drank English Rose by DAVIDsTEA
1018 tasting notes

I went to David’s Tea today specifically for a tin of this and guess what? They were essentially all out! I still managed to get 92 grams worth but only in the result of emptying the wall tin of all its tea dust and white chocolate crumbs…uhh… Maybe I should have forgone all of the “special bits”, as my server put it, and saved myself a few extra dollars. I was hoping to be in the position to ask for extra rose buds too. I really love this tea.

That love appears to be a very subjective feeling for this tea, however. It makes sense, but I hadn’t realized the emotions that the strong floral notes rouse up in people would be so “strong” as well. Personally, the aroma alone is enough to make me skip in happiness. It makes me nostalgic too and reminds me of the rose flavoured Turkish Delights that my dad and I both enjoy around Christmas. I actually bought a box of Turkish Delights the other day but there were no lemon ones and too many crème de menthe ones. Disappointing

The first time I had this I liked it so much that I re-steeped it three times! Tonight’s cup isn’t as good as that. The excessive white chocolate residue made this particular steep rather scummy. It’s also slightly bitter which is probably due to me over-steeping it and the tea powder. It’s still has the ideal creamy, floral, and sweet profile so I will do second steep.

The white chocolate helps to offset what would otherwise be a very perfume-like drink; flowers cutting through cream. The fragrance’s sweetness is doubled, I feel, from that same chocolate, however. English Rose has a very dominant personality and, while I’m on the ‘pro’ end of the spectrum the sheer decadence and richness of it prevents this tea from being a drink I have on hand 24/7- just like how Turkish Delights are not a food to eat all day, every day. It’s more like something I want once every couple days

I’ve noticed that all the teas I went for today (Banana Dream, Ceylon Star, and English Rose) have white chocolate as an ingredient. I guess I like white chocolate.

The bitterness has actually nearly vanished after cooling down for a few minutes. Success!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec
Show 1 previous comments...
Cavocorax 13 years ago

Interesting! I haven’t really had any floral teas, but maybe I’ll have to give this a shot! At the very least, get a take home cup of it!

CrowKettle 13 years ago

It’s definitely a neat thing to try once. If you can’t finish it I’m sure it would make a nice soap too! I’d be pretty happy with some Rose white chocolate soap, myself.
A side note: all of those high ideas about " ladylike gentle floral scents" is a lie. If you stick your head into this tea’s tin it will give you a smart face smacking. It’s not subtle at all.

Cavocorax 13 years ago

Thanks for the sidenote there. :P I always need some face-smacking teas! Especially mornings when the baby doesn’t let me sleep… :P

I do like white chocolate in tea so that sounds promising. I haven’t head any Earl Gray blends, but I’m not opposed to trying those either…

So many teas to try, so little time.

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Comments

Cavocorax 13 years ago

Interesting! I haven’t really had any floral teas, but maybe I’ll have to give this a shot! At the very least, get a take home cup of it!

CrowKettle 13 years ago

It’s definitely a neat thing to try once. If you can’t finish it I’m sure it would make a nice soap too! I’d be pretty happy with some Rose white chocolate soap, myself.
A side note: all of those high ideas about " ladylike gentle floral scents" is a lie. If you stick your head into this tea’s tin it will give you a smart face smacking. It’s not subtle at all.

Cavocorax 13 years ago

Thanks for the sidenote there. :P I always need some face-smacking teas! Especially mornings when the baby doesn’t let me sleep… :P

I do like white chocolate in tea so that sounds promising. I haven’t head any Earl Gray blends, but I’m not opposed to trying those either…

So many teas to try, so little time.

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Bio

I started my Steepster loose leaf adventure back in 2012. I can’t say I’m completely new anymore, but I still view oolong as a magical, extraterrestrial creature that unfurls in water.

Favourite Flavours/Ingredients:

-Vanilla, Maple, Caramel, Cream, Toffee, Nougat, Marzipan
-All Citrus: Lime, Grapefruit, Lemon, Bergamot, Orange, Yuzu
-Anise, but not licorice
-Ginger or Clove-forward chai
-Rosemary
-Grass/Marine/Vegetal/Nutty Green teas
-Florals: Rose, Lavender, Jasmine…
-Musky and/or Woody Incense-like stuff: Sandalwood, Frankincense, Eucalyptus
-Berries: Blackberry, Raspberry, Currants, Blueberry, Elderberry
-Bananas, and most fruits actually.

Less Preferred Flavours/Ingredients:

-Stevia and most sweetners
-Cinnamon-forward chai/blends
-Apple & Cranberries
-Mango pieces (love mango outside of tea though)
-Coconut pieces (as a sub/filler ingredient)
-Metallic or overly artificial teas
-Cocoa Nibs, 95% of the time.

Subjective Rating System 3.0:

90-100: My absolute favourite tea. I’ll impulsively buy in large quantities and hoard like a dragon.

85-89: A favourite tea. I’ll try to keep this one around when it’s practical.

76-84: A good tea, but not one I’m likely to order again.

70-75: Alright, but I may have a few problems with quality, consistency, ingredient chemistry and/or personal preferences.

50-69: Average to mediocre cup.

11-49: Varying levels of undrinkable tea. I don’t give a lot of these ratings out, since I tend to grab tea I know will appeal to me.

1-10: Nightmare tea from the chaos realms. This tea is the embodiment of the primordial swamp, the unholy abomination that is a chimera. It’s very gross and I’m almost positive it doesn’t exist.

Location

BC, Canada

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