Nutcracker Sweet

After looking for weeks, I finally found Nutcracker Sweet on Christmas Eve! The description, which I’d read online, fascinated me, so I was very happy to have found it. Just had my first mug of it today. The directions suggest a steeping time of 3 to 5 minutes, so I went with 5 and added a little sugar. Based on the description of the tea, I thought it would taste pretty strong since black tea can be strong when steeped that long and cinnamon tends to be very powerful in tea. To my surprise, it’s quite mild. Very drinkable and does not need milk to smooth it out. The black tea flavor takes a back seat to the vanilla, which is just fine with me since I’ve been looking for a nice vanilla tea. Funny that I think this tea tastes more like vanilla than Bigelow French Vanilla or Carrington French Vanilla!

The tea supposedly also tastes like cinnamon and other spices, but I honestly could not detect any of them. Maybe I can taste them the teeniest, tiniest bit and they just add a special, unidentifiable something. While I would prefer if I could taste a LITTLE bit of cinnamon, I quite like the tea as is. It smells and tastes like vanilla brown sugar to me. YUM. Glad I found this one and I’m sure I’ll have no problem finishing the box. I gave 2 bags to my mother-in-law before I had a chance to taste it (gave her some of all my teas to try) so I’m curious about what she’ll think of it.

Holy mother, this is the best vanilla tea I’ve had. It’s perfect alone, piping hot. Not too strong with the cinnamon, which I prefer. Nutty and sweet (…as the name would suggest…) and great for a cold day. This was my morning tea.

so good! very smooth with mild cinnamon and vanilla flavors. neither overwhelming nor boring. drank with sugar.

I love this holiday tea. Lovely vanilla and slightly spiced.

I’ve been spoiled by loose leaf tea. As I drink this, I’m comparing it to all of the nutty, wonderful loose leaf teas that I like better. That’s not really fair to this tea, but there it is.

This is a light, sweet treat. I think that’s what it is…I’m used to black teas with a little more “Oomph”. I’d like it to have more kick. That being said, it tastes like a cookie when you add a packet of raw sugar and some milk. Yummy.

This a nutty, mild tea. They don’t go overboard on the spices, either. I do love it with milk. I am glad it’s not sweet! You could certainly make it sweet, but I prefer it without. That way it goes better with cookies! I drink it year-round. For a souter cup, add 2 bags to a mug.

This is the one bagged tea to which I look forward every year. I enjoy it’s mild sweetness (I enhance it with honey and milk) but most of all I love the nostalgia of it. This is a core component of Christmastime to me and also one of the first teas I remember purchasing. I like spiced holiday teas a lot (like Mariage Frères’ Esprit de Noël) but this is a nice change of pace, nutty and vanilla and still holiday-rific in every way.

(First review. Please bear with me.)

Received this tea as present from my mom. I tend to brew it using two teabags in about two liters of boiling water, for around seven minutes. This process was reached by no scientific process, but suits my taste well enough.

The tea smells a teensy bit artificial (the dry leaf moreso), but very similar to the German Roasted Almonds that used to be sold in the mall by my home; vanilla and cinammon over a toasty nut base. The black tea isn’t terribly apparent in the scent, but is the main flavor I taste when drinking. When sweetened, the vanilla becomes more apparent, but unsweetened, I taste mainly black tea and cinammon. Maybe almonds, but maybe I imagine that. The taste is pleasant; the scent is delicious.

I like brewing this one first thing in the morning, because it makes my room smell fantastic. It’s a nice, easy way to wake up. I prefer it unsweetened and without milk.

I’m a sucker for flavored black teas and this is no exception. This has a very sweet aroma, and does well with sweetened original almond milk, I would say to the point that it compliments the “nutty” flavor and adds a sweetness I suspect would be absent had it not been for the addition. The flavor is pretty nice, I would say that the vanilla comes off as a bit artificial but the cinnamon kind of brings it together and reminds me a bit of vanilla wafers or shortbread cookies. It’s not quite what I’d look for in an every day tea, almost appropriate that it’s seasonal for the Holidays (something I’d look forward to coming home from after being out in the cold), but will serve as a nice dessert tea. Will likely stock up on a few boxes to last me for such occasions. Not disappointed in the least.