New Tasting Notes

TTB. I love hojicha, and feel like it’s so under-utilized in flavored blends. The idea of a vanilla pear hojicha sounded absolutely mouthwatering. This is an absolutely lovely hojicha- roast and comforting. The vanilla is very subtle, and I’m not picking up on any pear.

Once upon a time, I bought a set of tiny flavor concentrates/extracts that are used to make candy and similar. One of the flavors in that bunch was Brandy. This is the first thing I noticed when I opened the packet of Leatherbound. In fact I still had the little bottle of the brandy flavor in my drawer. Comparing the two, they are not identical, but wow it seems really close.

I think the first thing I had to come to terms with in Leatherbound is its all about the experience. Not the flavors so much as how it makes you feel I guess.

The name is very apt. In my mind I see a well worn oversized overstuffed leather chair. You know one of those where the leather has turned all soft and comfortable and its big enough for two people if you don’t mind snuggling Its in a big room in dark wood paneling filled with bookshelves (and LOTS of books) that go something like 12ft high. There are small lamps by the chairs, but otherwise the lighting is dim. There are large windows with heavy drapes that look out to a cold, gray, and rainy day. Somewhere nearby, someone is smoking a pipe. You know how pipe tobacco has a smell all of its own.

My first repose is, OMG I want to live there for the rest of my life! I don’t have a dream house, I just have a dream room, and the paragraph above describes it almost perfectly.

So, lets get down to flavor.

I find it funny how taste perception can vary so much from person to person. Its either been so long since I have smelled or tasted rye bread (or any bread for that matter) that I might not be able to recognize it if it were shoved into my face. So I don’t get any bread vibes or caraway vibes for that matter. Given caraway is in the ingredient list, I find that surprising.

Two steeps, multiple sessions in the microwave (because I can’t stand cold tea unless its iced), and I cannot detect any astringency or bitterness. The cacao flavor is very mild and doesn’t seem to stand out very much.

What I keep going back to is that brandy extract/flavoring, which drags me back to that room with that comfy overstuffed leather chair. Oh and there is a fireplace. There needs to be a fireplace. Not because I can detect smoke, but because rooms like that just need big stone fireplaces. Oh and there’s a bottle of brandy on a side table with some glasses, because its necessary for a room like that as well.

I should note: You don’t really notice the tea base with Leatherbound. Its not that its being over powered (I’m looking at you Market Spice!), but how much do you notice the canvas of an oil painting. Its a vital component, but it doesn’t stand out on its own. At least to my current tastes.

I was intrigued to see this very old tea in my package from Derk. Thanks for the sample, which may sadly reflect some of the older teas in my own collection. I followed the instructions on Steepster and brewed 2 teaspoons in a 355 ml mug at 185F for 2, 4, 6, and 8 minutes.

Dry, the tea smells like orange blossom and old-lady perfume, with a strong tinge of alcohol. The first steep has some nice flavours of orange, orange blossom, flowers, malt, wood, and spice, though these are unfortunately overwhelmed by perfume and decaying lawn clippings. This tea is like Constant Comment if it became a zombie. I went through three more cups of this tea, which grew maltier and more tannic but never lost that perfumey quality.

I won’t rate this tea due to its age, as I’m sure it would have been much more enjoyable fresh. As is, it’s a warning to drink my Indian and Nepali teas before they taste like something that should have been laid to rest long ago.

TTB. Really solid black tea. Tastes like a berry danish- notes of berries, and baked bread. Glad I got to try it!

Iced Tea Sipdown (274)

Finished this one off yesterday. It was pretty spot on for a pina colada, which was nice but also seemed odd given the cooler weather.

Hello, fellow Steepsters! It’s great to be back! I posted my last review 10 months ago. I don’t need to tell you what a crazy year this has been. I hope you all are staying safe and healthy. One of the personal consequences of the pandemic was it pushed me into full retirement when my employer laid off/furloughed 90 percent of the staff in March. I was already semi-retired so I’m enjoying the extra free time and not complaining. Now, onto the reason I am here…

I read about this tea on the Harney & Sons website. I was somewhat fascinated by its history. To quote the Harney folks:

“Amba Thieves Tea is handmade brisk black tea with a storied past. Years ago, all tea had to go to the owners. However some ladies plucked the tea and then made a crude and strong black tea in their hut. They were ‘Thieves.’”

The tea was highly rated on the website and sold at a reasonable price. For these reasons, I was moved to order a one pound bag of the blend.

When I opened up the bag, the aroma was full and rich and obviously a blend of several players. The short brown and black tea leaves were without uniformity and really did resemble leaves “plucked” from an agglomeration of black teas.

I steeped the leaves for five minutes at 212 degrees. The finished product had a color like dark molasses. The smoking smell was quite pronounced and pleasant, but indiscernible as a specific ceylon black tea.

