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The second of the three teas that I selected for the third day of Christmas in the 12 Days of Christmas tea swap. If one enters in “French Blend” in the Steepster search, you’ll find a few different brands of teas with “French Blend” teas. I ultimately decided upon this one for a few reasons: 1) it was a blend of black and green teas, and since the other two teas that I selected for this day are both black teas, I thought that a blend of these two teas would at least offer a slight variation to the base tea. 2) It had lavender in it, and I wanted a lavender tea included with my French teas. 3) I liked that there is jasmine and rose in this tea.

My first couple of sips of this tea were a bit astringent, but, I found that the astringency has waned since then. I attribute this to the fact that the tea has had a chance to cool slightly. Other than the astringent start, this is really quite a flavorful tea. I taste all the elements that I was promised in the description: I taste the black and the green tea (I brewed this at 180F) and I taste jasmine, lavender, rose and vanilla. It’s really quite a pleasant cup.

On the Third Day of Christmas … Della Terra Teas sent me this tea!

This is a bit of a backlog, as I did enjoy the tea a day or two ago so that I could write this full-length review and schedule it for publication today: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/16/on-the-third-day-of-christmas-della-terra-teas-sent-to-me/

This tea isn’t as “gingerbread-y” as I would have expected from a tea called “The Gingerbread Man,” instead, it had a really delicious creamy element to it. I really enjoyed this, creaminess, and the sweetness of the cup overall, but, I did find myself wanting a bit more of a snappy gingerbread taste.

I have SO missed this tea. So when I got the 3rd Day of Christmas in the 12 Days of Christmas swap, the very first tea that popped into my head was this tea. I wanted more of it, and so I needed to find some way to fit the French Canadian Maple into the idea of Three French Hens. I got the french part anyway!

I absolutely love this tea. So yummy, the best maple flavored black tea I think I’ve ever had. There might be others, but, I certainly can’t think of them at the moment.

I came across a wee little bit of this tea – just enough for a cup – in my stash, so I’m having it this morning. Even though it’s been in my stash a while, it still is really flavorful, it’s held up to the passage of time quite well…

I received an individually wrapped tea bag of this tea in my November Goodies Box – http://hungryinportland.com/2012/11/25/my-goodies-box-for-november-has-arrived/ – and am finally getting around to trying it now.

For a bagged tea, this is alright. If it were not bagged, but loose leaf, I would say that this is a very good tea, because I like that I can taste the pumpkin flavor, the black tea has a good strength to it and the spices are lively without overwhelming my palate. I just don’t like the bagged part of this tea, I don’t like that I can taste a slight paper taste in my cup. It is not enough to make me dislike the tea, but it is enough for me to wish I wasn’t tasting it. Fortunately, there is enough good tasting elements of this cup that I’m able to overlook the paper-y part.

So it’s alright … but it could be even better without the bag!

Thanks DaisyChubb for adding this listing and thank you to Azzrian for this 2nd day of Christmas tea inspiration! It is YUMMY! I prepared it as a latte, using mostly hot water and a splash or two of half & half to make a latte, and it turned out amazing. AMAZING. It is truly strawberry and champagne, and I think I like this better than the straightforward strawberry matcha … the champagne complements the strawberry perfectly… truly is a match made for life! :)

Thank you Azzrian, for participating in the 12 Days … and for such a creative way to think of Day 2!

On the Second Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas sent to me … this tea!

This is a backlog, since I do “cheat” a bit and drink the tea a day or two early so that I can write the review for the SororiTea Sisters blog and have it publish on the day that the tea represents. So, here is my full-length, now-published review for this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/15/on-the-second-day-of-christmas-della-terra-teas-sent-to-me/

I really liked this one. I liked that it was similar to many of the sweet-hot cinnamon-y teas, but there was a certain mellower attitude to it that didn’t assault the senses.

I’m liking this a lot!

It has a very soothing kind of taste to it… the peppermint, which is usually a very perky kind of herb, tastes a bit softer here, thanks to the rooibos and chocolate. The tulsi seems to accent and highlight the peppermint, but, at the same time, it slightly diminishes the sort of spicy notes of the peppermint, softening it somewhat, giving it more of an herbal-y/earthy kind of taste. This benefits the rooibos too, because it has less of that weird woody kind of taste to it, instead, it’s subtly nutty with more of an earthy character.

If I could change anything, I guess I’d want more chocolate in this. But really, when have I ever not wanted more chocolate? More chocolate is always better.

It’s a very soothing, comforting kind of tisane, but with a delicious crispness to it. It’s yummy!

This is wonderful!

Thank you Autumn Hearth for taking part in the 12 Days of Christmas tea swap and for this tea. It’s absolutely lovely! I love that this is truly not just a pear tea, but also a tree tea, which makes it a stunning tea to celebrate this “first day of Christmas.” (yeah, yeah, I know it’s not really supposed to be today, but we’re celebrating it today, so deal with it)

The first flavor that I notice really distinctly is the jasmine, which kind of surprised me a bit because I didn’t expect it to be so pronounced in a blend with so many other things going on… but I think the sandalwood-ish notes sort of bring out the jasmine a bit, these are two very heady, fragrant types of flavors and I think that bringing these two notes together added emphasis on the jasmine.

I love that there are so many elements to this tea, and yet they all seem to work well together. I don’t know that I taste all of the different fruits here, but I definitely taste pear. I taste faint hints of citrus, and a slight tropical note from the pineapple and papaya. But, really, rather than singing out on their own, these notes seem to harmonize with the primary pear notes to emphasize the delicate sweetness of this fruit.

I love the juniper in this too, and the very subtle hint of vanilla adds a smooth, roundness to the cup that makes this such a really wonderful tea.

Autumn Hearth … it’s going to be difficult for the rest of us to top this! You opened up our 12 Days of Christmas swap with a real BANG! I love this!

On the First Day of Christmas … Della Terra Teas sent to me … THIS tea!

This is actually a backlog. As I am writing the reviews of each tea to be published on the day that they are to be opened, I decided to start a wee bit early so that I could write the review without feeling rushed to get it out on time. The sacrifices I make for my blogging … I tell you!

Anyway… this tea is really very nice. A beautiful dry leaf that smells as good as it looks … and has a delicious pear flavor.

Here is my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/14/on-the-first-day-of-christmas-della-terra-teas-sent-to-me/