85 Tasting Notes

96
drank English Breakfast by DAVIDsTEA
85 tasting notes

I really love this as a morning/breakfast tea, better than their Orange Pekoe actually – sorry aisling (and aisling’s cat)! ;)

I kept going through different straight black teas and blends trying to find the “perfect” breakfast blend for me .. not thinking that it might just be the cheapest one that they sell, lol! I will definitely stay stocked up on this blend and enjoy it on a very regular basis. To me it just has the right blend of floral and sweet/malty notes, without being smoky or bitter. But anyway, to each his/her own!

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 15 sec

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89
drank Snow Bunny (Organic) by DAVIDsTEA
85 tasting notes

This was one of the Teas of the Day in the store and when I tried it.. well, let’s just say I wasn’t at all planning on getting this before I walked in the store.

Not sure I made it just like they did in store (not steeped as long probably) so I will try steeping it longer next time to make it more flavourful (I dare say, sweet). Usually not a big flavoured tea guy, but I’m starting to think that’s what David’s does best, or at least it’s definitely what they’re known for, eh?

I definitely picked up the walnuts AND bananas in the aroma. I think the tea gives a great base and overall I get a slightly nutty, caramelly flavour, really pleasant but not sickeningly sweet. Very nice!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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96
drank Nepal Black (Organic) by DAVIDsTEA
85 tasting notes

I am thoroughly enjoying this tea.

I went to the store to buy some Orange Pekoe (which is quite nice itself, btw) and was offered this one. I got the OP but then after giving it some thought I went back a couple weeks later for a tin of this one.

The first thing you notice is that this is obviously hand-rolled – the leaves are very long and twisty.

The aroma of the leaves is very pleasant, a bit malty and floral like a really nice breakfast tea.

The colour of the infusion is a deep orange but not too dark.

The flavour is reminiscent of Black Needles (Yunnan red/black) in its honey/sweetness but then also like a really nice breakfast blend (Ceylon/Assam).

Very, very accessible and hard to say anything not nice about it. :)

This tea even cost less than I expected because it’s so light that the tin could only hold about 86g – the girl at the store even had trouble shutting the lid (I cringed at the sound of her crushing the tea leaves, not to mention the fact that she spilled a bunch when she was filling the tin.. tsk tsk tsk.. :P )

Notes on preparation: I’ve been doing all of my black tea lately in kind of a “modified gong fu” style – I use extra leaves, and first do a quick infusion off the boil (up to two minutes), then later a second infusion at boiling, leaving the leaves in indefinitely (or at least 5 minutes).

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 30 sec
Daddyselephant

There’s one girl at my local Davids that smashes the leaves into a tin and cannot fill up a bag without spilling at least 10 grams. >.< She drives me nuts and if I can avoid her, I can. But this one was suggested to me last time I bought tea and I loved it. Returned the next day to buy more XD

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99

Bravo DAVIDsTEA!! I’ve been longing to try a Darjeeling first flush since I got a taste of my first (tea) love Margaret’s Hope second flush and discovered the many estates and varieties that exist. And just the other week I was reading the DarjeelingTeaXpress blog and store website where they have some of this very tea for sale (about the same price) along with some lovely pictures of the estate. (found here: http://www.darjeelingteaxpress.com/products/2011-Darjeeling-First-Flush-Jungpana-Black-Tea.html)

And now for the tea! A rich sweet aroma followed by an equally sweet and delicious liquor – hardly a touch of astringency but with that characteristic darjeeling flavour – yum!!

It was so funny, because I really just walked into the store to buy some Buttered Rum (currently the top rated tea on Steepster!!), and one of the workers recognized me and said “Hey, I have something for you! Darjeeling first flush!” Nearly knocked me off my feet! Haha..

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec
nomadinjeopardy

Ooh! I’m waiting on an order of this since none of the stores around me seemed to have it and I’m anxious to try it. Nice to see them offering something like this.

politicalmachine

personally, I think the concept for Davidstea is more tailored for the flavored tea market where they greatly rely of the “b-grade” teas that can bring bigger margins, and i don’t think they sell quite enough on the quality straight teas, and it’s because of these they have discontinued many of them, and would explain the push to sell more herbal unique blends that they can compete in the market with. You can find plenty of places to find a first flush Darjeeling but you can’t get that luscious watermelon anywhere. A tea like this where they stress the limited availability makes sense, it’s a trial and no need for commitment.

nomadinjeopardy

That makes a lot of sense. There’s definitely been a shift away from emphasis on the straight teas. Only a year ago, I think they were advertising the sencha and estate collections.

Wayne

I think in this case the main reason for the very limited availability is because darjeeling first flush teas were hard to come by this year so they couldn’t get very much of it (and this batch is being considered vintage/top quality, as you’ll see if u follow the link in my post) – anyway all i can say is I’m f*88in lovin’ it :P

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78

I’m starting to think I’m not actually that crazy about this one. It’s good, but I don’t find myself craving it in the morning. The quest for a better breakfast tea continues…

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more

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78

No notes yet. Add one?

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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78

No notes yet. Add one?

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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78

Picked up a tin last week. This was actually the first tea that I bought from David’s Tea, last year some time, but my knowledge and appreciation for the stuff has come a long long way since then. For example, I definitely couldn’t have told you back then that the strongest flavour by far that comes out of this blend is Keemun and that I detect a bit of Yunnan especially at later steepings.

I love this newfound knowledge and I love the community and vibe here at Steepster. However, I’ve been trying to take it to the extreme, I think, and log every cup of tea I drink.. which is a lot, these days! My daughter was two months old yesterday and I’m finding myself more and more having to shift my focus towards family matters and less on personal pursuits. I still want to log on and record something new or look for reviews and recommendations from time to time, but I don’t think I’ll be going quite so hardcore with this for the next little while.

Like I said, I really love this site and the opportunities it has for new knowledge, opinions, connections, but I love it so much I’m going to have to cut down a little (“Hi my name is Wayne Steepsterstoomuch” “Well you’d better cut down a little” “I’m sorry? Ah, I get it ‘Steepsters too much’, so I’d better cut down a little..” – anybody get the reference? Lol.)

SO anyway.. without subjecting you to any more hot air.. see you around, now and then. :)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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67

Oversteeped.. oops! Still ok though, with that Green Tea kind of astringency (or whatever you call it) and strong cherry/subtle rose notes.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 8 min or more

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