Vanilla Sencha

Again, happy Thanksgiving to the fellow Canadians on Steepster!

We’ve had family over all weekend (aunts/uncles), so I’ve spent much of the last two days visiting family but I’ll also managed to sneak in several really nice mugs of tea and Gong Fu sessions in between visiting people.

One of our visiting aunts is also a pretty big tea drinker, so I’ve shared a lot of tea with her this weekend. She asked this morning if I had anything with a strong vanilla flavour that I might be able to share with her/make for her and this was the first thing that came to mind. So, we each had a large mug of it with our Thanksgiving supper. Maybe not the best pairing, but also not a bad one either! It’s got a bold enough vanilla flavour that I don’t think it was drowned out by the turkey (I’m not a meat eater – I stuck with brussel sprouts, brandied carrots, and mashed potatoes for the most part), and I image the smooth, silky creamy notes were probably a good pairing with the cranberry jelly, while the greener base complimented the brussel sprouts. So there were some tie ins.

I know that I especially liked the creaminess of the tea against the sweetness/fruity notes of the brandied carrots that we were eating. So, for me at least, not a “conventional” Thanksgiving pairing, but one I’d have 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 regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

This one has a strong scent of vanilla when first smelling the loose leaf. I steeped it for 2 minutes at 85c, and it’s almost perfect – I taste that vanilla, and I also get that hint of green tea base. Maybe next time I’ll steep for 1.5 min. This tea is pretty good – I was not sure whether I’d like it since others said it reminded them of butter sencha or vallilla orchid (neither of which I like) But this is actually pretty good for a straight/flavoured green.

Well. I ordered 100 grams of Vanilla Sencha and immediately ordered 250 grams more, after trying my first cup, if that tells you anything. I’ve now been drinking this all week and can’t get enough of it. I love Butter Sencha and Vanilla Orchid from DavidsTea, and Vanilla Sencha is basically like the perfect marriage of those two. The scent that comes off of this is strong and smells like sticking your nose into a vanilla frosted vanilla cupcake from heaven. It has a great vanilla flavor over a bed of vegetal green. It’s so rich and delicious, and I love it so much. A perfect vanilla and a perfect mix of sweet and refreshing.