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Roswell Strange drank Pumpkin Spice - Marzipan White by Magic Hour

15075 tasting notes

All I have left to write tasting notes for tonight are these Magic Hour blends from my last order, and I feel like all of them deserve longer and more detailed tasting notes than I have the energy to write tonight – but I’m gonna try my best.

I actually enjoyed this one a lot! It was pretty sweet, but I definitely expect about this level of sweetness when I hear marzipan in the name of a tea. Rich and almond-y but with a creaminess to it as well that, at times, made me think of something like a vanilla almond milkshake. Or, at least, what I imagine that would taste like.

All in all I thought the “pumpkin spice” component in the blend was tastefully balanced. I got clove and nutmeg more than anything else, but in a gentle way the felt appropriate for a white tea blend. Plus, I loved that the delicate creamier and floral elements of the silver needle base were totally buried in flavours.

I see blends like this with the bai hao yin zhen base and it makes me think of teas from my past like Watermelon Xylophone from Butiki or Gold Rush from DAVIDsTEA. They’re just so intensely visually impactful. However, now that I understand the behind the curtains perspective it also makes me wonder why a blender would ever chose to use a base like this (past the visual impact). I mean this tea is stupid expensive and that’s not arbitrary – the tea base they’ve used is really costly to work with. You could probably achieve an equivalent taste/body/mouthfeel contribution from using a different grade of white tea and save both yourself and your customers a lot of expense.

So, striking as it is, I just don’t know if the added visual value is really worth it…

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Cameron B.
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Curious to hear (read?) what you think of these! This is definitely my favorite of the bunch so far.

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Cameron B.
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Curious to hear (read?) what you think of these! This is definitely my favorite of the bunch so far.

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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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