Roswell Strange Send Message

Making some good progress in my sample bag of this tea! This mug was a tiny little bit on the drier side, from both the white tea and hibiscus, but was still an overall nice and delicate mug of tart florals – jasmine peaking out the most next to the hibiscus.

K is for… Know by Heart!

The last time I tried this tea was during a Geek Steep episode and I did like it a lot then, but I wasn’t able to focus on it at the same level that I would have if I hadn’t been having a very involved conversation.

With this tea getting my undivided attention, I liked it a lot more and was even more impressed with the composition and flavours! Like many blends from August Uncommon, there is quite a lot going on here – but it all clicks pretty seamlessly in my opinion. The profile is sweet but not sugary with the main “body” flavour being this sort of almond/marzipan shortbread note – flaky pasty and butter, nutty, a little coating on the palate. I feel like it definitely leans in to the natural flavours of the white tea as well, and on any other tea base type I don’t think you’d get the same light and crumbly pastry affect as what you’re getting in this cup. In addition to that, there’s a bit of a honey note and a really pleasant delicate orange that threads the line of orange blossom versus actual orange fruit – just in a very non-acidic or juicy kind of way.

It’s a lot of scrumptious in one cup!

K is for… Keemun Rhapsody!

So I steeped up this mug to drink after supper because I specifically didn’t want the flavour of the food I was eating to taint my impression of the tea. I even put it in a colour changing mug so that I would notice as it started to cool, so that I could have it at its best/peak temperature. However, then I got distracted by my adorably idiotic hamster – and before I knew it my mug was cold. Shit. I mean, I still drank it because I cannot let a mug of tea go to waste – and it tasted good…

But not as good as it could have been.

J is for… Jasmine Ginger Twist!

I didn’t want a super jasmine heavy day of J teas, but this seemed like an excuse to steep up this tea that I should latch onto – I think this blend would slip my mind otherwise since it’s all flavours that I don’t naturally gravitate towards. Plus it was a good twisted interpretation on a jasmine tea – pun intended.

I steeped my mug up light, and that let more jasmine come through and less ginger. The top of the sip was all delicate, sweet jasmine/fresh florals but the finish was peppery and ticklish warming ginger – not a favourite, but an interesting and well balanced combination of flavours that probably shouldn’t work together but kind of do. I sipped on my mug while making supper, and it was relaxing and tasty in that setting.

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.

J is for… Jasmine Rush!

Sipdown (1356)!

Soooo many of my options for “J Day” were jasmine teas and I honesty just wasn’t really feeling florals for the day so I didn’t end up having a lot of J teas for the day – it did end up being a good opportunity to combine my K teas into the same day though since my options were limited there too, so with this merger day I think I’m caught up to everyone else who started on the first. Just behind in writing out my tasting notes…

I did drink this tea though because I wanted to get in the sipdown – and it was better than I had expected from a bagged jasmine green, especially one with echinacea which isn’t the tastiest of ingredients. It was quite fresh and sweet, almost with a juiciness to it. I didn’t know what ingredient to attribute the juiciness to, but I liked it!

I is for… Irish Cream Cheesecake!

I must admit, I drank this mug while watching a show so my mind wandered away from the taste quite often and the only thing that sticks out in my mind about it is the metallic and mineral notes that lingered on my palate after each sip and thickness of the mouthfeel…

I is for… Imperial Ren Shen Ginseng Oolong!

Gongfu!

I didn’t have a lot of I teas to choose from, so I was excited to see I did have something that would be a good for to brew Gongfu! I had thought about doing a Ginseng Oolong on “G Day” but never got around to it, so this was an especially good option for that reason as well!

Steeped this one up outside – I’m really enjoying that it’s been warm enough to do that consistently lately! It’s so smooth w/ an array of coating ginseng and licorice notes and a strong woody flavour with a green edge. These beautiful leaves, with their mossy pebble appearance, seem right at home outside – one could easily mistake them as a part of the environment.

Honestly, I’m just still not over the fact I can sit outside an enjoy a full tea session at seven at night while still enjoying decently good natural lighting and not freezing my ass off! Cannot wait for summer!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNgMIHGh6H1/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNJm67ebkTg&ab_channel=NiceGuys

I is for… Irish Breakfast!

This was definitely a super classic and traditional feeling cuppa! I got these teabags in a swap with a tea friend on IG, Sewwie, who is based in the UK – I’ve seen Barry’s Tea before carried by the British Tea Room back when I was living in Regina but since it’s sold in such bulk boxes (because it’s a lot of people’s go to “daily drinker” in the UK) I’d never ordered – I just didn’t want to get stuck with 50 Irish Breakfast teabags.

All that to say, I appreciated the inclusion of it in our swap even though it’s not a tea that would be considered “fancy” to most. It’s the shared bit of culture and daily life that makes it exciting to me! I suppose the Canadian equivalent to this would be how so many people grew up drinking Red Rose!?

I had this mug with a splash of cream and I think that suited it very well. Super malty, thick and rich – a little simple, but when you’re drinking a breakfast tea as part of a morning routine (like so many do) you don’t necessarily want the most exciting thing. It’s more about having a reliable/consistent drink that is still pleasant – and I see this definitely fitting in to a routine with that being the mentality.

Gongfu Sipdown (1357)!

Sipped on this one yesterday evening! Early steeps are thick and syrupy with apricot jam top and body notes and a backbone of spicy Cocobolo wood and forest undergrowth. It’s progressed further away from syrupy fruit notes with each steep, leaning more into those forest flavours of various woods & tree barks, damp earth, and spices/light camphor – with a soft astringency throughout and a fleeting pleasant medicinal bitterness followed by a sweep of sweetness that crawls down the throat – almost like buckwheat honey, but not so dark and molasses-y. The soup is a gorgeous, dark amber!! I want to sip through more of the other tea samples I ordered last month first, but this is something I would definitely order again!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNiqlRyhXFQ/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUbgob2eFTA&ab_channel=RolandFaunte

H is for… Horchata!

Thank you theme day for reminding me I even owned this tea – I had forgotten!

This was basically a Genmaicha but with stronger emphasis on the rice notes, a hefty cinnamon note, and a creamy vanilla finish – but really isn’t that everything that you would want in a Horchata inspired tea!? I know that I really enjoyed it a lot! Not too sweet, not too spicy – just right.