2020 Tea Advent Calendar
I just saw that Bird and Blend is getting a head start on Advent season by doing preorders!
https://birdandblendtea.com/us_en/tea-advent-calendar.html
I think I’m going to do the Theodor one again, which is also a good excuse to place an order for their teas that I want to restock on. I’d like to do another company as well, but it’s still too early to know what all the options and prices are. I’m just glad for anything to look forward to this year! What ones are others looking forward to or planning on?
What did the Theodor one amount to? Did you enjoy the teas?
It was 80 Euro. So a lot. They were very generous in their portions. I did like their teas. Two I want to order bags of when I get the calendar. Several of the days had other items like a knit stocking, a glass ornament that was flat like a sugar cookie, a card holder macaroon and a vial of water from the Seine. The days that had tea had three individually wrapped tea bags of the tea of the day. The 25th had a full bag of tea. Might have been a 200g bag? Each year they do a different theme for their advent calendar and last year was a walk along the Seine. They put SO much thought into this project.
With shipping to the US, mine came to 114 euros, which is a lot, but I LOVED the theodor advent calendar—it came with tons of tea, small and cute other little gifts and was just a really fun adventure. It was pricey, but I’m glad I did it and will probably do it again.
I have still Sonnentor from last year. If anyone wants to swap it for any other one, I can manage it.
The B&B one looks bit pricey for me though.
I got a bunch of advent calendars last year, and the ones where I felt like I got the most for my money were definitely Plum Deluxe and 52teas. Unique flavors you could only get in the calendar and also their prices are generally high, so trying a lot of flavors for $30-$40 was a good deal for me.
I haven’t tried Plum Deluxe teas. The calendars are a fun way to get to know a new company. Maybe I’ll look into that one.
What other ones did you get last year? I got the Brutaliteas ($35) one as well as the Theodor. I ended up not really liking Brutaliteas teas very much, but it was still fun to try them all.
I also got Teapigs and Tea Revv and was gifted a random grocery store one. Teapigs was good, but the flavors weren’t exciting. Tea Revv just isn’t very good tea. This year I’ll probably just get Plum Deluxe and 52teas unless there’s another decent one in my price range.
I forgot… I also got the Tea Gschwendner one last year. It was okay. Lots of tisanes with hibiscus. The tea was loose leaf with enough tea for two servings. None of them were things I felt I needed more of. Fun to try, but not something I’d repeat.
Plum Deluxe looks interesting, I’ve never tried their teas and am considering the subscription. When do they generally release the calendar?
My first experience with them was the advent calendar last year, which I enjoyed enough that I’ve made several orders with them since. It looks like I ordered the calendar in late October 2019, so I’d expect it soon if they’re doing it this year!
Cameron B., it looks like it goes on sale tomorrow for pre-order: “Our 2020 advent calendar will be available for pre-order on October 19 at noon PST. Shipping mid-November!”
I’ve had my eye on the B&B one for years but can’t really afford it or the shipping cost. I’ll probably be doing a swap or a self made one this year as I have so much tea and shouldn’t buy more. I used to buy the 52Teas ones which was always great and worth the price, but I find I don’t go through all the caffeinated blends very fast so I have 20+ unopened pouches of black and green tea sitting around. I might try to scoop up some no caff leftovers again this year. That crisp cranberry soda one is the highlight of my winter holiday.
I have the same problem since I only drink caffeinated teas a few times a week. I usually just end up trying a few cups of any caffeinated tea I buy and then giving the rest away to family members or swapping.
I have that Sonnentor; it is mostly herbal or fruit, 3 are actual teas. All are tea bags though :)
I did the custom B&B one last year and really loved it. It was definitely the most expensive one that I did, but I think because I had control over what was in it that made the pay off better = and my success rate with the teas (in terms of enjoyment) was higher too.
I’m eyeing the Whittard’s advent calendar since I haven’t tried it yet (https://www.whittard.co.uk/gifts/gift-collections/advent-calendars/the-tea-advent-calendar-347617.html).
I also really like the Fortnum and Mason one, usually I can get a good last minute deal from Williams and Sonoma on it, so I’ll probably try to do that. Last year, I splurged on the Mariage Freres advent calendar but didn’t feel like it was worth it. I also got the Brutaliteas one but didn’t love it.
I do really want to try the Kusmi one—I’m keeping my eye out for that since it sold out so fast last year.
