88 Tasting Notes

20
drank Rhubarb Cream Soda by DAVIDsTEA
88 tasting notes

Rhubarb Cream Soda is like a less sweet version of Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait with the tartness turned all the way up. The initial sip is a bit like berry-rhubarb pie with a dollop of cream, but the sour, tart, dry flavors quickly overtake the sweetness and cream, and it reminds me a bit of red wine. Rosehip, hibiscus, and red currant are all rather strong in this.

In the end, this one is just too sour and tart for me. I like the sweet parts, but the sour taste it leaves in my mouth is actually rather unpleasant. The dry quality of hibiscus is also always off putting to me.

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50
drank Mango Fruit Punch by DAVIDsTEA
88 tasting notes

The orange peel and beautiful safflower petals made this look like Long Life Oolong and have a hint of a similar taste. The mango is somewhat noticeable, but it has a generic kind of orange & tropical punch flavor to me, overall. It also has an undertone that reminds me of the iron taste in vitamins, which was what really put me off from wanting more of this one.

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25
drank Pistachio Ice Cream by DAVIDsTEA
88 tasting notes

I think that Forever Nuts and Toasted Walnut are both better than Pistachio Ice Cream in the DavidsTea lineup. I don’t taste black tea with this at all, and the apples, blackberry leaves and an artificial sugar taste just don’t agree with me here. It smells heavenly, especially dry, but there’s a sour apple and artificial, chemical sugar taste that I don’t like after it has been prepared. I was told in the store to steep this for 10 full minutes, which I thought made the apple taste even stronger, but I’ve tried everything from 4 to 10 minutes with lacklustre results. It’s like a less sweet Forever Nuts with no cinnamon and a sour undercurrent. I’m not into it.

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70
drank Sun Moon Black by DAVIDsTEA
88 tasting notes

I tried this around the same time as DavidsTea’s Nepal Black and the Nepal Black wowed me so much that this one tasted kind of lacklustre in comparison. I don’t get any mint flavors from this at all, but it does have a subtle, honeyed sweetness to it and a strong, earthy quality to it. It makes me think of dirt, hay and dry woods. Overall has a more dry, toasty flavor than Nepal Black, and isn’t as sweet or honeyed tasting.

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85
drank Nepal Black (Organic) by DAVIDsTEA
88 tasting notes

Nepal Black has a very interesting, rich, full-bodied flavor. It has a strong honeyed note that makes me think of honey poured over bread. Mostly honey with hints of wheat, hay, earth and dark chocolate. Something of an exotic spiciness to it as well. It’s like the deepest, darkest honey ever. Very rich and golden. I only steeped this for about 2 minutes and it brewed up to a dark gold-copper color and was wonderfully flavorful with no bitterness. I didn’t think that I even liked plain black tea, but this needs nothing extra and I think I need more…

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100
drank Jasmine Peony by DAVIDsTEA
88 tasting notes

I love jasmine, rose, and floral teas in general. The first time that I smelled this, I knew that it was going to be amazing, because it made me think of the Valentine’s bouquet that I got last month, full of fragrant blooms, and made me instantly happy. I own a lot of jasmine teas and this one definitely has the strongest fragrance by far. It smells so very good. Sweet, honeyed, heady jasmine and a juicy, rose-like scent as well. Mmm.
And that’s exactly how it tastes – rich, beautiful jasmine and juicy, tart roses with that vanilla-honey sweetness that blooms often develop. I love it. It tastes romantic and beautiful and so strong.
I’m going to be purchasing a big tin of this, and fear that it might have just overthrown all of the other jasmine teas in my cupboard…

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70
drank Green Spiral by DAVIDsTEA
88 tasting notes

This tea had me at “rolled up just like an adorable little snail shell,” lol. I ordered enough to give it a few thorough testings. One time I left it on accident and it quickly went bitter, but the other times it wasn’t quite as strong as I would generally like. I’m really into Sencha Ashikubo right now for a green tea, and think that it has a stronger flavor overall and a brightness to it that I really like. Green Spiral is very mellow, calm and subtle. I do think that it has a watery lettuce (“refreshing romaine” says DavidsTea) quality to it, along with a slight buttery, honeyed sweetness. Clean, green, and verrrry lightly sweet. I wouldn’t say no to another cup of it, but it’s probably not one that I’m going to personally repurchase.

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100
drank Toasted Walnut by DAVIDsTEA
88 tasting notes

I request samples of Toasted Walnut and enjoy them every time I place a David’sTea order, and I don’t know why I’ve never actually purchased any, lol. I like this just as much as Forever Nuts, and it’s great when I don’t want FN’s cinnamon flavor or to take a chance on the weird beetroot that’s in FN (every once in a while, I get a cup of Forever Nuts that is very earthy and I can actually taste the beetroot and it’s awful). Toasted Walnut is just as warm, sweet, and nutty, and is super creamy rather than spiced. It’s like a caramelized vanilla dessert topped with toasted almonds and walnuts. I do find that I like to use a lot of Toasted Walnut per cup, though, as in where I’d normally use a tablespoon, I want 2 tablespoons of Toasted Walnut to really get some flavor going. It’s intensely creamy, tastes very naturally sweet, and is super comforting.

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60
drank Valerian Nights by DAVIDsTEA
88 tasting notes

I love dessert teas and creamy caramel and coconut things, and I love the idea of a soothing night time tea, so this sounded like it was right in my wheelhouse. I ordered my 50g bag when it was finally released and it has been sold out pretty consistently since. It’s clearly very popular. I don’t think that I will ever purchase more of this, though. I don’t like the apple in this and it has a strong apple taste to me. The apple comes off sour and tart, and strangely boozy, like apples that are starting to rot and ferment. The caramel and coconut add a sickly sweetness that I can’t exactly identify as coconut or caramel. It comes off as a very artificial sweetness to me. The whole thing tastes sort of like overripe apples in a butter rum sauce. It has a definite sour quality that I find off putting.
I’m giving this a higher-ish rating, though, because the people that I’ve served it to at my home are actually fans of it (even one friend who normally hates sweet teas).
As far as being relaxing and making me sleepy, it doesn’t… but I have PTSD (and the related insomnia), so nothing short of my prescription medication will put me to sleep.
My only other complaint is that I can’t use this in my usual David’s Tea mugs, because little particles escape through the metal mesh and the cup becomes sort of sludgy and gross. Works fine in the David’s Tea bags, though.
I’m going to keep dreaming of a lavender and coconut tea (maybe a hint of mint?) with no caffeine. That’s what I want to go to bed with :)

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Bio

I’m honestly not incredibly knowledgeable about teas. My experience with tea is mainly with Adagio when I am in the States and DavidsTea when I am in Canada. DavidsTea made me fall in love with tea. I was initially seduced by their cake flavored teas and then started branching out and finding more and more to love. I like all of their bright colors and seasonal mugs, and I enjoy their fun ‘flavored teas’ as much as their more traditional teas. I figure this is at least a good starting point :)

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Canada (GTA)

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