10238 Tasting Notes
Another one I pulled from the 52Teas sample box…
I don’t like the dry leaf smell of this one; it’s too intense and comes off as very harshly perfumed. Like walking into a fog of assorted perfumes when you go through the Perfume section of The Bay, but with just a hint of citrus.
However, the tea steeps out fine! Much more smooth, and a more rounded and coating orange flavour that reminds me of very natural orange oils from the rind. A little bergamot-ish, as well. Which is still citrus; just “hearty citrus” if you will. I get hints of ginger, which add a nice depth to the flavour without detracting from the central thick orange notes. The thickness works well for the idea of a “glaze” IMO, and I appreciate that glaze hasn’t just meant “sweet/sugary”. I don’t really taste date? Nor do I particularly get cake – but I still enjoyed the tea after I’d steeped myself up a mug.
Had this one yesterday morning. I just have all my new 52Teas samples in a box right now, and have been randomly pulling out samples during the work day and if it’s a caffeinated tea I brew it up. If it’s caffeine free, it goes back in the box for now…
This was nice! I always find it just a little weird to drink Candy Cane teas outside of Winter, even though I don’t find it weird to drink mint teas outside of Winter. Weird how commercial marketing messes with your mind like that. Nice medium-ish intensity sweet mint though with hints of chocolate. I wish there was more body to the tea, and a bit of texture to the mouthfeel – not richer/sweeter, because that level is good, but just a burlier black tea base. This is VERY smooth, but almost to a point where it comes off as a touch flat. Still enjoyed it though!
I’m almost through my pouch of this, from my group order with VariaTEA and Sil, already – it’s quickly become an Autumn favourite of mine, in particular for later in the evening when I want something rich and cozy but also sweet and spicy with that kind of warmth that you feel deep in your chest that softens you from the inside out. It’s rare that I fall for a ginger tea so hard, but the mild maple notes and mixed red berry flavours with that tickle-y ginger really have captured me.
I’ve had mixed success with Dessert By Deb so far, though I did just order a bag of each of the new teas from her most recent “Fall-ish” collection. This is the only one I’ve found so far though that I’d order again – and in fact, I did order it again. Can’t wait for my new bag of it to arrive!
Gongfu!
Short tea break with over lunch!! Thanks VariaTEA for introducing me to your way of randomizing tea selections; you can probably now expect to get random messages when I can’t decide what to drink on work from home days. To be honest this sample was long forgotten at the bottom of my sample drawer so it was nice to be prompted to dig it out!! It steeped nicely; thick liquor with autumnal leaf, pithy lemon, and caramelized sugar notes and an astringent backbone. I possibly overloaded my gaiwan a bit, but good session overall! I do definitely prefer the black tea version of this material, though.
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFcqGkNgMDu/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63XrGNzURBM&ab_channel=HalfMoonRun
I drank a full mug of this in like five minutes during a meeting yesterday, and yet I remember literally nothing about it. In my mind, I could have literally just been drinking hot water. It was there, and it was caffeinated so it at least served some purpose… but damn forgettable.
Sipdown (104)!
For some reason, in my head, I remembered liking this a lot more than it seems I did based on my last review. In reality, I think my experience with this cup was just about the same thing. Not an unpleasant tea, and very accurate to the super sweet and artificial strawberry, orange, and “pineapple” generic Easter jellybeans. Unfortunately, as accurate as it is, those jelly beans you get at Easter with the thick candy/sugar coating are pretty waxy and not super great tasting after you’ve had one or two. So, this was nice for the first few sips and then just a bit too much.
Glad to have sipped down the sample.
Cold Brew!
Normally I would skip past a green tea offering like this, but I guess I have the maturity of a twelve year old because I saw the name, snickered, and decided that I needed to try it. It’s certainly not bad, but definitely not really the tea for me – just too much grassy green tea and not enough melon to compensate. I do really like the watermelon flavour in this tea a lot though – it reminds me heavily of “A Papaya in the Watermelon Patch” but just a little bit lighter/more thin. It’s possible it’s the same watermelon flavouring…
Would recommend this for green tea and melon fans as a light, refreshing take on melon.
Cold Brew Sipdown (105)!
Finished this one off this afternoon while working from home; it was nice to revisit it over the summer since it had been so long since I last had it. The aroma will always get me for this one; it just smells SO GOOD. Sadly, like my first experiences with it years and years ago, I just don’t think that the flavour ever comes close to being as tasty for me as the smell is. It’s still very nice; sweet red fruit, and hints of generic melon. I’m glad to have finished off my small sample though – one less tea taking up space is my already VERY overfilled sample drawer.
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.
Another new Chai!
This was supposed to launch with the other Chai teas at the end of last week, but it was just slightly delayed & I’m not really sure why – not my department, haha. I think it might still not be on the US site? Should be soon though, it’s not Canada exclusive even though it is web exclusive.
Like Butterscotch Chai, this is the kind of tea name that would make me super curious to try the tea even though I don’t typically drink Chai. It sounds delicious! I immediately picture sweet sweet, buttery pastry, and either a creamy vanilla or tangy cream cheese frosting! Sadly, this doesn’t live up exactly to the image I’ve built up in my head – there’s not really much of a buttery/pastry kind of note and despite there being white chocolate in the blend (labelled as cocoa butter chips) I don’t actually really taste them. Instead I think they just contribute to the overall sweetness, and leave that melted down chocolate oiliness around the rim of the mug…
What the blend does get really right is the cinnamon! If you were a fan of Cinnamon Rooibos Chai, The Spice is Right, or Glitter Chai then this is definitely going to be your cup of tea – it’s the same sweet and intense hot cinnamon flavour, but paired with an oolong base. There are other spices in the blend, but aside from the slightest hint of clove I don’t really taste them either. This is really all about the cinnamon and, I mean, that’s fair – I expect cinnamon to be the strongest spice in a Cinnamon Bun tea; I just wish I got more of the other elements.
Good Chai/Cinnamon tea? Check! Accurate name? Ehhh…
Of course – just my own opinion, and as a non-spice lover/spice baby it’s probably not the most informed one. So I always like to read what other people think. Maybe this just isn’t my perfect Cinnamon Bun tea.
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.
From yesterday’s #SeptemberSipdown prompt…
The prompt was to drink a tea sourced from India, and my first thought was that I definitely had options but nothing I was super excited about – and then I remember I had this fucking INCREDIBLE Darjeeling that I could make! So I had a cup of this for the prompt, and just marveled in the delicious fresh and sweet Spring florals and sugar snap pea flavours that took me back to crisp and cool summer mornings helping my Grandma in her garden after an evening thunderstorm. So nostalgic!
