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2021 Advent Calendar
I’m about 5 days behind due to an insane work schedule and over commitments. So my memory is foggy and the next few Tealogs are going to be Memorable Good and Not So Memorable.
My sense of taste was complete back by this point and everyone is well again in our home. I liked this one. Chocolate teas are generally not my thing but I enjoyed the Cherry and Chocolate Combination.
Flavors: Cherry, Dark Chocolate
Adventaggedon Day 19: Tea 4/8
I made this as a hot cup of tea initially but then I got very distracted by watching an episode of Critical Role so I ended up drinking it cold/room temperature. Oops! The dry leaf aroma is really minty which makes sense given the name. I expected it to be more of a peppermint tea, but instead it’s very nana mint heavy with some spearmint type sweetness also. The taste is also along those lines. A lot of nana mint with some cooling menthol peppermint/spearmint undertones, some citrusy lemongrass, and almost a licorice root style lingering sweetness to the finish that coats the mouth. I don’t love it but I don’t hate it, though I do feel like I’ve tasted essentially the same tea from other companies – this isn’t a unique combination of ingredients.
The most interesting thing is that for some reason that I simply cannot explain it’s making me feel nostalgic for the summer vacations I spent at my Grandparent’s house as a small child. I don’t think I have any type of memory of being there tied to this type of flavour combination and I’ve never really experienced this when drinking comparable teas in the past. It’s just where my brain is going today…
Adventaggedon Day 18: Tea 3/7
So I only had seven teas today instead of the usual eight because, once again, the Kusmi Tea selection was a piece of teaware. In this case, it was a tea strainer which I ended up using with this tea.
I have to say, this is one of the few teas I’ve had from Brutaliteas that was kind of just a complete miss for me. There’s a lot of things going on and ultimately the result is a cup that tastes really muddied and unfocused. It was floral in a general sense of the word but heavier and kind of bland? Like, the taste here wasn’t off putting at all but I just think that it’s so completely unmemorable and it really pales in comparison to the much strong Blood Jasmine Shed from earlier in the advent.
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2XUQtB5tIo&ab_channel=YourSmith-Topic
I really enjoyed all the teas I drank today, but this one might have been my favourite. The fact it was so on theme was definitely part of it, but I’m sure a large part was just my general soft spot for Lapsang blends. The smokiness is really just a hint though, and it’s so perfect for conveying that slight campfire/burnt marshmallow quality that is the metaphorical bow on top of a super ooey, gooey creamy marshmallow fluff flavour. Really delicious!
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzE927Gulv0/?img_index=1 (3rd Pic)
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdmoPa7-k80
This has been the absolute busiest feeling week that I’ve had all year, so bare with me tonight as I work on tasting notes. They’re probably all going to be very, very short because most of my tea drinking this week has been while doing other things occupying much of my time/attention…
This is something I made during the evening after getting home from office. I was craving it all day, and the deep notes of burnt, smoky sugar were spot on for me. Like very burnt marshmallows from camping, which not everyone loves but I definitely love!
Adventaggedon Day 17: Tea 5/8
This is one of Marika’s favourite teas from “Brutaliteas” so even though it was a bit weird seeing a tea with a name that’s an obvious reference to Halloween I wasn’t complaining – plus, I also really love Halloween.
This blend has lapsang souchong in it so it’s a surprise to no one that it’s right up my alley. I think that they’ve used a really lovely, restrained amount of it though because that smoke note isn’t swallowing up the flavour at all and instead it’s emphasizing the burnt sugar notes that are accompanying the creamy toasted marshmallow and the overall taste is giving me the perfect burnt campfire marshmallow taste! I know I’m in the minority when it comes to loving a marshmallow so torched that it’s black, but this was awesome! So nostalgic, cozy, warm and delicious – and I see why Marika loves it so much!
Cold Brew!
I guess it was maybe subconsciously a white tea based cold brew kind of week? This was great though. Light and refreshing with a bright tropical pineapple to go alongside the smooth coconut finish. Aside from a ton of off an on rain, it’s really feeling like Spring here in Montreal. Nice weather and green returning to the parks. So something fresh feeling and tasting was awesome.
Plus, to be honest, pina coladas go with rain anyway in some ways. Thanks Escape Song.
Warmer weather means my tea cravings are shifting so a bit more light, bright and fruity flavours so I steeped this tropical white tea up over the weekend. Definitely more pineapple forward in this cup; like the pineapple juice in a can od Dole pinapple tidbits with a creamy coconut finish!
Looking back on the teas I drank this week, it’s not lost on me that my gongfu sessions have leaned much darker and more autumnal but my Western cuppas seem to be trying to cling to as much of the summer as possible. This is the extreme of this, where clearly some part of me wanted to hold onto this bright and tropical pina colada fantasy instead of embracing colder weather. I don’t blame that part of me for feeling that way. Not at all.
