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I love jasmine tea, so I was excited to see this in the advent. It’s a pleasant green tea I savored over a couple of mugs, but the jasmine in it seemed very light to me somehow. Not sure if that’s my new tendency toward shorter steep times or something specific to this tea.

DAVIDsTEA Around the World Advent, Day 13

The description says caramel pear. The reviews say stale walnut. I don’t know if it’s something wrong with my cup or me, but it almost smells boozy to me, and it definitely tastes like something left to ferment. I can kind of tell there’s sweetness in here somewhere, but it’s mostly masked by this awful flavor up front. This is the first tea here I truly could not do at all, which isn’t bad for halfway through, but yikes.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 12

I’m neutral at best on earl grey in general, just to preface. This is a pleasant enough earl grey. The bergamot is present but not totally overpowering the black tea, and it’s smooth overall.

The earl greys I’ve liked more tend to have other flavoring happening. I’ll enjoy the rest of this, but I don’t think I need more.

DAVIDsTEA Around the World Advent, Day 12

I’m rating this because I want the record of my first impression, but I also don’t know how fair the rating is. I steeped it to bring to work, at which point I was excited because the scent was a marvelous winter spice orange blend. The few sips I had hot were tasty, and I was quite excited to keep drinking it!

Then work got busy, and I had my mask on a lot, so I let the whole thing get cold. And cold I get almost nothing from it at all but black tea. Maybe a slight aftertaste of cinnamon.

It would be nice to try it again, but I don’t think it was quite nice enough for me to buy more.

Plum Deluxe Caffeine Advent, Day 12

Puling this out of the box yesterday, I knew I remembered this tea but couldn’t have told you where. I looked through my spreadsheet and I didn’t have any on hand, which seemed odd, so I went back here and – ah. I drank it and hated it.

But it smells incredible! Bright and fruity, tart, and a gorgeous purple too. The last time I’d tried it I went iced, so it had to be better hot, right?

Absolutely not. Like, I adjusted my rating down from “I hated this” to “I really hated this”. I get nothing but a cloying and artificial sweetness. I stand by my comment that it’s like someone at the Starbucks went all-in on the added sweetener. No thanks.

DAVIDsTEA Around the World Advent, Day 11

I’m not sure what to make of this tea. On its face, it should be everything I want. Peach is high in the ingredient list, prominent in scent and flavor. The addition of apricot, while I can’t distinguish it by taste, is usually positive. But the lime…

I like lime, and I know adding it can brighten a lot of fruit flavors. One of my favorite popsicles is actually a watermelon popsicle with the addition of lime juice – you can’t taste the lime but it makes the watermelon surprisingly bold. So maybe I can thank the lime for the strong peach. But it’s also a little artificial. Not quite candy – maybe like a candy made with a sugar substitute?

I don’t think I want to buy more of this, but if I had more, I’d try a cold brew.

Plum Deluxe Caffeine Advent, Day 11

Another straight tea that I was excited to keep drinking. And here I thought I’d only ever appreciate flavored tea.

At two minutes, there is only a slight bitterness – it’s mostly a smooth vegetal cup that’s a bit grassy. Shared with my partner and double-steeped each round again. I think this could easily replace the Japanese Sencha I have in my stash as a favorite straight green.

DAVIDsTEA Around the World Advent, Day 10

The name definitely tells you where you’re heading with this tea. It’s strong coconut with a little cinnamon at the back of the sip and a clear black tea base.

I was hoping the cinnamon could be something that got me past the coconut, but it’s barely there. Probably interesting if you like coconut. Not for me.

Plum Deluxe Advent, Day 10

I love tart and tangy teas featuring hibiscus. If not for the coconut, this one would be perfection – I can even distinguish the pineapple above the other flavors! But while the coconut was not strong enough to completely put me off the cup, it is strong enough to keep me from wanting any more. A shame, really, because the pineapple and tartness are fabulous.

BrutaliTeas Advent, Day 11