T Kettle

Edit Company

Recent Tasting Notes

Sipped this one last night over an evening of playing Among Us with some IG tea friends!

As far as I can tell, this one isn’t a recreation of any DT profiles and is actually a more “unique to T Kettle” profile. In quotations because it’s not like strawberry green teas, even this cakey/creamy strawberry green profile, are a new discovery – but I do appreciate that it’s not a mirror of something DT is doing, and I feel like it helps me actually get a better sense of what T Kettle’s style might be.

I was surprised by how much I liked this one – the smell is a bit artificial, like those “Strawberry Shortcake” scented dolls from the 90s that smelled like chemical strawberries and plastic. However, it doesn’t steep that way which was a huge relief! I mean, it’s still pretty artificial tasting – but not plastic/chemical. More the type of artificial of the mass produced grocery store cakes with the thick buttercream frosting that tastes really good for the first three or four bites and then if a bit too much.

In this circumstance, that very thick frosting note actually works really well for the profile they’re going for! I taste the fondant-like vanilla and rich creamy profiles mixed with a sweet and creamy strawberry and even without the name I know that what they’re going for is either a strawberry cake or a strawberries and cream sort of vibe. I also like that it’s thick and rich without being super sweet/cloying. Unlike those grocery store cakes that I can’t finish a slice of, I could easily finish the mug of this!

You for sure have to accept that (despite the use of natural flavouring) none of the flavours actually “taste natural” but if you’re willing to go down that round, it totally tastes like the namesake.

Mastress Alita

I always called that chemical strawberry plastic smell “little girl pink things smell”, hahaha. I’ve even found books at the library scented with that crap.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

So, this is basically DT’s Throat Rescue…

Of course, the idea behind Throat Rescue is not unique to DT (far from it), but as I talked about in my note for T Kettle’s “Strawberry Fondue” there is definitely a difference between tea companies having similar flavour profiles/concepts and what T Kettle has down with the systematic recreation of DT’s core teas – down to spoofing the name, visuals, and ingredients list (including order!) of faaarrrr too many teas for it to be a coincidence.

As a “stand alone” profile/concept, this isn’t really something I would buy for myself. It’s very herbal in flavour while also being quite sweet and cloying with a tea liquor that’s very coating on the palate and throat. However, it’s for all of those reasons that it makes sense as a tea to drink when you have a sore throat – the strong sweetness and coating sensation coupled with soothing mint and ginger are all benefits. Plus, while most of the copy writing on T Kettle’s website feels very clunky to me (mostly just like they’ve not really found their “brand voice” yet) I will say that the line “Wake up feeling like you’ve swallowed sandpaper?” in the tea description is really fun to me. It’s a great way of very evocatively conveying that feeling…

If you are going to compare it to DT’s Throat Rescue – the two are very similar. Even the visual is practically identical if you ignore the few large star anise pieces scattered throughout this tea. I think DT’s is more licorice root forward versus this blend which is more “anise” and while those flavours are similar there IS a difference between them. Personally, I don’t really love either blend that much but I do prefer the taste of anise to licorice root so I would be just slightly more prone to drinking this one. However, I think functionally licorice root is actually the one that’s more beneficial to a sore throat so I guess take that for what you will…

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

This tea has one of my favourite kind of tea names – something conceptual/creative that conveys more of a feeling than a specific flavour or recreation of a food. Is that the most commercial approach to naming your tea? Arguably not – but I find those blends are typically less disappointing on average because you’re not comparing the flavour mentally against an actual thing…

I’ll give you an example…

This tea is very bright, tart and flavourful with really punchy notes of cranberry that remind me of a mix of tart cranberry juice and sweet and tangy cranberry jelly. It’s very autumnal, good hot but clearly would also ice super well. Leans into the natural sweetness of the apple, and the hibiscus boosts those puckering notes and adds body while blending pretty natural to the red fruit vibes. It definitely conveys that feeling of a crisp autumnal day thanks to my mental association with cranberry and Thanksgiving but also the crisp and tart/clean flavour of the cranberry.

Now… What if you called this tea Cranberry Cider?

Well, I wouldn’t be upset at that because cranberry and apple are the main flavours and prominent ingredients – so it makes sense on that level. However, there’s more freedom in how you would interpret that. Is a Cranberry Cider sweet or tart? Both? What is the balance there. Should I get more apple or should I get more cranberry? Is it boozy? Spiced? I’m definitely not saying it wouldn’t work under that name and I think, arguably, it’s a more commercial name – but there’s also just a higher potential for it to not match my mental idea of what that tea should taste like.

Anyway – all that to say that I did really enjoy this one and the name is cool. It’s possibly my favourite so far other than maybe Strawberry Fondue. The flavour is simple but well executed and it reminds me a lot of Cranberry Purifier – which is another cranberry tea I adore a lot from Tea Squared. In general, I think, I just have a strong preference for cranberry teas.

