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I have been trying to find this one for days on Steepster. I just assumed Caleb hadn’t added it yet, so I waited a few days then decided to add it myself so I can make a note. So I go to add it and there is an error saying it is already in the database. Darn you steepster.

This tea is interesting, it is not what I expected. It smells strongly of peppermint. The tea tastes like a very light and smooth mint blend, but strongly on the peppermint side. I am not sure what mulberries are supposed to taste like, but I think they add a bit of candy taste to the blend. It is sweet and fruity. I am not getting any tartness. I don’t taste much of the green rooibos at all (and I am more than ok with that). I am surprised that I like this one so much as I am very particular on my mint teas!

So here in Canada, we have a store call Liquidation World. It is essentially exactly what is sounds like. It buys poducts from stores that are going out of business, looking to get rid of product, etc, and sell it for super cheap. Liquidation World was recently acquired by the American Big Lots. Then Big Lots decided to close all of its stores (US and Canada – even though the Canadian stores were making tonnes of profit, I guess it wasn’t enough to keep the empire afloat). BOO!!!

I have some family members that love Liquidation World. You can usually find some really good deals, although most of the products are not always good quality and the expiry dates on the food are not too far away. But you can always find interesting things you can’t get anywhere else.

So I went on boxing day and they had a few kinds of Arizona iced tea on the cheap. So I stocked up. I love Arizona tea, it is real iced tea which is hard to come by in a can or bottle in Canada. And it is usually quite expensive, due to the monster size can.

This tastes lovely. A bit sweeter than I would like though. The black tea is strong but not astringent. It tastes like a Ceylon but I am not sure. There is definitely an artificial lemon flavour, but it is still delicious. Everything a canned iced tea should be. The only drawback is it is a huge 695 ml can. I read online that they now have 8oz cans in the US. But I think I will get over it.

Sick Tea.

Not feeling well. I am unsure about my stomach currently. It could be any number of things really – eating way too much holiday food, bad left overs, drinking too much tea (totally true), gas/bloating, hypochondria, or a real illness, etc. Yesterday my sister in law informed me after we spent an afternoon together that she had been suffering from the flu all the previous night. Then I sneezed twice so I am sure I picked something up from her. And now they (ie. the people) have been talking about a recent mini epidemic of the H1N1 flu virus. (Now I am not an epidemiologist, but I am unsure if an epidemic can be “mini”). Anyway, I have had my seasonal flu shot a couple months ago and I have been taking tonnes of vitamins and fluids. I fully understand the flu (AKA influenza) is a respiratory illness and it is common misconception that is it a gastrointestinal illness, but all that aside, I feel gross. Side note: paranoia anyone?

Now this one is definitely super ginger. I was thinking of chopping up and steeping some fresh ginger, but that was too much work (because I am so very sick right now, you know – ha ha). I think this one is pretty close to steeping fresh ginger as you could get. There is spice, but it is not overpowering. It feels good on the stomach. This one has a bit of saltiness to it. I never knew this one had any rooibos in it until reading the ingredient list. I can’t taste the rooibos at all, but it probably blunts the power of the ginger a bit. Ginger Power! (I believe I am now becoming delirious). This tea always reminds me of sushi, because the first time I had it, I was eating sushi. Ugg, the idea of eating sushi right now is making me feel nauseous.

Another sidenote: I am currently watching Red Dragon (of Silence of the Lambs series). This could be making me feel sick, but I doubt it, gore and horror have never bothered me. I love Hannibal Lector. Minus the whole serial killer and eating humans thing, he is educated and smart and cultured, he is sensitive, can cook, and has a career, he knows what he wants out of life. Is that too much to ask for… that is probably why this is based on a fictional character. Hmmm.

I received this as a free sample from Dammann with my advent calendar purchase.

It looked interesting, but after opening the package and smelling the tea = hibiscus. Hibiscus is not a fruit OK, just saying.

The brewed tea tastes strongly of tart hibiscus. But I also get some creamy, sweet strawberry. I also get tart rhubarb. There is a slight apple taste, also sweet. There is a mix of sweet and tart in this tea, but it is much more tart than it is sweet.

This one is ok, but I am not the hugest hibiscus fan, and that is what I would call this tea.

I may or may not have had this before. There are way too many reviews to wade through to see if I have reviewed it before.

I quite like pistachio’s. I love pistachio pudding and ice cream. So I figured it is pretty much a given I will like this tea.

The dry tea smells quite nutty. Not pistachio, maybe hazelnuts (?).

