New Tasting Notes

This is an interesting tea that I am happy I tried. Until now, I have had the sticky rice herb mixed in with pu-erh, but not yet with green tea. In a sense it should work, green tea can be quite vegetal and savoury. And it does, but still this particular blend would not be one I would buy again I think.

It emphasizes nutty and floral aspects in the aroma, while the taste is bitter, vegetal and sweet with a decent umami and complemented by this curious rice-like touch from the herb.

Kaylee Advent Day 1!

I was so excited to open my gift box from Kaylee this morning! I mostly just taste the hot pepper-style spice with only a little fruit. I feel like my mouth never knows what to think of spicy fruity teas! It’s best cold. It looks like last time, I rated this a 70, and I think that’s still just about right!

Herbal and Decaf Traveling Tea Box, Summer 2025.
Pomegranate with Raspberry. Basilur.
String-tag teabag containing dry herbs, in a sealed foil pouch. Prepared as directed. More flavored hibiscus and rose hip! It takes some nerve to market a tisane so misleadingly, and hibiscus is the predominant ingredient, flavor, and aroma. Pomegranate seeds accounts for only 4% of the bulk, and imparted no discernible taste or fragrance. There is no raspberry ingredient other than a natural flavor. But the raspberry flavoring at least contributed to the taste! I tasted no orange or beetroot, either, despite substantial presence. The tisane did have a tart fruity flavor and aroma, and not disagreeable. But uninspired. I’m ambivalent here. As with most Basilur “Fruit Infusions”, it seems, this improved with a scoop of sugar and with cooling, so I can see it as potentially refreshing on hot days of summer. And I’m happy to have had the opportunity to try it! I’ll rate it as 58 but withhold a recommendation.

Casting Whimsy Advent Calendar 2025 – Day 1
Scrooge

This blend is not on their website, so I’m going to assume it’s exclusive to the advent. Random Steepings it is! It’s an eggnog rooibos, and I was expecting a red rooibos base, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that it’s actually green. As far as the eggnog aspect, it has plenty of nutmeg (including some large pieces mixed in), but to me, it’s missing that rich and creamy flavor that is a hallmark of eggnog. Still a pleasant blend to wind down with after dinner, as it has a somewhat light flavor that’s more refreshing than decadent.

Rating: 70

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer – Day 1

AJRimmer is my Steepster diy calendar swap buddy this year! She did a cute playing card motif with hers, which I find charming. I was excited about day 1 being a Deb tea, but I’m not quite sure whether I like this one. It’s definitely best as a sweetened latte; that treatment brings out the flavor (mostly banana). I have some more leaf, so I want to play around with it a bit.

Tea Thoughts Winter Countdown 2025 – Day 1

Adventageddon is here again! I’m not feeling well at the moment so today’s notes will be pretty brief, but I didn’t want to fall behind on the first day. This little compressed cake has a lot to give. I started steeping first thing in the morning and kept resteeping all day. I hit my caffeine cap long before the leaves were steeped out. They’re not kidding about the recommendation to do flash steeps – even with a long rinse, there’s a bitterness that comes out with “longer” steeps (like, longer than 30 seconds). Mostly I got roasty, creamy, and slightly kale-like bitter notes.

too lemony for mee

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 1

My family and I spent a week in France earlier this fall, and I booked my return flight with a long layover in London. I would be lying if I said the prospect of visiting Bird & Blend and picking up a few (shipping- and tariff-free) advent calendars for myself and a few friends didn’t play into that choice! Plus, a morning in London is always delightful.

Anyway, this rooibos-based chai is very ginger-heavy. I don’t really love chai blends on a rooibos base, because I generally want something stiffer and stronger to balance out the spices, and the rooibos doesn’t do a whole lot here. It really feels more like a ginger tea than gingerbread.

I sipped it while working on a holiday sewing project (a semi-quilted table runner) and the combination of crafting and tea was very pleasant. So, even though it’s not a favorite blend, it made for a nice evening.

Iced Latte!

Unlike most of the iced matcha lattes I’ve had lately, this one wasn’t the water bottle method. Instead, I made a GIANT iced latte whisked directly in this huge 30+ ounce soup mug I have at my desk. It was enough to carry me through the entire work morning today once I’d gotten into the office…

For a while, I feel like I was very off coconut as a flavour and I’m not sure why. This was so good. Really, really fresh and creamy tasting with a more buttery coconut note that blended really seamlessly with the more umami profile of the matcha itself. I added a tiny, tiny bit of agave and that really accentuated the flavour of both the coconut and the matcha itself. Yeah, no complaints. Just a tasty matcha latte that kind of has me wanting to brew up a bunch of other coconut teas right now…

Pulled this one out because I’ve been craving more sweet and chocolatey teas as it’s gotten colder, and I just think I should probably work on getting through some of my older Deb blends as well. It’s not a bad tea, though the mouthfeel is really oily in a way that’s almost surprising even with this blend having ingredients like coconut and chocolate that have fat in them that melts/steeps out into the cup…

I wish the almond and chocolate were both a little stronger, though I do taste them. It’s really just that the coffee flavour is a bit off putting to me. It makes me think of gas station coffee, with that weird funky roast. A little more almond sweetness or richness from the chocolate milk offset or mask that a bit? But I finished the mug and it was overall more good than it was bad.

