Evol Ving Ness Send Message

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drank Pumpkin Chai [duplicate] by DAVIDsTEA
1403 tasting notes

First tea of the morning as I continue to experiment oomphing up my pumpkin spice teas with pumpkin seed oil. Not bad. Even better with dark chocolate. But that hardly counts as a tea review.

It’s all been more or less said about this tea, so I don’t really have more to add. It is probably far better as a sweetened latte, or at least with milk or cream.

I am moving my way through this tin of tea. Just a few more cups and that will be that. Out of curiosity, I checked in with the DT’s website to see the cost of a rebuy, though truly, I have far too much tea to consider restocking a tea which, though fine and enjoyable, is not a must have.

Further, I find that I am moving more towards removing the bulk of imitation flavours and colours from my world—not completely, mind, but slowly, slowly. Health continues to challenge me, so I do what I can to simplify and purify. With the occasional binge, of course. But only when it is well worth it.

And ouf! How their prices have escalated! Quite a number of their products are now sold prepackaged and they seem to be putting even more effort on packaging and presentation, if that is even possible.

All in all, clearly, someone like me is not in the demographic their marketing team is aiming for.

And I still have mountains of their teas from before they decided to imitation and stevia everything to death and boost up their marketing frenzy. So, for the time being, I will content myself with those before I maybe maybe maybe make another purchase with them again. If absolutely necessary.
9 comments
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Arby
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Ugh I know. Do they actually think stevia is adding to the blend? I’ve been moving away from DT because I’m not interested in dairy and stevia in my teas, and that seems to be almost all of their new teas. I can add milk and sweetener myself is I choose to.

VariaTEA
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Dairy I don’t mind, but stevia is disgusting. I just wrote a review for Caramel Shortbread for Sororitea Sisters that was basically all about how it is weird for them to throw stevia in everything, especially in a tea they also added sugar to.

Evol Ving Ness
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Sadly, stevia is becoming their trademark taste. Ouf! They could do better.

Evol Ving Ness
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VariaTEA, I can’t seem to locate your review. I’ll keep an eye out for it.

VariaTEA
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They don’t post right away. It’ll probably pop up in 2-3 months :P

Crowkettle
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I completely agree with your DT observations.

I could rant on and on about how much I despise stevia. They completely lost me when they made that a signature ingredient- I was forgiving of the overuse of apple up until that point.

Evol Ving Ness
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hahaha, yes!

There’s also the thing where dozens of their herbal blends seem to taste like exactly the same thing, give or take an apple or handful of hibiscus or two.

Evol Ving Ness
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Sad too because to me it used to be such a joyful brand.

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Comments

Arby
Delete

Ugh I know. Do they actually think stevia is adding to the blend? I’ve been moving away from DT because I’m not interested in dairy and stevia in my teas, and that seems to be almost all of their new teas. I can add milk and sweetener myself is I choose to.

VariaTEA
Delete

Dairy I don’t mind, but stevia is disgusting. I just wrote a review for Caramel Shortbread for Sororitea Sisters that was basically all about how it is weird for them to throw stevia in everything, especially in a tea they also added sugar to.

Evol Ving Ness
Delete

Sadly, stevia is becoming their trademark taste. Ouf! They could do better.

Evol Ving Ness
Delete

VariaTEA, I can’t seem to locate your review. I’ll keep an eye out for it.

VariaTEA
Delete

They don’t post right away. It’ll probably pop up in 2-3 months :P

Crowkettle
Delete

I completely agree with your DT observations.

I could rant on and on about how much I despise stevia. They completely lost me when they made that a signature ingredient- I was forgiving of the overuse of apple up until that point.

Evol Ving Ness
Delete

hahaha, yes!

There’s also the thing where dozens of their herbal blends seem to taste like exactly the same thing, give or take an apple or handful of hibiscus or two.

Evol Ving Ness
Delete

Sad too because to me it used to be such a joyful brand.

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A monk sips morning tea

A monk sips morning tea,
it’s quiet,
the chrysanthemum’s flowering.

- Basho

(1644-1694)

Note to self—-you do not actually need any more tea.

My real tea obsession began in February 2015.

Not, sadly, when I had been living and working in China, though I very much enjoyed sampling a variety of teas during my travels there as well. No, no, that would have been far too sensible.

I am a reformed coffee drinker. I still enjoy a long double espresso with a good quantity or milk or cream from time to time, but for now, tea is my thing. All day.

*note—this is way out of date, so if we are doing a swap and you are checking to see what I like and dislike, mostly never mind what you find below. One of these days, I will update this. In the meantime, check what I’ve been drinking and use your own judgement. I like all the teas. Well, I am open to trying all the teas.

I tend to drink black, green, or oolong tea in the morning to early afternoon. Rooibos or
Honeybush or herbal in the evening. And perhaps some sort of sleepy-type tea in the wee hours.

This year, I’ve been discovering flavoured teas, so it may look like that is all I drink although that would provide a false impression.

Not a big fan of chocolate or mint in teas, but I will try them and, from time to time, have been pleasantly surprised. Also, usually I dislike a prominent cinnamon flavour, if untempered with other things, in teas. Again, I say usually, because there are exceptions.

Also, please note that haven’t quite gotten into the habit of updating my tea cupboard on Steepster, and it is unlikely that I will do this on any kind of regular basis.

I drink my tea black and unsweetened. If there comes a rare moment that I add something to it, I will mention it.

Finally, while I thank large and successful tea companies for tantalizing and beckoning me to the world of tea, I prefer to support independent ventures with real people, real enthusiasm and commitment, and real dreams.

Currently, I am researching monthly tea subscriptions. Perhaps it will keep me out of tea shops.

And here is Shae’s rating scale— which I am using with permission, of course— which more or less describes the way I have been rating teas. I am going to make more of an effort to stay very close to these parameters now.

Rating Scale

1-20: By far, one of the worst teas I’ve tasted. I most certainly will not finish my cup and will likely “gift” the rest to my sweet husband who almost always enjoys the teas I dislike (and vice versa).

21-40: This tea is not good but if I mix it with another tea or find another steeping method I might be able to finish it.

41-60: This one is just okay. I might drink it again if someone were to give it to me, but I probably won’t be buying more for myself.

61-75: This is a consistently good tea. It’s reliable but not necessarily special.

76-90: This one is a notch above the rest and I would gladly enjoy a cup of it any day of the week. I’ll likely be keeping this in my cupboard, but it isn’t one of my all-time favorites.

91-95: One small change and this tea would be perfect. I’ll definitely have a stash of this in my kitchen if you come over for tea.

96-100: No words can describe this tea. It’s an experience, an aha moment. Closed eyes, wide smile, encompassing warmth. Absolutely incredible. Perfect.

Location

Mostly, but not always, Toronto, Canada.

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