Nutcracker Sweet

I am in a sugar coma right now. In the afternoon I indulged in a delicious sakura flan on my tea trip with Mercuryhime, and afterwards I met up with the boy to check out Doughnut Plant. How can I NOT go to a store that Saveur says has some of the best donuts in the world? Of course I didn’t really plan on eating any tonight, I was going to save them, but the creme brulee and tres leches were calling our names… they are rather small (or at least the creme brulee was), but oh man it’s like all the richness of a real dessert wrapped in a donut. So good, but I feel like I don’t need to eat again for a week at least. And there are still 4 donuts left…

While this does not seem like a tea to reach for when you want the opposite of sugar, I found it in the traveling tea box (along with 2 other holiday ones!) and considering that I missed all of the flavors this year I decided to go for it.

I have a love/hate relationship with Celestial Seasonings. They have a small handful of blends that I enjoy from time to time, namely Sleepytime and Bengal Spice, but most of the time it’s just not quite there. I mean, I do tend to be more lenient in my opinion since it’s a bagged tea, but even then they taste… off. I think this blend falls somewhere in between: not great, but not really bad either.

Nutmeg is one of my favorite spices so I was excited to see a blend featuring it, but I am only getting a little whiff of nutmeg and some vanilla. No cinnamon at all! There’s kind of a generic holiday taste, like if you liquified Christmas potpourri and put it in tea. Which sounds gross but it’s not that bad! Well, not good, but not bad either. A decidedly middle of the road tea. But I am happy to have tried it—I want to get all the holiday blend desire out of my system so I can try them and not end up getting a whole box I will never drink!

So apparently there are a couple weather models that claim it’s going to snow her last week. It was 70 for about a week. I can’t deal with this. But it is cold again now, so I am feeling a bit more wintery now and also find myself needing to try the rest of these boxes I bought. This one smells so good after its steeped, like I just baked up cinnamon rolls.

Its taste does not live up to its scent. It seems too fake for me. I find it hard to believe they need to fake cinnamon and vanilla like this, but it just doesn’t taste good. And it’s not the base tea, the black tea is not bad at all for a sachet. The flavors are just not good compared, and it brings the whole thing down. This could be sooooo good if it didn’t taste so artificial.

I added almond/coconut milk and agave and it helps round out the flavors a lot. I love this milk so much, especially in this tea because I think it’s really helping tame the vanilla. The cinnamon, not so much, but I’m not sure what I can do about that.

I’ve really been in the mood for cinnamon vanilla teas but all the ones I had disappointed. Good thing I got an ounce of Glitter & Gold, at least that’s close enough to what I’m after to not have to drink things that taste like stale bread or fake cinnamon.

I think I’ll just use this one too for oatmeal. Or it might be good as a latte with brown sugar.

Ah yes a familiar taste to me. I’ve grown up drinking this tea and picked it up before the quarterly meeting at work. You know it’s not the most astoundingly awesome tea there is but still a good one. I think would add this to my “comfort tea list”. Too much to do before Thanksgiving break and I’m stressing a bit. Like Pizzagirl and I discussed. If stress is a little high a good cuppa and a good poop will make it all right!

I’ve been doing a lot of drinking without logging lately. There’s too much going on. :( And I fear my obsession is waning. Though I do still crave a tasty cup and tons of variety. Maybe I just don’t have time to sit down and really appreciate a cup anymore.

Anyways, lets try and get backs the boat! I had a cup of this a few days ago. Sweet vanilla nuttiness! It was like a liquid cookie! Tasted best with a splash of cream. A great dessert tea! Thanks for sharing Josie Jade!

I saw some of the Celestial Seasonings teas while out shopping and decided to pick up two flavors after reading some of the positive reviews on Steepster. I made this tea as a to-go cup for my fiancé yesterday and he called and said that it was filling his car up with a wonderful smell. I decided to have this tea as my first cup today and it has not disappointed me! The smell is wonderful – like a cup of vanilla-nutty-sweet goodness. The flavor is yummy too; it is less sweet than it smells, but is still a tea that would be enjoyable without sugar as it is sweet enough on its own. There is a heavy marzipan-like flavor that finishes with a sweet vanilla note. This is a tea that I may need to stock up on as it would be good all year round!

-Regular teabag without a string.
-Teabag smells sweetly like vanilla icing. Tea liquor aroma is of sugar and cinnamon.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy dark brown color.
-Marzipan nutty flavor with a sweet vanilla icing finish.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Marzipan and vanilla icing flavor.

Not really a fan of the scent of this as everything about smells fake and phony. I’m steeping now…let’s see what this is all about!? Never tried it before but thought I would pick up while ransacking the local herb store for a bunch of boxes of candy cane lane! LOL

OH WOW! I’m not sure about this! It’s nutty, and vanilla, and cinnamon…but they aren’t playing nice – at least not with me. The Cinnamon is more powerful than the other flavors. It’s not sweet at all…

I will finish the cup but I will not buy again…don’t think it’s for me.
Bright side…at least I am not dumping it down the drain…

Backlogging –
OK not my fave of the holiday seasonings but I do enjoy at least one cup of this a year. I love the cinnamon and nutmeg undertones. Mom had one so I tried it out. Not my fave, but not bad either. I steeped for the length of the cup, as I tend to do with CS teas.

Mom doesn’t have Sugar Plum Spice… stocking stuffer idea! :)

Oh dear lord, I can’t believe how hard it was to find CS’s holiday teas this year! I’ve been checking around for the past couple weeks and NONE of the major grocery stores had any. Finally I stumbled across them in a small natural-foods store, yesterday. Go figure.

