2816 Tasting Notes

78
drank Cardamom French Toast by DAVIDsTEA
2816 tasting notes

Hi Steepster friends!
I haven’t been here much lately as I am not trying a lot of new things lately, most of the tea I’ve been drinking is stuff I am trying to sip down or old favorites I’ve already written tasting notes for.

I’m not a big David’s tea fan but I do love cardamom so I got some of this the last time I was in the store. I have enjoyed this as a breakfast tea most of the time with soymilk added. It definitely has a strong cardamom flavor, so if you don’t like cardamom I would skip this. I’m not sure I’m getting french toast but there is something buttery and pastry like in the flavor.

The only bad thing about this in my opinion is the very sweet after taste. I definitely don’t mind it as much as some of the other tasters did. I wonder if they could have just made this without the added sweetener, after all it’s easy enough to add your own.

Overall, this is better than I thought it would be but I probably won’t repurchase it.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 15 sec
Indigobloom

Wow they added cane and coconut sugar here. Yikes!

Sil

yeah i’m so tired of them adding sugar and stevia to everything

Dustin

You like cardamon? Have you tried the Kashmiri Chai yet? It is one of my favorites!

TeaBrat

@Dustin – who makes the Kashmiri Chai? David’s or someone else?
@Indigobloom @Sil – yeah I mean, why!

Indigobloom

Yup. My thoughts exactly. Whyyyyyy!

Dustin

Oh, I’m sorry! I should have clarified that. It is David’s as well. Zhi Tea used to have once that tastes exactly like David’s, but they discontinued it years ago because they weren’t able to keep getting the ingredients from an organic source. I’m super happy to have it back in my cupboard via David’s!

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78
drank Cardamom French Toast by DAVIDsTEA
2816 tasting notes

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80

Good morning Steepster.
I haven’t been buying much new tea lately as I’m trying to work my way through the formidable stock I already have. I picked up this sample tea bag in one of our hotels in India (can’t remember which hotel).

I’ve never been a big Breakfast Blend tea drinker but this is pretty nice. It’s a blend of Assam and 2nd flush darjeeling. The Assam is more prominent and the darjeeling is adding a lighter and fruity note in the background. I found this to be pretty tasty with a splash of soymilk, it did not need sugar. For a breakfast tea, I would prefer something a bit more hefty but I can definitely see the appeal of this. I have enjoyed it.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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74
drank Chai Bag Cinnamon by Lupicia
2816 tasting notes

Hi Steepster,
Happy New Year! Did anyone get tea for Christmas? I did not, as I was vacationing in India with my boyfriend and his family. We went to Dehli, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Agra and Varanasi. It was an epic trip and pretty fun, though India was very chaotic and busy, even more so because a lot of people were traveling within the country on vacation. I put a bunch of photos on Instagram under the name TeaBrat.

I did not see any tea plantations, I wasn’t in the right section of the country for that. I didn’t even see a lot of tea shops or tea bars which kind of surprised me. Everyone does drink chai, though it is usually made with milk and very sweet. I’m having a cup of this Lupicia blend because it’s one of the only chais I have. I got it last year in the grab bag sale! I really need to drink this down. As far as chai blends it is kind of “ok” I usually prefer more ginger and cardamom in my tea. I guess I’ll try to drink this down soon.

Back in San Francisco, the weather has been totally dreary and I am still recovering from some 30 odd hours of traveling and not sleeping. Had a really bad bout with stomach issues and then a cold after that. Jet Lag really sucks! It was definitely an adventure though.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
__Morgana__

Happy new year and welcome back!

Sil

so jealous of your adventure!

Fjellrev

Welcome back, and that must have been an amazing experience!

Kristal

Happy New year; welcome back! I did get some tea for Christmas (almost all individual ingredients to make my own herbal tea blends). I got 6/8 teas I got in this gorgeous box: http://www.internationalhouseoftea.com/collections/tea-gifts/products/wooden-tea-chest-6

Nicole

Sounds like a great trip!

ashmanra

Epic! And yes, tea for Christmas! YAY! My kids are now so converted that they ASK for tea for Christmas, so I also gave a lot of tea, too!

TeaBrat

Tea for everyone!!! :)

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94

My stomach has been feeling bad since I started taking the oral typhoid vaccine (going to India at the end of next week). I thought a pu’erh might be nice this afternoon so I grabbed this on my way to the office. I’m still leery of my puerh collection after my apartment got sprayed for cockroaches. The smell of bug spray was everywhere. Still it’s a hard decision to throw out what amount to hundreds of dollars of tea.

This sample was in a plastic ziplock bag so at least I think it was better protected than the pu have that’s wrapped in paper. I still haven’t decided what to do! Anyway this is a good shu, I have always liked it. Chocolate and velvety. Hope it does the trick to settle my tummy a bit.

