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TTB #3

This is lovely! Complex, well-rounded, and flavorful with notes of honey, malt, and something a bit floral. It does have just a touch of astringency…looking at other tasting notes, I’m wishing I’d tried brewing it at a slightly lower temperature. But I’m still quite enjoying it without milk or sweetener!

TTB #2

First tea of the day from the TTB! I enjoyed this one. It’s not as complex as most of the other blends I’ve tried from 52Teas…just a basic sweet strawberry flavor on a light, smooth black tea base. But the flavoring and base tea are well-balanced and quite tasty! I can also see this being yummy as a tea latte…adding milk would probably give more of a “strawberries and cream” flavor. There’s enough left for a couple more cups and I may end up hanging onto this one!

TTB #1

I was so excited to find the Traveling Tea Box waiting for me last night and couldn’t wait to dig in! It was already late, so I decided to grab an herbal teabag – something quick and easy to brew that wouldn’t keep me awake – as my first sample. I like apricot, so went for this one. Unfortunately, I didn’t take the time to read the ingredients list and see that this blend includes both rooibos and hibiscus…two flavors I avoid. I didn’t get much apricot from this tea: just a vague fruity flavor fighting with lots of woody rooibos and that tart hibiscus aftertaste I dread. I finished my cup but definitely wouldn’t drink this one again.

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 25

This advent calendar swap with Shae was one of the highlights of my Christmas season! Such fun to try a new tea every day leading up to Christmas…especially since I ended up liking the vast majority of the ones she sent. :) And of all the yummy teas I got to try, this was one of my very favorites. In all the festivities on Christmas morning, I forgot about it and let it steep for far too long…probably 15 or 20 minutes. Many black teas would have been completely undrinkable at that point, but this one was still smooth and lovely without a hint of bitterness or astringency! It’s an exceptionally smooth, sweet and fruity black tea that obviously isn’t too picky and holds up to multiple resteepings. Wouldn’t mind having this one in my cupboard long-term!

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 24

A lovely treat for Christmas Eve! The dry leaf is lovely…downy golden curls with a rich earthy aroma. The flavor is rich and full-bodied with notes of cocoa, malt, and baked bread. It also resteeps beautifully!

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 23

From what I remember, this was a nutty roasted oolong. Enjoyable, but apparently not very memorable!

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 22

Now that the Christmas festivities are over, time to catch up on the last few days of my Advent calendar! I was SO excited to find this one in Sunday’s packet, as it has been on my wish list for awhile. I love Earl Grey and I love coconut, so this blend sounded like a match made in heaven! And sure enough, it’s delicious. I was a little worried that the bergamot and coconut would end up giving me soap vibes, but it was just creamy, coconutty deliciousness with just enough bergamot to keep things interesting. Lovely with milk!

Tea Advent calendar – Day 21

Another straight black tea with a lovely dry leaf…lots of golden tips in this one! The flavor is…“manly” is the word that’s coming to mind. Intense, slightly smoky and even a bit spicy with notes of cocoa and malt. It’s good, but not as smooth as the black teas I tend to prefer. I may try my next steep with milk!

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 20

Ooo, more Joseph Wesley! And a Chinese black tea too, which tends to be one of my favorite types. This one ranks up there with some of the best I’ve tried. The dry leaf is full of beautiful, unbroken twisted dark brown leaves with a heavenly scent of malt. It brews up to a rich, reddish brown liquid with a robust flavor of baked bread and malt and just a hint of fruitiness in there somewhere. It’s smooth and sweet and easy to drink…my first cup was gone before I knew it, but the second steep was just as good!

Tea Advent Calendar – Day 19

How is it less than a week until Christmas??? So much left to do…

Anyway, this tea made me realize that I don’t think I’ve ever had a plain banana-flavored tea before. It’s always banana walnut or banana bread or banana pancakes or something. And after trying this one, I think I do prefer having another flavor in there to balance out the banana. This one felt a bit bland and I found myself wanting some nutty notes (like Fava’s Banana Walnut Bread) or maple (like AQTT’s Banana Pancakes). But it was smooth and easy to drink and gave me the caffeine boost I needed this morning, so not complaining!