I’ve actually never tried this particular one before so I was curious and intrigued by the description. In the box and while it was brewing the tea wafted fragrant and mouth-watering odors of vanilla with a hint of spices across the kitchen. Actually, I think it would make a lovely room-spray or perfumed candle.

I drank it without milk or any other additives this time, just so that I’d be able to experience the flavours unimpeded. First of all, for a tea that has an Assam base the black tea is surprisingly mild and easy-drinking, which is unusual since I’ve always had to add at least some milk to Assams to make it palatable. I’m still getting a hint of that characteristic malted flavour though and mixed with the vanilla it’s almost like caramel.

The vanilla is the most prominent flavour, it swirls delicately around the tip of the tongue with each sip. There’s also a slight hint of spices in there – maybe cinnamon or cloves? All in all it seems like it’s a pretty retiring sort of tea with no strong flavours that really stand out. And I don’t really mind it that way – sometimes it’s nicer NOT to be hit in the face with the taste of your own tea. ;D

My mom (Andriel) was lucky enough to attend a convention in Denver, CO a few months back. While she was in the city, she toured the Celestial Seasonings factory! (Um, jealous!) She brought back the Nutcracker Sweet for one of my Christmas gifts. I was reallllly sick with the flu over the holiday, so we celebrated the holidays in January. I just tried my new tea for the first time yesterday, and WHOA. I love this tea! I know a lot of the reviews were “ok,” but I love everything about it: The smell makes me feel like I am 7, staring at the Christmas tree in my pjs… The taste is sweet and almost creamy, without adding honey or milk. The color is pretty, and it is DEFINITELY making my work day better!

Thanks Mom!

I love the smell of this tea….but it’s actually not the greatest taste! Kinda weird. I’m glad it’s sweet enough on its own though! I dunno! I put two bags in my mug and it was pretty weak. Meh! Not bad, not amazing!

My husband and I spotted a Celestial Seasonings seasonal tea sale at a local grocery store, so we snatched up this one and a few more. :) It was my tea of choice this morning because (and I am ashamed to admit it) it’s bagged, and it was easy to grab on my way out. I do have some paper fillable tea bags, so I could have grabbed those and some loose tea, but this looked like it would do the job. So far, I’m not terribly disappointed. This is just not the best of black teas. I mean, the flavors are all right, but I don’t really taste the individual notes. It’s just one big Schoenberg cacophony of almost-vanilla-almost-almond-almost-cinnamon-almost-something-else black tea. The cinnamon is the strongest flavor, naturally, which I don’t mind. Overall, this tea gets a “meh.” The hubby likes it, which is good. He can help me finish it. Probably won’t restock this one.

My daughter and I are getting ready to host a Christmas Tea, so when she saw this tea in the grocery store she said we had to try it. Into the cart it went. This afternoon we made cucumber sandwiches and cups of Nutcracker Sweet. My daughter loved it. She said it taste like snicker doodle cookies (she added sugar to her cup). I drank mine plain and did not enjoy it as much. There was a strange aftertaste. It wasn’t bitter, but it was… off. Next time I’ll add a bit of sugar, too.

After we had our tea my girl decreed that Nutcracker Sweet would be included in the tea party. And so it shall be. :)

Bagged
Aroma when Dry: Sweet, like store cake frosting
After water is first poured: vanilla notes noticed first, hints of the others
At end of steep: bland, dusty sweet
Tea liquor:
first color: med. brown
At end of steep: darkens a bit.
Staple? No.
Time of day preferred: undecided.
Taste: bland, like mildly candied cheap black tea
first notes: Vanilla, pepper
As it cools: cinnamon and Vanilla surface
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, with a touch of vanilla

This is one of my favorite bagged black teas – it has a nice nutty/cinnamon flavor. When I first got it I was worried the vanilla might taste fake, but it has a nice ‘real vanilla’ undertone. I usually sweeten it with a small amount of honey, but it’s also good without. I buy a few boxes of this around the holidays every year!

It is unfortunate that this tea is only available during the holidays, because it is really good. Very pastry like, with great vanilla and almond flavor and a hint of cinnamon. It kind of reminds me of a snickerdoodle cookie. The black tea flavor in it is fairly strong as well. Prepared with stevia and (sometimes) almond milk.

Though I don’t normally have Celestial Seasonings tea in my cupboard, every holiday season I pick up Candy Cane Lane and a few others. This year I added Nutcracker Sweet to my collection. My husband keeps commenting that the kitchen smells like butter, and I can’t disagree. It’s a good cup, though.

I’m having a bad, bad, bad day, but this tea at least came out well. It’s comfortingly sweet, but I still put white sugar in it. My Mom doesn’t put any sweetener in it. Nice aftertaste. Chai-like.

Normally I am really not a fan of Celestial Seasonings teas, but this is one of the few blends of theirs that I like (and I like it a lot). I always buy a couple of boxes every holiday season and use them throughout the year. I am a bit disappointed in how the blend has changed through the years. The flavours are more bland than they used to be when I started buying it, but it’s still good enough for me to drink consistently.

My family has been buying this tea for nearly as long as I can remember. We originally bought it for my sister, who was in the Nutcracker, and somehow it became a family holiday tradition. I pretty much turn this into a dessert with the amount of milk and sugar I put in it! (Also not bad with a little bit of rum.)

When I went home for Christmas, my mom surprised me with this sweet holiday tea. Naturally I was very curious to try it.

I had some while at work today and it was delicious! It was sweet, but not overly sweet. It was almost like a vanilla waffer cookie sweet. Which is very pleasant. I would recommend a little bit of honey or sugar if you like to add sugar or any sweetners to your tea. Too much would be over kill.

Still good to have in January for a comfy winter day inside or to warm up from being outdoors.