Holiday Blend

Holiday Tea-son! Saving my Bird & Blend advent tea for this evening, so I brought this tea with me in my work thermos today. I got it as a freebie with a Citizen Tea order back in January of 2018, and have just been saving it since then.

It smells quite spicy, but the flavor actually has a pine sort of flavor to me. I’m not sure what is giving me that sort of flavor, though. I do get a sort of orange citrus, but mostly there is this strong pine note, and then a bite of a sweet spice toward the end of the sip. I’m not picking up on any of the vanilla or nut notes that should be in the blend, but for what it is, I don’t mind it; the pine and spice flavor at least does make me think of the winter season. Could it be the bourbon alcohol flavoring causing that taste to me, since I don’t really drink alcohol? Who knows! I wish I was getting some of the vanilla, but it’s alright otherwise. I like that the black tea itself is coming out very smooth, since my last few blacks have turned out on the bitter side.

I finally figured out what puts me off. While I don’t think this is a bad tea… the addition of apple seems to ruin the balance. It really doesn’t do much for me without milk, not unless I’m especcially in the mood for it, which is rare, but with milk, the apple bits just don’t seem to fit.
Once I get through the first few sips it kinda grows on me a teeny bit. Slightly remnicent of what I’d imagine an apple pie latte would taste like?
Also, the base tea is highly astringent in the sour ish way. So between those two factors, I’ll easily finish the sample…. but I won’t be replacing it in my cupboard!

I think this one is a little strange. I’m not getting much nutty as indicated in the description. It’s a little vanilla, a little sweet cinnamon, a bit alcohol,in a sharp black base. This is a snuggle up fall weather type tea. More fall than holiday in my opinion. Not my favorite, but a decent cup.