The brewed tea tastes strongly of the green tea base. It is vegetal and creamy. I added a few pieces of brown rock sugar on the suggestion from the description of this tea. But it didn’t bring out any pistachio or ice cream flavours. I am getting a bit of a nutty spice. There are a few hints of vanilla but unfortunately still no pistachio or ice cream. Hmmm…

I will have to steep this again to see if I get better results.

Edit: It becomes more pistachio tasting as it cools to about luke warm, but still not the creamy nutty ice cream taste I was expecting.

Received this one from the amazing AshleyE as another Holiday card surprise. This is such an awesome community.

I love London Fog, this is a tea that had been on my radar for the next time I made an order. So I was super happy for this surprise.

The dry tea smells mostly like an earl grey crème. The brewed tea, while initially hot tasted fairly similar to a London fog. It was earl grey and milky and creamy. Not earl grey crème but like London Fog – which is different. The only thing that was missing was the thickness of the liquor you get from the steamed milk. But quickly after it started to cool it became more just an earl grey crème. And as it cooled further it started to become astringent.

Overall a good tea, a really interesting and well done idea. I am happy to have tried this one. Unfortunately, I think I still prefer my Starbucks London Fog – Oh, excuse me – my Starbucks earl grey latte :P

I received a wonderful holiday surprise from Sil. She sent me a tea sample in a card. So awesome!

Inside the card it reads “I know you’re ok with not loving puerh, but since you’re not buying it – I thought you might like to try another flavoured one”. Ha ha. Bring it on!

This dry tea smells like an orange creamsicle. Quite delicious.

The tea package recommended a 10 minute steep – eek! I stuck with 2 minutes, ha ha. It was quite a thick liquor, dark after steeping.

The tea tastes more like an orange rind black tea. Does not taste so much like puerh to me – and I am more than ok with that. The creamy orange creamsicle taste returns in the aftertaste. This one is definitely better as it cools. Not so much blood orange to me, but more just orange, which is also ok. I think if I would have steeped longer, that might have brought out more of a tart blood orange flavour.

The 12th day of 52 teas 12 Days of Christmas.

I think this was a good choice for the last tea. It was also neat that is was not a repeat from the rest of the year but a brand new tea.

I don’t get much from the smell of the dry tea. There is some fruity sweetness.

The brewed tea tastes strongly of white tea, maybe it was my steeping. There is a fruity (glucose) type sweetness to the tea. I get a pastry/bread type flavour. I am also getting some cinnamon, maybe some nutmeg. Like Christmas-y spices. I don’t get any sugar plum per se, but just a generic fruity taste. I do get a slight hint of prunes as the tea starts to cool.

I think for my next cup I will add some sugar/sweetener.

Overall, I really enjoyed the 52 teas 12 days of teas. I loved the novelty of scratching to reveal the tea on each package. I would most likely do this again next year. It was a great way to try some favorites, bestsellers, and new teas I would never have tried otherwise.

Edit: brewed again. This time I overleafed and added some white sugar. The sugar plums are starting to peak out a little bit. I wouldn’t say they are dancing through my head, but they are subtly there in the background.

11th tea from 52 Teas 12 Days of Christmas.

I knew I would not like this one because of the ingredients, but I am still going to try it.

On initial sip, there is a burning in the back of my throat from the cayenne pepper, but it disappears really quick. That’s the napalm I’m assuming :)

After the cayenne wears off, there is a very ripe banana taste. I am not a huge banana or banana flavoured type of girl, so that is why I assumed I wouldn’t/don’t like the tea. The banana taste disappears really quick as well, then the cayenne comes back in the aftertaste. Double napalm!

The banana and cayenne work really well with the gunpowder green tea. The cayenne does mellow a bit as the tea cools.

Not my taste, but this is a really neat idea and really well blended tea.

Day 24!

I am a bit behind as I was not doing my daily Christmas teas or Christmas, ha ha. But I think I will get caught up and finish pretty quick.

This one smells super delicious. Reminds me of Queen Anne’s chocolate cherry thingies. I don’t even like those, but they always smell so good.

To me the flavours in this one are a little bit lacklustre. Don’t get me wrong, it is super delicious, but IMO not as good as some of the other previous teas. I guess I was expecting the best for last, maybe my high expectations are really the problem.

This one tastes like maraschino cherries, lots of orange peel. Definitely feels like Christmas fruits. You can taste the black tea base under the flavours. I feel like I am getting a bit of almond or nuttiness as well. This might be due to the black tea base, as I got this flavour with some of the other Dammann teas as well. I am getting just the slightest hint of caramel in the aftertaste. It disappears pretty quick.

Overall, definitely impressed from the Dammann advent calendar. Would order again next year, the reminder is already in my calendar so I order in time to get for Christmas. The shipping from France is amazing though, faster for me to get something from France than to mail something across Canada.