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Advent Day 15

This was the tea I was most interested in trying when reading what teas were in this advent. I should have read the reviews here. Opening the package I smelled raisins. Hmmm. Once steeped I’m trying to smell nutmeg, but I get more of a creamy scent instead. When it sip it’s…. it’s…. what is this?! There is a sour taste strong in the front of each sip that lingers. The finish is nice in comparison. Much more mild and I think I can imagine custard like flavors here. I don’t understand what they did to this tea, but it is a far cry from eggnog.

Update: Tried adding creamer to see if it would improve and it only made it worse! Dump the cup! Dump the cup!

Advent Day…. 13?

Didn’t drink this on the day of and I’m pretty sure it was from yesterday. I cold steeped this, the scent just seemed to be calling for it. It’s a little astringent, but I bet that would go away if I were to have it on ice and dilute it. It does have a tasty strawberry flavor to it that is very bright. Cream would probably be delicious in this as well. As good as this is, it doesn’t seem any different than any other green strawberry tea I’ve had. I think I had a tin from Kusmi and one from Lupicia and maybe somewhere else. Some other flavor combo would have made it stand out to me. Cinnamon, maybe a chocolate, almond… something to make it more dynamic.

Advent Day 14

The smell of this tea dry totally makes me think of salad dressing! It’s got to be some combo of the berries or something I have logged in my brain as raspberry vinaigrette. I get berries in the sip, but there is an ashy flavor too. Maybe that’s the pine? I don’t know if it’s my brain or the tea that can’t decide what it’s supposed to be: sweet or savory. This tea confuses my brain!

AJRimmer Advent Day 14

Orange and apple? That’s not a combo you see often. I could see it if there were other fruits joining in for a fruit punch celebration. This reminds me that one of my favorite drinks as a young child with milk and apple juice. No idea how I came across it, but it was my thing. XP

This has more of a light cider type thing going on. There is a faint green base behind that is smooth. I can pick out the apple and cinnamon, but not really the orange. I’m not getting a ton of flavor out of this which makes me think I should have cold steeped it. I’m going to try that with the rest of this sample!

Advent Day 14

What is this?! Little genmaicha popcorn puffs? It smells of creamy coconut and pandan. Smells the same once steeped. I just finished eating a waffle with peanut butter, so my taste buds are a little overwhelmed. I get the roasty light gen flavors and the coconut. The pandan presents as a creaminess too. It’s another very Indonesian flavor combo. I’m liking this, but it’s missing something that elevates it to amazing.

Advent Day 14

I’m a little confused by the name of this tea. All the other teas I’ve had with Russian in the name have some sort of a smoky note. This one does not. It’s a good breakfasty blend. Balanced enough that I’m not getting astringency. Added a little cream and that didn’t do much to change it other than it being creamier. I’m not understanding what is special or unique or Russian about this blend. It’s not one I’d buy. :/

Advent Day 13

Rooibos, orange, other vague flavors. It tastes like every other rooibos with orange I’ve tried. There was nothing that stood out about it.

AJRimmer Advent Day 13

Hazelnut?! I’m in! Definitely getting a nutty flavor. It’s strange to taste hazelnut without it’s siamese twin, chocolate. Hmmm… how did we come up with that term for conjoined twins in the first place? Was the first widely known set of conjoined twins from Siam? Do people even use that term anymore? I see an internet rabbit hole before me!

The tea is nutty, but it almost has a chicory or mate kind of flavor. Something about it reminds me of both. I noticed little sparkles in it and put it in my clear mug to watch them, but since some time has passes they have sunk to the bottom. As my cup cools there is a flatness that creeps in. I’ve been dissatisfied with my water quality lately and watched some scale recently grow in my kettle. I have a filtered pitcher ordered, but that doesn’t help me today when I suspect the water may have something to do with this taste that pops up in the middle of each sip. I’ll have to wait to break in the water pitcher when it gets here and give this tea another go!

Update: Ha HA! My guess was right about Siamese twins! Chang and Eng Bunker were conjoined Chinese twins who lived in Siam!

Dumped the rest of my sample into a mason jar and left it on my counter for an unknown amount of time. Now that I’m in the middle of descaling my kettle and can’t make another cup of anything, I’m searching for what is prepared in various jars.

Sipping on this plain gave a weird grapefruit tang to it that I didn’t like. Added a bunch of flaxmilk and it tastes better, but not amazing. It has a little bit of the orange cream flavor, but it just doesn’t pop. Added some half and half to up the cream factor. No. Added some sugar. Eh. Maybe I’m not familiar with candied orange and keep expecting regular orange? Not quite sure what’s up, but I’d pass on buying this.

Advent Day 13

I do love coconut teas, but I rarely buy them anymore. Maybe if I had a smaller cupboard where my tea stash was manageable and I could drink it before it went bad, but that’s just not the kind of cupboard I keep. It’s a sacrifice. :D

Steeped up this tea is kind of one dimensional. I get creamy coconut enhanced by the vanilla, but that’s it. There is a little bit of an astringent twang and a rooibos dryness at the end. I’d love it if it were multifaceted and had additional flavors to play off the coconut. Lime, cinnamon, smoke and mango are flavors that come to mind that pair well with coconut. I recently made some vegan bacon from coconut shavings to use as toppings in salads and I can’t stop grabbing handfuls of it to snack on instead. I want a coconut tea that I can’t get enough of like that! This is not that tea.