15695 Tasting Notes
Earlier last week I recorded a podcast episode with Tori, from the instagram and tea blog Siply Tealicious & that episode was published yesterday on her podcast Quali-Tea Time which explores people’s tea journeys!!
I’m not gonna lie, it felt like basically the most egotistical thing in the world to talk almost exclusively about myself for an hour – but that was the point, I suppose. I think most people here on Steepster who are long time site members actually know most, if not all, of my “tea story” because you’ve lived through it with me over the last seven/eight years, but it was very flattering/humbling to be asked to share it.
I picked this tea because I’ve talked with Tori before about fandom-y things because of my podcast Geek Steep and I know she’s a massive Wonder Woman fan so it felt like a really great way of tying in that love of all things nerdy & kind of honoring her during her podcast. It was my first time brewing up this tea, and to be completely honest I don’t remember a damn thing about it because I was so focused in on the conversation and the adrenaline that comes with recording (I am a super introverted person, so it takes a lot for me to have the focus/energy to record – even just audio) that it felt like at one moment I had a full mug of tea and the next I had an empty cup…
I’d like to explore Wonder Woman on our podcast at some point (we almost did it instead of Birds of Prey), and if we do I hope Tori will consider being a guest for the episode. If that ever happens, I think it’ll be safe to say this tea will probably make a reappearance.
From this weekend!
Really robust and intense bourbon notes that deeply hit the spot, but also a whisp of fruit? Maybe that’s in my head after seeing the “candy apple” flavouring in Adagio’s Bourbon tea but all throughout the mug all I found myself thinking was that in addition to that lovely boozy note was that it has a similar sweet apple/fruity note. Ugghhh! Am I even gonna be able to separate that bias/association from bourbon teas now? Who knows – certainly not me!
It’s been a moment since I dipped into my tin of this tulsi, but it was a good reminder of how lovely Krishna Tulsi can be and a really soothing way to finish off last night…
Obviously strong basil notes, but also spicy clove and a peppery finish mixed with a more cooling and menthol undertone. It was soothing, and nice on the throat. Really one of the best tulsi teas I’ve ever had and given that Terroir Tea isn’t open any more I’m very thankful to my past self for having the foresight to stock up!
Gongfu!
White2Tea through me off today by launching their Black Friday sale while I was in the middle of a virtual meeting, and I had to scramble in order to make sure I got my cake of Snoozefest before it sold out while balancing the meeting, but I guess I’m glad I don’t have to stay up on Black Friday to wait for the Midnight release now…
I had this one yesterday over my lunch break. Definitely a gorgeous looking black tea with a rich and golden liquor. The flavour was sweet, with simple & balanced notes of honey, fresh summer fruits, and emerging florals throughout the session w/ hints of starchy sweet potato in the undertones. I found I appreciated the clean, straight forward flavours but craved more intensity and denseness to them, and more body to the tea overall. Still, it was a very enjoyable tea session and a tea I will happily visit again!
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CH-atweA1s1/ (Love a good cake chonk)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNGQcezI7wg&ab_channel=JonathanSomething-Topic
The other new EG Matcha!
If the CEG Matcha is the one for people who want minimal bergamot and lots of rich vanilla and cream, then this is definitely the one for lovers of bold and classic bergamot flavours. I find this one to taste really intensely of robust, aromatic and citrusy bergamot. Now, bare in mind that I don’t love bergamot and so I might be interpreting it as quite strong because of that, but I do think the flavour is really direct.
I didn’t bring any of this one home for myself, lest for a cup’s worth to drink to refresh my memory because I hadn’t had it since shortly after the development wrapped up, but it’s exactly like what I remembered – and I think fans of bergamot will enjoy this one!
Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CH8Md2DAY_X/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBhAuKltCH0&ab_channel=SecondhandSound-Topic
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.
This past week we launched/refeatured a bunch of “Earl Grey” teas/blends as part of a focus on Earl Grey, and that included two new Earl Grey inspired matchas and a rerelease of last year’s Bergamot Kisses under the new name “Chocolate Earl Grey”. This is one of the new matchas, and of the two it’s the one I prefer. Both are limited edition, and I find it really interesting that we decided to launch two variants because they of course feel quite similar – but it’s the “Cream” part that sets them apart, and I guess it follows the thought process that there are people who buy/drink and love both regular EG and CEG. What I imagine will likely happen is that one of these matchas will resonate stronger than the other though…
Like a “battle of the matchas”…
I would describe the flavour of this as vanilla/cream first and then bergamot second. It’s quite sweet, and feels rich and decadent with really comparable custardy vanilla notes to Cream of Earl Grey. I think the bergamot feels a bit fresher and brighter but I also think that might just be a bit of an illusion from the matcha base just being brighter than a black tea base. Similar to how bergamot on green tea, like in Countess of Seville, always seems more citrusy to me than it does on black tea.
I do own another “Creamy Earl Grey” matcha, and I’ve compared the two and I think this one is more creamy/vanilla than what I already have. As a person who is less of a bergamot fan than a vanilla fan, that makes this approach more enjoyable to me. Though, I like the “Creamy Earl Grey” I own more than the straight Earl Grey matcha. So I suppose what I’m really saying is that, for my own tastes, I want an EG matcha with as little bergamot as possible. If that’s what you want, you might enjoy this one also.
