Plum Deluxe

Sample sipdown! I just made a note for this recently because it was in the advent calendar. Normally I wouldn’t bother with another note so soon but I’m really just celebrating that the dashboard is back! Yay!
I received a sample of this with my order. It probably would have languished in my tea drawers because I’m not a blueberry fan. But the beauty of samplers and advent calendars is that they push me out of my comfort zone, which is how I learned that actually I really like this tea! It feels like drinking a blueberry ginger muffin.

Day 21 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent calendar. I like this more than I expected to! The dry leaf smells like blackcurrant, but once it steeps up it’s clearly blueberry. The blueberry hits at the front of the sip, followed by a nice medium-burn ginger, and a cinnamon gum note at the end of the sip. All three linger on the palate and meld together really well. A surprise winner given that I don’t like blueberries and don’t particularly enjoy cinnamon-gum flavor in my tea. But in this case it all works!

Day 20 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent calendar. The idea of this one is very enticing, but in practice it actually just tastes like a milder version of Plum’s chestnut flavoring to me. I’m not really picking up on “pear” so much as a vague general sweetness. It’s pleasant enough but nothing to write home about. Unlike the holiday gift of Plum’s vanilla sugar cookie and evening in the garden that just arrived! Two of my favorite blends from this company – excited to have them in my collection!

Adventageddon Day 20 – Tea 2/4

Cold Brew!

Y’know, a festively named dragonfruit tea was not on my Adventageddon bingo card this year but I love the idea of it! Plus, the cheerful and lightly sweet tropical flavour really does pop against some of the more traditional or decadent flavours that are so prevalent in these countdowns. And the blush pink colour it brewed up was so dreamy looking.

It’s honestly a pretty mild flavour, but that tracks for something with a dragonfruit inspiration. I feel like a lot of “commercial” dragonfruit flavoured teas are more fruit punch like in taste, but real dragonfruit is very light and floral. That comes across here, even though there’s still some gentle but generic tropical vibes happening. A little kiwi, a little red fruit, and just a bit of the lemongrass. It’s a very “base forward” blend too – I taste the white and green teas as much as any of the other flavours I’ve listed.

I think it’s a super cool inclusion in an advent since it’s so wildly different from anything else that’s appeared, but I don’t know if I’d personally want more of it. I definitely have dragonfruit teas I prefer to this one, even though it’s definitely got many nice qualities.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1F0HEXu3XQ/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my_QnwGgREQ

Adventageddon Day 19 – Tea 2/4

Cold Brew!

This was really fucking weird. Not only do mango and almond seem like two flavours that shouldn’t really go together, but I also didn’t feel like the tea really tasted like either? Granted I think I may be getting a cold since I was fairly congested today, but as I drank this in the morning all I could think of was the really low quality Tim Horton’s style iced cappuccinos that I used to drink in highschool – but thin/watered down tasting.

I don’t get this one. It’s not that it was bad but it’s just so… off the goal?

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1DQq6tu9xP/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-1eRNMP66A

Well this does sort of taste like a popsicle, but it’s much too sour and fake tasting, almost like a cleaner. It’s just sharp and acidic. I taste equal parts peach and lemon, but it’s too tart to be pleasant. I liked this much more cold steeped. It was still tangy/sour, but again, when popsicle is in the name, it does feel right.

Day 18 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent. This is a decaf black blend. Honestly, I’m getting pretty wary of black teas in my advents at this point – seems like there have been a lot of them and my body has not been responding particularly well. But there’s also rooibos in here and I made sure to do a fairly short steep, so hopefully that helps. Plum’s chestnut flavoring is as accurate as I remember from last year. The aroma of the hot brew is just perfect chestnut with a hint of cream. I’m not getting much creaminess in the flavor though. Really just a strong chestnut flavor on a slightly tannic, slightly malty base. Some oat milk might bring out the creaminess but I made this for bed and don’t like to put additives in bed tea in case I spill. I am not personally a big fan of chestnuts so this is not quite up my alley, but I think it would be for someone who likes them.

Day 17 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent. This is a great evening tea. Sweet dried apricot, floral and soothing lavender, on an oaky honeybush base. Finished off a giant mug quickly and the leaf even resteeped nicely!

