Festive Spice

Happy New Year!
Starting off the day with a mug of Festive Spice. This year my Christmas stocking was filled with tea instead of candy. Not a bad thing at all in my opinion.
This is not a bad black tea. It does seem to have some astringency to it and I would probably add a bit of sweetener or milk to it in the future. The pepper is a nice zing to it but I don’t taste any of the other spices involved.

English Tea Shop Advent Calendar: Days 2 & 21

This is a perfectly serviceable, spice-heavy, easy drinker! There’s a nice little hint of orange peel that gives it some zing, although I think it could use a heavier hand with that flavor. Everything else is pretty well-balanced; I’m getting cinnamon and clove, with a little heat from the black pepper. The black base is a bit drying and a little thin; I’d be OK with something more assertive.

I WAY over-steeped this one the first time, but it still tasted good! I left the tea bag in after the second steep because it was too weak even after 5-6 minutes.

This was in the advent calendar two days running, and because I’m just drinking through it and ignoring the dates, that means I had it twice in one morning. I’m not complaining though, because I didn’t really fancy anything else, and I quite enjoyed it both times. As I was drinking my first mug, I noticed some astringency and wished I’d added a splash of milk. So when I saw it in the next slot of the calendar, I remedied that and made my second cup with milk. I enjoyed it both times, but I think the winner was with milk, as the black tea is quite robust and not a particularly nuanced one that loses anything with the addition of milk. There’s a gorgeous, sweet aroma coming from the steeping leaf that makes me think it’s going to be a dessert-type tea, but it doesn’t quite come through in the sip. It is a little more mellow than most ‘spice’ blends, and possibly has a touch of vanilla in there. The cinnamon is also quite forward, making it feel on the sweeter side of chai. Not one I would buy, but one I will happily sip on on this cold December morning.