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Merry Christmas! This was a tea that I got from my parents from a locally owned shop in my hometown of Salt Lake. This is one of my shameless guilty pleasure teas. It really does put me in the festive mood. I like how the vanilla and peppermint flavors don’t overpower each other. The black tea base isn’t big and robust, but is a main flavor here. The tiny silver chocolate balls in the tea melt and add silver sparkles in my cup :P
I noticed that this is not a unique blend exclusive to the Queen’s Tea alone. I noticed many other tea companies had something pretty much exactly like it on their websites as well. Good! This is the most festive tea I have had and I think others need to get in on this :)
Have a happy holidays everyone!

This is my first time trying any of Kusmi’s Teas! I took advantage of one of their free shipping/% off deals and boy am I glad that I did! I am not too much into Earl Grey nowadays, though I used to be a big ‘double bergamot’ person. Times have changed for me I suppose :P This is an Earl Grey with additional things to sweeten the pot. I really liked how both the tea and the other flavorings were able to sing the hearts out and not be drowned out by the baritone of the bergamot. Troika means Three in Russian, namely the team of three horses pulling a caravan. The three horses in this tea are what Kusmi considers the three ‘royal’ citrus fruits: Orange, Mandarin, and Bergamot. Luckily for me, all three are blended in a way so as all three never overpower the others. I really like the idea of these classic Russian-style blends and I can’t wait to try more!

Teanzo’s Advent Calendar Day 22:
Ahh, Christmas is so close! I loved doing this advent calendar. It put me in such a festive mood even when I wasn’t really feeling it. This is the first time for me trying a green earl grey. Now I just think that it is the style of bergamot that they used that made me care less about this tea. I love the concept, but strongly dislike their bergamot flavoring. I think, however, that the type of green tea used here, Gunpowder, is probably the best choice for this blend. I could taste the grassiness of the gunpowder. Come to think of it, this advent calendar did not have enough green teas in it for me. I really like all the green that I had. Now I think I need to pick up another brand of green earl grey to compare :)

Teanzo’s Advent Calendar Day 20:
Yummy! This was a great tea blend for today! It actually smelled creamy straight out of the foil package. Brewing it up also yielded a naturally sweet and creamy brew. The orange and the black tea combined forces in my cup to create a smooth and tasty cup. This tea reminded me of why I initially loved the flavor combo of black tea and orange. It was like a twisted creamsicle in a way. I want to say that the base tea was some sort of Ceylon because of it’s light body, but I can’t really be for sure. Regardless, this tea was really enjoyable, and one of the handful in this advent calendar I may possibly purchase after the holidays!

Teanzo’s Advent Calendar Day 19:
After finally fixing my laptop, I can get back to my backlog of reviews! That, and do some actual work on it…. Anyways, Today’s tea was a basic Rooibos with vanilla flavoring. The flavoring tastes like one of the higher end kinds. There is no strange metallic nature to it, and I accentuates the Rooibos rather than hides it. I am not wowed by this tea, nor am I completely disgusted by it. Eh. On to day 20!

Teanzo’s Advent Calendar Day 17:
Whomp Whomp Waaah. I was hoping for a juicer tart berry flavor and I was let down. Perhaps plain dried cranberries was not the way to go with this blend. I drank this tea and felt disappointed. I think that this was just a phone in blend by the ladies at Teanzo. This blend tasted as rushed as it was perhaps created.

Teanzo’s Advent Calendar Day 16:
Do you ever eat or drink something you know is super good for you, even if the taste/texture repulses you? I will call it the ‘good for you’ flavor in this review. Yes, this tea definitely tastes like it will whip you into shape and flip you over and turn you right again. Although I am not feeling under the weather in any way, I feel like this tea would definitely help me mentally, if not physically, feel better if I were.
When I saw the H-word in the ingredient list (hibiscus) I became weary of this blend. I think I am permanently scarred from “Herbal Spa Blend” day. But surprisingly, the flavor and color of the hibiscus is quite faint. I actually liked this blend, if only for the ‘good for you’ quality.

Teanzo’s Advent Calendar Day 15:
Wow, I can’t believe I have never had straight up Rooibos before! This was a great, fresh tasting tea. It’s a lot sweeter than I had anticipated. It was like drinking liquid honey, caramel and vanilla. I can see why this is the choice blend for so many dessert teas. I love learning new things when I drink tea :)

Teanzo’s Advent Calendar Day 14:
I really don’t think I can accurately give a rating for this tea. The cups that I brewed for myself was flat and dusty. It had a one note quality to it. I just must have gotten a bad sample or something, because all this tea tasted was old. Too bad!