Christmas Tea - Mélange Noël (TE90)

There are two Upton Christmas Teas that are the same on Steepster so I have a note in to Ricky to merge them. Ricky is awesome!

This tea is pretty tasty, too!

It has a solid black tea base but all of the flavors are at bolder magnification, too! I can taste the rose and spice and citrus first and the the vanilla and nuts underneath.

I’m enjoying this one more than I anticipated.
On to the next :)

It’s the last day of the month, AND Halloween, & in between practicing sessions & food, I’m trying to manage a few sipdowns.

This one is from the very first box my tea sister Sil sent to me! And an awesome box it was, full of wonderful little packages! This is a black tea with citrus, cinnamon, vanilla, & other spices. It’s a little heavy on the cloves for me, but otherwise it really reminds me of ‘Constant Comment’. It’s been years since I’ve had a cup of that!

It’s pretty far from Christmas, but this smells so good and for some reason I am in a fireplace kind of mood. Maybe it’s the rain + having the AC on, but I wanted something soothing and warming. The ingredients in this fit perfectly!

The dominant flavor here is clove, and as I’ve mentioned before I loooove clove. It’s a complex flavor though, with hints of cinnamon and orange peeking through, and a bit of floralness from the rose petals. The black base is nice, though I’ve found that true of almost all of Upton’s blends. They’re very robust and stand up to bold flavors like the ones here, so while there’s a lot going on Melange Noel is still very tea-y if that makes any sense. I mean, I don’t feel like I am drinking mulled cider or a Christmas drink. It’s very wintery, yes, but a wintery tea, not a wintery drink. Err… I really am not sure if that makes sense, I’m a bit sleep-deprived! As “cold weather” as this is I made a second cup iced and it was just as good, maybe better!

A dominant clove flavor, with cinnamon and cardamon not far behind. I was worried this was going to be more chai-like with the cardamon in there, but instead it’s a very mild, slightly calming blend.

There’s definitely the smoothness and very subtle flavor of vanilla here, as well as a pretty classic orange rind flavor. It isn’t a fake flavor, though, and adds a mulled spice feel to the cup. I’m not really tasting much in the way of almond, but the rose sneaks through just slightly in the aftertaste. Both add a lovely presentation effect though.

The black base is brisk and punchy and in balance with the spices and other flavors. There’s just a mild amount of astringency in the base, but no bitterness. I don’t think this is a cup I’d seek out, but it’s perfect for the season, and a good cup in its own right.

Thanks TastyBrew.

Very tasty Tea first thing that I noticed is that when you take your first sip of this one you are not just flooded with all the flavorings, you taste black tea first off nice and strong and slightly astringent, next thing I notice is the clove and cardamom I may be wrong in describing this as a spicy flavor but that’s what it is to me I get spiciness of the cloves and such yet not too overpowering at all perhaps the roses and vanilla smooth those out and make them subtle. the last cup of the first pot was quite strong in the cloves and slightly more astringent most likely from the sediment in the bottom of the pot and the cup, after drinking it I can see the little particles in the bottom.
http://toadsteablog.blogspot.com/2012/11/christmas-tea-melange-noel-by-upton-tea.html

I have a couple of “christmas blend teas” so I figured today would be a good time for me to try and compare the two of them. There are a few that pop up every year at christmas that i’m always tempted by – one of them being the blend from Murchie’s. I haven’t picked that one up yet but i did pick up a sample of this one and one from a local tea shop.

This one smells like cinnamon however once it’s steeped there is the taste of cloves, that doesn’t overpower and blends nicely with the black base. the hint of citrus is in the background, and weaves its way through the sip, trailing off in the end. Overall a nice cup of tea.

From Teabox B! I’ve never had any Upton teas even though they seem like they have some delicious ones. This is a decently spiced chai with a fairly brisk base. Chai must be brisk! I didn’t really taste the roses and almonds but maybe I didn’t get any in my infuser. This one is a nice kick in the morning. I should have added milk though.

Waking up this morning to snow reminded me that this is still winter. This is one of only a few Upton samples left to sample, so good as time as any.

The dry aroma threw me at first. I can smell the spices, but I think the (unnamed “citrus” threw me). Potpourri? Maybe. After brewing, the tea became less fragrant.

Black tea, citrus peels, rose petals, chopped almonds, cloves, vanilla bits, cardamom, artificial flavor:
The black tea base is not obvious nor bitter (yay). The cloves and cardamom are well behaved and not overpowering. I can taste the almonds in the background, along with the vanilla … which makes this a very calming blend for my tastes. This is no where near being a “chai” (which cloves/cardamom conjur up). Having added a tbs. of honey, this is very sweet… might get by with less (almost too sweet). I do sense the rose in the aftertaste, which is ok (not something I’d seek out). Overall I’m really liking this tea (fears an Upton order in my future, since this is seasonal). Very mild yet flavorful.

This is another great tea. It’s spicy flavors are strong and true. Visually very appealing, the dry leaves conjure up aromas of hearty holiday good cheer. I need it because my default mode is grumpy, so it’s nice to have a transformative moment inhaling this tea.
The aroma reminds me of a strongly mulled red wine (good as far as I am concerned).

The taste does not disappoint at all. It tastes vibrant, spicy, and without having any piny odor at all, makes me feel as if I’m in an evergreen forest wassailing my heart out without irony.

This hearty, robust tea is great on its own; I added a bit of sugar and milk as I approached the bottom of the cup and the tea was still just fine—it does not really need the addition, however.

I’m tempted to use these tea leaves to experiment with adding them to heated red wine, to heated apple cider, to heated eggnog—I think that this tea is divine on its own but could be used to cook up some seriously December-y potent potations!

Dangit, I oversteeped this one too! I started the cup, and then my mom pointed out that my little girl’s diaper needed changing, so I went to do that, and before I knew it, five minutes had passed. DX I was so looking forward to this one, too! And there isn’t any left… T_T

Well, I added some water, some sugar, and a dash of milk and drank it anyway. It wasn’t bad… but those aromas coming from the dry leaf had promised so much more! The cardamom was the strongest note, with the cinnamon and the orange peel right on its heels. So sad… I’m not even going to rate this one, because I don’t feel I experienced it properly. I will probably have to order this at some point, because I think my husband would really like it (and if he doesn’t, then I will probably like it enough for both of us). :)