6106 Tasting Notes

90

Another caffeine-free hit! Fabulous! Absolutely love the tangy orange/grapefruity scent of the dry tea, and when steeped, it has a light citrusy, creamy/buttery almost vanilla flavour (although sadly, the delicious scent is muted a bit). However, I’m not getting “orange creamsicle” from it like I do moreso from Orange Blossom; it reminds me more of an orange butterscotch Higgins & Burke tea I was given for Christmas a few years back. The one thing I’m a bit disappointed about is that I can’t taste the spearmint at all.

Definitely re-buying. Love that I’m having so much luck with tea purchases lately!

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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75
drank Kanpe Tea by DAVIDsTEA
6106 tasting notes

Yum, yum, yum. Bought this tea not because I’m a good person and wanted to support a good cause, but because I need a greater selection of a) fruity and b) caffeine-free teas! I don’t know what all the fuss about people not liking hibiscus is about, because I think I’ve always liked it as an ingredient, but anyways, this tea is pretty good! Fruity and cinnamony with a hint of creaminess from the coconut makes for a great late-night tea. Definitely have to go pick up more!

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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45
drank Exotica by DAVIDsTEA
6106 tasting notes

Another tea I tried courtesy of the advent calendar. Unfortunately, not a favourite, although I’m wondering if the sample size of the tea perhaps affected its flavour to some degree as I don’t recall seeing cloves or pineapple in the last batch. I remember liking it alright back in December when my roommate and I compared a bunch of teas one evening, but the last pot of it we shared last night tasted strongly of warm lemongrass, a bit spicy, and that’s about it. Not likely to give this one another shot though, since although I love lemongrass as a flavouring in food, I don’t think it suits me in tea.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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90
drank Santa's Secret by DAVIDsTEA
6106 tasting notes

Normally I am not a fan of teas containing peppermint: the first time I was in David’s tea (late November), they were sampling a straight peppermint tea, which I tasted and subsequently gagged down as it was awful and not for me (but I didn’t want to admit it). I’m also not big on candy canes. However, there’s something about this tea that I quite like! Perhaps it’s the pairing of the smooth candy cane flavour with the black tea base that kind of counteracts the sweetness, but I’m impressed! Again, I first tried this tea in the advent calendar and was undecided about it, but today’s cup was quite good. Good thing, since I received a tea ornament containing a nice little bag of it as well. Probably will last me a while, as it’s not an everyday tea for me, but when the mood strikes it’s perfect!

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec

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80
drank Green and Fruity by DAVIDsTEA
6106 tasting notes

Currently undecided about this tea. First tried it in the advent calendar and liked it as I like fruity herbal teas, but I think I may like others better. However, I think I need to pick up a small sample just to re-check – the last cup I had today was perhaps lacking a bit in fruit, so didn’t measure up to other fruity favourites such as Cranberry Pear. However, it has merit as a caffeine-free tea, which I need to acquire some more of as I have a bad habit of drinking tea quite late in the evening! Future additional tasting note(s) and rating modification to come.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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93
drank Cranberry Pear by DAVIDsTEA
6106 tasting notes

A delicious fruity tea – one of my favourites! Admittedly the dry tea smells sickeningly sweet, but once steeped I find it to be just the right sweetness, which I like to have naturally in my teas. I do typically steep it for a rather long time as the sweetness comes out more the longer it is steeped, and I haven’t found the black to develop a bitter flavour (probably because there isn’t very much of it to begin with??) The steeped cranberries taste pretty awesome too. I don’t typically resteep this one… tea is cheap enough (compared to, say, beverages at a coffee shop) that I can enjoy my one delicious cup and eat the cranberries, and brew a fresh cup from new leaves if I want more :D

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

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Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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