New Tasting Notes

Clearly feeling the smoked teas lately because this is like the third relatively heavily smoked tea that I drank within a three day time span. It was really good, though! Brisk and tannic with a huge upfront pine smoke profile typical of Lapsang Souchong before that flavour broke and gave way to an almost gummy candy-like mango flavour. To echo previous tasting notes, there is room here for more mango. However, given I’ve been really chasing those smoky flavours I thought this was spot on.

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drank Cheeky Cherry by Peace Tea
15575 tasting notes

I must have been in a weird head space last night because I woke in the middle of the night dying of thirst (like 3AM) and instead of getting water I pulled this out of my fridge and just downed it in almost one go. I vaguely remember the sweeter cherry note and hint of black tea in the finish, but it’s a blur. Why did I do that? Definitely not normal nighttime behavior on my part.

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Cold Brew!

Though this wasn’t an unpleasant blend it was very different from how I had remembered it, and I don’t think it totally matched the mood I was in. I was looking for something a little more tart, juicy, and heavily sweet and instead this was more medium bodied with very fragrant tropical fruit notes like guava and a strong floral and rosy finish. Missing that rich hibiscus tartness I was wanting, and though it had some sweetness it wasn’t quite the saturated flavour I wanted. In fact, there was maybe as much bitterness as the was sweetness. Like a pithy citrus rind in the forefront and then a sweeter mellow tropical and floral finish.

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90

Had this one last night and the mix of toasty grain notes with that natural hint of cocoa was just right to close out the evening! Keepin’ it simple with this tasting note to match this perfectly simple but delicious tisane.

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Working on a big project this week, so a lot of the teas I’ve been drinking have kind of fallen into the backdrop while I focus on other things. In this case, I think that benefited the tea quite a bit. In the past, while I’ve been more attentive while drinking this tea, I’ve really picked it apart but drinking it so much more casually I felt like I was really getting a strong “chocolate chip cookie” vibe.

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Another booth that I spent a fair amount of time at during WTE was the Australian Tea Master booth which was just packed with different things including tea based wine proxies, various books, and – of course – tea. What caught my attention was a sample pack of teas made using tea leaf grown in Australia as well as other Austalia native ingredients. So, obviously I picked that up…

This is the first I tried and I actually really, really enjoyed it. The green tea was smooth with a gentle grassiness that made for a good blending foundation for a very sweet, juicy fresh strawberry note and a hint of fresh zesty lime. Quite lively and summery with a lot of flavour without being very sweet. As someone who’s had a lot of strawberry green teas, this one really stands out to me.

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97

A forever favourite. I made this evening cuppa a few nights ago, and it was one of those cups of tea that you sort of just melt into and become one with. Lightly sweet and tart rhubarb on the top of the sip with silky smooth vanilla and custard on the backend. God how I wish the combination of rhubarb and cream was normalized/commercial here in Canada…

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Cold Brew!

This is another tea that I got to sample at the expo (they were also serving it cold brewed) that I decided to purchase and bring home with me. It’s just straight Korean yuzu peel, much like what’s in the Yuja Balhyocha from Soo Cha that I adore so much.

When I got home one of the first things I did after unpacking was set this up to cold brew so that the next day I could enjoy relaxing with this tisane. It essentially tastes like a really nuanced, elevated sort of lemonade. Naturally just a bit sweet with some more tart, aromatic high notes but also with that complexity and peppery undertone that is more distinct and unique to yuzu. Maybe a little like grapefruit too. So fresh, and just an explosion of natural citrus flavours.

Glad I nabbed this! It’ll be nice for cold brewing in the summer or experimenting with mixing into other teas.

gmathis

The first taste of a summery tea (whatever it may be) after a long winter is just beautiful.

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One of the teas I drank on the weekend after getting back from WTE. I was just so wiped out from the past week that I wanted nothing more than the relax, binge some good TV, and drink soothing teas. Though there are other DT “lemon ginger” blends I prefer over this one because they’re a little more zesty and citrus forward, this ended up being pretty on the nose for that more soothing, herbaceous and spiced kind of self care moment I was seeking. Very ginger forward with a pleasant, warming heat and then that nice lemongrass and lemon oil sort of finish.

