I'll Be Home For Christmas

With a semi-official verdict of 4 inches of snow (and, still, it keeps pouring down), today is a perfect day for this blend by Rachel. Thanks so much for sending me some of this to try!

Having never had the chestnut blend by itself, I can’t tell exactly what flavor it brings here (but I’ve got a bit of it from Meghann, so I can have it later and compare!), but this blend is really nice. I can taste the caramel, and a hint of the cinnamon (though I think I’d like more cinnamon), and a rich, nutty taste that I assume must be the chestnut. Mostly, though, it’s a solid, strong black tea base that holds up well to the flavors and isn’t overpowered by them. It makes me wish I was snowed in at my mom’s house, with her making beef stew or chicken & dumplings for lunch and watching marathons of Most Evil or other crime shows on the ID channel whilst we craft.

I have to admit that my very first sip of this tea was a little scary, because I could taste that funky Adagio black tea dry-starchy taste that I’m not terribly fond of. But, as the tea cools just enough to sip it comfortably, the flavors begin to come through very nicely.

I LOVE chestnuts, and I can taste them here, together with the cinnamon and the light touch of caramel – and it’s a very pleasing combination of flavors. The black tea flavor is still there, but it’s less pronounced and it isn’t quite as dry/starchy/aggressive as it was in the first sip.

I am liking this one a lot.

Another Rachel Blend! YAY!

I’m really going out in left field with this one! WHY? You ask…

Well, it’s NOT Christmas! I don’t even want to THINK about Winter or cold weather!!! It’s JUST starting to get nice! LOL Well, that AND I don’t usually go-for these ingredients. It’s not that I don’t like them it’s just that I’m not usually drawn to them.

So I am really challenging myself here.

The aroma is very light but warming. What I can smell of it is the Chestnut and a tad of caramel. I’m not smelling much cinnamon – but I’m fine with that.

It infuses pretty dark brown.

I really like the fact that the Black Tea taste is upfront and the flavors are on the assist. The flavors play nice together like on a merry-go-round. They circle around in your mouth nicely. I can taste the Chestnut and Caramel pretty much equally and the cinnamon acts as the caboose. I like it! The cinnamon is JUST RIGHT…it’s really all you need.

This is a great surprise and I must say I am a fan!

I am also trying this one for the first time in some time and it too tasted better than before. I found this one more interesting because I almost tasted each ingredient one at a time and the all at once, strange but satisfying. I truly get the whole cool evening, sunset with pumpkins, and colorful fall leaves falling from the trees with this, it kinda made me think of autumn but I quickly remembered snow so I decided no way and jolted myself back to reality and said…it is summer. It was a nice daydream while it lasted.

Backlogging from yesterday. This has a nice cinnamon scent and a flavor I am assuming is chestnut. I don’t know that I have ever actually had a chestnut. I am not getting much caramel, but it has a nice sweet flavor. I enjoyed it. Thanks Rachel!