The flavor of this blend is fabulous, with both sweet and fruity attributes. It is robust and full-bodied. It has everything that I hope for in a black tea. Astringency is little to none. The aftertaste is amiable without lingering bitterness.

This is an excellent tea that I intend to add to my morning black tea rotation. It matters nothing to me that I can’t be blindfolded and identify the origin and composition of this terrific concoction.

This was a sample I received from AQ2T with another order. It’s obviously a few years old since the company is no longer in business, so I expect the flavor won’t be quite as strong as it once was.

It is slightly floral, slightly astringent. Still flavorful, surprisingly enough. It’s not one I would order even if I had the opportunity but it’s nice to try as a sample.

TTB. Quite light, fruity, and fresh. Tastes like a white nectarine. A bit floral. Hibiscus isn’t overpowering and compliments the blend nicely.

TTB. Smells like honey flavoring, which I like. Tastes like licorice, stevia, and rooibos…which I don’t like.

This is so delicious. I totally get both peach and creme brulee from this. The flavoring is done so well. The black tea tastes a little old, but I got it from a tea box, so that may be the case. So yeah, I absolutely love the flavoring here, but the base isn’t great.

TTB. Smells strongly of blueberry, and is nice and creamy. There’s a strong buttery flavor going on. The blueberry is nice, there’s just too much hibiscus and the tartness is odd against the buttery/creamy yogurt.

I just LOVE the weather right now in Canada. I’ve been spending my free time this Autumn foraging for edible fungi and crunching colourful fallen leaves (paired with some tea, obviously). Yesterday I brought my travel gongfu set and a thermos of water with me to enjoy this refreshing silver needle outside, the perfect liquid companion!

It’s been a while since I’ve sipped a good jasmine tea, and despite my love of these delicate flowers, a jasmine-white blend has somehow eluded my cupboards. Although I often prefer an oolong base, I must admit that the silver needle’s profile blends harmoniously with the hazy, heady perfume of jasmine flowers. Right from the first infusion I felt immediately more relaxed and lulled into what I can only describe as a waking-dream state. A masterful scenting process is apparent and truly pales in comparison to essential oil additives. The liquor has a delicate colour, but thick and lubricating with a rich and complex aftertaste of mixed fruits and jasmine petals. Lush lush lush.

The dry aroma of this tea is so strong, fresh and moslty of cashnew and chesnuts. I would not expect it is tea from April 2015; but it is and it’s Best Before date is April 2018. Though old… thank you White Antlers!

I was preparing it grandpa, but well… 5 grams were too much and while pouring (I thought it is for liquids only) it a big chunk just released and my cup of thermos I used instead of bowl, was full with tea. It was hard to spill it back to the pouch. So I think that about another 5 grams were dumped.

Anyway, back to the tea… 5 grams and 82°C water (I measured this time!), volume was 300 ml and well it was too strong, especially brewing grandpa. It turned out quite bitter with vegetal notes. Certainly past its prime time, moreover my preparation method wasn’t the most clever one. I have still lots of to try so won’t rate this time. I noticed as well the minerality, but hey so strong as those previous notes.

Need to re-try and with less leaf

I had cancelled my B&B subscription for awhile, but decided to renew this month after I saw the lists of teas that would be included October-December.
I actually didn’t realize sloe gin was a thing, and had to do some research. Always love learning new things through tea!
As for the tea- love! It’s nice and smoky, but the elderberry is still the most dominant flavor. There’s a bit of ginger peeking through as well. The smokiness and bold berry work so well together.

Inoffensive, quaffable black tea. Not much of any taste, but far from bland. I won’t get it again because it hints at tastes I get more of in other black teas. But it’s still really drinkable.

Slowly making my way through catching up on tasting notes…

This was a new matcha from last Friday’s collection – definitely one of the more unique ones that have come out in a while, though I think all the matcha this year has been pretty solid. Well, except for Bubble Gum Matcha – I wasn’t a huge fan of that one. I feel like this is almost as far away from a Bubble Gum Matcha that you can get, though!

It’s not as out there as Kale Matcha (I did like that one though), but this matcha has some cool ingredients – including both ginger powder and apple cider vinegar powder. As such, there’s some kick to it! Both in terms of ginger heat/tickle in the back of your throat as well as some tang from the ACV powder. So, it’s really appropriately named in my opinion. I know that Ginger is associated with digestion, and I know that ACV has a TON of associated wellness benefits too – but I don’t really care about any of them on a personal level at all. I just get excited whenever we’re carrying a new ingredient in a tea blend, and as someone who loves vinegar in just about every form I love the flavour in this tea too! The apple just tastes fresh, zingy and crisp. It reminds me a little bit of hard ciders in pubs after long shifts at work – but just a bit healthier/without the hangovers.

