46 Tasting Notes

Day 15 of the 2016 advent calendar! I have mixed feelings on how to prepare this tea because I don’t know how into hot coconut cream pie I am, but at the same time I haven’t had good experiences with iced creamy teas. This is also a very… chunky tea in that there are quite a few large chunks of it in there. Regardless, this tea smells delicious. It’s very strong on the coconut, but it smells very light and fresh, and you can also smell a hint of creaminess to boot.

I decided to steep this one hot, and it turned out very… weak? The color is very light and the flavor isn’t much better. I’m not sure where I went wrong with this, since I did use a full perfect teaspoon and I definitely think I steeped it long enough. Regardless, what I can taste is quite nice, just like a coconut cream pie.

I won’t leave a numerical rating on this tea due to the fact that my steep turned out so weak, but I will say that I like what I taste and am willing to buy a little to see if I can’t get it right.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Fay

I find this one best as a latte; I haven’t even bothered trying it any other way.

TwinCitySteeper

Ooh, I’ll have to try that! Thanks for the suggestion!

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80

Day 14 of the 2016 advent calendar! To be honest, I never really got into ‘breakfast’ teas. I guess I must have just found them boring compared to what else what offered. And I don’t know how else to describe this tea other than that it smells like black tea? I mean, that’s… all that it is so I shouldn’t be surprised.

Steeped, it is a bit concerning. There are… a lot of bits that escaped by perfect mug’s steeper basket. I imagine that using the steeper might have prevented it, but the fact that it still escapes the infusers is not really good. Besides that, it actually tastes a lot better than I was expected. I find it mellow, smooth and a bit sweet.

Overall, this is a pretty decent straight tea. I like it enough that I might even start incorporating it into my own breakfast routine.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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70

Day 13 of the 2016 advent calendar! I have a very tough final this evening so I have to make this review quick. It smells very vanilla-y, but not so much that you can’t smell the rooibos.

Steeped, it turns the typical rooibos color and smells a bit more heavy on the red rooibos base. In terms of taste, to me its just a rooibos with some creamy vanilla notes on top. It’s quite tasty for this cold morning.

Overall, I can see why David’s has this as a bit of a staple, it’s a pretty decent flavoured rooibos. Doesn’t really taste like creme caramel to me because the rooibos flavor is so strong, but its still not bad.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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85
drank Bear Trap by DAVIDsTEA
46 tasting notes

Day 12 of the 2016 advent calendar! Already halfway and a bit of a trip down memory lane with this one, since it was my first ever tea I tried from David’s! My boyfriend took me out to the local David’s in uptown Waterloo and at that time I wasn’t particularly interested in tea, but he bought a bag of this and I tried some one morning when he was out writing a final. ANYWAYS, this tea smells super fruity and I’m very excited to try it.

For some reason there was… grease in my sampler tin, weird. Regardless, when its steeped it turns this pretty magenta-ish color and smells a bit like a berry punch. In fact, it also tastes a lot like a berry punch. It’s pretty excellent over ice, too.

Overall, I think that this tea is good hot or iced, but I prefer it cold with a bit of sweetener added. I’m surprised that I just skipped over this one for so long, I’ll have to get some with my next order!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 6 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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75

Day 11 of the 2016 advent calendar, and a tea I was very happy to see return this year! Funnily enough it was just yesterday that I picked up some fun single-serving hot chocolates from Vincenzo’s. I picked out Red Velvet, Gingerbread and White Hot Chocolate, where he picked out Buttered Rum and Butter Pecan. Anyways, as for the tea itself it smells very chocolaty, maybe even more than Dark Chocolate Delight.

I steeped this with less time to avoid any Pu’erh-ness happening in the cup, and it turned out well. On its own, it’s not too great, but milk and sugar really make this tea feel like a hot chocolate. While its not something that I’d consider a replacement, it certainly is a very warming chocolate tea.

Overall, I think that this is a decent wintertime tea, its fitting. I might stock up on it a bit, but I think that ultimately I will stick to the real deal.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80

I’ve been cleaning out some old teas in preparation for the inevitable post-holiday sales that will be coming up, and I noticed I had exactly 1 serving left of this so, sipdown! This is oddly enough, another one of those teas where I’ve never bought it specifically but I’ve managed to collect a lot of it through sampler sets somehow. Regardless, this tea has a pretty strong cinnamon smell with a bit of woodiness. I’m not really getting the ‘chai’ bit of this, but if its good then I don’t mind.

Steeped, this tea is quite well, cinnamon-y. But to me, its not overpowering like how some other cinnamon teas can be, like The Spice is Right. However, I will also note that the rooibos base is still quite present. Still not really getting anything that’s striking me as ‘chai’ even though there are cloves in it though.

Overall, this being a fan favourite makes total sense to me. It’s got a great cinnamon flavour without being overwhelmingly so. I would like to try this as a latte sometime, even.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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75
drank Yes We Cran by DAVIDsTEA
46 tasting notes

Yet another tea my bf got me for my birthday a couple years ago. I’m not really sure why I never finished this tea because it smells pretty good, like a cranberry cider. Though it also kind of smells like… a grandma’s perfume?

Anyways, this tea when steeped actually tastes like how I imagine mulled cranberry juice would taste. It’s mainly just cranberries and spices, predominantly cloves. I also recall enjoying this iced, even though I don’t typically like putting fall spice teas over ice.

Overall, it’s not a bad tea. I am hoping that David’s will come out with more cranberry teas in the future though, because they are one of my favourite flavours in a tea.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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85

Day 10 of the 2016 advent calendar, and one of my favourite teas! The smell of this tea is beautiful, its a lovely balance between fruity and fragrant. It’s also a visually appealing tea too, lots of different shapes and colors going on.

Steeped, this tea actually tastes stronger on the green tea base which is something I prefer in fruity greens. As long as the green tea base tastes good, that is. But this tea’s base is excellent it has just the right amount of body to work well with the fruity notes.

Overall, this might be one of my top 5 iced teas period. Seriously, if you haven’t tried this over ice I would definitely make it a priority if you love fruity iced teas.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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90

I got some of this for my younger brother for Christmas this year, but I decided to pick up some extra just for me because it sounded good. The tea smells so light and citrus-y that I already foresee this being excellent iced.

So naturally, I made this over ice and I have to say that I’m a big fan. As it smells, it is indeed very bright with delicate citrus notes. They chose a very light green tea base for this, and the orange and bergamot are balanced well with each other.

Overall, this is a very good twist on Earl Gray and I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves lighter tasting teas.

Preparation
Iced 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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80

Day 9 of the 2016 advent calendar! Ah yes, the classic Forever Nuts, I’ve never actually bought any of this tea on its own because its so common in sets that I’ve somehow gotten over 50 g of it anyways. Smelling this tea never gets old though because it really does smell just like an apple crumble, it’s amazing.

Steeped, this tea has a rose color from the beetroot, and smells heavenly. Based on my experience with this tea, it does benefit from a longer steep time for a stronger flavor. I would highly recommend it because the flavor is delicious, its like a warm dessert in a cup.

Overall, if you’re getting into more ‘fun’ teas, this is a good place to start. Or if you’re just looking for something desserty, honestly. I can see why this tea is in David’s top 3.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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