Friendly reminder that I do not numerically rate DAVIDsTEA blends as I’m currently employed there and it would be an obvious conflict of interest. Any blends you see with numerical ratings were rated prior to my employment there. These reviews are a reflection of my personal thoughts and feelings regarding the teas, and not the company’s.

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drank Smokey Oolong by Silk & Jade
15575 tasting notes

Gongfu!

This was one of my favourite teas I sampled this past week at World Tea Expo, so I was quite pleased to get to bring some home with me – and I have to say that it’s even better brewed up gongfu!! It actually takes a steep or two for the overtones of smoke to really hit as the ball rolled tea leaves gradually open up, and it’s a much different type of smoke note than what I typically drink. Particularly because it leans so umami with a whole lot of char and a bit of bitter roastiness to compliment the other tasting notes. I find myself absolutely entranced with the strongly nutty midsip, which tastes simultaneously of practically burned peanuts, black sesame, and sweet yet savory peanut butter. The more raw and natural stuff that still has chunks in it and separates super quickly. It’s also very woody, in a musky but sort of fruity way with undertones of what I would imagine barbecued lychee or other floral-leaning tropical fruits might taste like. Very, very unique!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C43icLOO3KA/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-GkHpRKCmI

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Gongfu!

Enjoyed this session with the one piece of teaware I ended up bringing home from World Tea Expo this week; I couldn’t resist the rich teal colour contrasted with the intricate red and orange dragon motif. Not only is it all my favourite colours rolled up into one teacup, but it’s perfect for the Year of The Dragon as well…

This Dianhong is also extremely lovely. All the namesake flavours are reflected in the taste profile, though perhaps the floral notes the least. Each sip starts with a warm, rich flavour of malty dark chocolate, toffee, and rye bread before finishing with a bouquet of ripe stonefruits and guava. I found the tender flavour of peach and the sweet tropicals were what lingered the most, with the flavour gently blanketing my palate long after each swallow. The beauty behind the combination of chocolate and guava is a pretty recent discovery for me, so seeing those tasting notes pop up naturally within this tea was very interesting to me!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C46aHq7OT8j/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vykqcQkGrCk

Leafhopper

Reading the name of this tea always makes me want to do a big Bitterleaf order!

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Gongfu!

This was a rather hearty morning session. This tea is thick and earthy, with a lot of those more dank and brothy notes that I associate with post-fermented teas like this one – though smooth and almost creamy in mouthfeel. I could have probably upped my leaf amount to lean more into notes of decaying wood and forest undergrowth, but I’m enjoying the ever so slightly thinner session which pulls more of the meaty, savory notes to the forefront. I especially love the almost hickory smoke-like flavour that rests on the palate post sip.

This is definitely one of those cases of picking out a set of teaware before settling on the tea and it ending up being a total mismatch to the overall “vibe” of the session. Surely, I’m not the only one who pays a little too much attention to curating the right aesthetic with my teaware to fit the mood of the tea…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4-5etMO5Et/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxsNlN-itkg

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Grandpa Style!

Though I’ve been trying to be more restrained in the amount of compressed cakes I’m buying, I couldn’t resist grabbing one of each of white2tea’s new smoked teas along with a handful of their mini counterparts. This tea order smelled incredible the moment I opened it up, with just a beautiful whispy smoke aroma permeating the air. Though I’ll wait for the cakes to settle, I couldn’t resist brewing up on of the 2024 Great Blue Heron minis in the meantime – I’ve been a big fan of W2T’s other smoked sheng productions so it was an easy first choice.

