Christmas Afternoon

I can’t believe how whittled down my current tea collection is! There was first snow on the mountain yesterday and I had to dig around to try and find something to hit my immediate flavoured-black-with-sugar-and-milk craving that sees me through many a winter’s evening… and it was either this or my very last sachet of DT Fantasy Island, which I just can’t bring myself to crack open. I’m still too desperately sad to say goodbye.

Christmas it is, then!

And a new flavoured black tea order very soon, oops.

Received about 2 cups worth with a purchase from the lovely TheLastDodo! I do believe it originally must have come from MissB though, due to the bag it was in, and the writing on said bag. It was an alright black, not astringent or bitter. I think most of the “Christmas Cake” flavours have dissipated from the leaf though, unfortunately. I did get a nice hinting of vanilla at the end of the sip, but that is really all. The 2 cups I had of this were pleasant, but I would be interested to see what a newer sample would taste of.

Thanks again TheLastDodo! :)

Sipdown (119)!

This is a queued tasting note.

Thanks to MissB for the sample! I’m almost through with the teas you sent my way – and honestly, this was probably the least exciting of all the ones I’ve tried.

That’s not to say that the concept for the flavour was unexciting – I feel like I’m actually one of few people who actually likes Christmas Loaf/Fruit Cake (so long as there are no raisins) so I thought it’d probably taste pretty good. And, it’s not so much that it tasted bad either – what it really boils down to is that it just, well, ’didn’t taste’.

Seriously, this must be super subtley flavoured because I just tasted weak, mid-quality black tea up until the end of the timolino and then I got the faintest little whisp of vague generic fruit. I didn’t think my expectations were that high for this one, even if I was excited – they were so far from being met though. I finished it because it was definitely drinkable but out of everything I’ve tried from MissB’s treasure trove of blends so far this is the least shiny and memorable.

Oh well; on to the next blend I suppose…

Another tea from MissB! Thank you. :) There will be quite a few more of them over the weekend as I’m packing things up for CrowKettle and Bear With Me.

This was actually pretty good with some milk added. A little citrusy, reminded me of Mandarin Spice or whatever it was from Celestial Seasonings. Only WAY more delicate and with a black base. Even though these Christmas teas from Twinings are heavily flavoured, I quite like them with some cream.

Thanks, MissB! I’m keeping some of this one. :)

Very subtle flavour. Something in here that reminds me of bergamot. I can taste the vanilla note a little bit but it isn’t accompanied by that authentic vanilla creaminess

Thanks MissB for sharing!

The orange is strong in this tea. I am not sure what Christmas cake is supposed to taste like but this is mostly orange but with vanilla cake notes. It’s actually quite nice though I’m not sure how quickly I would reach for it again and again. Still, I am grateful to MissB for sending some of this all the way from Europe!

Another one from MissB as i desperately need to finish up those teas so that i can get them parcelled out and shared with everyone else lol I wasn’t a huge fan of this one…it tasted more like a generic “christmas spice” sort of tea than anything else. It wasn’t bad, but nothing i’m dying to have again or keep around…

Hm. Did I have this one yesterday instead of Christmas Caddy Tea? Sigh. This is very familiar. More fruity though, like a Christmas cake, with a strong vanilla in it. Slightly creamy, slightly astringent… is it the tea kettle? I don’t get it. Everything is drying and astrigent. I need to try something else.