New Tasting Notes

I had a baby while the site was down! Unfortunately he needed surgery (twice!) so he has been at the hospital instead of home. He will be moving to a rehab center on Monday though he will need to go back for one more surgery in a month or so and then another when he is around a year old. So I have been spending a lot of time at the hospital and/or pumping breast milk which is not as nice as nursing so we will see how long I can keep up with it.

In part to encourage me to keep it up and to help me drink plenty of fluids, I put in an order of breastfeeding friendly herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs. I decided to try the Nettle leaf first because although I ordered 4 oz of each herb, this must be the least dense because it is definitely the largest volume.

The dry leaf is a nice rich green that leads me to believe it is quite fresh. The flavor of the breed leaf reminds me of baby spinach. Definitely vegetal and spinachy, but not at all bitter. There is a hint of spice in the aftertaste. It is quite pleasant. I would be interested in trying it blended with my dried carrot pieces as well as using it as a base for a green chai with coconut, ginger, and black pepper. But it is also very drinkable on is own.

I found my first sip of this off-putting, but it really grew on me! I liked the rooibos, and I feel like I could taste the corn, though maybe that was just in my mind. It doesn’t remind me of bourbon, which is a good thing. I taste a lot of rooibos and some interesting middle flavor that I can’t identify. It’s not something I’d need more of, but I enjoyed my tin of it!

Thank you, Canadian friends, for the cold front you pushed all the way down to southern Missouri! I may not be quite as gracious come January, but we had a bona fide autumn rainy day yesterday and it was delicious.

So was the sipdown of this seasonal rooibos blend. I’ll stand by my prior comments that it doesn’t taste like pecan pie. That said, the nuts and calendula are a nice, smooth complement to conventional rooibos.

TTB

I’m not a fan of rooibos, but the name made me sniff it and the scent made me steep it. It’s not bad! I dare say I might be enjoying this! Definately has a cookie dough flavor to it and it’s a little sweet due to an appropriately small amount of stevia. Not sure I get a honeycomb flavor… maybe a touch of malt. I wouldn’t purchase this, but I would take another cup.

TTB!!!! I don’t think I’ve done one of these in a few years and this one has a bunch of teas I want to try!

This has a very natural chocolate taste to it. It’s light, but it’s there. The first sip was a pretty even balance of mint and cocoa. It gets a little more herbal tasting further in. Maybe it’s the hint of dried ginger? This is a nice cup that I’m enjoying, but not anything I’d run out and buy.

I purchased this at a local Natural Grocers under Natural Grocers packaging, but it is the same tea offered from Tiesta so I’m recording it here rather than creating a duplicate under the Natural Grocers name.

This is the last of the chunky herbal teas I brought home from Natural Grocers, which I’ve been preparing as coldbrew waiting for our weather to change to fall here. It’s very tasty! I rank it just above the “Maui Mango” and just below the “Blueberry Wild Child,” both of which I also really enjoyed.

I wouldn’t call the flavor of this tisane “watermelon” persay, but it has that really sweet “melon” flavor that tastes like a cross between cantalope and honeydew that is popular in Japanese snacks, and it makes a very refreshing iced tea. It is very naturally sweet, and I want to try adding some Co2 to see how close it can come to a melon-flavored Ramune.

It’s a pretty servicable alternative to Lupicia’s melon teas at a lower price point and easier accessibility. Like all chunky fruit teas, though, you don’t get a lot of bang for your buck since the bags are weightier and it requires quite a bit of material to get a nicely flavored brew.

Coconut Grove Pouchong. Adagio.
Lot No. 81375. FB: n/a.

One “portions pouch” of leaf, steeped Western, as directed: 3.6 g leaf in 8 oz 190°F alpine spring water, using a stainless infusion basket, for 3 min. Re-steeped 4.5 min and 6 min.

I’ve never sipped a pouchong before, let alone a flavored blend of pouchong, so I studied the reviews of Adagio’s straight pouchong (a type of oolong from Taiwan) in order to help parse out the flavors and know what to expect. I do like coconut (esp. in piña coladas), so I was optimistic. And the fragrance of the dry leaf was nothing if not potently coconutty! Whilst steeping, I noticed the leaf was a bright olive green in shade, and was pretty finely chopped, with only a few small intact leaves, but quite a lot of stems. Not sure how folks can enjoy watching the leaf expand, but since those notes were 15 yr old, perhaps the quality of the base tea has been changed.