My first impression of this tea was that it’s quite bold and nippy, with an intense smoke aroma that reads quite heavily of pipe tobacco, oak wood, and peat with greener, more herbal undertones that make me think of smudging. It’s quite astringent, but not particularly bitter. I found myself appreciating the burly texture. I kind of wanted to be drinking it from a rocks glass; there’s just an overall “parlor room” vibe to the tea that practically begs to be accompanied by cigars and whisky. Not for everyone, for sure, but so up my alley.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C4_kRBiu834/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdEtnnzxcwk

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drank Lime Flowers by Sonnentor
2891 tasting notes

Yesterday, I hugged one of my girls who was serving as command central for the supply organization squad (I should hire her to rearrange my craft room), and then she said, “I’m hot and thirsty and my throat hurts and the boys took all the water bottles!” Guess what woke me about 3 a.m….

Doc Martin (our Martin, not the one on PBS) to the rescue! I had not yet tried this little sample of linden leaves and buds, but his handwritten prescription for colds and cruds was a cuppa, plus a teaspoon of honey. Done. I put the honey in before trying the leaves straight up, so I don’t have an accurate taste descriptor. For the moment, let’s call it “kind of like chamomile, but not.” At any rate, it’s gentle, sweet, and soothing the rawness. Between that and a backup squad of zinc lozenges, we may have dodged the bullet. Thank you!

ashmanra

Oh dear! I hope the lime flowers do extra double duty and ward off the cruds!

Martin Bednář

Your note made me giggle all the time I was reading it. I hope it helped you and apparently you like it enough. Never thought about “kind of like chamomile but not” descriptor, but love it!

Michelle

I hope the tea helped and find the need to distinguish the TV Dr Martin from the real life quite amusing.

gmathis

I’m doing a follow-up cup even as we speak. I might upgrade the description to “slightly bitter chamomile,” but the honey fixes that easily!

gmathis

I am behind—our local PBS is airing the final Doc Martin season, but it’s at a time that isn’t handy for me. Yes, we still do a lot of appointment TV at our house. Remember the days when everybody watched the same show at the same time so you could talk about it the next day instead of having to compare “what season are you on?” notes?

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75
drank Aries by Adagio Teas
2284 tasting notes

I taste a lot of cardamom, though the base itself is a bit thin. I also may taste a bit of ginger and hints of other spices. I got this sample in a TTB, and only about 1.5 teaspoons remained, so maybe I should have put in even less water than I did. Average, though enjoyable.

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75
drank Ginger White by Ancient Leaf Tea
1233 tasting notes

For a white tea, one may open the bag and wonder if they choose correctly. It is a mix of brackish yellowish brown almost like stone ground mustard with light and dark browns and a few greens. The Silver trichomes on the buds number a few more then the ginger pieces. And while you wonder why there isn’t ginger you soon discover this as you slowly bring it to your nose. Breathing in too deeply you discover that this is fresh dried ginger they’ve used. An intense ginger with a strong personality. Less is more in this case. The aroma is full of gingery notes that mostly hide the earthy or other notes of the leaves. While the appearance isn’t the most pleasing you realize that this is a fairly new tea farmer and white tea is more difficult to process than most people realize. You warm your water to 195 F. We are steeping in a gong fu this second run to see what we an pull out that western steeping can’t. While it steeps you get notes of freshly cooked artichoke, a bit of ginger, along with a pile of leaves. Our first taste reveals ginger, artichoke, and leaf compost. Second time at about a minute is very earthy with plenty of previous notes mixed in. Same notes with the third steep. Definitely different for a white. I want to mix this with mamaki and see how it tastes.

There were approximately four different tea farms I wanted to visit while on the Big Island. However, it has been a long time since I’ve been there and since it was the first time my husband and kids had been there I knew I needed to tone it down a bit. Ancient Leaf was our second and last tea farm to visit. While overlooking the lush forest of the Onomea Bay area we sipped tea (after a tour of her farm) on her back porch. We were also treated to a few whales jumping and tail splashing.