Silent Kettle

You’re so right! The name of this tea really caught my attention. And I agree, sometimes when I order tea and it has a name comparing it to a food, I always expect it to taste like a blended up version of that food, instead of like a tea, lol!

And this actually sounds like something I would like! I will look into getting it!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Something I snuck in earlier in the week on a day I got through my advents pretty quickly…

I feel like this might be a Metropolitan Tea Company catalog blend or, possibly, a slight variation on one? I’m not 100% sure though – I just have this nagging feeling I’ve seen it under their label years ago, but I could totally be wrong. Also there’s nothing wrong with it being a catalog blend (if I’m right) – just pointing it out because I find it interesting/it’s always nice having the option to shop for the same tea from multiple locations because then you can shop more competitively/conveniently/economically if you enjoy the tea.

I liked this one quite a bit for the ingredients list – smooth and cozy without too much aggression or intensity behind the flavours. It’s sort of a sweet and coating baked apple flavour first, followed by that “red hot” cinnamon note, ginger, clove, and a tiny bit of cardamom. There’s also hibiscus in the blend, but it mostly boosts the apple flavour, adds body, and contributes to the sort of “mulling spice” vibe of the whole tea.

Nothing really unique to this tea IMO – but nothing off either, and it’s a good festive flavour combination that feels really appropriate for the name/time of year. You could easily make a large teapot of this and it would be super shareable with family.

Mastress Alita

It’s the Metro Tea Co. blend called “Mercedes Apple Spice”.

Roswell Strange

Ah, thank you! I knew I wasn’t crazy for remembering that :)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

drank Papa Don't Peach by T Kettle
15575 tasting notes

Fun name…

Can’t tell if this is meant to be Peach Zing or if it’s just a general ginger peach. I’m gonna give them the benefit of the doubt here, and say it’s just a more standard ginger peach profile…

It’s nice, but not nearly as magical as Peach Zing is to me. Probably because the taste is more focused on the ginger than the peach – and it’s a fine ginger with some tickle to it and a nice amount of warmth that rises from the chest outwards. I definitely wanted more peach from the tea, and a juicier peach as well but what is present is pretty nice; more of a “baked peach” and subtle peach flavour. Apple-y as well, which isn’t surprising because able is the first ingredient here and is very present in the dry leaf appearance/mix. Also get a tinge of tartness from the hibiscus, but barely.

A nice ginger peach, but pretty standard imo.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

drank Candy Cane Lane by T Kettle
15575 tasting notes

So, this is a catalog tea blend carried by The Metropolitan Tea Company.

I’ve definitely seen it before/tried it under other company’s names/branding. I actually like it a fair bit, and it makes sense to me why this would be something that T Kettle would want to add to their holiday line up. It’s very smooth, medium bodied with a hint of creaminess and a pleasant peppermint note. If you were wanting to compare it to DT’s Santa’s Secret or Candy Cane Crush then I think the most accurate way to do so would be to call it the “inbetween” of those two blends. It’s not as light as Santa’s Secret/doesn’t have the same vanilla note but it’s also not nearly as sweet and intense tasting as Candy Cane Crush. For me personally, I like Candy Cane Crush best but I think I do slightly prefer this to Santa’s Secret.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

drank Dublin Dreams by T Kettle
15575 tasting notes

I like the idea behind this tea – an Irish Cream/Caramel with the cute little four leaf clover and golden sprinkles sounds really fun, even if I don’t usually like sprinkles in my tea. This also seems to be a “unique” blend that T Kettle is carrying – not an obvious replication of anything from DT… So, my expectations were a little higher.

It’s a fine tasting tea, but honestly I don’t think it does what it was trying to. It’s sweet, for sure, and a bit creamy but it neither tastes particularly of Irish Cream or caramel. What it reminds me of is fondant – definitely that sweet doughy kind of quality. I think it’s partially from the black tea base though; it’s just malty/bread-y in a way that plays up those flavour notes. It’s also just a bit astringent, but I actually found myself relieved there was astringency to break up/add more character to the otherwise pretty one note flavour.

