70
drank Gingerbread Matcha by DAVIDsTEA
4357 tasting notes

DAVIDsTEA Advent Calendar – Day 12

Halfway through advents already?! NOOOOOOOOO!

But seriously, I will miss having these little surprise tea gifts to open every day. Although I imagine it will be nice to be able to choose all of my teas and get in more sipdowns…

So I prepared this as a cold latte, whisking it with warm water and then pouring over ice with an equal-ish amount of milk. It didn’t quite all fit in my chosen glass, so I set some of the matcha-water mix aside. And I’m glad too, because I got distracted and let a lot of the ice melt in my latte, which watered it down (please note that this always happens when I have drinks with ice in them…). So I added some milk to the leftover matcha and now I have a nice little cup to sip on while writing this!

So I tried this straight and it mostly just tasted like powdered ginger to me, not really like gingerbread cookies at all. The milk does help to add a bit of cookie-ness, but still mostly ginger. I will say this one seems a bit less sweet to me, which is a positive. I’m not getting a ton of matcha flavor, just a touch of grassiness, but I think the ginger is probably overpowering it. There’s not much bitterness here either, for what it’s worth.

So definitely not my favorite, it’s a good one for lattes though because of the strong flavor.

So for jam, today it’s Cherry-Blackberry Spread. Yum, sounds scrumptious. I had a hard time spreading this one, it was a bit thin and didn’t want to cover very well because of the crushed berries. I think the blackberry has the upper hand here, despite the name. I get a delicious rich blackberry flavor with just a little bit of tart cherry. It’s delicious, but I think a little more cherry would be nice, otherwise it’s hard to tell it’s not just a blackberry jam!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CItLBvmgU_2/

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CItKDkWgMAT/)

Flavors: Ginger, Grass, Spicy, Sugar, Sweet

Preparation
Iced 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
Show 3 previous comments...
VariaTEA 4 years ago

It didn’t even dawn on me that 12 meant we are halfway but something felt significant about today so that must be it lol

tea-sipper 4 years ago

You could always just buy 12 different advents and have one a month for the entire year…

Cameron B. 4 years ago

I mean, I ended up doing 9 advents total this year, so I’m not far off… XD

VariaTEA 4 years ago

My Plum Deluxe advent hasn’t arrived yet. I suppose I could have a January advent. My sister’s bday is January 22 so if I start a couple days early, I could say I am counting down to her bday. I already say the December advents are a countdown to my brother’s bday lol.

Cameron B. 4 years ago

OMG! Is it still in the US? Because the postal service here is really behind and slow right now.

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Comments

VariaTEA 4 years ago

It didn’t even dawn on me that 12 meant we are halfway but something felt significant about today so that must be it lol

tea-sipper 4 years ago

You could always just buy 12 different advents and have one a month for the entire year…

Cameron B. 4 years ago

I mean, I ended up doing 9 advents total this year, so I’m not far off… XD

VariaTEA 4 years ago

My Plum Deluxe advent hasn’t arrived yet. I suppose I could have a January advent. My sister’s bday is January 22 so if I start a couple days early, I could say I am counting down to her bday. I already say the December advents are a countdown to my brother’s bday lol.

Cameron B. 4 years ago

OMG! Is it still in the US? Because the postal service here is really behind and slow right now.

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Bio

Hi, I’m Cameron!

I’m a 30-something software engineer currently living in Austin, Texas with my husband and our two pugs, Gobo and Ume. I tend to cycle between my different hobbies, and they include piano, knitting, video games, board games, miniature painting, planners, bento, Korean skincare, and – of course – TEA! But really, what I’m best at is “collecting” hobby-related things… ;)

~ 2025 SIPDOWN CHALLENGE! ~
- May sipdowns: 7
- Total 2025 sipdowns: 84

I prefer my tea lukewarm or at room temperature and without milk or sugar. I steep Western style, and fluctuate between using big mugs or small teapots depending on the season.

I am always up for a swap! Just let me know if you’d like to try something in my cupboard.

Tea Preferences:
I enjoy both flavored and unflavored teas in many forms. These days, I drink mostly flavored teas, and I tend to gravitate most toward black, green, oolong, and herbal varieties. I do have a special fondness for straight Japanese green teas, however.

I do not sweeten my teas, and pre-sweetened teas are usually too sweet for me. I also do not enjoy stevia (or monkfruit, etc.).

I tend to reach for fruitier flavors rather than desserty ones these days, but I do have favorites from both categories. Willing to try anything once! There are a few ingredients/flavors that aren’t generally my jam, such as coconut, rose, lavender, and chocolate flavoring. But I also have teas that I love with some of those things, too! :)

Favorite Companies:
3 Leaf
Bird & Blend
Dammann Frères
Harney & Sons
Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms
Lupicia
Old Barrel Tea Co
Simpson & Vail
Taiwan Tea Crafts
TeaVivre

Tea Rating Scale:
90-100: Outstanding! Permanent cupboard resident
80-89: Great – a possible staple
70-79: Good, but I wouldn’t buy it
60-69: It’s decent
50-59: Meh… I may or may not have finished the cup
40-49: Ick. Couldn’t finish it.
00-39: Repulsive, I spat it out

I will sometimes refrain from rating a tea if I feel I’m too biased due to my personal dislikes, or if I suspect the sample has been compromised by age or scent contamination.

Cupboard Spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZEuKf1-ppR-VXajO4vV39zU1N3zjFJteEPAynqD2yl0/edit?usp=sharing

Location

Austin, Texas

Website

https://www.instagram.com/tea...

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