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Day 2 of the DAVID’s Tea advent calendar!

I decided to give this one a go as a latte, which I feel was the right choice. Even so, this one wasn’t a winner for me. Even as a latte, a lot of oil floated to the top and it really had an earthy vibe that I couldn’t get into. Once the top oil was sipped away it got significantly better, but still nothing to write home about. Still an earthy vibe with strong coffee notes in the aftertaste and a hint of white chocolate. I do wish this was a little sweeter; I even considered adding sugar but decided against it. I can’t say I’m surprised really — I’m not really a fan of coffee or maté.

First day of the 24 Days of Tea. Of course it would be the only tea from the entire advent calendar that I know I truly hate. However, I’m determined not to finish this year’s calendar months later so I brewed up a big teapot of the entire sample.

This was not as bad as last year. Mostly putting that down to the fact that I vastly reduced the steep time. Getting the mint and the chocolate with a hint of creaminess, but it’s just not what I want. Still not great, but tolerable. Boosting my rating.

Tried this hot for the first time. Pretty much the same flavours as hot, I just think they work better as an iced tea. Still, not as bad as I was expecting (hot grapefruit didn’t sound terribly appealing, but I figured I’d give it a try).

Sometimes I question why I bought 100g of this but it really does make a killer latte. The oolong base was standing out a little more than it has in the past and the coconut was a lot more muted (probably case I made enough concentrated tea for two lattes but there wasn’t really room for that much tea to expand so the coconut that floated to the top wasn’t really in the water by the end of it…). No complaints from me though — I’d take oolong over coconut any day.

Side note: I brewed the tea up in a glass measuring cup so I got a chance to properly look at the liquid before adding milk for the first time. It looks like soup stock, ew. Would seriously be questioning anyone who gave me this black.

Despite the fact that it should’ve been ridiculously obvious, I didn’t clue into the fact that this has fennel until after I bought it. Considering, it’s actually really good. Nice balance of spices. Might actually buy again.

Picked up some of this yesterday. I’ll admit it’s a little on the pricey side, but I’m a sucker for a good oolong.

This is quite good, though I probably wouldn’t stock up on it considering the price (it’d definitely be a good pick if you had a frequent steeper reward lying around. The initial sip is far more like a black tea than I was expecting — with rich grain and honey notes — but the aftertaste is 100% juicy plum with the perfect amount of sourness to the skin (also could be likened to those small, tart grapes or a gooseberry). I enjoy things that give a bit of a pucker to the mouth, so I’m loving this. Will certainly enjoy what I have.

Good as always. A little heavy on the coconut today.

Sadly my tastes have changed a bit since I first had this and this is now a little sweet for me (it used to be one of my favourites). I might finish off what I have iced as I tend to prefer my iced teas a little on the sweeter side. Strong pineapple and pear notes in today’s cup. It’s still a nice tea but I’m dropping my rating slightly.

Shout out to my boyfriend for saving the day today. Our buzzer is linked to his phone so when he got home (right after me) I told him to make sure he had it with him in case Purolator came by with my DAVIDs Tea order. His response was “oh, Purolator was downstairs when I came in” checks phone “and there’s a missed call from the lobby.” He then promptly ran downstairs and managed to flag the delivery guy down and get my package!

As for this tea, I got it to up my order to the $50 needed for free shipping. In hindsight I should’ve just got more Swampwater, especially since my boyfriend has developed a taste for it and my supply is rapidly dwindling. Ah well. The cherry in this is expectedly artificial (think sour cherry blasters at best and Halls at worst) and the base is nothing special, overpowered by the cherry, and becomes bitter easily. It did seem a bit better as it cooled so maybe I’ll give it a go iced next. Not unbearable, but nothing I need to have cluttering up my cupboard.

I’ve never really been a fan of Tim Hortons’ teas or Earl Greys so my hopes weren’t high for this one. Overall though this is one of the best teas I’ve had from Timmies (which isn’t saying much), probably because it tastes nothing like Earl Grey. Actually the only really distinct note I got was a hint of anise, which was rather unexpected. However, since the all around flavour was pretty mild this wasn’t so bad. If I had to get something at Tim’s this is a pretty safe bet.