6119 Tasting Notes
Ok, I think I steeped this a bit better this time. At least it should be rateable!
The steeped tea has an astringent, crispy pear scent to it, which carries into the flavour. Whoever mentioned that it tastes like a Pear Jelly Belly had it pretty bang on, if you remove much of the sweetness and add an astringent green tea base. Even at only 3:15min of steeping, I’m getting some bitterness and more astringency in the mouth than I would like; maybe I should have gone with an even shorter time. I’m not sure I’m really keen on the sencha base used for this one.
I think I liked this tea more earlier when I hadn’t tasted so many and wasn’t so discriminating; now, a tea has to be pretty darn tasty in order for me to want to purchase it again, and this one, while interesting, just doesn’t catch me like others do. I would love to try a pear oolong tea that’s done similarly to DT’s banana oolong, as I find that one pretty tasty.
Preparation
Received my first mail order from DavidsTea today! So exciting! A bit annoyed that it was left on my front doorstep for 9 hours, but everything seems to be just fine. And now I get to try Swampwater!!
I love guava (LOVE guava), so was so upset when I found out I couldn’t get this tea at all… until it miraculously came back online a few days ago! The smell of the dry tea definitely does not disappoint – it smells like delicious strawberry-banana-passionfruit candy (my brain interprets guava as strawberry-banana). I seriously want to eat it like candy. Sadly I know that it would be an unpleasant experience, if for no other reason than the rooibos pieces getting stuck in my teeth.
Anyhow. (I’m still not over the smell, but I’ll continue anyways).
I have to admit, the steeped tea looks kiiiinda nasty. Dark greenish-brown with a greasy orange rim at the top. Eww. But luckily I’m not turned off by such trivial things… it’s all about flavour! And smell, to some degree, which is still delicious in steeped form, just a bit weaker (which is probably a good thing).
The first sip… is unexpected. I can taste something creamy in there, and there’s some fruitiness, and a definite green rooibos finish. I actually can’t quite place what I’m tasting. This seems to happen to me a lot, urgh. Probably because it’s not a flavour I would normally associate with tea, so it’s not popping into my head all that easily.
Ok, I’m mostly getting this odd buttery flavour… everything else is secondary to it. Hmm. I think I need to wait for the tea to cool a bit more. I’m a lukewarm tea drinker anyhow – I find flavours are poor in hot tea, and it burns my mouth. Maybe my tastebuds are just sensitive. More notes to come once it cools. (Besides, I need to start reviewing Sencha Pear too!)
Alright, cooled down a tad this tea is a much better experience. The taste is MUCH more reminiscent of the smell now, and I am enjoying it. It’s definitely weird though, and I’m not sure that I’d pick it up again because of that, but it was worth the adventure of trying it!
Preparation
Smells just as good as it did yesterday, but the flavour isn’t as strong as I would have liked. Probably my bad with not measuring the leaves correctly. Oh well, still good, and miles beyond the gross Happy Kombucha sitting in my other cup…
Preparation
Happy Kombucha? Is this tea supposed to make me happy? I could certainly use a good dose of happy right now… major grad student woes XD
Anyhow, the dry tea smells deliciously fruity and juicy, with almost a slight hint of chemical (aka fakey smell). But sometimes I just find that dried fruit gets that way (sulphites??), so am not too worried yet. The peachy fruitiness is too enticing.
The steeped tea? A bit of a different story…. I am hardly smelling anything anymore, just a hint of muted fruitiness and that’s about it. How strange (and disappointing). I am slightly concerned that the water was too hot – I’m at work and have no means of measuring water temperature, so just boiled the water and let it cool for a few minutes.
First taste is… not so good. Definitely tasting an odd chemically flavour and maybe I’m catching a bit of pineapple with a mango-y aftertaste, but it’s not very obvious and tastes a little funky. Also not tasting any oolong (although apparently I’m more familiar with light/green oolongs, not brown? I need to do some more tea reading). Unfortunately, the tea is too hot for me right now, and I’m headed to a meeting in a couple minutes, so won’t get back to it until it’s cold, but my hopes have kind of been dashed. Sad :(
Hmm, a few more too-hot sips, and I definitely think I’m getting pineapple, and really am not a fan. Strange, because I think I’ve had pineapple in numerous DT offerings before and thoroughly enjoyed it, although perhaps it just blended in with other flavours instead of standing out on its own.