Sipping on the first infusion blasted me with delicious aromas and flavors of coconut, to the extent that I did not really taste the base tea except for a flowery note. Well, prior reviewers did say the pouchong was delicate! But as the tea cooled, the coconut potency declined, and by the end of the cup I was noting some floral and green tea flavors that were quite pleasant.

While steeping the second infusion, I pulled out a strip of white coconut flesh and popped it in my mouth. What a surprise to get hit with the flavor of a mouthful of flowers! I wonder if Adagio hasn’t dosed the coconut with floral flavoring. In any case, as I began sipping this 2nd infusion, the coconut was now sharing the stage with the flavors of the base tea and floral flavoring. I could discern some bitterness and vegetal notes, and appreciated the golden yellow color of the clear liquor. There even seemed to be a note of fruitiness as the tea cooled in my cup. I tossed in a half lump of sugar to the quarter cup or so remaining, and enjoyed a nicely tropical two mouthfuls, and noted the coconut humming away at the back of my tongue.

The third steeping retained a golden yellow hue, and a soft coconut aroma. Flavors of both the pouchong and the coconut were very gentle here, but passably pleasant. I never really got the burst of sweet pouchong flavors that others reported long ago for the base tea. I won’t push for another re-steep of the largely exhausted leaf. If I were to have another session with this tea, I would combine all three steepings and sweeten slightly, possibly icing the tea. Recommended, with a rating of 68, but only if you like coconut!

Just a so-so dragon pearl tea. Least impressive dragon pearl tea I’ve had. The base pouchong/green tea doesn’t seem to have much character and the jasmine is not very happening. I probably should have bought the classic giant orange tin of “chun hao” jasmine tea instead.

Received a single tea bag thanks to postcrossing again and it is not a bad.

It is a strong, bold black tea with dominant malty notes, a little bitterness and astringency. Definitely strong in caffeine, as it woke me up in the early evening.

Definitely recommend for easy-drinking cup.

Received this as a generous shared sample from ashmanra, and am so grateful! The balance of vanilla and nuttiness was good, and there were intact slivers of almond in the dry leaf! I enjoyed all 3 sessions with it, finding that no re-steep was as good as the first infusion, probably because the bar was already so high. When sugared and milky, the tea really became a dessert worth the calories. I’m so glad I was able to try this, and I may begin exploring other S & V products now that I know how they are! Thanks again, tea-friend!

I basically do taste both apricot and cherry here. It’s not bad, but not my favorite tea we got in Arundel. It’s not tart, and the flavors are pretty authentic, but sometimes it still doesn’t quite hit the spot.

Sipdown

This has served its purpose – a nice sweet tea for summer evenings. Summer is drawing to a close and fall approaching so it was the perfect time to finish the tin with a big carafe to drink this weekend. Still high summer temps here so it will be enjoyed.

I will probably repurchase it for next summer but will let something else take its place for fall and winter drinking.

It is decaf so the base is as you might expect – it doesn’t pack a punch but it is good. The peach flavor is really lovely and improves after a day or two in the fridge, as I find with all sweet iced tea, even unflavored.

Sipdown (2991)!

Finished this tea off in the morning with my breakfast. It was smooth and chocolatey, but in the kind of more alcoholic-tasting and artificial leaning chocolate way. Definitely not a favourite of mine, and one that I was glad for the excuse to just polish off.

Just finishing a mug of this now with a little vanilla creamer added into it. It tastes a lot like Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal milk, which I am absolutely adoring right now. There’s just something really nice and relaxing about spending an afternoon writing tasting notes, stretched out on a couch (which I don’t have in my apartment at home) with a purring cat by my side…

Gongfu!

Sipping on this oolong with some sweet and juicy red grapes in between the steeps. This Taiwanese milk oolong is so fresh tasting, with massive and gorgeous full leaves and a smooth, creamy & medium-bodied liquor that floods the palate with highly aromatic florals, a hint of coconut milk, and so much buttery goodness. It’s really quite striking how much it tastes like freshly whipped or churned butter. The finish is a little sweet, with an aftertaste of sugared violet petals. I find this grape pairing pulls forward a lot of the floral notes while also spotlighting some of the fruit notes (which are a hint tropical) that might otherwise be missed!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOHd8kvknU3/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgPU-hy9wFM&ab_channel=BenjaminCarter

Sipped on this while working my way through my third Dandadan reread! While I love the soothing aromatics and floral notes of jasmine, green teas aren’t always my forte. However, today, this one is really hitting the spot. Not too delicate to come off as weak, but not too heavy or perfumey either. Just right!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOJ1NCPklsx/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KETUopnYr3E&ab_channel=OfficialLyrics-Video

Gongfu!

