T by Daniel

I actually deeply hate the name of this tea. It’s too punny, and I feel like the cultural relevance is sort of week/will lose impact very quickly. That said, it’s a nice enough sounding blend. I could, personally, do without the theatrics of the ‘royal purple’ sprinkles though; they likely wont add anything of note to the blend other than a possible artificial/cloying edge.

Steeped up this is nice though; it’s a chocolate and strawberry mix and that’s what I’m tasting. It’s actually quite well defined, in my opinion. Perhaps a little more chocolate heavy. I’m not huge on chocolate teas personally, but the best ones IMO are the ones with fruit pairings so as long as I don’t lose the strawberry notes I think this one will be smooth, creamy, rich and enjoyable.

It also reminds me a lot of DT’s Love Tea #7 if there’s anyone out there looking for a substitute now that the DT blend has been retired. I actually have a VERY SMALL amount of Love Tea #7 left too, so maybe I’ll do a side by side tasting and directly compare. Just going on memory, I’m not sure which of the two I actually like better right now…

I think I pulled this one earlier in the week because I was craving that “Strawberry Lemonade” type profile but without all the sweetness and just a little more simple/muted and that is essentially what this tea is – a very black tea forward lemon and strawberry. Simple, smooth and just a good everyday cuppa.

I was in such a weird mood this morning when picking teas and I really didn’t know at all what I wanted so I grabbed a tin from my black tea drawer at random and made that, and so here we are…

This is honestly a really nice tea and the brisk notes of lemon with the sweet strawberry were good but… it wasn’t really what I wanted? I mean, I 100% didn’t know what I actually wanted but because it wasn’t this tea it took me far too long to actually finish the mug of it.

From this weekend, late Sunday.

I’ve been helping Shae and VariaTEA compile lists here and on instagram of Black owned tea companies, and in doing do I realized that the only one I could think of/had even knowingly purchased from was T by Daniel – I have since found a couple more companies that I was at least familiar with (even if I’d never bought from them) but just didn’t know the background of the owners.

I ordered from a new to me company, Hella Tea, earlier this week and I would like to continue to order from some of these new to me companies in the future.

In the meantime, I pulled out a couple of my T by Daniel blends to steep up and enjoy a little bit more actively and attentively. I really enjoyed my mug of this tea; it’s a great take on a Lady Londonderry profile, with a beautifully brisk lemon note accented against full bodied and just a little bit astringent black tea. The astringency actually works really well here, because it plays off the natural pithy-ness of the lemon, and offsets sweetness that could otherwise be cloying. Great on its own, but really well set up to be enjoyed with sugar or honey as well!

Fairly nice mug of this from last weekend; sweeter than what I was remembering it tasting like but with a little bit of lemon peel pithiness and juicy acidity to the strawberry notes – that combo of sweet, bitter, and acid really did make the entire cup feel all the more well rounded.

Pot of tea, with agave – and also, sort of, coconut milk?

So, I primarily drank this one as a large pot of tea with agave. The agave gave the fruity notes a lot of sweetness and brightness; the strawberry really, really popped and was accented by the tartness of the lemon. Really juicy. I was curious, though, whether or not this tea would curdle with added milk (because of the lemon) so I did try a couple cups with varying degrees of coconut milk. I didn’t curdle, but it definitely didn’t do anything to improve or better the flavour either…

So, I literally had a dream about this tea last night – and I mean when you’re literally dreaming about a specific tea and you have the ability to make it then I feel like you kind of HAVE to make it! It’s deeply satisfying sipping on it now; mostly sweet lemon notes with hints of strawberry. Also malty and astringent. Unfortunately it’s cooled down a fair bit not and as it’s cooled it’s gotten bitter so I’ve added in some lemon honey to perk up the flavour and soften the bitterness. Still quite tasty!

With a half pump of agave.

I was a little skeptical about this one/hesitant to purchase it because I just sort of figured it would come off as another somewhat bland or forgettable ‘Lady Londonderry’ type of tea. I’m happy I got it though because, while it is very much like a Lady Londonderry, it’s super sweet and fresh and both the strawberry and lemon in the blend come off as very juicy and well balanced with a crispness to the finish that’s just super pleasing to experience. Arguably more strawberry than lemon; but both are present.

I think this is likely my favourite offering from T by Daniel yet? I still have a few more to try, though.

