10238 Tasting Notes
This is a throwback for all the long time Steepster users, but the cup I just steeped of this tea is giving me MAJOR “Flowery Pineapple Oolong” vibes in the best way. Really similar sticky, slightly overripe pineapple notes (the kind with juice that runs down your chin) and floral green oolong flavours – but just a little bit softer. It’s smooth, summery and also relaxing and calm. I don’t really taste the ginger in here, but I’m also not minding its absence while I revel in this pineapple profile.
Gongfu!
It’s shou season!!! My September tea club from W2T arrived a few days ago!! I had to sacrifice one dragon ball to the gaiwan Gods now, while I let the others rest after their long journey through the post – I picked the 2020 Prosbloom mini as a tea session sacrifice earlier in the week. This shou is THICK and coating, with an almost wine-y berry note mixed with deep earthy undergrowth, roasted chicory, and oat notes. It’s not an immediate favourite, but the dense and syrupy liquor and notes of potting soil are very cozy, and a lovely way to wind down for the evening!
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CFQZX9WAxvZ/
Look at that dark AF liquor colour!!
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywD3IJ2G8KA&ab_channel=TroiIrons
Cold Brew!
Came home from work yesterday with my head in a fog, and a sore back/migraine. Really I just wasn’t in the mood to do anything and I also wanted something really cool that would be hydrating. I looked at the two cold brews in my fridge that I’d started before I left in the morning, and one was an instant “nope” for my mood. However, this one seemed PERFECT and it was!!
That mix of sweet and refreshing spearmint and soft and peaceful florals like jasmine were exactly what I needed. I drew the curtains, turned off the lights and curled up in bed with a tumbler of my strained cold brew and just took big sips in and out of resting/sleeping and I felt better – more relaxed, more calm, and less sore/tense. When I woke up this morning, I felt like a million bucks.
So glad I had this tea on hand, and that I’d had the forethought to brew two very different flavour profiles in the morning.
Had a pretty busy day yesterday, but made sure to make time in the morning for this Coffee Flower tisane for #SeptemberSipdown today!! The prompt was to “point and spin around” & drink whatever tea from your stash you landed on, but my tea stash isn’t ideally set up for that so instead I did the point/spin to land on a drawer of samples and then picked the tea on the top of the pile. Even though I had no idea what to expect from this tea, I reeeaaalllyyyy didn’t expect something that smelled and tasted so distinctly like a mix of fresh out of the oven, sweet & yeasty brown bread and sourdough starter!! It was really weird, but also super unique and tasty and I would totally recommend it for the experience of trying something to out of the ordinary!
This was my first tea of the day this morning!
The #SeptemberSipdown prompt for the day was a teabag that you’ve taken from a hotel, but I’ve never taken a teabag from a hotel before so to keep in the spirit of the prompt I went with a teabag that I’ve taken from my office. I don’t have many teabags I’ve nabbed over the last few years, because if I’m going to grab tea from work it tends to me LLT, but this is one of probably about four different sachets I’ve stock piled over time…
It was a nice mug – I loved this tea when it initially came out as part of the Wellness Collection (in 2019), but I didn’t get nearly enough LLT for myself so I grabbed these sachets because it was the only available format I could get this tea in at the time. It did recently make a reappearance with a Cold & Defense collection this year though, so I’ve since topped up my LLT tin with some fresh tea.
It’s just a nice soothing and coating honey note though with the extra bit of sweetness from the ginseng, that hint of red fruit, and a lovely floral and woody oolong. It all works well for me.
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 cold brew, because I love a good cold brew!
I drank this one while watching a new TV show – but I can’t tell you what TV show because it’s connected to a future Geek Steep podcast episode. I really like having a big ass cold brew for a good binge though – it’s way better than drinking something like soda, and it’s refreshing/hydrating.
I enjoy this tea a lot, but to be honest it fell off my radar for a while and it’s been a bit since I last enjoyed it. I thought this brew was excellent though because it really capitalized on that sweet and juicy strawberry note that I think DT does so well (you see it in blend like Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait and Strawberry Moringa) while also leaning pretty heavily into more of those botanical flavours, like the pine-y juniper berries and herbaceous nettle, that really keep is differentiated from more of the juicy red fruit profiles carried. I adore a good mix of sweet fruits and savory herbs! I find this to be just such a delightfully balanced mix of those two – and with the intensity of the juniper I do really get the gin inspiration as well.
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.
Cold Brew!
From last week… I think!? Working from home makes day blur together more than they used to before, and that was already pretty substantial in this pandemic landscape.
I love this as a cold brew, but I pushed this brew really far this time by letting it steep for around twelve hours – I think we advertise this as fully steeping in like two hours in the fridge. So, suffice to say that this brew was an intense one! Sweet and puckering sour strawberry and raspberry notes, with a Swedish Berry type of undertone. So yummy!
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.
Crazy morning today! I’m working from home and fielding a bunch of different cross department type things, but also it’s officially a week from when the podcast I’ve been working on for the last few months officially launches!!
More details, and also a sneak peak for Steepster friends, here:
https://steepster.com/discuss/42133-geek-steep-a-new-tea-and-fandom-podcast
I’m drinking mostly bagged teas this morning – in part because of the September Sipdown prompt but also because they’re fast and easy in a very chaotic morning of managing all these different things! Plus, this is honestly the best butterscotch flavour that I’ve ever had in any tea and while I’m sometimes annoyed that this delicious flavour is on a bagged tea instead of something loose leaf, today I’m very appreciative of having such a delicious bagged option!
Sipdown (1076)!
I wasn’t really sold on the “Baklava” profile this time around – perhaps because I’ve very recently had some seriously good baklava! The cup was still nice though, with a really strong and thick floral/rose and pistachio profile, with honey notes. Almost more of an intensely flavoured Turkish Delight vibe!?
Thank you VariaTEA for sharing!
I don’t know why, but in my head I was sure that this was supposed to be an Earl Grey Cream type of profile. It didn’t taste like that at all, so I am glad that I was wrong because I was about to be all “Uhhh… definitely missed the mark”. As it stands, I think it only slightly missed the mark from it’s intended flavour. What it does get right is that very lovely sweet and creamy coconut profile – this is basically just a smooth and silk vanilla coconut and it was lovely! I didn’t really taste any of the other advertised flavours, but as a stand alone coconut tea I’m into it!
