95

I’ve been curious about Kuura for a while now, so this Black Friday I finally bit the bullet and placed an order with them since they were running a free shipping promo. I ordered the smallest size of every loose or compressed black and white tea that they carried, and then enough of the smaller “Go Juice” coins to hit the free shipping threshold…

I just want to say, before I even get into the tea itself, that my experience with Ayden/the company has been really impressive thus far: when I placed my order I was in the process of moving across country, so I asked if they were ok with holding my order for me until after I had moved and settled in my new city – I was prepared for them to say no since I’d never ordered from them before and they didn’t know who I was/we had no history. However, not only did they agree to hold it but then, after I had moved, they upgraded my shipping to express shipping at no extra charge to me so that my package could bypass the hold that Canada Post had placed on incoming international shipments (they weren’t accepting regular parcel mail) during the ongoing postal strike. I was completely, and pleasantly, surprised by that!

Unfortunately, there was a bit of a mail “mix up” – though not in any way Kuura’s fault. Both my package, and that of another individual in Canada who had ordered from them, were opened at the border for inspection, and after they had been resealed and OKed to be sent off two packages were erroneously sent to the opposite person. So, I received his package and he received mine. Kuura was great in handling the situation though; both he and I shipped the other’s package to the correct person and Kuura foot the bill for the shipping costs. So, even with the weird delays because of CP’s mistake my order from Kuura was STILL the very first of my Black Friday orders to arrive.

Just, great customer service – IMO.

As for the tea itself? Well, I’ve only tried this one so far so we’ll have to wait and see what I think of the rest of my haul as I get to tasting them. I picked this one pretty arbitrarily to start off with, and I steeped it up Gong Fu during one of the afternoons of my vacation. I did stack the infusions roughly three at a time though in a very large chahai, so even though I brewed about twelve infusions from the leaf I only drank around four “cups” of the steeped liquor.

In between cups, I broke up the flavor of the tea itself with pomegranate arils. I like pomegranate a lot but it’s expensive and inconvenient to eat, so around Christmas I usually treat myself to one or two of them and take the time that I wouldn’t during the rest of the year to break into the fruit and pick out all of the arils. This year I paired them with the tea, and made more of an “experience” out of it.

The tea itself was very nice; somewhat befitting its name it had some lovely sweet and floral honeysuckle notes that made up a large portion of the tea’s profile. My first “cup” of tea (infusions one through three) tasted the most of this light, fresh honeysuckle profile. Overtime it developed to be a little creamier, both in terms of flavor and mouthfeel. Sort of like creamed honey, but also kind of just like fresh cream? With typical white tea hay notes accompanying. I don’t think I’ve said enough lately how much I love the combo of strong hay and cream notes in a white tea; it’s probably my favourite quality in white tea next to that cucumber note I often get from more fresh whites. Finally, especially in my last “cup” of this one, there was a pleasantly medicinal undertone. It’s kind of hard to convey why something medicinal tasting would be pleasant, but I think it’s primarily because it adds depth to the rest of the profile while not being a dominating force. A little medicinal? Good! A lot medicinal? Bad.

The pomegranate was, well, pomegranate. I think if I was eating it while drinking the tea it would have been too bright and juicy/acidic to work as a pairing. However, in between cups while I was brewing out all of my stacked infusions I found that pop of fruit a really nice contrast to the profile of the tea. I definitely liked this tea a lot, and I’m excited to further explore the rest of my order.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amrDnxnohlo&index=3&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&t=0s

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Brtvr-nliV1/

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Bio

Hello! My name is Kelly, though many people in the tea community call me Ros or Roswell.

I am a mid-twenties tea addict, blogger, and all around nerd. I grew up in the Prairies, but a few years ago I relocated to Quebec to pursue a career with DAVIDsTEA in the tea industry! I’m still working on getting my French language skills down…

My first introduction to tea, in any form outside of instant and bottled iced tea, was about seven years ago when I happened to stumble upon DAVIDsTEA while looking for a birthday present for a friend! I tried their Birthday Cake rooibos blend, and I’ve been hooked on tea ever since! In those seven years; I was introduced to the online tea community, expanded my interest in flavoured teas to include a deep love and appreciation for straight teas and traditional brewing methods, got a tea themed tattoo, started reviewing teas, amassed a sizable tea and teaware collection, became a TAC certified Tea Sommelier, & even came full circle by beginning a career in the tea industry with DAVIDsTEA!

I consider myself a Jack of all Teas, and strive to have a knowledge and appreciation of all tea types, formats, and styles of drinking. I don’t like to feel boxed in to just being a “flavoured tea” or “straight tea” drinker – my expectations may vary depending on the type of tea or how it’s been processed/prepared but if it’s good tea, it’s good tea no matter how it’s been made!

You name it, I probably drink it- and I’ll absolutely try anything at least once.

My default method of preparation is hot, Western style, and straight – but I’m not opposed to additions if I’m in the right mood. If I ever add something to a tea or use a different method of preparation I will ALWAYS call it out in the tasting note though.

I like to listen to music when drinking tea, especially when I’m brewing a large pot at a time or steeping Gongfu. Often I curate very intentional tea and music pairings, and sometimes I share them here in my tasting reviews. Music is something that I find can deeply affect the experience of having tea.

I’m also one half of the “tea and fandom” podcast GeekSteep where, weekly, we discuss newly explored fandoms over tea as well as try to figure out the perfect tea to pair with each fandom. You can find us on Spotify and Apple & Google podcasts.

Favourite flavour notes/ingredients: Pear, lychee, cranberry, cream, melon, pineapple, malt, roasty, petrichor, sweet potato, heady florals like rose, hazelnut or walnut, sesame, honey (in moderation), and very woody shou.

Least favourite flavour notes/ingredients:
Lemongrass, ginger, strongly spiced profiles (and most Chai in general), mushrooms, seaweed, chamomile, stevia, saltiness or anything that reminds me too much of meat that isn’t supposed to taste like meat…

Currently exploring/obsessed with: Sheng from Yiwu, Yancha (Qilan in particular), anything with a strong sweet potato note. Also, I need to try ALL the root beer teas! Searching for a really good caramel flavoured blend, ideally with a black tea base.

Please contact me at the instagram account listed below if you would like me to review your teas.

Currently I’m employed in the tea department of the DAVIDsTEA head office. While I’m still sharing my own personal thoughts on new & existing DAVIDsTEA blends, I am no longer numerically rating them due to the obvious conflict of interest. Any comments expressed are a reflection of my own thoughts and opinions, and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of the company. Any DAVIDsTEA blends you currently see with a numeric score were reviewed prior to my being hired there and have not been adjusted since becoming a DAVIDsTEA employee.

Location

Montreal, QC, CA

Website

https://www.instagram.com/ros...

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