Category: Review

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DavidsTea’s Korean Sejak

Korean Sejak by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Straight
$12.98 for 50g

DavidsTea sent me Korean Sejak as part of a complementary Garden to Cup subscription package, a review was not requested.

First Impressions

Korean Sejak is a Korean green tea that is also known as dumul-cha. Sejak means thin sparrow, while dumul-cha translates to second flush tea. This tea came as part of Garden to Cup subscription package from DavidsTea – their option that features primarily traditional/straight teas.

Korean Sejak is an organic green tea that is both steamed and roasted in the tea production process. The tea leaves are thin, wiry, and pops of bright green to dark green. The aroma is nutty, grassy and just lightly floral.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Korean Sejak in 85°C (185°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of Korean Sejak for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Korean Sejak steeps to a bright yellow. The aroma is nutty and lightly floral. The green tea is smooth, has both roasted and nutty flavours to it, and a little something to it that makes me think of roasted asparagus, as well as just a light umami in the background. It has a nice salty-seaweedy quality to it, which makes me think of walking along the beach and getting to smell the ocean. The tea is easy to drink with a pleasant mouthfeel.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Korean Sejak a total of seven times (eight steeps total), and added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The flavour remains full of umami, nutty, and asparagus-y. The vegetal notes are pleasant and add a great savoury quality to the tea.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Korean Sejak. My first chance to drink a green tea from Korea, and it did not disappoint! There were a lot of qualities to Sejak that remind me a lot of a sencha – those umami flavours make it a treat to enjoy. The savoury qualities of Korean Sejak make it easy to drink, and it pleasantly resteeps over and over again.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Dessert by Deb’s Toasty Marshmallows

Toasty Marshmallows by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.50 for 25g

Toasty Marshmallows came to me as part of the bimonthly subscription box from Dessert by Deb.

First Impressions

Coming to me as part of the bimonthly subscription box from Dessert by Deb, Toasty Marshmallows came in a rich brown metallic pouch with a familiar polka dot label. The pouch is sealed and resealable, this black tea blend is part of the Bed & Breakfast Holiday Inn collection.

Toasty Marshmallows has a strong smokey aroma, mixed with the coconut. This black tea blend consists of organic: coconut, black tea, lapsang souchong, honey, bee pollen, toasted coconut, and brown sugar. It is a beautiful blend, with huge contrasting colours of black and white with the blend ingredients.

Fun fact, bee pollen is a great ingredient for those who suffer from seasonal allergies as it can help relieve those seasonal allergy symptoms. For the most benefit, you should seek out bee pollen that’s locally harvested in your area so you’re exposed to pollen that is local to you.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Toasty Marshmallows in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of 5 minutes, Dessert by Deb also recommends steeping it as a tea latte.

First Taste

Toasty Marshmallows steeps to a browny-yellow. The aroma is smokey, coconut-y. The flavour is strongly of lapsang souchong – smokey, a strong bold flavour that fills the mouth, coats the tongue, and has a slight bitterness that reminds me how marshmallows taste when they get a bit too much colour after being roasted over a campfire. The coconut and honey/sugar related ingredients make it sweet, while the coconut rounds out the flavour with that cream note. All that’s missing is something to make me think of chocolate, and I would think of the blend like liquid s’mores.

I did try adding some milk to the cup of tea, and it added a nice amount of creaminess to it.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Toasty Marshmallows once, finding that the flavour wasn’t as strong as the initial steep. If you’re a fan of lapsang souchong, you’ll like resteeping Toasty Marshmallows because the smokey black tea base shines through. The other ingredients weren’t noticeable with the resteep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Toasty Marshmallows. This black tea blend makes me think so closely of s’mores – it just needs a little bit of chocolate or cocoa nibs to send that over the top. The use of bee pollen is a nice treat, and the use of honey and brown sugar was great in making it sweet, and remind me of a toasted marshmallow.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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DavidsTea’s Nepal White

Nepal White by DavidsTea
White Tea / Straight
$21.98 for 50g

DavidsTea sent me Nepal White as part of a complementary Garden to Cup subscription package, a review was not requested.

First Impressions

Nepal White came to me as part of a complimentary Garden to Cup subscription package from DavidsTea. The pouch is silver, sealed and resealable. The label is light blue with tiny print across the bottom portion of the label.

Because it’s such an airy tea, the pouch size is larger than the usual pouches used for 50g portions of tea. Nepal White is an organic tea from Nepal. The leaves long, wiry, with a mix of cream to green – there are feathery bits to the leaves. The aroma of Nepal White is very floral and light.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Nepal White in 90°C (195°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I opted to do do an initial steep for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Nepal White steeps to a clear yellow. The aroma is floral and sweet. The flavour of Nepal White is sweet and floral. The tea itself is smooth, but it also has a quite the drying mouthfeel to it. Nepal White’s drying notes leaves me to wanting to drink more of it to wet my palate a bit more, which results in a cycle of taking a sip, and needing to take another sip of tea.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Nepal White a total of six times (seven steeps total), adding an additional thirty seconds for each subsequent steep. The tea got sweeter, a bit more floral, for the first two resteeps. After that, it got a bit less weaker in flavour. Even by the sixth resteep, the tea was still quite flavourful.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Nepal White. Nepal White smells lovely, is pretty to look at and steeps (and resteeps!) really well. I find it was easy to drink, as long as you don’t mind the drying mouthfeel. I enjoyed Nepal White both hot and iced, which is a great way to continue to enjoy the tea’s repeated resteeps (and a great way to fill a big pitcher for the fridge!).

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.