Santa's Secret

It’s like a much less interesting Read My lips..

Oh Santa’s Secret. Why are you so awesome?

I’ll tell you why – because you offer a delicious blend of subtle flavours that don’t overpower each other.
Chinese Black tea? Present!
Peppermint? Present!
Vanilla? Present!
Candy Sweetness? Present!

All that with spicy support from cinnamon, clove, and orange? Yeah. I’m sold.

Although this is a seasonal tea, I can totally picture myself drinking this while camping in the summer. It’s a decided favourite, and I’m not even ashamed to admit that I bought a whopping 250g bag of this to stock up for the year.

I think if this doesn’t get renewed again next year, I may turn my back on Davids entirely (yeah, right. good luck with that one!). But it really is that good.

I recently received this as a gift from a good friend of mine. Holy fabulousness in a mug! I’ve been really partial to peppermint teas of late and this one does not disappoint at all!
The candy canes add a nice creaminess to the overall tea, and I find that it didn’t get bitter after sitting in the tea pot for a little while. The peppermint is not overwhelming at all, and the teas are extremely well blended. I noticed the black tea a lot more after it had been steeping a long time, but this did not detract at all from my original opinion of the tea. I’ll definitely be stocking up on this one before its taken out of rotation after the holidays!

Colour me astounded – I like a minty tea! This recurring seasonal tea has never been in my roster because I generally don’t like mint in tea. Or anything with mint, really. I like me my one candy cane at Christmas time, and my toothpaste. That’s about it.

I finally got around to trying this tea today because of all the wonderful Steepsterites that say ‘I hate mint but I heart this tea!’ So, thank you, each and every one!

Smell of dry leaf – candy canes
Smell of liquor – candy canes
Taste – candy canes

YET – not too sweet (no candy cane sugar residue on the teeth!), not overpoweringly mingty, and this wonderful richness / creaminess that’s hard to describe but oh so enjoyable. A wonderful compliment to Christmas music and never ending term papers on this rainy, rainy day.

And PS – I left the loose leaf in my teapot, so it has been steeping as I’ve been sipping away, and absolutely no bitterness a good 15 minutes later!!

This morning I try Santa’s Secret for the 1st time!
Good Suprise! I love the chocolate taste and the sugar taste!!
I can drink this tea anytime during the day!!

It’s a tea between the Love tea #7 and Read my lips.
I’m gonna buy more before it goes away!!

I was really hoping for a nicely minty black tea out of this, but it didn’t deliver. Rather than a nice minty taste, it had a somewhat overpowering too-sweet artificial mint-like flavour. It was a bit candy-like, and this borderline sickly sweetness dominated the tea. It was less like drinking a flavoured black tea and more like having a hot sweet drink that happened to also have a bit of tea in it.

It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t an enjoyable tea either. The ingredients seem a little misleading and are disappointing in this case as it doesn’t taste much like a black tea with peppermint.

Once again! Spoiler alerts!

I am backlogging here. As previously mentioned, I may be going about this advent calendar thing all wrong. However, I have chosen my path and decided to stick with it.

Before we get to the tea I would like to relay this very positive experience about DavidsTea. I had placed a very large order earlier in November (part holiday gifts, part holiday teas to get me in the spirit!). I kept checking the status, as the 24 days of tea were ordered and I was getting anxious as December 1st inched closer.

Nearly 10 days after the order had been placed, it had yet to be shipped. I called DavidsTea to check on the status. The customer service agent couldn’t have been more helpful or nice. He informed me they had a processing error, which continued to accept orders of the 24 Teas of Christmas, long after the quantity in their stock had been spoken for. He then told me he would call down to the shipping department and make sure it was sent out that day (as they had received more of the calendars).

True to his promise, he called me back not ten minutes later. He told me they were sending it out immediately, and I had the shipping confirmation before I hung up the phone.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE when a company I’m fond on proves to be a pleasure to deal with. I understand there are always extenuating circumstances and the possibility for hold-ups, but such attentive and congenial representatives just further my love for DavidsTea!

This tea was the perfect kick-starter to the holiday season! Welcome December! It sums up the holidays in a cup: cool peppermint, and sweet deliciousness – it’s a real delight!

Of all the Christmas teas that I had tried during my first year of David’s this one definitely caught my heartstrings. The same feeling of happiness hasn’t left me yet. I love the balance of flavor nuances and the candy canes are so cute! I found myself hoarding the supply I had received for my present so I could drink it all year round.

This year I have the special tin for the tea and the love has renewed even more. It is definitely Christmas cheer in a mug. Ahh…heaven! Now back to 106.9 FM and their continuous Christmas music for the full experience while drinking this tea.

I didn’t get around to getting to the mall this year before Christmas to get the winter teas. I get a bag of this every year.
Lo and behold, my husband bought me a Christmas gift package that had a bag of this tea, Santa’s secret white chocolate bar, and a shiny new “perfect teaspoon”.
I really enjoy this tea as an egg nog latte. The mint isn’t overpowering and it is slightly sweet. Delicious.

The chocolate bar is kinda weird to be honest. I love chocolate, but white chocolate has never really been my favourite. But hey, I will never turn down chocolate. The crunchy tea bits are a little weird. I kinda thought it would be infused into the chocolate somehow, not actual leaves. I probably wouldn’t purchase one myself. There is much better chocolate out there (Lindor—I’m looking at you ;)). It was enjoyable enough.

I generally dislike minty teas, but I enjoy this one quite a bit. I think theres a good balance between the black tea base and the flavours.
I think it has a very nice sweetness to it, and I don’t think it needs any sweetener. I will probably pick up a bit more when we’ve finished our 25g bag.