Things of note, at least in my opinion – this is a sweetened matcha but it is considerably less sweetened than the typical flavoured matcha from DT so don’t expect that same level of sweetness from the blend. I’m not actually sure what steeping recommendations we’re putting on the web labels for this one, in terms of matcha spoon amount, but my personal preference is to use just a TINY bit more than what I would typically use for a straight matcha. If you dose this one heavily, like a flavoured matcha, you’re in for a world of hurt because the flavour of this one can get INTENSE!

Also – you can’t really make this one into a latte and honestly, even if you could, I can’t really picture the flavour translating well with milk. I like it hot and plain or hot with honey, but it’s okay iced too. A coworker tried it as a tea pop the other day and enjoyed it made that was as well, for what it’s worth.

It takes a lot to get me on board with intense ginger flavours, but I think in this case my love of apple cider vinegar outweighs my complicated relationship with ginger.

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGPzBvfA-pK/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUxT5FrpOL8&ab_channel=Bobbing-Topic

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.

Sipdown (275)

This was always meh to me. Not really white chocolate. Not really pumpkin. Mostly just chai. An ok chai at that. So A+ for concept since this screams “Fall” to me, but the execution isn’t really what I want it to be.

Happy belated Canadian Turkey Day, Steepster friends! :)

I had this one on Thanksgiving, with a special “treat yourself” breakfast I ordered in for myself – blueberry pancakes with English cream! Very rich/decadent, but it was the only thing I did special for the holiday so I gave myself a pass.

I couldn’t remember if I’d had this tea or not – it tasted familiar. Looks like I haven’t though. I enjoyed it, one of the better teas from Pudtea IMO. The apple was light to medium bodied, and a bit more of a baked apple than a fresh apple flavour which does make sense for a “crumble” profile. There’s fudge in this blend, which carries through into the steeped tea in the form of both oiliness and sweetness and while the oily mouthfeel would probably have usually bothered me I didn’t mind it as much with my already very rich/sticky breakfast.

The one thing in the blend that kind of through me for a loop was that it has a very “red hot” cinnamon flavour in the undertone – like Valentine’s Day candies. I didn’t expect it, and it did break the illusion of a baked apple/pastry profile for me. I feel like it was meant to be the more warm and buttery soft cinnamon that’s in so many pastries but that the wrong type was used, resulting in the blend being unbalanced. I got used to it, but the blend would be better served without it IMO.

I just added this to my cupboard but to be honest it was a tiny amount of tea to begin with and I have had it before so now there is only about a serving left. I made lattes with whipped cream and sprinkles for my husband and myself tonight and this was super good for that.

My lattes for two are generally made thus: twenty ounces milk and three tablespoons sugar heated and three teaspoons tea added. If the tea blend is full of pieces of dried fruit or chips or something, I will add a little extra or make sure the spoon is heaping. Heat (but not to boiling) and leave it at least six minutes but preferably ten. As long as the milk is good and hot you can turn off the burner for the last bit of steeping.

Strain into two mugs and top with whipped cream. My husband really loves sprinkles so I add those cuz he is a nice guy.

This tea has been here for a while. It was a gift to my daughter and she never got around to trying it, but in spite of its age it had great flavor still and nothing had gone “off.” This is something I would definitely consider repurchasing just for cold weather treats. The tea and the spices both come through nice and strong and really since it has so much flavor I could cut back on the sugar. If the blend is heavy on “pieces” rather than tea leaves and flavoring, it sometimes needs that bit of extra sugar to make it flavorful.

Thank you VariaTEA for sharing this tea with me!

Weirdness of the tea name aside, this was pretty good. To be honest, it’s definitely majority hibiscus so the taste is very intense and leans quite tart – but there’s a bit of berry too from the elderberry so it’s not exactly like just drinking pure hibiscus. Not my favourite – I prefer some of the other blends I’ve had from this company. Happy I tried it though, and more enjoyable that I had expected the ingredients list!

Something I drank earlier this morning…

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before with this tea, but my Grandma used to keep a jar of dried apricots in her pantry that she would give us to snack on when we were kids visiting her house. Hell, she might still keep one in her pantry – it’s been so long since I was last there that I don’t know if she does or not. I remember that whether or not they tasted good was directly correlated with how recently she had filled the jar. Well, this cup was like drinking a mug of those really good and more juicy/fresh apricots from a newly topped up jar. Very yummy – and it’s been a while since I last had an apricot tea, let alone one as nice as this one!

It’s been a minute since I last had this one, but I guess I was feeling oolong teas this morning because that’s basically exclusively what I drank for my first half of the day. This was very good – creamy and sweet winter mint and vanilla. A little less floral green oolong base tea than I recall my last cup having, but I did let it steep for a long time so perhaps the flavouring just outweighed the taste of the tea in this case. Delicious, as always though!