This tea is getting to be on the older side and you can smell it in the dry leaf. The different types of nuts in the blend are ever so slightly taking on that kind of Play Doh aroma. However, it steeped out fine! Smooth and consistent medium bodied black tea base with a non distinct nuttiness that had a low level sweet undertone. It doesn’t taste like caramel popcorn and, truthfully, it really never has. However, when you breathe out/exhale after a big sip there is more of a distinct caramel taste that the palate quickly catches. Sort of like how sometimes you only really taste cotton candy after you’ve just eaten it…

Had this one last weekend, it was technically the last tea that I had in my old apartment but it wasn’t necessarily selected as such. I had it with a plate of mini scones while reading Febuary’s ‘Book of the Month’ (part of my goal of reading a book a month this year), which is Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman…

The tea was paired with the scones – which were almond cranberry with maple syrup. This tea, despite the name, has always been more of a sweet almond so I knew it would compliment those scone flavours perfectly. Truly it was delicious; the scones were sweet and nutty with those nutty elements and a little pop of acidity. The tea was malty and rich, with hints of almond and a baked bread note. Very dense and decadent but sometimes you just want/need comfort like that!

It was a good farewell to the apartment.

With added milk.

Not caramel popcorn – just more of a “nut brittle” vibe but actually, now that I think about it, far less sweet than a brittle actually would be. The milk was a bad idea, I think – it really drowned out what little flavour was in the cup and the resulting tea tasted very thin and milk heavy. Not a pleasant mug…

I’ve been seeing a lot of buzz about T by Daniel on Instagram right now, which is cool. I’ve liked the teas that I purchased from them a fair bit – and their story is very moving as well. I’m happy to see them continue to grow!

I steeped this tea after an afternoon with a particularly large amount of T by Daniel posts on my instagram feed; it had me feeling influenced to pull something out of my own stash. I added in a little bit of buckwheat honey to this because I know that with past infusions I’ve found it lacks the sweetness that I would want out of Caramel Popcorn and leans a lot more nutty than I personally crave from the tea, given its name. It was a great choice of addition as it did add sweetness to the very walnut and almond dominant cup but it was a very dense, molasses-y sweetness that compliments the flavours nicer and gave this more of a caramel-ish feel. Good cup; still not exactly “Caramel Popcorn” but a tasty tea nonetheless.

Snuck in a cup, with milk, before this was sent off to Montreal.

It was fine, but continues to be SUPER distinctly more of a nut tea with almond/walnut characteristics outweighing the other flavours. It’s a perfectly fine tea, but I just need to make sure that I remember how nutty it is in the future so that I’m not pulling it when I’m actually craving caramel notes over nutty notes.

First cuppa from this morning.

I think this tasted more like caramel popcorn to me this time than it did last, and as far as I’m aware the only thing I actually did to change things up was steep it for a minute less. It was sweeter and more balanced overall though, with a noticeable decrease in astringency. Definitely still a lot more of a nutty taste than I’d ever associate with caramel popcorn, but actual caramel notes too on top of a malty black tea base. It’s not the strongest association, but I guess it gets the job done when it comes to recreating the titular flavour.

Another one from T by Daniel.

My friend, who convinced me to place my order in the first place, recommended this tea in particular over everything else on the site – which is why I ended up buying it. It did surprise me, though, that it’s a caramel themed tea that doesn’t actually have caramel in it, unless of course it’s one of the unspecified added flavours.

I steeped mine up with just a little bit of milk because I wanted it to cool down fast enough I could drink it right away for my lunch break at work. It’s actually pretty good; somewhat surprisingly I do actually get caramel from the overall profile. Caramel Popcorn, though? Not so much. In addition to caramel notes, it’s also quite nutty with sweet, and distinct almond and walnut popping out amongst the flavours. The black base is somewhat strong, with a malty and bready sort of flavour.

I actually liked the blend, but of the T by Daniel blends I’ve tried so far it’s not my favourite (which would be Rated R). I think it could actually be sweeter overall, and while I got caramel notes I don’t feel like I got nearly enough of them to feel like they warrant being the thing the blend is named for.

I’m sure I’ll experiment further with it because I did buy 50g, though.

Cold Brew Sipdown (533)!

The final sample from my T by Daniel order.

So, if you’re going to call your tea ‘Wow’ then I think you really need to deliver that exclamation through the flavours in the blend. This was a good tea, but it wasn’t a Wow tea for me. Mostly that comes down to the fact I think I’ve tasted nearly identical blends from several different tea companies – many of which are more accessible to me or more competitively priced. Overall profile of the tea is strong, rich, and creamy nougat with almond, freshly mowed grass, and orchid undertones. It’s a sweet blend that does not lose the oolong among the dessert flavours.