I feel like, with experimentation or maybe some additions like milk, this could be a nice tea – but for me it was a little too simple, without the accuracy of the described flavours.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

drank Meta-Boost by T Kettle
15575 tasting notes

So, this appears to be the T Kettle version of DT’s “Lemon Cayenne Cleanse”. Pretty similar blends, even in appearance, though some really small differences in the ingredients list – like the inclusion of green tea in the T Kettle one…

Without doing a direct side by side taste comparison, I would say this is a pretty good replication. It’s bright and citrusy with just that right amount of pith coming through, and a nice kick of heat from the chili peppers. Hard to know if it was just ingredient ratio in the cup that I steeped up, but I feel like this is maybe a little spicier than the DT blend. I like both of them – Lemon Cayenne Cleanse is a blend I keep stocked up, and is obviously much more easily accessible to me personally, but this is something I’d maybe want to have some of on hand if that weren’t the case.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Okay… Many things to note with this one…

To start, I have a long recorded historical dislike of mint flavoured matchas in general so my expectations are low right out of the gate but also very informed by a personal distaste of this flavour combination. Thing two – the bag of this matcha came in my order with a hand written label, and the ingredients on the website/bag don’t seem to be accurate. They simply list peppermint. Clearly this isn’t just peppermint – there’s matcha in it too – but I wish I had more clarity on if it was ground peppermint mixed with the matcha or if it’s a peppermint flavouring…

The colour isn’t great on the matcha – definitely some of the yellowing/browning that note super fresh matcha has. This is where I wish the ingredients was more clear though, because if there’s actually ground up peppermint in the tea as well that would explain away some of that discoloration. It whisks okay – not a lot of clumping, but also not a lot of froth. The smell is… something. Definitely a cooked spinach kind of note…

I really didn’t love the taste of this one, but I think that’s largely personal preference. The matcha doesn’t seem to be great quality as it’s got a bit of a cooked spinach/briney note and some staleness – but most of what I disliked stemmed from the peppermint which I personally found both chalky in taste and a little muddy/herbal. Not as much menthol/crispness or sweetness as the peppermint profiles I do enjoy. I couldn’t tell, based on the taste and mouthfeel, whether it was just weird matcha and not great flavouring or if it was a mix of ground peppermint and matcha.

I would be SUPER curious to see someone else’s opinion on this one. Also, since T Kettle currently only carries one other matcha (a Ceremonial Matcha) I will be very much comparing this one to that matcha once I have a chance to try it.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

drank Unicorn Bliss by T Kettle
15575 tasting notes

So I believe the intention here was to create something similar to the limited edition Unicorn Dreams blend from DT that came out over the summer – but I’ve actually noticed a ton of companies this year who’ve come out with different unicorn blends (like The Necessiteas’ Unicorn Fluff) all around the same time span – so I’ve going to give TK the benefit of the doubt here and assume that we were all just kind of alligned with the same trend/inspiration – which totally does happen.

Plus, when you see bunched up blends from different companies of the same profile coming out in close succession, like what happened this summer with the unicorn blends, it’s actually VERY hard to say who “did it first”. Sometimes people see the same trend in the market at the same time, but also the time span of “concept to steeped cup” can span from months to years. You honestly never really know.

In the case of T Kettle, as a whole, the span/pattern of repetition is too great for that to be the case of their whole assortment – but I’m giving them the credit here for this one…

I actually like the visual of this blend better than Unicorn Dreams anyway – I think it’s cleaner/less chaotic looking than DT’s which has a lot going on. Never really a fan of sprinkles in tea but, and I believe I’ve said this in a Unicorn Dreams tasting note too, with something like a “Unicorn” inspiration I’m more willing to get on board with them. T Kettle uses these super big/round ones with the shimmer in a bunch of blends in different colours – they look a bit like mini gumballs in this blend to me. I was curious about them because I wasn’t sure if they were croquants, which are a sprinkle with a soft & crunchy interior and either a thin candy shell or chocolate exterior. They are not croquants – instead they’re a compressed powder candy, similar to Sweet Tarts/Gobstopper centers.

The taste of this blend was underwhelming for me. I feel like with a “Unicorn” inspired tea you soft of get a license to go really crazy in whatever flavour direction you want. Instead, this was very soft/mildly flavoured with a delicate/thin strawberry note and a tiny pinch of hibiscus – mostly just enough to leave the steeped tea a pale pink colour. There was nothing unpleasant about the taste, but I just wanted a lot more of it.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

drank True North by T Kettle
15575 tasting notes

I believe this is meant to mirror DT’s “Oh Canada” blend – the revamped one, not the OG.

I think it smells quite nice – more of a lighter maple with some nutty and apple-y undertones to the smell. It looks very similar to, including the little maple leaf sprinkles. I had it in a Locktop during a metro ride, and I was definitely taken aback by the level of sweetness. It was a little bit like getting punched in the throat by a Lumberjack or, uhh, someone who works with a lot of maple!? I don’t know – the metaphor got a little away from me.

I had a hard time feeling like that amount of sticky, lingering in your throat sweetness was caused by the maple sugar/sprinkles in the blend alone. Thinking about it, I think it’s partially that but also partially the cinnamon (which was more of that “red hot” cinnamon) and partially the bael nut. Bael nut is not an ingredient I have a strong familiarity with and I had to actually look it up to try and understand why it may have been included in this blend. Based on what I read, it seems like it has a comparable flavour to the round/darker sweetness that Monk Fruit has. That would make sense, because DT’s blend used Monk Fruit…

I think a shorter steep time or less leaf, as well as things like the addition of milk, could temper some of that sweetness – but personally I think I prefer the DT version here because the level of sweetness from the Monk Fruit (which is definitely still pretty sweet) is more manageable for me without those little tweaks.

