307 Tasting Notes
On the eighteenth day of tea-mas, DAVIDsTEA gave to me…..
Steeped for 1.5 minutes the first time, 5 minutes the second. Let the kettle sit, so I don’t know about the exact temperature….
This tasted… almost exactly like rockets (smarties for the American contingent). Unfortunately, that has never been a favourite candy of mine, and I found it a little too… tart-sugary-sweet as a result.
I guess elves like their candy.
On the 17th day of tea-mas, DAVIDsTEA gave to me….
I don’t think I made this quite strong enough (eyeballed the amount — just over half of the little container in my 2-cupper teapot and steeped for around 5 minutes), but I still am getting the wonderful white chocolate aftertaste. This is still my favourite tea for travel mugs — it steeps really well without bittering even through my “travel mug abuse” and, well… I LOVE IT. …I’m going to have to pony up the cash one day to get myself a large amount of it… it will be expensive but hopefully VERY worthwhile.
Preparation
This tea tasted quite good. Subtle, mellow… I’m not sure if I’d recognize the flavour as walnut, but enjoyable nonetheless. It’s not my favourite tea ever, but I think this is more a matter of personal taste than the tea itself — it’s quite nice, I just prefer some other flavour combinations.
Steeped it for 3 minutes the first time, and… longer the second time, but enjoyed it through original and re-steeping.
I… really need to work on how I brew blacks from David’s. It says 4-7 minutes on the package. I brewed it for 6, and, well… the first few sips were nice, but the bottom of the mug in particular was quite bitter. Added milk the second time, and that mellowed the flavour nicely, but I’m still unable to get the bitter flavour out of my mouth.
Hopefully going to brew this again eventually, with a much shorter brewing time. However, as I did follow the directions as written, I’m going to rate it based on my experience anyway. 70 because the flavour was nice to begin with, but I can’t give it higher when the bitterness is what I remmber the most.
Preparation
I find Davids black teas only need about 3 minutes. I generally throw their recommendations out the window !: )
:) Yeah, I’m beginning to see that. Though, for what I’m doing, I’m steeping it the length they say to see how it tastes the way they’re recommending. And then I can tweak as much as needed!
I tend to stick to the short end of their rec’s these days…..
I think I used too much tea, or steeped it for too long this time. Probably both. Which isn’t a problem I’ve had before, but then I think my pallate has been developing.
I can tell you though, it’s still WONDERFUL with milk and sugar. But not as good straight as I remember.
Preparation
On the 13th day of tea-mas, DAVIDsTEA gave to me….
There’s a fruity sweetness to the tea, which pairs nicely with the nutty tone it has overall. The apple and cinnamon notes are nice, and make for a nice flavour. While the beetroot makes it pink, it is less pink and more mellow than, say, Sleigh Ride or Pink Flamingo.
Emptied my entire sample in my pot, as I seem wont to do for the herbal samples. Glad I did — it was a nice strength. Might even brew it a bit longer next tme.
Preparation
Oh. My. Goodness.
The scent of this this tea is amazing. Strong, rich, the almond and fruity notes melding to create something reminiscent of cherry.
This comes through in the taste, though it was more subtle than I’d have liked it. I definitely want a longer steep and/or more tea in next time, and see how that changes the flavour. Still, especially with the scent, which blew me away both in the can and in the cup, and the lovely almondy notes, I can’t find much fault with this tea at all.
Not putting preparation details down because I was literally handed a full cup of this when I went into DAVIDsTEA today — an extra had been brewed and I was offered the results. I was down at in the dumps at the time, so this was the best pick-me-up I could’ve possibly ask for. While it didn’t affect the flavour at all, it certainly made the cup much more cheerful than I ever could have expected.
On the 11th day of tea-mas, DT gave to me….
This tea seems to me to have a very mild flavour. Somewhat grassy, but light.
I just finished my third steep, and it still was quite lovely. I might steep it for a bit longer next time I make the tea, I think my first brew might have been a little shorter than optimal, but I’ve been having bad luck with green tea lately, so I decided to go short rather than risk it.
Preparation
On the tenth day of tea-mas DAVIDsTEA gave to me….
I ended up using my entire Advent calendar sample in my small pot, and have brewed it twice so far.
The original tea is bright red, like Pink Flamingo, but has a much fruitier flavour. I was surprised at how dry the tea seemed — and how rich the flavour was (perhaps my putting the entire sample in was a bit much for the pot). Still, it was quite good — one thing I love about herbal tea is that it seems quite hard to go disasterously wrong with it.
The second brew was much lighter in colour and taste, but certianly still enjoyable.
Definitely thinking of purchasing some more of this, since my sample’s now all gone.
Preparation
The smoky flavour was strong and intriguing, so I decided to try a cup of this today.
Honestly, when brewing, the smoky scent reminded me of bacon. …I never thought I’d find a tea that reminded me of bacon….
It is certainly a unique tea. I find the flavour a little better with milk, but it’s not a favourite of mine. I can imagine someone else really loving it, but smoky teas apparently aren’t [quite literally] my cup of tea.
