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AJRimmer Advent Day 21

To be honest, I drank this in a hurry on my way out the door this morning. It came across as a pretty basic chai blend…enjoyable, but not memorable.

AJRimmer Advent Day 20

I appreciate how this advent calendar is helping me try new things and get more variety into my tea-drinking diet! I tend to rotate between my favorite black tea and white tea blends, but I’ve been drinking a lot more green tea this month thanks to AJRimmer. :) (Plus matcha and puerh, which are WAY outside my comfort zone and provided some happy surprises!)

All that to say: this is a good tea, but definitely not what I would normally have reached for…especially on such a cold, grey Wisconsin winter day! The green tea base is nice and smooth and the lime flavor is strong and clear (almost too sharp and acidic for me). I wish there were a bit more coconut here to smooth things out a bit. It didn’t quite hit the spot today, but I could see myself really enjoying this iced on a sunny summer day!

AJRimmer Advent Day 19

I didn’t taste the marshmallow here; just a pleasant vanilla black tea on a hearty assam base. But I like vanilla and I like assam, so I’m not complaining!

AJRimmer Advent Day 18

I’m not a puerh girl, but this was much better than anticipated! The dry leaf was lovely and really did smell like a pecan pie. Brewed, it had a strong nutty flavor and aroma and (thankfully!) none of the earthy/fishy flavor I’ve run into with other puerhs in the past. It didn’t really have much of a “pie” flavor for me, but the pecan flavor was nice! Maybe I would have gotten more of the sweetness/crust with some sweetener?

AJRimmer Advent Day 17

I definitely got blueberry from this, but not sure about “crumble”…there was a hint of cinnamon, but nothing that read butter, pastry or oats for me. I think I may have oversteeped it a bit, as the base tea came across quite astringent.

AJRimmer Advent Day 16

I’m not generally a matcha fan, so I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed when I opened today’s advent packet and found this inside. But AJRimmer mentioned that she enjoys David’s Tea’s matcha made with milk, so I whipped out my milk frother and made myself a latte. What a lovely surprise! It was creamy vanilla with a touch of spice and a pleasant sweetness…none of the bitterness or grittiness I’ve experienced with some of the other matchas I’ve tried in the past. Maybe it’s time to give matcha another chance? So glad for the opportunity to sample this one!

AJRimmer Advent Day 15

I’ve had some pretty bad lemon teas in my day (Pledge furniture polish, anyone?) but add in some vanilla and I am here for it! This reminded me of Tazo’s Glazed Lemon Loaf (my favorite bagged tea!) but on a pleasantly malty black tea base. I’m fighting a sore throat, so I added some honey and that really made the sweet bakery notes pop. This was a winner for me!

AJRimmer Advent Day 14

I love coconut and I love white tea, so I was excited to see this one in the calendar yesterday! Unfortunately, the coconut flavor just wasn’t present in this cup. I get chocolate and the white tea base and maybe a tiny bit of coconut, but I doubt I’d be picking up on it if I didn’t know it was supposed to be here. It was a fairly good cup of tea, but just not what I was hoping for.

AJRimmer Advent Day 13

Oh wow, this is amazing! It’s reminding me so strongly of one of my all-time favorite and much-missed blends: Butiki’s Hello Sweetie. It’s sadly been years since I tasted that one, but this tastes almost exactly like what I remember: lots of creamy coconut, natural-tasting banana, some sweet dessert notes, and a smooth but robust black tea base. I’m thrilled I got to try this and will be STOCKING UP if 52Teas does a reblend!

AJRimmer Advent Day 12

Are strawberry cinnamon rolls actually a thing? Never heard of them but I’d be intrigued to try one! This made for a nice light mid-morning pick-me-up. The green tea is smooth and mellow and the flavoring is sweet and natural. I mostly got strawberry with a hint of cinnamon; no bakery or cream cheese notes that I could pick up on. I wouldn’t have minded a stronger flavor (or maybe a black tea base?) but this was still quite tasty!