Day 16 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent. In sharp contrast to Day 15, Welsh Dreams, this blend feels very aggressive. The lemon peel, orange peel, and hibiscus give it a lot of tartness. I don’t like how that combines with the earthiness of the turmeric. It ends up just tasting like it has a coarse, harsh edge. I think I prefer turmeric in a sweet blend or a ginger blend. The citrus combo really isn’t working for me.

Day 15 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent. This is similar to the Evening in the Garden blend, except this has mint where that one is floral. Everything in this is soft and gentle. Soft vanilla, gently tart lemon, a mint that lingers lightly on the palate. It’s not a weak blend, just a cozy one where the flavors all play together nicely.

Adventageddon Day 18 – Tea 3/4

Smooth vanilla and light, cooling peppermint. Certainly a perfectly fine blend and definitely the right kind of candy cane-like seasonal flavour as we get closer and closer to Christmas. It reminded me so much of DAVIDsTEA’s Santa’s Secret though. Complete with fondant note that I just can’t get into. However, I see this simple and straightforward blend being a winner for so many people.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1AsG9VO40p/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YG0SXbzmwQ

Adventageddon Day 17 – Tea 4/4

Another tea from today that wasn’t really my jam. Maybe I was just in a fickle mood, since I really only enjoyed the 52Teas blend today. Though, ginger and I have a love hate relationship even in the best of times. Ditto with chai.

Honestly, this isn’t really a chai though. I mean, I guess under the loosest definition, but the only spices I could really taste were a pleasantly earthy and hot ginger and just a bit of allspice. There are other spices in the blend, but they’re pretty well swallowed up by these two. It’s got a bit of the molasses-y note that I crave from gingerbread, but overall I found myself wanting more. More body from the black tea, more molasses, and really just more overall richness. Probably would be good as a latte, though. And I can see the argument of other people maybe not wanting it to be as sweet and decadent as I do…

Anyway, it hits all the hallmarks it needs to!

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0-G7urOC8D/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLWbey1RLZA

One I enjoy drinking. It says pomegranate but I also taste raspberries.

Adventageddon Day 16 – Tea 3/4

This one was, unfortunately, also not a favourite today. However I’m fully blaming myself for this one because I majorly overs teeped this cuppa – something that was apparent from my first wildly bitter and astringent first sips. I was worried the whole thing would have undrinkable, but something surprising happened as the tea started to cool down. Though still over brewed, the colder the tea got the more the sweet and creamy almond notes came through and by the time it was ice cold this was overall a… well, I wouldn’t call it good but I guess a fine cup of tea.

Thankfully Plum Deluxe gives two packets each day, so sometime in the future I’ll get a do over.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C07hr09uQmr/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y9E3DiDwsg

Adventageddon Day 15 – Tea 2/4

I said just a few days ago that I was really craving more black teas, and the advent selection delivered. I ended up drinking this while at work today and it was perfectly lovely, Nothing especially distinct to the tasting notes; a little honey and a little floral undertone to compliment the smooth, medium body.

I will say that, in the realm of straight black tea, Darjeelings are not a favourite. I find that when they’re bad they’re really bad and it takes quite a lot for one to be exceptional. This was somewhere in the middle, though I’d been craving black tea so badly that it did hit the spot probably more than it would have on a regular day.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C049M5QuHNI/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOEe_-6NY1Y

Day 14 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent calendar. The dry leaf smells almost cinnamon-y, but that disappears as soon as it brews up. Brewed, a clear cherry aroma wafts up. This smells and tastes like maraschino cherries with an almost marzipan element to it. With a shorter steep time, I got a little more of the plum flavor to come out, but that cherry stayed dominant no matter what I did.

ETA that this makes a wonderful tea soda!

Day 8 of the Plum Deluxe Hanukkah sampler ending on a high note! This is probably more chocolate vanilla than chocolate marshmallow but that’s ok. It’s so tasty that I drank down an entire giant latte of it even though it literally made me sick (not the tea’s fault, I’m just sensitive to the base). Chocolate flavor extremely on point, not a whiff of alcohol to be had. The vanilla makes it extra wintry and cozy. A black tea base makes a lot of sense here because of its heft and slight maltiness. I don’t love the hint of astringency that it brings to the party though. So I went back and checked: there were indeed two options this year and I chose the caffeine sampler rather than the caffeine-free. Which explains why all 8 days were caffeinated blends! When there are only 8 days, I think I like a mixed sampler like they did last year better. Especially because FIVE were black teas, with 1 pu’erh and 2 greens. Next year I’ll just get the herbal if they do the two options again. Not a lot of places do Hanukkah samplers at all, so I appreciate that Plum Deluxe puts in the effort and they do have quite a few blends that I like.