Ok, finishing this up later…
ETA: Wow… this is not a tea for me. It’s kind of gross cold, and reminiscent of Forbidden Fruit (although I definitely liked that one more). The mango and fruitiniess are weak, and I’m not sure the oolong base and I are agreeing. Either way, I have the rest of a small bag to change my mind, but with so many other tasty options…
To be fair, I should probably resteep this one, as it is an oolong and they apparently taste better in subsequent steepings… No rating until I’ve properly checked the steeping temperature though.
Preparation
I have to admit, this one steeps to a really weird colour. Kind of a murky brownish green. But… I’m liking it even more this time. I cannot place what I’m tasting, but it’s weird and sweet and I really enjoy it. Definitely nutty, and perhaps the other flavour is some sort of steamed vegetable? I really need to pick up more Toasted Walnut soon to compare the two…
Preparation
Trying to finish off some old bagged tea that I was given/bought before I discovered DavidsTea (and became all discriminating!)
I like tart teas, so I tend to enjoy the Celestial Seasonings ‘Zinger’ teas, although they don’t always all appeal to me. This one’s out of one of the sampler boxes. Steeped, the smell is fruity and tart, which I like (and haven’t been able to find in a DT so far). And, it actually tastes nice and tart too! A bit cardboardy as well, but that’s probably because it’s a bit on the old side… ok, a lot on the old side, and hasn’t been stored very well. My bad.
Anyways, this one is not too bad, other than the “old” flavour, which is unfair to judge it on. I probably won’t ever drink these bagged ones again though…
Preparation
Oh wow. This is amazing. The dry tea smells good, sweet and cinnamony, but oh man is the tea ever so much better! First off, the tea does actually glitter! Bonus points for the cool factor, if nothing else, since I was soooo skeptical about it. The smell of the steeped tea mostly smells like sweet cinnamon. Definitely delicious, but nothing overly intriguing or different. But then you taste it…. and it’s like a gentle, sweet cup of cinnamon, backed by what tastes to me like a light black tea base. Oh, it’s so good. Why can’t all DT teas with cinnamon incorporate this delicious flavour?? I am really not tasting either cloves or orange peel – I did noticed one piece of peel in this cup, but no cloves. As long as either of these flavours is not too prominent in future cups, I think they will blend in nicely.
The only downside I can think of is that this tea is sweetened with sugar crystals/gold sugar balls. Yes, the quantity is small, and I’m sure their sweetness is critical to this great-tasting cup, but I prefer to go sugar-free. That said, I am still not adding additional sugar, so I can deal :)
ETA: Second cup, steeped for maybe 15 min (oops), is pretty good as well. Fewer sparklies (of course), and less flavour and smell, but worth it. I suspect a third would now taste like cardboard though, so will not attempt.
Preparation
Beyond everything else, this tea just smells like CHOCOLATE. The dry tea maybe has a hint of chili to its aroma as well, and the steeped tea is a bit mellower and creamy-smelling, but it’s definitely predominantly delicious, delicious chocolate.
Taste-wise, however, I’m a bit disappointed. Yes, I can taste chocolate. One of the better teas I’ve had that contains chocolate, actually, so that is a good thing. However, I’m finding it to be very lacking in both “chili” and “chai”. Sure, there’s a tiny bit of chili coming across, but as I’m drinking hot tea, I’m finding it difficult to separate from the temperature heat. And chai?? I am getting no chai flavour whatsoever, whereas in the pumpkin chai it was quite apparent and delicious. I think a more appropriate name for this tea would be “Chocolate Hint-O-Chili” or something to that effect.
Anyhow, not a bad tea; I just find that it doesn’t live up to its name, and the chocolate flavour isn’t enough to keep me interested.
ETA: Second steep smells chocolatey… and tastes a bit chocolatey… but definitely not great. I’ve let it cool by accident and now it’s kind of gross. Might just dump this one out…
Preparation
Seriously, the smell of this tea is absolutely DIVINE. Dry or steeped, it’s light and flowery (jasmine comes to mind….), and the taste is very much the same. Of course, I only read the brewing instructions upon looking it up to add to the database (1 tbsp/cup, 3-4 30-35s steeps), so my tea is definitely weak today, as I only used ~1 tsp of leaves and steeped it at who knows what temperature for 45s and then 1min 15. Nevertheless, it is yummy and relaxing, and exactly what I wanted tonight.