Kusmi is on my short list too – I was very disappointed they didn’t offer it at their physical store here in Montreal, but crossing my fingers they’ve made it available in Canada this year.
I did five advents last year, and one “12 Days of Tea” half advent – and I daily blogged all 5-6 teas each day. It was definitely a bit much to take on, so for “Adventageddon” this year I’m looking at no more than four full (ie. 24 Days) advents – to help keep from going insane, haha.
I want to try new companies (either COMPLETELY new companies or just companies where I’ve never had their advent), and I also was variance in the style of tea and country that the advent is from. So I’ve been trying to plan what this year’s assortment will look like for about a month now…
Last year I did…
1. DAVIDsTEA
2. Dammann Freres
3. Tea Bento
4. Bird & Blend (Custom)
5. Tea Revv/Yawn Brew
6. 52 Teas (12 Days)
Doing the DT advent just made sense because I work there, and it was free for me, but none of the teas were new at all. Probably wont do that one this year, because I want to focus on trying new things. Dammann Freres I always enjoy, and had done previously, but there are a lot of repeats between years so I want to take a “buffer” year before doing it again – I do want something with this more European/French tea blending style in this year’s assortment. Tea Bento was good – I liked having a traditional tea in my assortment. It’s VERY hard to find a straight tea calendar where the teas are more “Gongfu-type” straight teas and not things like English Breakfast. Bird and Blend was very good – though quite expensive. I don’t think I’ll redo it though because I’d rather focus on a new company; but I’ll probably still place a holiday order with them, haha. Tea Revv was the worst one I did (also the cheapest, for what it’s worth) so I wont be redoing it. 52Teas I’m doing again – I loved it.
So right now here’s my “shortlist” for what I’m considering for 2020…
1. 52 Teas/Geek + Tea (Both of these are 12 Days – so one “full” advent)
2. Something more European – maybe Kusmi/Mariage Freres??
3. Brutaliteas (Brand new to me, though y’all seem to have not loved it)
4. ???
Bold = Purchased!
It was impressive watching you review that many teas last December!
The Brutaliteas pun names are kind of amazing, especially if you are any sort of a metalhead/horror fan. You got one big or two small servings per day depending on how much tea you use and they came in little plastic pucks. I have a picture of it here..
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5Y5CZ6AM3l/
…and I just preordered the Geek + Tea “12 Days of Tea” advent. It was pretty pricey at $50CAD (for 10g of tea per day), but since I’m starting a “Geek & Tea” Podcast and the teas are all organic and/or locally grown by the company or wild foraged I’m a bit more okay with dropping that on the advent. It’ll be my first year doing this one, so I’m excited!
I would highly recommend the Brutaliteas one. I ended up finding some new favorites from it.
amandastory – thanks for the recommendation! It’s good to hear multiple opinions! :)
T2 had one last year, both loose leaf and tea bags; heard some reviews (on the company) it is hit or miss, but 20 GBP sounds reasonable for me (though shipping is another 10); maybe I will try to put in some teas as well for drinking outside the Advent series.
I wish ETTE was doing an advent. They have several teas I want to try and they don’t sell sample sizes.
I did 3 advents+ the swapped advent last year and it was honestly too much. I’ve already pre-ordered the 52Teas advent, and I’m going to stick to just one other (in addition to the swap). I was thinking of doing Tea Revv, but it seems pretty universally hated, so may skip it. Hoping to find another festive countdown, rather than just one that includes the brand’s year-round blends.
Oh, I hadn’t missed that 52Teas was already doing presales! Glad you commented; I just secured my advent :)
Has anyone tried the Betjeman & Barton advent calendar: https://www.betjemanandbarton.com/en/chests-of-tea/840-advent-calendar.html ?
I haven’t had their teas before but am intrigued.
I haven’t! I wish they had a list of what teas they include. I’ve tried a sample box from them before and it was the basic EG/Breakfast/Tisanes which don’t generally impress me. They were okay, but I’d have been more interested in their blends. I’ve had one of their blends that has an almond/pear combo and it was alright, but I don’t feel like I’ve had a broad enough exposure to their offerings to say for sure what the company as a whole is like.
It looks like they might offer two different advents. Neither say what teas or if it is loose or bagged.
https://www.betjemanandbarton.com/en/chests-of-tea/1021-advent-calendar-2020.html
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