17904 Tasting Notes
I picked this up at the local “Maker’s Market” yesterday, which is a monthly market for small creatives here in the city. It’s a lot of handmade jewelry, candles, soaps and other cosmetics, some clothing, pottery, stickers/pins and the like. Because it’s October, this was kind of a Halloween-themed market.
Other that tea, I did pick up some pottery too (because of course I did). However, the main reason I was at the market was because I was getting a tattoo there! It’s a cute little wizard rabbit – I’m super pleased with how I came out!
When I got home I brewed this up immediately to stretch out and relax with as my post-tattoo treat for myself. The blend is basically a pumpkin spice mix, but with some more unique additions to hibiscus and cardamom too. It starts off a bit more tart and almost cider-like. A cross between a pumpkin cider and a mulled wine, maybe? But the hibiscus doesn’t over take the profile, and it finishes a lot more like a pumpkin pie with a sweeter, bordering of creamy flavour and bold notes of nutmeg, vanilla, and clove. I actually enjoyed it a lot, and thought the juxtaposition/transition of flavours was really interesting!
Cold Brew!
This is better hot, but it was still nice and refreshing cold too. The apple notes and general fruitiness come out a lot more strongly which does level out the florals of the lavender a lot, however it also kind of mutes the wonderful creme anglais/vanilla flavour which I like so much in this blend. You win some, you lose some I guess.
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.
Sipdown (2995)!
Finally finishing off this blend. I’ve been meaning to work on finishing off all of my Harry Potter themed teas for a while, since that’s a franchise I don’t really want to continue supporting any further. Tossing out the teas just feels wasteful though…
Anyway, the cup itself wasn’t anything unpleasant. It’s cozy and autumnally spiced with really strong notes of allspice and a peppery overtone to it that goes with this deeper, darker “sweet brown” undertone. In some ways a pumpkin pie sort of flavour, but I know that’s just all the overlap with pumpkin spice that’s in the blend.
I never loved this tea but I didn’t dislike it either. I guess I was pretty neutral, and since it now carries some negative associations I’m honestly feeling pretty relieved to have one less HP tea in my stash…
(Nothing against the tea company/creator of the blend though! Sentiment towards the HP franchise/JK Rowling was VERY DIFFERENT during the time period this was created and purchased.)
From a few evenings ago! Definitely pleasantly fresh, bright and sweet but also a little creamy too. Aside from the honeyed notes of the base here, I found the flavour really evoked this idea of a Creamsicle if it was made with lemon sherbet instead of orange. Super mouth watering, and really just the kind of indulgently fruity profile that really targets my personal preferences so spot on.
Cold Brew!
I’ve been sipping on this one casually as I’ve been writing tasting notes this morning, and it’s definitely very interesting. Really creamy and thick in a way that does actually make me think a lot of yogurt, with a deeper, sweet black cherry profile. In some ways it reminds me of Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia ice cream, but without any chocolate. But it’s also kind of making me think of Yogen Fruz or even different cherry flavoured “drinkable yogurts” I’ve tried like YOP.
The big thing is that it’s VERY intensely grassy, and I really think that’s because I overshot how much tea leaf to use for this cold brew. But I’m finding those green tea notes coarse and distracting from what is otherwise a really enjoyable cherry yogurt profile. I worry, though, that if I scared back the tea leaf I would lose some of the rich, creamy thickness on top of “correcting” the intensity of the green tea. A bit of a pickle, and one I think I’ll only know the answer to by trying it out…
Welp, this is the next RTD to be stocked up on as a commute tea…
There are other Mana flavours that I think I like a little more than this one, but I was just really craving something more berry forward after having brighter, tropical kombucha or yerba mate/guayusa RTDs as what I’d stocked up on for the last while.
Of course, this still had brightness to it because of the tart, tangy hibiscus. But the blackberry flavour itself is a bit deeper and darker, with a lingering juicy quality that goes well with the more rainforesty green notes of the tea base here. It’s also less aggressively fizzy/carbonated than some of the RTDs I’ve had lately – so I’ll be curious to see if that was a one off or if the whole case is like that.
This is the tea for today’s Mugtober IG feature!
The mug is a DAVIDsTEA textured Nordic mug with a really beautiful rich and creamy sunset orange colour. I don’t really care about the texture at all, but I adore the colour. Orange is my favourite colour, and that shade in particular is about as good as it gets. So, what goes with a rich and creamy orange mug better than a tea with a rich and creamy flavour inspired by an orange fruit!?
Honestly, mangoes might be coming for pineapple as my favourite fruits. I think, conservatively speaking, it wouldn’t be a lie to say I’ve eaten easily over 150 mangoes this summer. And this flavour captures that creamy, ripe mango flavour so well with a bonus kind of biscuity undertone to it. Probably one of my all time favourite teas from Dammann Freres. The black base is so rich and bold, too! Someday I’m going to have to make this into a latte. I’m sure it would blow my mind.
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Zzg-n76MI
Last, but not least…
I had this one as an iced latte this week. I’d been craving it for more than a week, and had to go hunting in our office to find some that I could bring home for myself to enjoy. It was so worth it though, because those warming notes of clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon were exactly what I was looking for. I don’t generally consider myself a bit pumpkin spice person, but when I want it I want it. Y’know?
This may be the only Pumpkin Pie Matcha I have for the rest of the year now that I’ve satisfied that craving… and that’s okay!
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPrpoNakq3j/?img_index=1 (Seventh Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFa0f4R_zx8
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.
Iced Latte!
As far as flavoured matcha goes, I stuck pretty closely to more autumnal or Halloween influenced flavours. I think it’s the fact the trees are changing colours that’s really pushing me into that sort of mood.
I wanted to like this one more than I did. I think there’s really two main reasons why it wasn’t totally what I was looking for. The first is that it was a lot more rooibos forward than it was matcha. Very woody in taste, too. I like rooibos a lot, but I pulled this because I wanted a matcha drink – so it was just wrong place and wrong time. The other thing is that the caramel/toffee notes were REALLY muted compared to how strong and fresh tasting the apple was. I mean, it was a great sweet red apple flavour. But I just needed more of a balance between the two notes in this moment…
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPrpoNakq3j/?img_index=1 (Sixth Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHT4uNqAfpY
This was the only hojicha powder I had during the week. It’s a very dark roast powder with super strong barley and coffee notes to it. I paired it with this really flaky and buttery pumpkin pastry, and the two went really well together. The pastry had a pretty squash forward filling, and wasn’t overly sweet so it worked well with this thicker and more roasty hojicha. Super, super autumnal feeling and cozy!
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPrpoNakq3j/?img_index=1 (Fifth Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3wVlG21kpw