Flavors: Coconut, Pineapple, Straw
This was one of my favourite teas from the Brutalities advent calendar and, thankfully, it was one that I already owned even if I hadn’t yet tried it. It’s really lovely. The sweet pineapple juice note comes through exceptionally well over a white tea base and the coconut creaminess is gentle and balancing. I liked it more with the milk addition, but still awesome!
Adventaggedon Day 16: Tea 5/8
I actually already own this tea but I haven’t had a chance to steep it up yet so I’m glad this gave me that window! I decided to make a little mini iced tea to drink over lunch with just a splash of cream to made it more like a traditional pina colada! Silky smooth and creamy coconut paired with tropical pineapple! Nice and lush with a pleasant sweetness, while embracing the gentle nature of the white tea. I really loved how refreshing this was; it was a very nice take on a pina colada and now I’m really glad that I already own it.
Adventaggedon Day 15: Tea 6/8
Cold Brew!
So when I opened all the advents up this morning I definitely do not realize this was a chocolate cherry blend. If I had, I probably would not have cold brewed it. However, it still turned out really pleasant regardless. Definitely a more muted medium bodied type of flavour but with clear notes of both cherry and chocolate that combined reminded me a little bit of Black Forest Cake but with very balanced levels of sweetness. I think it would have been better hot (and maybe with a little milk) but really it was pretty good!
2021 Advent Calendar
Shaking off this cold and the taste buds seem to be back in play. There is a strong berry flavor to this one, which should have been obvious to me based on the ingredient listing. I don’t dislike it but for me most berry teas are better iced. I’ve noticed that berry teas seem to leave me with a dry feeling in my mouth. Is that normal?
Flavors: Cranberry, Hibiscus, Raspberry
Preparation
Adventaggedon Day 14: Tea 4/8
In hindsight this would have been much better iced or cold brewed but I didn’t think of that in the morning and so I steeped it hot with some butter cookies that one of my friends very kindly gifted me from her holiday baking. Butter cookies are one of the best cookies when it comes to tea dunking, for sure!
This was alright but it mostly just tasted like hibiscus dominant berry to me without a whole lot of clarity. Like, I knew I was getting some type of tart berry but there just wasn’t a whole lot of direction. As such I found it a nice enough cup of tea but I think long term isn’t not going to be very memorable at all.
Adventaggedon Day 13: Tea 3/8
This was my first tea today and I liked it quite a bit. It reminded me heavily of Back in Blackberry (also from Brutalities) which has a very similar, if not the same, brisk and full bodied malty and tannic black tea base combined with a simple syrupy note of berry. In this case, raspberry! I do taste the almond but I think it’s light compared to the berry notes. Overall, it’s a nice straightforward but decadent berry blend!
Advent Day 12
Sometimes a red hot cinnamon flavored tea just hits the spot, especially when it’s chilly outside. The cinnamon is at the forefront of the flavor, followed by a bit of ginger and clove. Then comes the mellow earthiness from the Yerba mate. Followed by some citrus- lemon and maybe a bit of orange. So many flavors going on here.
2021 Advent Calendar
When I did my leaf sniff test I was concerned about the excessively sweet raspberry scent I detected. But after steeping, I only detected the almond flavoring. Pretty sure my head cold is messing with me still. But I think this is one I would do again.
Flavors: Almond
Preparation
Adventaggedon Day 12: Tea 2/6
I was surprised at how excited I was when I saw this tea in the morning! For quite a while I was pretty actively avoiding that very sweet “red hot” style of cinnamon flavour because I had kind of burned myself out on it. However, I think I took a long enough pause from it and I was ready for just a nice straight forward sweet cinnamon tea…
The dry leaf did smell exactly like that type of cinnamon that I’ve described but as soon as I looked at the ingredients list my confidence it would taste that way was shaken. This is a very busy ingredients list!` Steeped up it smelled pretty cinnamon forward but also a little lemony which was the first sign we were going down a road I didn’t want to travel.
The taste is a little bit cinnamon but not as much as it should be based on the name. There’s so much else happening though that it’s hard to wrap both your brain and taste buds around. I tasted sweet and tangy lemon, mango, lemongrass, bright and sharply grassy yerba mate, coconut, and sweet marzipan like almond. It was too much, and overall it just made for one very weird tea.
2021 Advent Calendar
The best part of these calendars is you get to try so many different teas. So far, I’ve not wanted to “dump the mug” yet. Some I’ve found meh and others I’ve really liked and some are in between.
I liked this one quite a bit. The ingredient listing made me think it was going to be too sweet for my taste. I found it just sweet enough. The strawberry flavors really do compliment the jasmine.Flavors: Jasmine, Strawberry
