Celebration

I have been looking forward to drinking this tea for a long time, because I decided last year that it would be the perfect thing to drink when Martin finishes his degree! It was a truly celebratory cup this morning!

This tea really is a burst of fruity sunshine. I think I must have been more contemplative than usual this morning as I sipped it, because I noticed the cinnamon more than usual. There was just a point well into breakfast time – toast with Bonne Maman Apricot and Peach jam – where I felt a warm and cozy feeling like I was eating fresh peach cobbler and I realized it was cinnamon pulling that off. I had forgotten that cinnamon was in this tea and had to look it up to confirm.

I don’t know if I have ever picked up the hazelnut much, but maybe I am looking for Nutella and not just hazelnut. I need to get more familiar with hazelnut flavor.

Congratulations to Martin! Three cheers!

I like this tea much better now than my first tasting. In fact, only 3 tea bags left from the lovely tin, so about to have to order more.

Not sure why I didn’t care for it before. It’s a pleasant black tea with some fruit touches and I add a little sugar to brighten it. The tin is gorgeous shape and design and the satchets convenient. It is forgivable to over and under brewing. I brewed this last satchet for four minutes to get a nice dark, non-bitter, cup.

Great iced.

This is such a surprising blend. Apricot and hazelnuts aren’t ingredients I often see paired together. Straight with a 3-minute steep and about 10 ounces of water, I get a lot of apricot flavor and some nuttiness. Again, the black tea base is quite robust and slightly astringent.

Adding sweetener and milk really makes this a treat. It’s giving me holiday baked good vibes. The cinnamon is much more evident, and it just tastes like a holiday cookie – not the sort of cookie you’d find stateside, but something you’d find in Europe (Italy perhaps). The name is absolutely fitting; the smell and taste are both very festive. I imagine it’d make a glorious eggnog latte. I believe I’ll repurchase this one.

I had just moved cross-country to Albuquerque, and Harney & Sons had their Celebration Tea back in stock, but only in 1 lb bags… so I did a bad thing and bought one. 1 lb of tea is a lot, guys! I already made my neighbor take a baggie full, and am trying to drink it down, but it may take me years… But so tasty. SO TASTY.

This one came from boychik. She knew I wanted to try this tea, so she kindly sent a couple of sachets my way in her holiday package. This one sounded right up my alley when I read its description on the H&S website – I love apricot and hazelnut, and the cinnamon could make a nice accent. We’ll see if it lives up to my expectations! Inside the sachet, I can see small black tea leaves and a couple of different colors of flower petals. Dry scent is yummy apricot with a bit of cinnamon.

The steeped tea smells very apricot-ish with just a touch of cinnamon warmth. Hm… the flavoring is more subtle than I expected in this tea. And for some reason, it came out a teensy bit bitter even though I used a conservative temperature and time. The main flavor is definitely the apricot, and it tastes more of dried apricot than fresh. The cinnamon adds a little bit of warmth, though unfortunately it seems to be a cinnamon candy type of flavor. So, it’s a little bit less effective than it could have been. I don’t think I taste hazelnut at all here, which is unfortunate since it’s one of my favorite nut flavors. I’m a little bit disappointed by this one. I’ve definitely become very picky about flavored teas lately.

My grandmother tried this on Christmas while I was baking cookies. I took a couple of sips and immediately kicked myself for not having taken advantage of the buy one (or two….I forget) get one free deal they had for this tea recently. It’s really lovely and much more successful than White Christmas in my opinion. I definitely get the apricot and hazelnut notes, along with some sort of vanilla creaminess that may also be a result of the nuttiness. Really good and super satisfying as either a dessert tea or a morning tea on a relaxing weekend.

Holy wow! This one is good.

It is funny becuase I couldn’t find it in the database, only because I forgot what it was called. I made the tea and then came to work. I first looked up christmas tea and that wasn’t it. Then I tried holiday tea and it looked right but there was chocolate in that blend and I would most likely never buy a tea with chocolate in it so I was quite confused. I actually went to my account at the harney site to look at my previous order. Then I figured it out.

There was quite a lack of description on this tea on the harney site when I bought it, so I went in a little blind.

But it is so good. Certainly a holdiay/celebration tea. Not necessarily christmas but it does work for this time of year.

Becuase I couldn’t find this tea on steepster, I have already drank it all and can’t wuite remember what it tasted like, but it was good. There was definitely an almond flavour, cinnamon and maybe some cloves. There was orange citrus flavours. The black tea was moderately bold, great for that holiday tiredness but it was still quite smooth. There was definitely a creamy, vanilla like flavour as well.

So good. I wish I could have more when I get home but it will be too late in the day for caffeine. I will try to post again tomorrow.

This one came in typical harney sachet.

Hmm. This will require more cups to really get a handle on. First impression is that this a smooth and light fruit black. (Side note, what is with the holiday teas all be fruity this year? I mean, no problem, but still! Was there some sort of secret meeting of tea designers or something?)
General first impression is positive, but not spectacular. More sipping to be sure!