Iced Latte!

Shaken up in vanilla protein milk using the water bottle method. This is basically ancient matcha, and I would honestly be embarrassed to serve it to anyone other than myself. Like, it’s super oxidized. However, it still has a surprisingly good amount of Irish Cream flavour to it and in combination with something like a pre-flavoured milk it’s honestly not awful. Like, I got to start my day today with what essentially tasted like Bailey’s and I’m not mad about that even if the matcha has seen much, much better days.

It’s Advent Season, baby!

I’m actually not personally doing any advents this year. I just really, really struggled to find anything new that made me feel excited and I wasn’t super crazy about doing one from a company I’ve explored a lot from before either since I usually more or less know all of the teas included. Plus, if I’m being really honest, by the time advent season finishes I always feel so brutally burnt out. And I’m already quite tired right now y’all. So more tired on top of that? No thanks…

That said, I did make a tea advent for a coworker/friend this year using teas in my collection from other tea companies aside from DAVIDsTEA. It’s the fourth or fifth year I’ve done this for her, and I always really enjoy seeing her perspective on these teas and companies that I’m typically quite familiar with but she isn’t. So, I’ll live vicariously through her advent this year.

This was day one! I never repeat tea companies in her advent, but I always try to include a 52Teas blend each year. It’s TOUGH picking which one, and this has nearly made the cut a few times. Finally chose it this year. I probably won’t drink the same tea as she does on every day, but how could I turn away the excuse to indulge in this personal favourite!? It’s so smooth with a really clean, well balanced cola flavour and just enough ginger heat to keep it fun and interesting. Almost a bit molasses-s or brown sugar in the undertones, but not in a way that feels heavy or cloying.

I described it to her as cola meets ginger beer, and she really liked that idea. I had mine hot, but she opted for an iced tea instead. I think she really enjoyed it, which on one hand wasn’t surprising because I know she does like crystallized ginger a lot. But, also, soda flavoured things aren’t always her thing so that was a well received curve ball, I think!

Opened the first of my advent calendar from Marriage Freres this morning with all 10 fingers and toes crossed hoping this would the flavor and couldn’t have been happier that wish came true! A creamy milkiness akin to dulce de leche, silky smooth, with a slight mineralic bitterness to balance out the sweetness. Swirls of caramel and cocoa grounded by the earthiness of the oolong . A lovely wintertime tea!

Iced Latte!

Shaken up in some protein milk using the water bottle method. I was sipping on this Sunday morning while packaging up a homemade advent for my coworker and friend. It’s the fourth or fifth year I’ve made an advent for her using teas from other tea companies. A different one each day. Always fun!

This tea, however, was so sweet. Like, I had remembered it being on the sweeter side but I guess I just incorrectly thought that the earthiness and heat of all the turmeric would better balance it out. Instead that had the hallmarks of a Golden Milk latte, but with citrusy grapefruit candy undertones and a REALLY lingering note of stevia afterwards. All of that combined was just so, so strange.

Sipdown (3082)!

Deeply disappointed by this one. I wanted rich, molasses heavy ginger with that dense sweet brown flavour. However, I knew this was going to be a miss the moment I caught a whiff of the dry leaf. So much bright, fresh orange aroma! Steeped, there is a ginger and cake-like flavour to this, but it’s on the thin side and severely tainted by the presence of that sweet candied orange note. If anything, it’s giving spice cake but the type of spice cake that’s served soaked in Grand Marnier or other types of orange liqueur. I might have enjoyed that if that’s how this tea was advertised, but alas it is not…

Sipdown (3083)!

Finished this one off last night. I thought the dry leaf was very pretty, with lots of bright red peppercorns, whole cardamom pods, and other spices and such. In some ways it really made me think of DT’s Saigon Chai but without the black tea base. Steeped up, it’s warming with a familiarity that I think just comes from having had a lot of teas over the years that roughly approximate this spice combination.

The hibiscus is pretty well behaved and balanced, adding a solid fruity foundation to layer over notes of warming cinnamon, aromatic cardamom, and just a bit of vanilla. It’s kind of nutty too, like amaretto. Not overly sweet. I’d call it maybe mulled-wine adjacent? Or like a somewhat mellower version of DT’s Sleigh Ride. Not that it’s a “mellow” tea. Just more mellow relative.

