TheLastDodo select Send Message

158 Followers / 138 Following

TheLastDodo drank Christmas Fruit Stollen by ETTE TEA

296 tasting notes

Happy 2016! This was the first tea I drank to celebrate the new year. I got this sample with my Black Friday order and I so wish I had packed it on my trip home to see the fam on Christmas. Taking a whiff of the dry leaf I get a hefty scent of festive tart red berries and a tiny hint of spice. Think a festive Christmas candle. I dusted off my 16oz teapot and scooped out 2 rounded teaspoons into the infuser. This is quite the colorful blend, with blue cornflowers, green pandan leaves, and red berry chunks and rosehips. Christmas confetti!

3-4 minutes later, I poured myself a nice steaming mug of festive Stollen. To be honest, I am not a fan of Stollen. The combination of marzipan, yeast bread, spices, and dried fruits is so not my jam. But I can understand the translation in this tea. There is a bright fruity-ness that blends with delicate cinnamon and cloves. I can sense a bit of a sweetness that imitates the traditional powdered sugar dusting. I did not get too much bergamot at all, which works out for me – the present flavor profiles were spot on without.

All in all, this blend was a very festive one, and I love pretty much anything that Victor at Ette does, but I love his other blends much more. It just doesn’t do it for me.
Thanks for the sample Victor!

Flavors: Cinnamon, Fruity, Powdered Sugar

Preparation

3 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

I Like This

9 likes

0 comments

People who liked this

Profile

Bio

I dream in tea.

My name is Maddi. I like to take boiling hot showers and meditate in my closet. I think and talk about tea so much that it has become a punchline of sorts with my family and coworkers. Besides my unhealthy obsession with the drink that gives me life, I do yoga frequently, I make green smoothies out of any vegetables and fruit in the nearest vicinity, I am obsessed with Korean Dramas, I run as a form of moving meditation, and play video games with my easygoing and forgiving boyfriend. I used to cook for a living, and I almost always eat at least one waffle a day.

Favorite types of teas:
Aged Oolongs hold my heart. Sneaking their way in are Korean Greens. Roasted oolongs and I are not on speaking terms as of late. Black teas of all types, but especially Fujian and some Yunnan are nice indulgences more often than not. I know and love Japanese greens more than any kind, while Chinese greens bore me. Certain White teas thrill me, but most have me changing the channel. I love using my Yerba Mate gourd, we have become steadfast amigos. Puerh and I are still getting to know each other, and while sheng is playing hard to get, shou is there to hold my hand when no one is looking. I sometimes make my own functional herbal blends, and if there is a hell, it is filled with Rooibos. Above all else, direct – trade tea is my favorite.

LEAST Favorite Flavors/Flavorings
Hibscus
Lavender
Herbs, if they are out of place (I’m talking to you, thyme)
Strong Bergamot
Berries
Chocolate (added flavorings)
Cloves/strong cinnamon
Nuts

MOST Adored Flavor Profiles
Smokey
Floral
Coconut
Majority of chai
Caramel
Vanilla
Grassy/Vegetal
Earthy
Citrus
Stone fruit/melon

“Tea is naught but this:
First you heat the water.
Then you make the tea.
Then you drink it properly.
That is all you need to know.”
- Sen No Riyku