It’s pretty far from Christmas, but this smells so good and for some reason I am in a fireplace kind of mood. Maybe it’s the rain + having the AC on, but I wanted something soothing and warming. The ingredients in this fit perfectly!
The dominant flavor here is clove, and as I’ve mentioned before I loooove clove. It’s a complex flavor though, with hints of cinnamon and orange peeking through, and a bit of floralness from the rose petals. The black base is nice, though I’ve found that true of almost all of Upton’s blends. They’re very robust and stand up to bold flavors like the ones here, so while there’s a lot going on Melange Noel is still very tea-y if that makes any sense. I mean, I don’t feel like I am drinking mulled cider or a Christmas drink. It’s very wintery, yes, but a wintery tea, not a wintery drink. Err… I really am not sure if that makes sense, I’m a bit sleep-deprived! As “cold weather” as this is I made a second cup iced and it was just as good, maybe better!
