15575 Tasting Notes

74

Grandpa Brew Sipdown (1153)!

Thank you VariaTEA for the share! I enjoyed this one a lot when I had it earlier in the week, but it wasn’t the type of mind blowing black tea that I think will stick in my memory among all the others I’ve tried and I don’t feel like I need more of it. I thought it had sturdy body to support a malty and almost powdery feeling cocoa note, with hints of fresh out of the oven brew and a little bit of redfruit undertone. Moderate astringency, which added character to the tea and kept the most sweet leaning notes from feeling flat. I think, brewed Western style, it might be a bit too mild and Gongfu I imagine it wouldn’t resteep well after a steep or two so this might have been the brewing sweet spot. At least, that’s my impression.

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96
drank 2019 ZTMDKZ by white2tea
15575 tasting notes

Grandpa style from yesterday with several different top ups throughout the day to my mug!

I want to write this big winding paragraph on why this is the most amazing W2T chenpi blend, but to be honest (at least in this prep method) it’s just not that nuanced of a blend. It is fucking incredible, if you like chenpi/bamboo, though. It’s deep and earthy, but has sweetness to it and almost a cookie-esque fruity sweetness like a Fig Newton. Mix that with soft bamboo and clean tasting orange and it’s like a yummy, scrumptious earth bomb crossed with a soft/moist “Orange Newton” cookie.

Omnomnomnom.

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72

This is from a sample that was generously gifted to me by Western Immortal Tea. This company reached out to me on instagram to see if I would have an interest in reviewing one of their teas. They let me choose the tea, and I actually opted for the shou Tuo Cha that they carry but they including a few servings of this one in with the package as well.

I don’t normally do Chai, but I saw a lot of star anise in the dry leaf of the blend so I got a bit more excited than I typically would for a more traditional looking black chai blend. I’m happy to report that it does taste pretty dominantly of star anise compared to all of the other spices in the mix – something I was DELIGHTED by. There are other spices too; cinnamon, cardamom for example. I like the cardamom mixed with the star anise.

It’s still not a tea that I would typically order for myself, but I thought it was really nice! I’m happy they included a sample of it for me to try. I need more star anise in my life.

And just a side note… one of the product photos of this tea on their site shows them steeping it in a gaiwan, which was so interesting to me. I would never think to brew this tea that way, but maybe that’s how I’ll have to finish the sample now.

Flavors: Anise, Cardamom, Licorice

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Visually this is an absolutely stunning tisane. I’ve had a few straight rose infusions before, but this is the most vibrant/beautiful one I’ve seen. That said, I tossed a small handful into a mug and drank Grandpa style yesterday afternoon and I was a little underwhelmed by the cup. I expected it to taste a lot strong and, obviously, of rose – but it was pretty mild.

I’m gonna need to experiment, for sure.

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100

Every year I get closer to finishing this tin, and that makes me immensely sad. However, I can’t deny that what has basically turned into my ‘yearly’ mug of this blend during October is one of the highlights of “spooky season” for me. It’s legitimately the best pumpkin tea I’ve ever had – the shou is so intense and camphorous with that heart undertone of menthol that hits me in the chest and rich, robust notes of petrichor and potting soil (in the best way) and that works in the most wickedly brilliant way with the raw pumpkin/squash notes and almost numbing clove and cinnamon. Whisps of vanilla; and real vanilla too. There’s a smoothness and silky quality to the brew that coupled with the densest and deepest shou/pumpkin combo is… wow… so special… so good…

There is a reason that Butiki’s legacy is what it is. No one can touch this.

amandastory516

Wow, this sounds wonderful. Very sad that I never got to experience Butiki.

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More spooky tea!

