111 Tasting Notes

89
drank Pumpkin Chai by DAVIDsTEA
111 tasting notes

First time trying this. :) So excited! The smell made me even more excited, it smells delish!

Drinking it now, it didn’t disappoint. :) Unlike the Harvest Pumpkin Chai from Infusions, this actually does taste like pumpkin. It has that right cinnamon and clovesy spice that I like.

Since this was my first time trying this, I steeped in the middle of the recommendation (it suggested 4-6, so I went with 5) but I think next time I’ll steep for the 6. While it’s quite tasty, I’m finding myself smacking my lips a bit trying to taste it even more, which is something I’m not used to doing with black tea. But this is an easy fix, and not an actual criticism of the tea itself.

If I could change one thing, it’d be that it’d be nice if you could taste the base a little bit more, but for a yummy pumpkiny treat, this definitely hits the spot. :)

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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70

I’ve gotta say, I’m seriously getting addicted to Steepster. I’m starting to spend a loooot of time on it, and whenever I drink a new cup of tea now, one of the first things I think of is, “I gotta write about it on Steepster! :D” It’s also starting to come up in my regular conversations with people at work and home… What can I say, this place is great :D Anyway, onto the tea:

The description on the pouch basically says it all, “a typical breakfast tea, full-bodied and strong.” Honestly there isn’t much else to say about it. It’s a tea that plays it safe. If you like English Breakfast, you’ll enjoy it. But for people who want a nice breakfast tea that breaks away from the mould and tries something new, you won’t find it here.

Overall it is an enjoyable cup, but it’s not good enough to replace the tin of breakfast tea I get for free at work every week.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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80

Probably the one bagged tea I’ll keep a mean, firm grip on. For one, so far it’s the only English breakfast tea I’ve tried that has that tangy taste along with the otherwise typical breakfast taste. But the main reason is that, as a Starbucks employee, I get to take a tin of this home with me every week for free. Hard to beat that. It’s also the only Tazo tea I can drink. Every other variety by Tazo? No thanks.

Awake tea is very, very fussy. Oversteep it even just by a marginal amount, and BAM it turns to mud. For me I’ve found the magic time to be three minutes. Two minutes it’s hot water. Four minutes it’s mud.

If you get the magical time, you get the typical taste of a breakfast tea, with a unique tang like finish that sort of buzzes on your tongue. The tang is the best part as it gives it a very nice flavor.

I like it with a little bit of golden sugar and a little bit of milk.

Unfortunately, if you oversteep this, the tang is the first part to disappear into the mud taste. Set the oven timer when preparing! :)

If you would like to order this a latte at your local Starbucks, I recommend ordering a tall size with one pump vanilla, no classic syrup.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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59
drank Vanilla Bean by Mighty Leaf Tea
111 tasting notes

Had this as a tea latte at Wendells, the “Cinnabean Tea Misto.” The latte was lovely, and upon examining the teabag in my cup I discovered it was Mighty Leaf’s Vanilla Bean, and so I purchased a box.

This was my first Mighty Leaf tea (and probably my last, my goodness was it expensive!) and I thought it was quite nice. The vanilla flavor is very prominent, I’m surprised at some of the other tasting notes posted here. I found I could pick up on the vanilla notes easily even straight, though I added a dab of milk and golden sugar to bring it to the foreground. Tea this expensive has to be enjoyed to the fullest. Speaking of which, I should wrap things up so I can drink it while it’s still hot! :)

Anyway, overall it’s a nice sweet tea — though the vanilla flavor is a bit on the fake side — that can be enjoyed at any time of day, however the high cost (almost a dollar per bag) makes it far less accessible. Higher quality teas can be purchased at a much lower price, so that brings my rating down lower than I would’ve rated were it a more realistic price.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
Kittenna

Wow, $1 per bag?! That is crazy expensive!

Chizakura

ALMOST a $1 per bag, but yes, it’s madness. _ High quality loose leafs can be purchased much cheaper.

Kittenna

Haha, I noticed that and thought about correcting my post, but didn’t bother. Regardless, yeah, a price that high for bagged tea just seems really absurd, considering exactly that – that quite high quality loose leaf teas often cost less.

Chizakura

I know right? :) I think their goal is fooling bagged drinkers that don’t know much about loose leaf into thinking it’s this really high “premium” that’s worth that much or something. xD But yeah, I’ll finish the box but otherwise that’s it.

(Besides, for at home drinking, I’m trying to break away from all bagged tea anyway, ‘cause not only is loose leaf tastier, but it’s way healthier too.)

OMGsrsly

Mighty Leaf is expensive, but I love the Orange Dulce. It’s a super delicate Earl Grey. I’ve replaced it with Silk Road’s Royal Abkhazi, because it’s cheaper. :)

Chizakura

Yes, I’ve heard tons of good things about Orange Dulce, so I’m tempted to try it, but ohhh the cost. D: Wendel’s serves Mighty Leaf tea, so maybe I’ll try a cup of it there and see if I want it enough to buy a whole box. :) (and yeah, buying a tea in a cafe is even more expensive, but it’s less commitment if it turns out it’s not my favorite and I have the nice cafe ambiance to enjoy while sipping, hehe.)