It’s also a fucking awesome latte.
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.
Behind on tasting notes again, but alas…
This is a new holiday blend for the year, and it’s exclusive to only Super Steepers. There have been a few Frequent Steeper only teas this year so far (Forever Frosty, and Hazelnut Chocolate) but this is the first only for Super Steepers…
Y’all know I don’t love Chai so it’s safe to say this isn’t my jam. I do really love the name of it though – and that’s not a humble brag, because I didn’t have anything to do with the naming of this blend. I just think it’s really cute, and I’m also all for more Chai throughout the year instead of it all being bunched into a few months. Of course, that’s pretty wishful thinking because so many people still view Autumn as “Chai Season” but a girl can dream, right!?
Anyone who remembers White Chocolate Chai from a few years ago will have a pretty good idea of what this Chai is like – they’re different but very similar. Same more traditional mix of Chai spices (heavier on the ginger and cardamom) mixed with a creamy note from the white chocolate curls. I think this is more spiced that White Chocolate Chai, with more ginger and a peppery undertone from the peppercorns throughout. I haven’t found anyone else who agrees with me about this, but something in the blend also really vaguely reminds me of cola – I think it’s just the citrusy notes of the cardamom mixing with the other spices because cola is basically just citrus and spice. The sweetness of the white chocolate hangs in the mouth after each sip, carried throughout the cup by the stevia…
I guess a quick note on stevia – I get that it’s a really polarizing ingredient even though I don’t personally have an adverseness to the flavour. I also, on a personal level, prefer that teas don’t include stevia or other forms of sweeteners (sugar, sprinkles, blackberry leaf – to name a few) because I think people are capable of sweetening their own tea if they want.
With that said, if you look at the most popular/best selling teas from the last few years most of them do have stevia in them – so clearly there are a large number people who either don’t care or even enjoy/want that level of sweetness. It’s frustrating for sure, but at least for me I have to remember that it’s demand that drives direction and so… if stevia keeps selling, the odds are it’s going to keep being used. This is a big area of conflict for me personally when it comes to tea development, and I’ve debated back and forth saying something about it or not because I know how polarizing stevia is…
But that’s just where I stand on stevia, and how I think about it.
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’m a stevia fan, but I also sweeten my teas a ton automatically so I guess to me personally it doesn’t matter if companies pre-sweeten or not since I always like my teas even sweeter.
What about selling two versions of a blend – one with stevia, one without?
I also think that stevia is one of those ingredients that ages terribly, which could be part of the reason I dislike stevia (though that’s my fault for keeping teas around forever.)
Thank you for your thoughts on stevia. Here is mine/general ramblings..
So I am finding that I generally prefer no stevia put in the tea. I am not allergic and there are teas (DT and not DT) that I like and dislike with stevia. I, like tea-sipper, keep my teas for a long time so there is that. I also I prefer to drink my teas plain(hot, cold-steeped, or as a hot/cold latte).. I rarely put any sweetener in them.
As far as DT is concerned, Goji Green & Magic Potion are two that come to mind that’d I’d probably enjoy if it wasn’t for stevia (or Just Peachy for the blackberry leaf?). But there are other blends I don’t mind it (can’t think of any specific examples). Since 2016 I’ve owned/tried most of the flavors that have come out.
But for 2020 I’ve not tried the majority of the blends that have come out this year because they’ve sold out too quickly or I’m not interested in the profiles. I do have to say that with SO MANY FALL/WINTER/HOLIDAY flavors that DT has put out since Sept(?) the shopping cart I have right now is basically 1 kilo of cranberry pear and maybe half dozen teas 1 bag worth just to try them and stevia helped me knock some off my cart even though I’d probably enjoy the tea (chocolate chip cookie comes to mind).
Anyway, thanks for listening to my ramble. :)
Cold Brew!
This is the tea that I’m currently sipping on and it’s nice, but more importantly it’s cold. I don’t know why I feel so overheated today (I even took my temperature as a precaution and I don’t have a fever at all) but it’s been deeply uncomfortable all day. So, sipping on creamy peach is quite tasty and a nice flavour but I’m 100% more focused on how refreshingly chilly this brew is…
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… in orange juice!
I didn’t drink much tea today because most of the day I felt really hot and overheated, but thankfully I had the foresight to set up a couple cold brews last night so I’ve been enjoying those this evening. That includes this cold brew, which was a little more experimental in nature. I decided to cold brew some of this tea straight in orange juice.
The result was actually delicious! Very thick and viscous with an almost syrupy mouthfeel, and because of the beet in this blend mixed with the, uh, “orange” colour of the orange juice this turned a very red colour as it steeped. The taste was very much like a Shirley Temple, with that orange and grenadine kind of vibe to it. I thought it was delicious, and would actually make it again!
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.
Found myself craving something sweet and simple last night, and I was talking to VariaTEA this tea recently so it was top of mind when I went sample digging in my stash…
The liquor steeped up a pretty purple colour from the hibiscus and butterfly pea flower in the blend and the taste was all fluffy Lucky Charms Marshmallow and Froot Loops. So, uhh, basically nostalgic sugary kids cereal!? Still, it was what I was in the mood for so it hit the spot. I go back and forth on how I feel about this tea – I think it’s a bit much sometimes and can by cloying. However, when I want sweet there’s kind of nothing more perfect!?
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.
