325 Tasting Notes
The 5th Tea of Christmas!
OK, I try to do at least 1 Eggnog tea every holiday season. Not necessarily part of the 12 Teas of Christmas box, but at least 1 Eggnog tea over the course of the season. This is that tea for this year.
Roasty toasty genmaicha with vegan eggnog essence, nutmeg & non-alcoholic rum essence – because eggnog with rum is generally better than eggnog without. :)
This is so tasty – it exceeded my expectations & my expectations were high!
Preparation
The 4th Tea of Christmas!
I was surprised but happy to see that this tea had earned so many votes. Surprised because I just reblended this tea not too long ago & happy because – hey! It’s a great tea!
Strong blueberry flavor, notes of creamy vanilla & tangy cream cheese. So yummy!
Preparation
The 2nd Tea of Christmas!
In the description, I describe the inspiration behind this tea – which was a advert from the most popular coffee place in this area (if not the US?) this past spring/summer. Since I no longer frequent that particular place, I decided I needed to try a cherry chai since I wasn’t going to give that place my business.
I’m truly glad I decided to create a Cherry Chai because I love this! The cherry is tart with a touch of sweetness. The chai is nicely spiced without being too spicy. There’s a gentle touch of vanilla. It’s just really nice.
The 1st Tea of Christmas!
I was so excited when this tea earned enough votes to make it into the holiday box this year as it was one of my favorite holiday teas from Frank’s era. Sweet, juicy pear flavor with tartness from the lingonberries. Smooth, buttery green tea base.
A great way to start off the holiday advent!
This isn’t from the 12 Teas of Christmas, but I decided to hold off on posting about those until tomorrow, since I know that the boxes are arriving late, I figured by tomorrow, many if not most of those who ordered the box will have received it.
So, this is a tea from several months ago that I still had a small amount left of (so this is actually a sipdown!)
I really like this tea – the black tea blend is smooth & rich tasting. The honey notes are sweet & pleasant. The lavender is delicately sweet & floral. Really nice!
I hope everyone is having a very happy holiday season. I apologize for the delay in getting the boxes out. I hope everyone still enjoys their advent, despite the tardiness of the boxes & it’s my intent to not allow this to happen again. I will do my level best to ensure it does not. Thank you for your support & understanding!
Flavors: Cake, Honey, Lavender
I crafted this inspired by a discussion with my youngest (who has discovered her passion for baking) a couple of months ago about what fruits go best with white chocolate, because to be honest, white chocolate isn’t my favorite flavor. I like it OK, I suppose, I mean, I wouldn’t turn it down if someone offered me some, but if given the choice between white chocolate or either milk or dark chocolate, I’m going for either of those rather than the white.
I think it’s just that white chocolate is a bit too sweet for my palate. So, I tend to prefer it when paired with profiles that have a bit of tartness or some other profile that will offer a nice contrast to the sweet white chocolate. Raspberry is one such example. The berry is sweet, yes, but it is also a bit tart & that tartness offers a really lovely contrast to the sweet white chocolate.
I enjoy the way this tea comes together – the raspberry is bright & slightly acidic but the presence of the white chocolate ensures that it doesn’t end up being too tart. The smoothness of the Chinese Sencha is pleasantly mild. This is so nice – a really pleasant afternoon tea.
I cold-brewed this one overnight – so refreshing! Sweet strawberry, tart lime & just a hint of rum. I’ve never actually had a strawberry mojito (unless you count the mojito drinks at ShareTea? I think I’ve had a Strawberry Mojito from them, although the lime is definitely my favorite.)
Anyway, I’ve never had the cocktail & I’m sure that those who have had the cocktail probably would note differences, but this is the way I’d like my Strawberry Mojito to taste. Light with a lovely contrast of flavors, smooth & refreshing! Even though this one is quite nice served hot, this one is definitely best as a cold-brew.
Another recently crafted tea. I was inspired to craft this one was a web search for something that would combine tangerine with figs & the recipe that caught my attention was one for a Tangerine Fig Jam with Vanilla. So, I decided to create a tea like that. (Even though I didn’t add the “vanilla” in the name, this one still has vanilla. I just figured I’d condense the name of the tea a bit so it fit better on the label.)
Anyway, this tea! I drank it hot this time, but this one would be really good as a cold-brew too, so I’ll have to try that soon. The tangerine & fig are really nice together: bright tangerine, sweet fig, bold black tea & the smooth, creamy note of vanilla ties it all together so well. Sweet but not cloying, just a very pleasant hot tea experience with this one!
I reblended this recently. It almost made its way into the Holiday box last year, but missed it by that much (just barely lost to the Candy Cane Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha). So, I decided to reblend it because it did so well on the poll, that I figured there was enough of a demand for it.
It’s also one of my favorite Genmaicha blends I’ve crafted. I love the combination of the toasty genmaicha with the smooth, sweet coconut & caramelized custard-y notes. The matcha adds just the right umami note to the cup. I had this one hot, but it would also make a nice cold-brew, maybe will have to try that soon!
