Tasting Lab: 2023 Retrospective

Those that follow our newsletter will have noticed that we've been running a Tasting Lab Survey the past couple of weeks to gather feedback on your favourite 2023 Tasting Lab releases so far. If not--the survey is still up, link in our newsletter! Many of you have reached out in various forms already, from emails, to DMs, and reviews.

From the beginning, I wanted the Tasting Lab to be a mixture of my own interesting finds and experiments, with collaboration from enthusiastic tea-drinkers. To have a platform to explore ideas that are too small for a full store release, and maybe find new teas for our core lineup! So your feedback is valuable, and I'd like to share some of the results so far, and give an idea what to expect in the Tasting Lab's future.

During the course of the Tasting Lab, we've released eight teas so far. It doesn't feel like it's been that long, but luckily I'm still full of ideas (and old blends to bring back). Of those, four were discontinued blends (two recent, two vintage), two were all-new blends (technically three, if we'd like to include Evergreen!), one latte-inspired, and one single-origin tea. In our poll, we asked which kinds of teas you'd like to see more of, and what teas you've liked from our 2023 lineup. You've likely noticed we've already brought back a Tasting Lab tea due to popular demand. Some expressed concern that it wasn't included in the 2023 Options to vote on, but--we'd already heard the call loud and clear. Tuscany Orange has been added to our roster as a returning Summer Seasonal.

Let's take a look at the results of the survey so far. On the right, I've broken down the 2023 Vote by percentage. Bard's Blend took an early lead, and looks like the clear winner. I'm delighted; I think its deep, roasty fragrance makes it a great curl-up-with-a-book-and-fuzzy-socks tea. I'll confess that Poet's is my favourite, but I think the timing works, as Bard's Blend is a fantastic fall tea. I left room in 2024 to slot in one Tasting Lab winner, so I guess the dedicated Tasting Lab followers will be hearing it here first: Bard's Blend will be returning in-store as part of our Fall Collection. Shh!

The survey also asked what you'd like to see more of out of the Tasting Lab. This was a bit of an open-ended question, but I tried to group together like-answers to get a better idea of where the interest lies. So far, I've brought back a number of discontinued teas, played with some brand new (vintage-inspired) blends, and sourced just one single-origin tea.

In general, about 87% leaned towards interesting blends. But single-origins weren't completely discounted... And I think that was reflected in people's interest towards Sticky Rice Puerh, our May release.

'Discontinued' and 'vintage' were a bit hard to separate, as there was a lot of overlap. There are a lot of recent discontinued teas, and a lot of very old blends from our Blend Book. Some enjoyed Poet's and Bard's as they're new, but based in Victorian-era blending styles. And some liked the literary inspiration behind the blends. All of this feedback is very helpful for informing future ideas.

Because the survey was open-ended, there were some great ideas, and many voiced their favourite discontinued blend. Some of these were 2024 Tasting Lab debuts; don't worry! I didn't forget them. I plan to do a 2024 Roundup at the beginning of 2025, but I think I already know what the favourites are.

Here are a few of the discontinued teas mentioned:

• Number 9
• Lemon Spice
• Wedding Blend
• Tuscany Orange
• Okanagan Caravan

Some long-term followers may already know that Okanagan Caravan and Wedding Blend (and Jane Austen Blend too!) can be requested as Custom Blends either over the phone, or at our brick and mortar shops. There they'll then be blended for you on the spot, in one pound increments. Just like our Family Blends--one of Murchie's oldest traditions! It's like a 'Secret Menu'.

Other ideas that were voiced included more 'literary' blends (I'm happy to oblige--who should we do next, Dorian 'Grey'?), more Victorian, Edwardian, and historical-period inspired blends (maybe a nod to Canada's longest-running period drama?), and several expressing interest in oolong teas, as well as blends containing oolongs. In general, the interest seems to be towards unflavoured blends, with the exception of a few discontinued teas. The rest of 2023 is planned out, but this info will be useful going forward into 2025.