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knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 21 (my pick)
Theme: Sugar Plum Fairy
Her pick: Organic Passion Plum from The English Tea Room

I had to choose this tea for Sugar Plum Fairy day! Definitely the best plum flavoring I’ve ever had. I love plums, but plum teas are always so disappointing to me, most of the time they have cinnamon and hibiscus, and even when they don’t, they rarely taste like actual plum. This one does taste just like a sweet & tangy plum, the small yellow-green kind or the ones with reddish-purple skin and yellow flesh (I don’t know the names lol). The smell is intoxicating when it’s steeping.

But the base here is a bit odd, it gets bitter so easily. I would consider my usual steeping parameters for flavored green tea to be quite conservative – 2 minutes at 175 degrees. But this tea still has an edge of bitterness, even with a short steep. Next time I’ll have to try lowering the temperature even more to see if that helps. Regardless, still delicious, so it’s worth the trouble to suss out the right parameters!

Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 21

Holiday tea! They really did save all of these for the second half of the advent ha ha, which makes sense to me. I definitely feel more festive as we get closer to Christmas, so I probably crave more festive teas as well.

As gingerbread teas go, this one is more on the chai side to me than specifically gingerbread. It does have a bit of a molasses flavor, but nowhere near as much as, say, Harney & Sons or Adagio. Mostly I taste the clove and ginger, followed by the cinnamon. It kind of tastes like there’s nutmeg as well, but that could just be part of the flavoring. It’s a tasty gingerbread-ish chai, and I enjoyed the cup. The clove is a bit too strong for it to be something I would order a tin of.

The jam of the day is Pineapple Passion Fruit-Spread which, needless to say, is delicious. I love pineapple and passion fruit, so of course I enjoy the combination of the two. It is mostly pineapple, I would say, with a bit of extra juiciness and zing from the passion fruit. Delightful.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DD2kFQ0vy6n/

DIY Herbal Infusion Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 20
Name: Elements: Earth
Ingredients: dark roast hojicha, cacao shell, elderberry, anise
Movie: The Grinch (2018)

The last element! I chose a lot of deep, rich flavors for this one, as that made sense to me for an earth-inspired blend. The base is Hojicha Dark Roast from Obubu, which combined with the cacao shells, gives it a sort of coffee-like roasty and somewhat bitter flavor. Then there’s a generous amount of elderberry for a dark, syrupy berry note. I had a cocoa and blueberry jam once (thanks again Courtney!), and really enjoyed the combo, so that’s probably where that idea came from. To finish it off, I added some anise seed. I’m not entirely sure why that ingredient popped into my head, but it just seemed right ha ha. And indeed, I did really like it with the toasty, slightly bitter dark chocolate and berry. It added a nice touch of sweetness and warmth.

A little bit sad to be done with all four of these, but also excited to delve more into tea blending the new year! :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/DD0cAESvfsW/

Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 20

Just a classic blend of peppermint and spearmint. It’s a nice mix of sweet, refreshing, and relaxing. The peppermint isn’t the freshest ever, it does have an herbaceous flavor to it. No wet rag though ha ha. Anyway, a pleasant cup for a mint enjoyer such as myself.

Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 20

This one tastes more like a butterscotch rooibos to me than a chestnut one, but I still like it ha ha. Sweet and buttery with maybe an undertone of nuttiness. The rooibos base is nutty and woody rather than medicinal, and pairs nicely with the butterscotch flavor. There’s a touch of roasted chestnut in the finish.

Not something I would order since I prefer Bourbon Brew from OBTC, but an enjoyable cuppa.

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 20 (my pick)
Theme: A Black Tea
Her pick: Cardamom from The English Tea Room

This tea… It’s just delightful. Such a deliciously flavorful black base, not too heavy but with a touch of satisfying savoriness to it (Chinese black teas of course). This cup actually has a hint of that cinnamon waffle-y character I sometimes get from Taiwanese black teas as well. And then the bergamot is so subtle, and blends in perfectly with the bright and sweet orange. The herbs are so light and soft. It’s just wonderful, and I love how much focus is on the high-quality black teas, with the additions being subtle enough to just compliment it a bit.

Will definitely be purchasing the full canister when I sip through what I have. :)

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 20
Theme: A Black Tea
My pick: The Magician from Wild Coast Brew

I prepared this one with sugar and oat milk, which was maybe a mistake, as it came out a bit weak in flavor. I definitely taste the cardamom, but the black tea itself isn’t quite strong enough to stand up to this treatment. There’s something slightly savory about it, that’s reminding me of thyme or maybe rosemary. Not sure if that’s from the black tea or just how the cardamom is coming across. It’s not bad, but not what I was expecting for a cardamom black tea latte ha ha.

Almost forgot jam! Today it’s Mixed Berries Spread, which is a combination of blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry. To me, the blackberry takes the lead, but I can taste the tartness of raspberry and the syrupy sweet blueberry as well. It’s nice and very rich in flavor, but IMO it’s a bit too sweet overall. I think maybe leaving the blueberry out would’ve helped.

DIY Herbal Infusion Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 19
Name: Pineapple Brûlée
Ingredients: sobacha, genmai, pineapple, cinnamon, fenugreek
Movie: The Santa Clause 2

This one was loosely inspired by pineapple upside down cake. With the cinnamon, it’s more of a pineapple coffee cake vibe though. Love the double toasty and buttery-rich notes of the sobacha and genmai together! The pineapple was fruity and fresh, but the cinnamon helped it be more sweet and less tart. Fenugreek, to me, has a maple-like flavor, and I thought it was perfect to add some brown sugary notes to this.

Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 19

An old favorite. This is a simple blend, but a good one. Love the toasty honeybush base with the sweet red apple and warm cinnamon. There’s no flavoring, so the apple is quite light but still lovely. And the cinnamon tastes like the real thing, no candy here! Like a very subtle apple pie.

https://www.instagram.com/tea.n.pugs/p/DDyFWrov9uz/

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 19 (my pick)
Theme: Comfort & Joy
Her pick: Joy from Tazo

Yum! This is such a cozy tea to me, so I had to choose it for Comfort & Joy ha ha. Sweet butterscotch without being overly buttery or heavy, and it has some nice deep caramelized sugar notes to it. I don’t ever taste the corn at all, which doesn’t surprise me since there are very few pieces, but I do get an oaky note. Perfect with the rooibos base, and that’s coming from a rooibos non-lover ha ha. :)