Adventageddon Day 14 – Tea 4/4

Cold Brew!

I don’t know if I’ve tried cranberry and grapefruit together before, but it’s a pairing that makes sense to me since cranberry goes so well with both lemon and oranges. This is definitely an enjoyable cold brew, as well. Not super intense in terms of sweetness or acidity, and in general the flavour is a bit more mellow and smooth. Not as weak/flat as the Butterfly Effect blend from yesterday that was very disappointing, though.

I like the amount of body from the black tea, and the cranberry and grapefruit are pretty well balanced. I’d say I taste a smidge more grapefruit – mostly in the backend/finish.

So fun having another cranberry black tea following yesterday’s as well. Both are very good, but I might slightly prefer 52Teas since it was the more cranberry forward of the two. They’re so different from each other that despite the shared flavour and base it feels unfair to compare them. Maybe if I’d steeped them the same way. Maybe.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C02ZiiMU5Dz/?igshid=YzZhTZiNWI3Nw==

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI0bRo96hew

Day 7 of the Plum Deluxe Hanukkah sampler. This is just a thoroughly middling chai. The clove is very prominent. There’s a hint of lemon. The base is weaker than I’d expect in a chai – both in color once steeped and in sturdiness relative to the spices. Once I added oat milk, it got even more washed out. I’m curious whether this is the same black tea base that they use for their other blends. I would assume so, but it tends to come off stronger in other blends. Possibly there are too many spices and not enough actual tea?

Adventageddon Day 13 – Tea 3/4

Cold Brew!

From memory this is a blend of white and green teas with mango flavouring and a lot of butterfly pea flower. It’s a very, very beautiful tea with a purple-y blue appearance. However, I found it really watery tasting and week without enough distinction from the added flavouring. Just kind of a muddier and forgettable flavour, and though the colour is cool it’s not enough to make up for the very mediocre taste. At least, for me anyway…

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0z38OLuPeM/?igshid=YzZhZTZiNWI3Nw==

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOvYVAHj4Qw

Day 13 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent calendar. I like this! I definitely mistook the yuzu for orange, though. Gotta work on that. At any rate, the yuzu-orange and the lemon go together nicely. Not sure what the moringa is bringing to the party but I’m not missing it. I’m more interested in the lingering lemongrass note, which is bright and fresh. Could easily drink through an ounce of this pretty quickly.

Day 6 of the Plum Deluxe Hanukkah sampler. Starting to suspect there aren’t any caffeine-free blends in the sampler this year, which would be unfortunate. Maybe there were two versions available and I didn’t realize?
On the up side, this blend uses Plum Deluxe’s excellent hazelnut flavoring. The blackberry and hazelnut flavors are both very clear and work well together. It takes oat milk well, though that does drown out the blackberry a bit. While I’m perfectly happy to have a hazelnut latte, the blackberry flavor here is good enough that it’s worth uplifting rather than washing out. A significant improvement over yesterday’s blend!

Adventageddon Day 12 – Tea 3/4

Used both of today’s packets to make a giant iced tea with a generous splash of milk. Not quite a latte, but definitely on the verge. I thought this was pretty good! I really, really like the hazelnut flavour that Plum Deluxe is using – I’ve had it in three teas now and (not all in the advent) and they’ve all really delivered on that front. Overall, the whole thing had a sort of iced coffee vibe – in part because of the earthiness of the pu’erh and because hazelnut creamer is a decently standard flavour addition to iced coffee.

I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but I just don’t love hazelnut and chocolate together and so the more chocolate liqueur type of flavour was definitely my least favourite element of this tea. However, it was still very good and I know that a lot of people love that combination. I think many people would be really into this.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0xPAg6ulwP/?igshid=YzZhZTZiNWI3Nw==

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tIBimP6isA

Day 5 of the Plum Deluxe Hanukkah sampler. Um… not a fan. To be fair, I’m generally not a fan of pu’erh, but my guess is that this blend also does not use a particularly high quality pu for the base. The berry blend smells and tastes nice, but when that earthy, fishy puerh flavor comes in mid-sip and lingers long after it kind of kills the experience. Second packet of this definitely up for grabs if anyone wants to brave it.