I enjoyed this session alongside some smoky tea eggs. I decided on this tea to drink with them because it’s so rich and full-bodied with a super thick liquor that leans into the pleasantly muddy earthiness of the shou pu’erh. Taste wise, I get a lot of chocolate notes. More on the darker and ever so slightly bitter side, with savory undertones and notes of petrichor, potting soil, and moss.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOMSFcwiWmH/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTTgcpiyAxU&ab_channel=SipperSipperSipper

Tea Eggs!

Before taking off for Calgary (and the SK) I had to finish off a lot of groceries, including about a half dozen eggs. So, I decided to use this tea to make tea eggs to snack on with my tea sessions for my last few days in town.

These were not the prettiest tea eggs I’ve ever made since I didn’t have too long to brine them, but that rich savory flavour still comes through along with a gentle smokiness and notes of the various spices, like cinnamon and black cardamom, that I had added to my brine in addition to the Sichuan peppercorns already in the tea blend!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOMSFcwiWmH/?img_index=1

So I am back in Saskatchewan for the next week or so visiting family for some vacation time!

My siblings new I was coming, but we thought it would be a really nice thing to surprise my mom. So, with their coordination I was able to get in from my flight last night, ring the doorbell for my mom to answer and then absolutely scare the shit out of her with the fact I’d randomly showed up from across the country!

It was very, very late at night but we still stayed up for a few hours to catch up and explain to her stuff like how long I’d be in town and just things like that. Of course, the first thing I wanted when I got in and the initial surprise had happened was to make a mug of tea. I went with the first caffeine free option I saw in her cupboards as it was 2AM. But I was happy with the mug I ended up with. Sweet, juicy candy-style mango with citrusy orange undertones. Very joyful, which matched the mood of the moment.

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 was the other tea available as “Tea of The Day” during the conference yesterday, though it was iced instead of hot. I adore this tea a lot, it’s very juicy and fresh but with a creamy vanilla finish. It reminds me of some of my favourite hard ciders as well, but without the hangovers that go with them.

I drank a TON of this because the room we were having the conference in was really, really hot and having something iced was the best way to cool down. However, I did constantly feel a need to go back and forth between this and Pumpkin Chai (the hot TOTD) because I also had a mighy, mighty need for caffeine in that moment. Sometimes I wish we had an apple tea like this one, but on a caffeinated tea base. I feel like that would be so perfect for me personally, aha.

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.

Yesterday was so busy, so I basically just stick with drinking the two teas that were available as “Tea of The Day” (ie. on tap) at the store location where the conference I was attending was being held. The hot tea was this one, and though I personally find pumpkin spice overhyped and just not quite my personal thing, I was very grateful for a caffeinated tea available to readily to me. Plus, I do like the touch of cozy caramel and clove in this blend. I mean, the rest is good too. But those are my favourite qualities.

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!

I basically always travel with a way to make tea, and for this recent trip I had my fancy kettle with me along with a bunch of matcha equipment and my hotel was literally across the street from a grocery store. So, I got to indulge in a freshly made matcha latte first thing yesterday before packing up all my stuff and heading to the conference that I’d travelled out to Calgary for.

I do so very, very much adore this matcha. It’s smooth and silky with those thicker vanilla-like notes but also has such a fresh lime flavour. I thought it was the perfect rich but bright feeling way to kick off what was a very, veeerrrry packed day before then flying back home to Saskatchewan to visit family for some vacation time.

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!

Sometimes when I’m visiting the DT stores I just let the staff pick out my drinks for me. It’s nice because I often have decision paralysis, and I just find it really interesting seeing what other people are into that I maybe wouldn’t have chosen for myself.

In this case, I adore this tea so much but I really never make it any way but hot so I was super down to try it iced. Definitely really fresh, with a lot less of that brisk richness from the black tea but a whole lot more of the aromatic, floral jasmine. It was a nice way to end off the day of working in stores!

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.