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 0 sec
boychik

so exciting. how long is your trip?

TeaExplorer

So sorry to hear about the bug spray. We sometimes have strong cleaning odors in our house (wife is a fan of bleach and eucalyptus oil), so I keep my teas in plastic storage bins and air them out a couple of times per week when it’s safe.

TeaBrat

@boychik – just 2 weeks. wish I could stay longer but I just started a new job!
@TeaExplorer that is probably a good idea

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96
drank Blooming Tea by Mandala Tea
2816 tasting notes

I am out of these, finally. A sipdown!

I have enjoyed these white tea blooms but it has taken me a long time to finish them off. Normally I am a green tea fan, but I would like to drink more of my white tea supply since they are so high in antioxidants. The trouble is I have so much tea it’s getting hard to sip anything down. I guess there could be worse problems to have ;)

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76

I have to confess I’m not the biggest fan of David’s Tea – too many disappointing blends come out of there in my opinion. However, I was at the mall today and figured I would try a cup of something I’ve never had before. I had a cup of this hot, with no sweetener. This is a blend of white and green teas with cherry, rosebuds and coconut. I did enjoy the cherry/floral flavor of this. I find that cherry is such a difficult flavor to get right in tea. This wasn’t too bad but it did seem slightly high on the artificial flavor. Probably would not turn down another cup if it was offered to me, but it won’t be a purchase.

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

For myself I find with DAVIDs, the simpler the blend, the more likely I am to enjoy it. I find they have a really good selection of straight green teas compared to other companies I order from, which is something I really like. As for herbals, there’s a few I really enjoy (like straight peppermint, mulberry magic, cold 911, ginger beer, chamomile) but they don’t tend to invest in a lot of “medicinal herbal” blends and instead focus of fruit blends (ESPECIALLY with hibiscus- which I DO not DRINK HOT) or candy pieces which is something I’m not in to.

So with that being said, I hear where you are coming from with their blends lol

TeaBrat

yes the simpler the better, I find too many of their blends disgusting.

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88
drank Yunnan Gong Fu by Asha Tea House
2816 tasting notes

I picked this up from the new Asha Tea House in San Francisco, which is just a short walk from my office downtown. So far I’ve had their houjicha latte and lemon jasmine iced green tea to go, both were really good.

I decided to pick some of this up today because yunnan blacks are definitely a favorite of mine and it couldn’t hurt to have another breakfast tea. I steeped it for 2 minutes with boiling water per package directions and am drinking it plain.

This is a nice, rich black tea that doesn’t have much bitterness at all. I am getting chocolate plus a bit of tobacco aroma & flavor. I don’t normally sweeten my tea but I ended up putting a small amount of sugar in this, and that brought out even more chocolate-y and roasted notes. A very good everyday drinker, for the morning or anytime. Happy with this purchase!

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec

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78
drank Chocolate Rocket by DAVIDsTEA
2816 tasting notes

Honestly I cannot remember when I bought this mate blend but I decided to have it on a whim this morning when I woke up. I don’t tend to like flavored teas first thing in the morning, but this wasn’t too bad. It has more of a berry flavor than I remember and certainly seemed to wake me up a bit.

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80

Good morning Steepster.
I found this lurking in my tea collection this morning and evidently I haven’t reviewed it (until now). This came as one of my dark tea of the month selections from Yunnan Sourcing a while back.

I decided to steep it for 2.5 minutes and with boiling water, which may have been overkill for this tea. It is an assamica variety and definitely has a lot of malt and chocolate. I am getting a slight bitterness in the finish which could be cut down with decreased steeping time, or a lower water temp. This is good on its own or with a splash of soymilk. I will certainly enjoy the rest of the package but I don’t think I will need to purchase this.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec

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Profile

Bio

My profile pic is of a pink dahlia at Golden Gate Park.

Hobbies include: tea, making art, animals, vegan things, buddhism, nature, creativity, books, writing, cooking, meditation, yoga.

I am a fan of many different teas but my favorites are blacks and oolongs, chai, also like darjeeling and pu-erh. I’n always learning and expanding my horizons!

Dislikes include: bergamot, jasmine, highly tannic or bitter teas, overly judgmental and bitter people. :)

Live in San Francisco, I’m a SINK (single income, no kids) and love the urban life, but traveling out to the middle of nowhere is always fun too.

I tend to not drink things I know I will hate so a lot of my tea ratings are on the higher side. Here’s my rating system, sorta

95-100 I love this tea and would like to keep it around

94-90 An excellent tea which I may or may not repurchase

89-80 Pretty good, above average

79-70 Acceptable

69-60 Mundane – Will probably drink it if I have it

59-50 Ick

49 and below Nasty

Location

San Frandisco

Website

http://sanfrantea.teatra.de

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