Mastress Alita

I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK
I sleep all night and I work all day

I cut down trees, I eat my lunch
I go to the lavatory
On Wednesdays I go shopping and have buttered scones for tea~~~

Cameron B.

I cut down trees, I skip and jump
I like to press wildflowers
I put on women’s clothing
And hang around in bars…

Roswell Strange

I feel like there’s a reference here that I’m not understanding XD

ashmanra

Monty Python! :D

Mastress Alita

Oh dear, someone needs to go watch “The Lumberjack Song” on YT, stat!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

So… T Kettle…

This is a new company, that’s basically stepping in and taking over a lot of the retail locations that DAVIDsTEA closed over the summer. Completely separate company; not in any way affiliated with DAVIDsTEA other than the fact they’re opening in old DT locations, and will be sharing the same market. There’s so much that I could say here because if you compare the tea blends on the T Kettle website against DAVIDsTEA’s blends it’ll become incredibly obvious that there was a very deliberate intention of recreating most of DT’s blend as closely as possible. I obviously have some strong opinions about that. I want to make it clear that I know that no company can exactly stake a claim to a “lemon black tea” or a “masala chai” as their creation – but in many cases it was taken a step further here by recreating many of the blends down to the ingredients list and order of the ingredients, name inspirations, and visuals of the teas. Obviously I have a bias. Obviously. But…

I drink tea from dozens of different companies and have for years – long since being a DT employee. I pride myself on my ability to drink a tea and look at it objectively as a consumer without bias. And I want T Kettle to do well – for a few reasons. To start, because I truly believe that the market space for tea is massive and inclusive and has more than enough room for several large tea companys/chains. Secondly, I think a spirit of competitiveness will drive innovation – not just for DT or T Kettle either. The more comparable teas are available on the market, the more a need for new and unique/interesting teas will increase and that makes me excited both as a customer and an employee. Lastly, more tea companies means more tea education and consumer awareness! All awesome things!

But yeah – I have so many thoughts and opinions here that I’m working through right now. So with that said – let the tasting note begin!

Strawberry Fondue is basically a mirror of Chocolate Covered Strawberry from DT – which is that pretty classic chocolate and strawberry profile but on a mate base. I’m a fan of the blend from DT and it turns out I’m a fan of this one too!

I find them actually quite different despite having really similar directions. The DT blend uses a roasted mate and has richer chocolate notes and a more saturated flavour overall. Sometimes an intense flavour is a really nice thing, but in the case of Chocolate Covered Strawberry it does sometimes mean that it can be too cloying depending on my mood. With Strawberry Fondue, the greener mate and milder chocolate notes lean to more of a light to medium bodied profile with more focus on a fresh strawberry note with hints of hibiscus. I believe that at times I would find this thin, but because of the softer flavours I think I would likely be able to turn to this more often. It also steeps a gorgeous soft red colour.

So far, it is my favourite T Kettle blend I’ve tried.

(I’m choosing, at least for now, to not give a numeric rating – I’m trying very hard here to be unbiased, but being very honest with myself I know this is a company that I would have a harder time being unbiased with than any others.)

AJ

I’ve been waiting for reviews of T Kettle to start popping up on here… There’s only one shop near me, and it hasn’t opened up yet. I’m doing a lot of watching and side-eyeing, although a lot of it is from that HMV/Sunrise angle.

Roswell Strange

I was also wondering if I would end up being the first to get tasting notes up or not. Web ordering only just happened, so I figured the odds of someone on Steepster with a physical store nearby might be slim. Professional biases/feelings aside, it’s been really interesting to watch such rapid expansion of a tea company. I feel like I’m getting front row & center seats to a big movie premier – I just don’t know the plot, or even the genre, of the movie yet.

AJ

I thought I might be, but I don’t see my store opening anytime soon…

I watched Tea Desire’s expansion back in 2008/9-ish, and I remember it being pretty similar. Unfortunately it crashed and burned hard.

Dustin

Are there any blends you see of theirs that aren’t David’s knock offs? Seems like a strange move to not differentiate yourself at all from an existing company. The opening in closed David’s locations seems advantageous and ballsy. Both clever because of built in association with that spot, but also a weird power play splash into the market and maybe a little stupid because if an established company like David’s didn’t find that spot profitable, why would a start up have a different result? I feel like I need a giant bag of popcorn to watch this play out. Or maybe a cup of Movie Night to compare to whatever T’s version of it is.

Roswell Strange

Dustin – yes, they definitely have some profiles that don’t totally match up! Those are the ones I’m most interested in trying out, for sure! :)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.