OMGsrsly

I totally understand! And Wendel’s definitely has the nice atmosphere. (I used to live in Fort Langley!)

Chizakura

Ooh cool! :) It’s really interesting how many nearby people (or used to be nearby in your case) I’m finding on Steepster. Never thought I’d find someone on here who knew Wendels. :) Anyway I tried the Orange Dulce there. xD; It was good, but knowing the price of the box I’ll pass, but for sitting in a cafe, it’s pretty nice. :)

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70

Yum, yum.

One of my first loose leaf tea. It’s earthy, it’s grassy, it’s everything I used to enjoy from Tetley’s orange pekoe, except this is so so so so so much better. Don’t know what I’m going to do with that 72 count box as the thought of returning to it after a cup of this is almost painful.

Even at such a short steep time, it’s very flavorful, nice and strong but not bitter at all.

I honestly can’t compare this to other orange pekoe loose tea as it’s the only one I’ve tried so far, but it was delicious enough to make a life-long bagged tea drinker realize that loose leaf truly is the way to go.

EDIT: Downed my rating considerably. It’s still a good tea, but in comparison to more straight loose blacks I’ve had, it needs a wider gap in between. This isn’t 9 points off from being a Laoshan Black, that’s for sure. :) (original rating was 91)

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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87

Tried the tea as a latte first in the shop, loved it, and brought a 50g bag of it home. Lucky I decided to do that, as apparently they only prepare this blend around Cranberry Festival and I got pretty much the last of it.

Anyway, first off, the ‘pumpkin’ part is misleading. I honestly don’t taste any note of pumpkin at all. But the comforting spicy cloves and cinnamon taste is delicious enough that I forgive it. :)

This tea is especially great with a little bit of brown sugar and a splash of milk. Or if you want a real treat, don’t be afraid to latte it with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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84

The perfect iced tea.

I’m not one for herbal teas really, but I do like to grab fruity ones to make a nice big pitcher of iced tea. This one fits the bill perfectly. It’s juicy, and pleasantly sweet — but not TOO sweet — and tastes like real fruit. The smell is almost enough to drive one wild.

I’ll likely be restocking this one many times. Especially in the summer. :)

Preparation
Iced 8 min or more

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22
drank Birthday Cake by DAVIDsTEA
111 tasting notes

If I were to use one word to describe this tea, it’d be: nauseating.

I was excited to try a sweet new dessert tea, and to be fair that is exactly what I got, except the sweetness was cranked up to the max. The pure sugary taste was actually very enjoyable at the first sip or two, but by the fourth and fifth sip I knew there was no way I could finish this cup.

Trying not to waste the 50g bag I bought, I tried mixing this with a scoop of orange pekoe. While that made it much more palatable, I can’t imagine finishing the entire bag.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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96

The first thing that comes to mind at the first sip, is smooth.

David’s Cream of Earl Grey is true to its name, it’s very creamy, very smooth, but still with the pleasant perfumy taste of the bergamot.

While it’s quite good, the black tea base is a little on the weak side for my preference, the term ‘wishy-washy’ comes to mind.

While it’s a perfectly enjoyable cup, I prefer Infusion BouTEAque’s take on it over this, as it too is creamy, smooth, but stronger.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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87

This tea tastes as delicious as you’d hope it would, and much better than what you would actually expect.

I tend to be a bit leery with this sort of flavored tea as I find the idea is always extremely exciting, but the end result always disappointing. Not so with the Strawberry shortcake.

It’s the perfect refreshing tea for when you want the dessert but not the calories. It tastes good straight, it tastes good with a bit of golden sugar — my sweetener of choice — and milk adds an alternate, and quite nice, flavor as well.

I meant to try this iced as David’s marketed it as such when I purchased it, but before I knew it I finished all 50g as hot cups.

The black tea base is a bit disappointingly weak. It’s there, but just barely. Just enough to not mistake this as an herbal infusion.

While I definitely enjoyed this tea, I couldn’t drink this every day. This is what you drink when you want dessert, not a good strong cup of tea.

Will definitely purchase more when David’s restocks. :)

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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Profile

Bio

Hello! I’m a 24 year old Canadian, currently working at Starbucks while I figure out what I want to do with myself in life, haha.

Like most everyone else, I grew up with teabags, and then discovered the grass really WAS greener on the other side with loose leaf. Nowadays I drink nearly exclusively loose, but will drink a bagged tea if I don’t care what I’m having.

My favorite kind of tea is black, and unflavored, although I do enjoy an occasional dessert black. I like whites second best. I’ve recently been dipping my toes into honeybush tisanes, greens and oolongs.

My favorite vendors are Butiki Teas and Verdant Teas. Both have fantastic teas, above and beyond customer service (especially Butiki), and fair prices for their very high quality teas. I can’t recommend them enough.

Purely for tasting notes references, I don’t use any additives for my teas. Older tasting notes for blacks was with milk+sugar, and then with just milk. Whites, oolongs, greens and herbals are all drunk straight unless otherwise specified in the notes.

Location

Canada

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