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Batch-tasting this at work right now, and just generally vibing with how it turned out. It’s similar in vibe to Vanilla Jasmine… An oolong to help round things out, milky, gentle, floral rosey-like lychee, sweet and slightly tropical coconut note. Lychee on its own can be very powdery-floral to me, grandma-esque, but it’s made slightly creamy with the coconut. It’s probably too light for milk, but also really inviting iced… If I hadn’t gone for lychee, I think this could have tasted really nice with rose instead. Rose Coconut Milk, hmm.

Definitely another tea that I held onto my original test-batch for. Been drinking a lot of this, and a lot of No.9 in between batch-tasting and pre-shipment sample-tasting. One of our main big blenders is out of commission and being worked on, so drinking this and staring forlornly out at it.

The most current batch of this needs to rest a bit though; the ratio tastes a little off, so I’m holding it back.

Flavors: Coconut, Custard, Lychee, Milk, Sweet, Toasty, Vegetal

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86

Another sachet from Kaylee — thank you!
Apparently I have had this tea before; but when you try so many of them, you can’t remember them all. And because I am lazy to find out what I was writing back then, here is absolutely new tasting note without any bias from previous note.

It is actually quite a good earl grey with more lemon-y flavour than the bergamot; nice base tea and honestly I think it could be easy daily-drinker.
Refreshing and bold tea. Good enough in my marks.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 10 OZ / 300 ML

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Backlog

I was brewing this late on Saturday evening while playing video games. I maybe had 3-4 infusions and was enjoying the session, however, I stopped shortly after the last steep. I needed to give my full attention to Helldiver II’s Titans and lost track of tea. Jump to 45-60 minutes later and I get back to the leaf. Before brewing this further, I had placed the idea into my head that this was a tea from earlier and the leaf was spent, so I tossed this into the waste bowl. But wait! I found the wrapper sitting on the tea table and realized my mistake.

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I haven’t finished the session yet. I’ve made it to the 5th infusion and wanted to make a note before pushing this opportunity back any further. I usually read a book and have tea before heading into the office for the evening on Tuesdays.

I will note that my fondness for Lapsang has taken a temporary step aside these days. Smoked puerh? I had assumed I’d face the same problem on account that I’ve avoid smoked teas as much as possible. However, upon drinking this, I had forgotten that I really find a smoked puerh quite fascinating! It’s less aggressive, while maintaining a strength in smokiness. It’s comparing burnt wood or BBQ (Lapsang) to burnt honey or sugar (smoked puerh). They each have their place and time, but definitely something I don’t indulge in too often.

Flavors: Burnt Sugar, Smoke, Sweet

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65

I am laughing at my tasting notes on this review because the “aroma” at the start of the session compared to the end of the session were waaay different from each other.

Notes: Aroma reminded me of piss and roasted peanuts. I had hoped it wouldn’t’ve tasted like piss (whatever piss tastes like, I do not care to know). After the second infusion, that piss note had left the pot. End explicit content. This tea tasted slightly burnt, but it turned out to be pleasant after the 3rd infusion. I noted that the tea had more of a toasted walnuts and a charcoal flavor profile after steep #3. It was a warming tea and wasn’t necessarily my favorite from the February club.

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70

Sipdown and backlog

I’ve been drinking too much puerh and oolong lately, that I’ve avoided the flavored tea sipdown pile for too long. This was a leftover from the Christmas Advent season and I was ready to start digging into the pile again. I drank this hot during work last night because I wanted something sweet, but I’m doing the best to avoid the Thin Mint cookies in my freezer.

This is a good brew though. I noted, “strong berry notes, tastes like hot juice (mix of cranberry and grape), and sweet.” I’d imagine this would’ve made for a beautiful iced tea, too.

Flavors: Berries, Cranberry, Grapes, Juicy, Sweet

Sunprisha

Explore the depth of maternal affection with a collection of heart touching mother quotes

https://memeandchill.com/blog/love-for-mother-quotes/

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100

My dad got me this one. It makes for an amazing chai latte with a bit of creamer and brown sugar. I have made multiple french presses worth of it in one day and unlike some other teas, this one is just as good on the third brew as the first.

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