144 Tasting Notes
I’m one of those people who really really loves red velvet cake, and this tea smelled amazing so I was super excited to try it. I wasn’t completely disappointed!
It tastes a lot like Birthday Cake actually, which is one of my favourite dessert teas. I was a little worried about the beetroot, since it often makes teas taste weird and metallic to me. It only comes out a little in this tea though. That’s really the only bad thing about it… otherwise it’s “sweet and lightly creamy” just like the description says. I actually get strong hints of cream cheese icing which is what most reminds me of red velvet cake here… there’s not much chocolate coming through. As far as the cake teas go, this is not my favourite, but it is a satisfying dessert tea and I will happily finish my 25g bag!
Preparation
we were painting the living room last night and i made this tea and brought it downstairs to cool while i got started. then my roommate says ‘do you smell pancakes?’
i exclaimed ’that’s my tea!’
i was strangely proud that we could smell it’s deliciousness even over the paint fumes! hah
Yay, an oolong to relax with after a busy day…
The dry leaves smell lovely and woody and make me think of opening a really old book.
I did two rinses, then a two-second steep…
1st steep: This tea smells so nice! It’s super dark and almost chocolatey. The taste is the same way. The aftertaste is roasted nuts and campfire.
2nd, 3rd: The same, but a bit lighter.
4th: I think this tea is best hot. I let this steep cool a little too long and the roasted flavour is turning into a sort of cardboardy taste.
5th: I just looked through the other reviews and saw that someone compared it to a genmaicha. I could definitely see that! I don’t actually like genmaicha that much though, haha. I think I prefer a brighter kind of flavour? Maybe I could develop a taste for it. Now that the dark chocolate notes are mostly gone it just seems very toasty.
6th, 7th: There’s a sort of bean taste coming out now. I find it slightly less toasty, and more enjoyable.
8th: Finally I find the fruity notes everyone else is mentioning. There is a really sweet, almost creamy peachyness in the aftertaste. Definitely the best steep yet.
9th: There’s a sugary sweetness right at the front now. Such a change!
10th: Whoa. My first thought was sweet corn. Then after a few seconds a definite sense of burnt sugar comes out. Like, I can smell it and taste it super clearly. Trippy and delicious.
Overall I think this tea definitely got better toward the later steeps. At least, I enjoyed those steeps more. It was really interesting to see it change so much!
I love this. The brewed tea has a heavy sort of honey smell, it’s very pleasant. Earls are my favourite kind of tea and this one is perfectly satisfying for a Sunday night in. It has a softer edge than a typical earl grey and a slight creaminess in the texture and finish. The bready taste from the Yunnan Golden Buds adds depth. No unpleasant bitterness but maybe a little sugar or honey would be nice to bring out the natural sweetness.
Yesterday I was out observing the TIFF elite and walked right by Bono in front of the Royal York hotel! He was literally about a foot away from me. He tried to get into a taxi but the door wouldn’t open.
Preparation
I had forgotten how awesome this is! And it’s so pretty in the cup, all sparkly and holographic. There’s exactly enough cinnamon in it to be super delicious and not at all overpowering (Cinnamon Heart had waayyy too much cinnamon for me!) and the black tea and vanilla mix perfectly. This tea makes me smile, it’s the best to have as the sun goes down. I used to put this in a thermos and bring it to the library with me last winter, but it’s great on a cool summer evening too.
Preparation
It’s a solid but more subtle cinnamon, I agree! I like the stronger cinnamon ones too, but this is one of my faves.
I was intrigued by this, but the little sparkles kind of baffled me – did they just dissolve into the tea evenly? … not that I need another excuse to buy more tea, but I’ve been wondering this.
Hmm. This was one of the first teas from Davids that I ever tried, and I remember being kind of disappointed because it didn’t taste as much like honey as I thought it would, and I didn’t get an energy boost from it. But for what it is, I don’t think it’s that bad. I get more honeybush than honey taste but it’s sweet and pleasant. Hopefully this time the energy boost will work because I’m super exhausted today and I don’t even know why! Ughhhhhh
Preparation
I cold steeped the very last of my bag. WHY did I wait so long to try this iced!?!? THIS IS SO GOOD. Birthday cakey mapley amazingness. I thought maybe it would be weird since I usually like fruity iced teas but this is like, opening up a whole new world for me. This would be AWESOME in an iced latte. Now I have to go buy more…
Preparation
I really expected to hate this because of the green rooibos and the lemongrass, but it’s actually pretty good. The green rooibos just barely comes through in the background for me, and not in the mildew-y way that I find it tends to appear in other teas. I think this is mostly because the lemongrass is so overpowering and covers it up. But yeah, just a pretty simple lemon tea. It seems to me like it could be really versatile, like you could mix it with loads of other teas or have it iced or sweetened… I don’t know if I would do it as a latte though. But maybe!!
Preparation
I like this! It’s nice and sweet and rich. The caramel bits look the same as in the caramel teas from Davids and it has that same kind of taste too. There’s a slight fishiness from the puerh on some sips, maybe a rinse would fix that. But it has a nice, butterscotch-y, long finish. Yummm
Preparation
I cold steeped this… I think I prefer it hot though. Floral iced teas are not really my thing. Maybe with some sweetener it would be better?? I mean it wasn’t that bad, it was actually kind of nice, and it went well with the peanut butter toast I was eating for some reason. But yeah I was hoping for more cherry and less blossom.