I’d totally drink again; but wouldn’t drop money on it.

Sipdown (534)!

Another sample from my order; this is one I actually highly debated ordering a full size of but ultimately decided not to because I felt it would be too similar to teas I already have in my cupboard. I was definitely excited to see it as a sample though because it meant I still got to experience it!

Overall, I think I’m glad that I didn’t order it – it certainly was NOT a bad tea but I feel like I was right in that it wouldn’t have added anything to the growing catalog of teas I have. Not surprisingly given the name, it’s very apple flavoured – but definitely more of a smooth, buttery baked apple flavour rather than anything over the top juicy or tart/acidic. It’s kind of crazy how diverse apple flavours can be, when you think about it. Something else I found interesting was that the sweet almond flavours in the blend, which I thought might make me think of Forever Nuts from DT because of the cinnamon and apple pairing, reminded me pretty strongly of DT’s Cotton Candy blend and the way the mango/hazelnut pairing in that tea eerily recreates the titular flavour. So, this was almost like an apple flavoured cotton candy/fairy floss sort of thing to me? Not a lot of cinnamon going on overall, either.

Bottom line; very pleasant and I’m really happy that I did wind up getting to try it. Just not something I’d need in a larger size.

Sipdown (535)!

Recently placed an order with T by Daniel at the strong recommendation of a good friend who’s taste in tea I value pretty highly. This one wasn’t one of the full sizes I got, but a smaller single cup size sample sent as a bonus with my order.

I thought this one was phenomenal; it’s very robustly flavoured with decadent, smooth and buttery fresh coconut notes accented with creamy, sweet raspberry. I really like the the raspberry is almost more of a pastry raspberry instead of acidic or tangy because it just so strongly compliments the coconut and highlights a style of raspberry profile that I haven’t had in what feels like ages…

This also reminds me of DAVIDsTEA’s Fantasy Island but, from what I can recall of that tea, I think this one is actually better overall. The flavours are better balanced and feel a little more natural. I actually wish this was listed on the T By Daniel website (it’s currently not on the site at all) because it’s something I actually would order a larger size of based on the sample.

Sipdown!

I have had this sample from Cavocorax for months now. It got lost amongst my ever-growing stash. Though today I found it and brewed it up. It is quite lovely. Soft and creamy coconutty vanilla goodness. My cup was underleafed and old and it is still good so I imagine this tea fresh is probably pretty awesome. Thank you Cavo for the share!!

Our favorite blend =)

This tea is so fun! Like a taste of summer in a cup. I picked this up from the Toronto Tea Festival this past January, where I got to meet Daniel in person (he’s incredibly nice and just as charismatic and enthusiastic as his website/social media outlets suggest). He helped me pick out several blends to take home, and the instant I sampled this one I knew I had to have it. The taste is heavy on the pineapple, just the way I like it. I can’t wait to try it iced.

Hot, this does really well in a travel mug! I had it in a regular mug awhile back and it was just ok.
No need to add sugar. I wanted to experiment and with a dollop of milk it just gets more buttery. Damn. If the remaining cups are like this I may consider grabbing more one day

Also today was a very long day. I was in the office before 7am. We had a work event. But because there was maybe a third of the people around, the place was cold. I spent most of my day drinking coffee and tea in a lame attempt to stay warm. It didn’t work very well. I’m still cold. Brrrr.

Anyhow. I’m feeling pretty antisocial. The introvert in me is hissing at everyone for no reason

Hot, this is delish!! A strong but not overpowering note of fresh tart strawberries dominates the sip, with a background of crisp sencha green. I quite like it.
Unfortunately, as it cools the strawberry becomes more candylike, and the green tea becomes floralish. I’m also getting a strong note of umami, which isn’t something I’m generally very sensitive to in greens, atleast not lately. Today? it comes across as fishy, and really lingers in the nose.
I’ll have no problem finishing the sample. I’m glad I had the chance to try this!

A nice fruity green!
Generically fruity. I certainly wouldn’t pick out mango. If I didn’t know better, I’d have said peach.
The balance of green tea vs fruitiness is perfect so on that front I’m satisfied. Unfortunately, I suspect that the flavour will fade quickly, so here’s hoping I can kick my tea hoarding ways :P