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Day 7 of the Kiani advent calendar. I wasn’t expecting these to be whole leaves – I know some places sell peppermint that way but I can’t remember the last time I bought loose leaf peppermint that wasn’t cut up into bits, even from nicer companies. So I was really excited when I saw the whole leaves and smelled that nice peppermint scent coming off them. Brewed up, the aroma and flavor is a sweet peppermint that’s slightly medicinal, but not in a bad way. I see “menthol” tagged as a flavor note on this page and I think that’s right, and the thing I’m connecting in my mind with “medicinal”. This is easily one of the finer peppermint teas I’ve had. I was careful not to oversteep because I’m hoping to get a second mug out of it and add some honey to that. Great for a rainy, exhausted night.

Day 17 of the DavidsTea herbal advent calendar. I have a little tin of this too from an older sampler, but hadn’t gotten around to trying it yet so this was still a treat. The aroma as this brews is just wonderfully peachy. The tea itself tastes like peach juice – I gulped down the first mug so fast it didn’t have time to get cold and I immediately made a second mug. Interestingly, tea-averse partner walked into the kitchen while this was steeping up and swore the aroma was peach-but-something-is-off. So make of that what you will. I think it’s quite on point.

Day 12 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent. I drank this a few times and tried to remember its qualities each time so I could jot them down later, but somehow never did. It was just kind of… pleasant but unremarkable.

Day 11 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent calendar. For some reason, the first flavor in the initial sips of this was a strong anise/licorice note. I truly don’t know why, it’s not an ingredient in the blend. And it fades as the tea cools. The strawberry flavor doesn’t really come out until the tea cools down. About halfway through, I added about a teaspoon of sugar, which helped a lot. It brought out the banana flavor and more of the strawberry. I still really have to search for the lemon, though. This isn’t bad, it just isn’t as entrancing as some of the other blends in the advent have been.

I picked up a few tins of Ten Ren tea years ago, when I was first getting into tea. This one has been sitting in my tea drawer ever since because I have realized that I mostly am not a fan of dong ding oolongs. But today, my usually tea-averse partner decided that he wanted some oolong to pair with moon cake and this was the one he chose! He drank two whole pots of it, and I resteeped a third for tomorrow before tossing the leaves.

Alas, vol. 1 is no longer part of Flyest’s regular offerings, but there was a limited release a few months ago and I snatched up a few ounces. This is still my favorite coffee-alternative tea. It’s simple, bold, roasty perfection. Roasted dandelion root is just one of my favorite flavors and this is a particularly well executed version. It would have to be – that’s the only ingredient so there’s nowhere to hide! I’ve been drinking a lot of this while grinding through a major project at work this week, and it has been a good companion.

Somebody wrote a note for DT’s Cranberry Gingerale recently, which made me really want to break open my new packet and try it out, especially iced. But I already had my caffeinated tea today and didn’t want to deal with anything too exciting on a migraine day. I opted for this caffeine-free cranberry blend instead. It’s better than I expected – the flavors are really well balanced and enjoyable. The dry leaf smells of hibiscus, cranberry, and lemon. Brewed, the flavor is cranberry-forward with a strong hibiscus note supported by the lemon and oat straw notes. I let it cool and turned it into a tea soda, which was so good. The bubbles really highlight the different flavors at play in this blend, and the tartness here makes for a really effective and enjoyable soda. It’s the kind I’ll probably end up hoarding the last few teaspoons of.

Migraine day, ugh! I needed caffeine, wanted something that I really enjoy, but not something complex that would require a lot of focus that I wouldn’t be able to give. I ended up going with this coconut oolong from the TTB. It stayed creamy and coconut-y for three very enjoyable western-style steeps. Didn’t cure the migraine, which I didn’t expect it to, but it did make my day a little nicer.

Day 16 of the DavidsTea herbal advent calendar. I’ve been pulling really long days at work this week so have not had time for tasting notes. This blend tastes exactly like the name suggests: strawberry, rhubarb, and cream. Sweet and tart. Not as complex as the Sleepy Lychee but tasty enough as a dessert tea!

Day 15 of DavidsTea herbal advent calendar. This blend was so appealing to me when it came out! I didn’t buy it because of the sulfites warning – sulfites are a potential migraine trigger – but I’m happy to have a little bit to at least sample!

I find this too sweet and juicy for a bedtime tea, but very enjoyable otherwise. It’s got a strong, juicy lychee flavor with a supporting note of lemongrass. It’s also lightly floral on the back end. The flavors in this are cleaner and more complex than a lot of DT herbal blends, and even though it’s sweet it doesn’t taste sugary or overly sweet. I really like it, especially cold. It makes for an exceptionally good tea soda too. Bummer that there are sulfites in this and I couldn’t get it.