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I already posted about this, which is Day 5 of the Plum Deluxe advent calendar. But there’s enough in each day for more than one cup, so I was able to play around with it and figure out that it’s much better as a cold tea. The woodiness of the rooibos base isn’t as pronounced when the tea cools, while the moringa still doesn’t pop, so it ends up being much more prominently and enjoyably juicy pear with a hint of goji berry.

Day 10 & 22 of the Clipper advent calendar. I brewed this at 185f, for probably too long, but the long steep didn’t seem to do any harm. The raspberry flavor in this is absolutely on point. There’s also a savory sort of note that’s probably the white tea. It’s not very well defined but also doesn’t really feel like it’s missing? I don’t really go to supermarket bagged teas looking for complex base teas – that’s just not a very likely finding or realistic expectation. So with that expectation, I quite enjoyed this. If it were a flavored loose leaf, I’d probably be asking more questions about where the white tea base is. I would much prefer to enjoy it for what it is, though.

Day 9 & 21 of the Clipper advent calendar. This is basic but enjoyable. The lemon flavor is just the right level of tart and thankfully isn’t candy-like. The green tea base tastes almost like a gunpowder tea, which matches the lemon well. This would probably be good with honey; it was great with a sugar cookie.

Day 13 of my Steepster homemade advent calendar from Kelmishka! There’s tarragon in here, which is intriguing. Or it would be, if I could make it out. But even without that, it’s a nice solid mint blend that I’d happily have again.

Day 12 of my Steepster homemade advent calendar from Kelmishka. This has a nice citrusy zing. I assume that’s the ginger, since I can’t taste it otherwise. It also has a licorice sweetness for which YMMV. There’s a nice little kick at the end of the sip, which lingers afterwards along with the licorice. There’s apparently rose in here but that doesn’t come through at all. Mostly I’m left wondering why the licorice is here – I would have preferred a turmeric/ginger blend without it. Presumably they added it for some sweetness to balance the spice, but licorice is such a love/hate flavor that it seems like an odd choice.

Day 11 of my Steepster homemade advent calendar from Kelmishka! I haven’t had a lot of 52teas’ blends in recent years, and I never got to try this one, so I’m excited to see it here! The name’s a little macabre for my personal taste, but the flavor more than makes up for it. This is frickin delicious. I forget who was talking about 52teas’ marshmallow flavoring recently – I think it might have been Roswell Strange on an old episode of GeekSteep I was listening to – but I remember them talking about how 52teas uses marshmallow root and doesn’t use actual marshmallows, so it gets a really authentic marshmallow taste without the weird mouth coating or steeper clogging that tends to happen when marshmallows are included in a blend. That feels dead on (hehe) in this blend, where it’s all marshmallowy goodness with none of the negatives. I also really like the way that the cooling mint plays with it – I wasn’t sure that I would, but it’s actually a really refreshing and pleasant combo. Super super happy with this one.

This is Day 9 of my Steepster homemade advent calendar from Kelmishka. I wasn’t really sure what to expect based on the name, because what in the world is a razzleberry? An internet search tells me it just means mixed berry! But mostly all I taste is raspberry and the genmaicha base. It’s very light overall, kind of airy for a genmaicha. I tried adding honey to see if sweetener would bring out any other flavors, but no such luck. It tastes good! Just very straightforward, which doesn’t match the name. Would recommend, if you like raspberries.

Day 8 & 20 of the Clipper advent calendar. This is a pretty standard chamomile/lavender blend. It’s fine for a teabag version, but my standards are really skewed. Harney does it better, and Butiki (RIP) blew them both out of the boiling water. I’d drink this if it was the only cham/lav blend available, but I just have better ones.

Apparently I had this nine years ago, and found the lemon much more notable then than I do now. Hmm. Even so, I gave it the exact same rating that I was planning to give it now!

Day 7 & 19 of the Clipper advent calendar. I’m annoyed because I distinctly remember drafting a tasting note somewhere, but now it’s gone/lost so I have to rewrite it from memory. So here’s the highlights: I really enjoyed this chai blend! Definitely more than Teeccino’s Dandelion Red Chai, which I had recently had. Not quite as much as Wissotzky’s Rose Chai, which is my all time favorite grocery store chai – but is caffeinated, whereas this one is conveniently caffeine-free. I remember cinnamon, ginger, and clove being the prominent notes. There was also something that my brain was processing as peppery, but there’s no pepper in here – I think it was just a bit too much clove. Would definitely have this again though!

Day 7 of the Teeccino advent calendar. This smelled beautifully of chocolate the minute I opened the packet. I made it as an oat milk latte for extra creaminess. It’s got big mocha latte vibes. Super delish.