this is obviously delicious iced, I personally actually like it better hot! Either way, I hope other people find this blend as fun as I do!
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.
Hello new tea friend!!
The most recent DT Tasting Club subscription box has started shipping/being received by people now – of the eight teas in it, there is a mix of core and returning teas as well as two new teas that are making their debut in the sub box! This is, obviously, one of them…
I find this tea so pretty on every level. It has a brand new ingredient in it that we haven’t used before – and it is definitely very purple! The contrast of those vibrant violet hues in the dry leaf against all of the fruit pieces is so wild and pretty, but it also causes the tea to steep up a very unique and distinct magenta colour – and it was that stunning tea liquor colour that really inspired the rest of the blend.
And so, we created a blend that basically is meant to taste like a Hawaiian sunset. What does that mean!? Well, the flavour of the tea is pretty fruity and tropical – taking a lot of inspiration from vibrant and juicy orange citrus fruits, papaya and pineapple, kiwi, and even some exotic fruit flavours. To me, it tastes like a tropical fruit punch with a good squeeze of fruit orange juice. Very flavourful – good hot but great iced or cold brewed! It’s like more of a citrusy/tangy Caribbean Crush!
There’s even a link with the purple sweet potato, which provided inspiration on a whole new level since Hawaii produces some pretty stunning purple potatoes. Rest assured, though, the blend does not taste like potato – it just adds a nice thickness to the mouthfeel.
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.
I’ve been focusing a lot on alphabet teas, but this is just something that I found myself craving earlier in the week that I wanted to fit into the day. There’s something just excellent about the pairing of jammy, sweet fruits and cardamom – it feels sophisticated and 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 and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.
Strange VariaTEA TTB: Tea #2
I couldn’t remember if I’d tried this tea before, so I wanted to make a cup of it. I think it is new to me, and I was thinking of one of Bird & Blend’s other coffee teas – like Fairytale of NY. I didn’t love this one, but I’m glad I got to try it – it’s just a bit too much of a realistic coffee flavour to me. Very roasty and not sweet at all; I also felt like there was a bit of a sharp/sour edge to it alongside those roast notes. Probably would have been better with milk or sweetener, but that’s not exactly what I was feeling in the moment.
N is for… Necronomicane!
Snuck in one last “N tea” before moving on to my "O teas – and I’m glad it was this one. The peppermint was actually stronger and more menthol/cooling that I remembered it being, and those deeper mint notes mixed with the bold, full bodied black tea was this perfect punch of comforting, classic feeling tea – accented beautifully by hints of lavender. I love the balance of this blend, the simplicity of the flavours, and the stellar quality of all the ingredients used.
Strange VariaTEA TTB: Tea #1
I can’t remember if VariaTEA has mentioned this before, but the two of us are starting a travelling tea box – no discussion board post yet because I still have to fill my half of the box and we want to coordinate with some instagram tea friends as well, but this is one of the teas that she added that I decided to try!
I’m probably going to try a handful or two before I pass along to the next person, because there are plenty of teas added in that I’ve not tried and am curious about – but I don’t intend on finishing any of them off or removing any entirely. Blends from Necessiteas can be so hard to get ahold of though, so even though this doesn’t seem super up my alley flavour wise I thought I should take advantage of the chance to try it!
It’s actually not bad – I find the black tea a little astringent, and that is something I’ve observed for many of the black blends from Necessiteas, but the ginger is prominent and definitely natural tasting but not spicy and I like all the brown sugar flavours that are coming through along with some warming cinnamon undertones. Plus, it’s sweet but not sugary. I didn’t think to add milk when making the mug, but I think that would have been an excellent way to curb some of the astringency and make the mouthfeel a little fuller and more appealing.
Seems like a pretty solid option for the ginger lovers.
Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNuzEzXgK3o/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDM27AqJscM
Why are Necessiteas so hard to get ahold of?
The shipping is incredibly expensive to Canada, she doesn’t restock consistently, and when she does restock her blends tends to sell out within the hour…
Wow, thanks, Ms.Strange. That’s quite a line-up of difficulties. I’d give up just as a result of shipping fees. Canadians are obviously not on her wish list.
Oh, I’ll definitely sign up for a TTB whenever that’s posted!
N is for… Niagara Icewine!
Sipdown (1396)!
Another share from VariaTEA – so thank you again! I’m about 95% sure (if not more) that this is the exact same tea as the Icewine blend from Metropolitan Tea Company, as Dollar Tea Club carries majority teas from MTC – I haven’t compared the ingredients list but it tastes dead on for it.
I’m a big fan of that catalog blend though – I think it’s one of the nicest baseline grape blends out there, and I think I have a few “variations” on it in my stash right now under different names/from different companies. It’s punchy and flavourful deep/dense grape with a coating sweetness, but also leans into some of the tannic and astringent qualities of the black tea base and I loooovvveee the layers of nuance that brings to this otherwise simple but beautiful boozy grape.
I was really happy getting the excuse to enjoy it this morning.
N is for… Night in The Glittering Caves!
Sipdown (1397)!
Thank you VariaTEA for this share – I remember your Steepster review of it as well as your post about it on IG, so I was excited to try this tea! It’s a pretty cool concept – I very much like how the use of glitter/luster dust was tied into this nerdy tea reference. Tickles all the right buttons for me, plus steeped the tea just looks hella pretty. I love luster dust so much and I am very glad to see so many other tea companies are beginning to start working with it!
(It can be a bit gimmicky, imo, when you over do it – but balanced, it’s fun!)
I find the taste of this blend a little generic for my tastes but I appreciate what Happy Turtle was going for – notes of caramel, sweet nuts/pecans, and marshmallow all do come across to varying degrees but it makes for a little bit of a generic “sweet” profile if you don’t actively think about all of the parts making up the whole. I like sweet teas a lot typically – this is actually similar in feeling to DT’s Sweet Potato Pie – but I think maybe I was just not REALLY in the mood for it today??
N is for… Nutty Toffee Roller Coaster!
Gonna need to have this again and monitor the steep time better because I left my teabag in while sipping (was in a meeting and it was easier than fussing with stuff mid meeting) and after a while this got weird tasting from over steeping – however it started off on a really good foot! Very buttery/nutty sweet flavour, like almond brittle/candied almonds with a sweetness and a freshness from the grassier yerba mate. Some smokier undertones as well, which I felt added to the sweet and nutty profile.
When it began oversteeping, it was just too concentrated and the grassiness took on a more sour edge – so if I can watch for that in the future I think I’ll really enjoy this blend.
‘Prairie Berries’ would be another great tea name!
DT actually carried a tea many, many years ago with the name “Prairie Berry”.
OH cool! Obviously I did not know that.
Now I just looked up Prairie Berry and now it needs to be re-released. haha
Agreed!^^