1994 Aged Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea Lot 532

Are you still at DTs?

Sorry, I ’m a bit out of the loop.

No worries! Yes, I’m still working for DT but I’m not in the retail 1/2 of the company anymore – I’m working out in Montreal at the Store Support Center as a data assistant in the tea lab.

Wow, fun!

I hope that it is as fun for you as it sounds in my imagination.

I’ve only been in this role for a week so far, but I’m REALLY enjoying it a lot thus far :) Still lots to learn though as I’m very much still in the training process of this position.

To me, it sounds like a good fit for you at this point. Hopefully, there will be a lot of room for growth in this position and that they appreciate the gem that they have found in you.

I don’t know if you explained it yet in a tasting note, but I’d love to hear more what you do at your job? If it’s tea, I’m sure many are interested. haha. Also, right now I’m drinking David’s S’mores that you included in the tea box and I love it. :D

There’s a lot of aspects of what I’m doing that I can’t really discuss very thoroughly for confidentiality reasons – but to try to simplify I’m working as a data assistant in the tea lab, split between the two department that work in the lab: research and development and quality control.

The Research and Development team is the team that creates concepts for new teas then tastes them to eventually develop the ones that become either part of our permanent collection of teas or seasonal collections of teas. What I’m (mostly) doing for them is creating a detailed record of all the teas that come into the lab to be tasted (where they come from, when they come in, what is in each blend, etc.) and the thoughts of each taster following the tasting as well as their final verdict on whether the tea should be further developed for our collection. I also get to participate in all of the tastings, though I don’t get to weigh in on them the same way the tasters do (there are three tasters in this department, and then me).

For quality control, what I’m (again, mostly) going to be doing is performing different tests on teas that are already part of our collection to confirm that each new shipment of tea meets our quality standards. That includes things like, say, “moisture testing” to make sure that the tea doesn’t have a moisture content high enough for things like mold to grow in it. I also help archive all of the testing information for previous lots, and archive the tea itself too. Each shipment of tea is also taste tested against the previous shipment/control shipment to make sure that the newest batches are in line with what the flavor, mouthfeel, texture, etc of that blend should be – for consistencies sake for consumers. I’m not part of the quality control tasting team who does those taste comparisons, but I sometimes do get to participate in them anyway.

It’s kind of complicated as there are a lot of things I can’t elaborate on too much – but hopefully that kind of explains in a general way?

YES, that is as much as an explanation as I’d hoped… and it. sounds. AWESOME. :D

Meaning it sounded like you were doing something different for Davidstea, so I was interested to know in general.

I’m sure I must have written about my leaving my retail store and my move to Montreal in at least a somewhat general way in previous tasting notes since it was like a month+ long process getting my ass from Saskatchewan out to Quebec – but you’re definitely right that I don’t think I’d elaborated on what I was doing out in Quebec/Montreal at all; that’s largely though because I didn’t actually know myself until after I’d arrived and worked a week or so. I’m also still very much “in training” with a lot of things.

It has been TRULY amazing, though!

That all sounds very fun!

Your new job sounds super interesting!

You are a perfect fit. I think one day you will be one of the three with the final say.

I second that comment.

It sounds amazing, and perfect for you!! Gah I’m so jealous! Congrats again!