Festive, and not bad but also not really my flavour profile either.

Even though I’m in Canada and we had our Thanksgiving back in October, I still feel heavily influenced by American Thanksgiving. In part because of all the people I follow here or on different social platforms who are American and in part just because of the intense capitalism that comes alongside Thanksgiving. Looking at you, Black Friday.

So, I brewed this up on Thanksgiving because of the cranberry. I just felt inspired to drink something a bit cranberry flavoured, but I didn’t necessarily want a lot of tartness and acidity. This was a great option because it’s mostly an almond blend. Super thick, creamy almond like really nice quality almond milk with a bit of vanilla in it. And then the red fruit note cuts in at the end.

It’s not that this is an “unpopular” H&S blend by any means, but compared to some of their heavy hitters like Paris or Hot Cinnamon Spice I think this is very slept on.

Cold Brew!

This was the other tea I brought with me to game night, but instead of a pitcher it was just a little travel mug for myself. Seemed like a slightly riskier tea for an unknown group. I liked the mellow orange and ripe pineapple notes, and that slight pine-y kind of botanical undertone that creates the gin effect. Definitely a pleasant sip in addition to my pitcher of Blueberry Jam I’d selected.

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!

I spent yesterday evening at a coworker’s house playing some TTRPG with her, her partner, and some of their friends. It was our first time hanging out in an outside of work context, and honestly it was just very fun.

I decided to bring a whole pitcher of cold brew for everyone to drink because, well, that’s what I do. I am the tea person after all, and I have no shortage of tea to be shared. Picking the tea, however, was more intimidating. I have a vague idea of the type of tea that she enjoys but no clue as far as the rest of the group goes. I thought a straight forward and fruity blend felt safe, and I’m sure my own bias towards this particular tea bled through as well. Plus, I have kilos of it at home.

Thankfully, it seemed to be a smashing success! We enjoyed a great gaming session, everyone liked the sweeter berry flavours but also the fact that this was caffeinated (always a variable with a new group) and you could still taste the bold, brisk black tea as well. And it gives me a good idea of what types of teas to make pitchers of in the future, too!

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.

Iced Latte!

Shaken up using the water bottle method and some vanilla protein milk. I’ve always said that this is a particularly creamy strawberry flavour even without the milk, so with this method it really channels a strawberry milkshake flavour in quite a delicious way. I very, very much enjoyed starting my Saturday morning with this sweet little matcha pick-me-up.

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!

Currently sipping this cold brew tonight while I get through some tasting notes. Visually, the dry leaf of this particular hojicha looks quite minimally roasted. Very, very green. However, taking my first few sips just now I was shocked by how intense the nutty flavours are. It’s giving crunchy peanut butter, sesame seeds, and roasted almond. Just a little woody in the undertones. Really smooth and delicious, and just quite a different experience than I thought I was going to get based on the visual.

Gongfu!

This ripe pu’erh is slick and oily, with quite a heavy and coating mouthfeel. I was pleased at how quickly and easily this dragonball opened up, as well as how long I was able to push this session. Though the top notes of this shou are rather fruity with more of a red berry taste to them, I mostly found this tea rather chocolate-like in profile. Slightly bitter like a high percentage dark chocolate, with earthier undertones. The finish introduces a bit of sweetness, like the more caramelized and “brown tasting” notes of jaggery. It’s been a moment since I last steeped the 2023 En Passant pressing, but at least from memory I think I prefer this one!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRp_EldEvqu/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlqvTksoGR8

Gongfu!

It snowed all morning, and that left me with a serious craving for the distinctly sweet and cooling wintergreen note that is so prevalent in Ruby-18 (aka Sun Moon Lake) teas such as this one. There are definitely other teas with that wintergreen note, but when that’s what you’re craving, it’s hard to top this particular style of Taiwanese black tea. Even though I did brew gongfu, I chose this larger pot and cup combo so that I could steep up a pretty substantial amount of this tea to drink throughout the day. It’s smooth and full-bodied, and aside from the notes of mint it also has great top notes of ripe red fruit and a starchier, almost golden feeling mid-sip and finish that makes me think of candied sweet potatoes or yams!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRsb97vEj9U/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_aKy-PE0WM

Starting the week with a boldly brewed early morning mug of Farmer’s Gold black tea. I mean, c’mon, look at those glorious golden buds and beautiful caramel coloured steeped tea!! It’s really smooth as well, with a darkly malty mix of golden raisins, buckwheat honey, breakfast cereal, and an almost tropical-leaning fruity note that lightly reminds me of the sugary glaze on a pineapple upside down cake. Despite that, it’s not too sweet at all. Just really complex and satisfying!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DRvJVVgktzp/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRyzoXpbK-0