I wanted to buy this last year and didn’t, and then I regretted it for months so this year when I saw it back on the site I pounced! I’m not normally a fan of sugar/sprinkles in tea, but for a “Candy” apple I’ll forgive it – and those shimmery red sugar crystals do actually do a good job of conveying that beautiful red hard candy coating. Despite the sugar, the blend isn’t overly sweet – it’s a touch simplistic in reality but it’s a nice red apple flavour, regardless of the sweetness level. A touch tannic, actually – Adagio’s black tea base is pretty sensitive to oversteeping. I’m still all about those spooky feels though!

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGm56qkgubs/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpS4xCQm3jo&ab_channel=RickyMontgomery

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93
drank Golden Honey Dew by Lupicia
15575 tasting notes

Perfect cold brew!

Got home late from work last night and I just felt so exhausted so it was the best to have prestrained cold brew waiting for me in the fridge to sip on immediately after getting in for the night. This is the best melon tea – it’s so good. Definitely the treat I needed after a long week!

Cameron B.

I assume this isn’t available anymore? :(

Roswell Strange

I’m honestly not sure – Lupicia basically restructured (ie. closed a bunch of locations) and their assortment changed during that process. I can’t remember if this was one of the teas that was cut.

Cameron B.

Yeah, I did a panic order or two when they closed the US website, before they opened the Hawaii one. I don’t see this one on the site now, and I know it was a San Francisco specific blend so I assume it’s gone. T.T

At least they still have Melon Oolong…

Mastress Alita

Golden Honey Dew was a “California original” blend (like how Hawaii has a few original blends) so once all the California branches closed, it was gone for good. It isn’t available from Hawaii, Japan, or France.

Roswell Strange

Thanks Mastress Alita – I couldn’t remember, and tbh I never paid attention to which Lupicia blends were exclusive to different locations XD

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56

Oof. This tea is waaayyy more ginger than it is Creme Brulee, but I suppose there are hints of sweetness among all that heavy ginger. It’s a sweet/hot ginger, with a touch of earthiness. Not my thing at all, but I’m glad I took myself out of my comfort zone by trying it. I think a ginger fan would enjoy it, but I don’t think it’s creme brulee at all even if you do like ginger…

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90

Hot evening cuppa from a few weeks back!

Just as lovely as ever with sweet cantaloupe and refreshingly bright citrus/lemongrass notes mixed with a kiss of ginger to make the whole thing feel just a touch sweeter, crisper, and more nuanced. I love this blend, and now that it’s looking like A Quarter to Tea might not come back at all it just makes me even sadder I didn’t think to stock up on this one/ask for reblend when she was offering to do that.

(Also, can I just say how much I appreciate her doing reblends before closing up! She definitely didn’t need to, but it was such a kind thing to do for fans of her blends!)

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Oh Seahawk… What do you even say about Seahawk!?

He’s definitely a character that annoyed me a bit at first, but he kind of grows on you in an irritating sort of why where at the end of the series he was in my top three favourite characters. I particularly love his relationship with Mermista. It’s hard to verbalize why their relationship is so endearing to me, but I think a huge part of it is how completely supportive he is of her in everything she does and also how he is ALWAYS completely honest about how he feels about her.

So lets talk about this blend! It’s one of the most clever Adagio fan blends I’ve seen in a long time! You have a mix of tropical fruit heavy teas along with Lapsang Souchong. This confused me at first, but then I realized the tropical fruits are because he’s a pirate sailing through exotic locals and the Lapsang is because one of his reoccuring character traits is that he burns down ships. It’s genius, and hilarous!

More than that, though, it also tastes incredible! I swear something magic happens basically whenever you use Lapsang in flavoured tea blends, but the combination of really sweet and fresh pineapple notes with hints of coconut, cinnamon, lemongrass and then a really lingering finish of woody pine smoke from the Lapsang tastes fucking incredible together! It’s the perfect marriage of this very Thai inspired tasting tropical chai/pina colada vibe mixing with the savory smoke. Yum yum yum!!

I swear, this is giving my long standing favourite Adagio blend (The Woman) a real run for its money!

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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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