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2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 5

Bleh. Leaving my rating of 55 from a few years ago, and I stand by my previous review: This is far too hibiscus-forward, yet also somehow weak? The mulling spices seem one-note and flat, not bold and fresh.

2025 Steepster Advent Swap: Day 5

Such pretty leaves! Dry, they remind me of calendula seeds — tightly curled and toasty-golden (though without the little nubs of calendula seeds).

Steeped, I’m enjoying this one quite a lot. It’s terrifically smooth and honey-like, but with enough of a “bite” to keep things interesting. I’m getting a bit of woodiness and sweet potato, but just a little. Yum! Thanks for sharing, Michelle!

2025 Steepster Advent Swap: Day 4

This is a very nice cinnamon rooibos, but horchata it is not! There’s nothing rice-y about it, although I do get a little hint of creaminess toward the end of the sip that’s quite pleasant.

Definitely a good cold-weather sipper!

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 3

Hm, not my favorite English Breakfast — there’s a metallic aftertaste that I’m not loving. I also wish it were a bit stronger and stiffer!

2025 Steepster Advent Swap: Day 3

What a delight! I enjoy mulled wine and in the past have enjoyed making it for holiday parties, but it’s not exactly an everyday thing. This is a really nice replacement! Hibiscus works beautifully as a stand-in for red wine, with its slight tang and tartness, and the other ingredients are nicely balanced: Cinnamon, dried orange, cloves… all the usual “warm spice” suspects. I’m also getting a little sweetness, probably from the apple, which works very well. I’m drinking it from a gluhwein mug I got at the Dusseldorf Christmas market a few years ago, which is obviously very fitting.

I usually don’t love fruit-heavy blends, but this is hitting the spot.

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 3

I love how malty and cozy this one smells. B&B includes two tea bags per day, and after using just one and finding the flavor lacking, I went all-in and steeped both at once. Much better! The cocoa nibs and shells are doing their best, and their best is not bad — it’s a pleasant chocolate tea when overleafed like this. There’s a little bit of breadiness and malt, which absolutely does give off digestive vibes. I’m getting a smidge of bitterness at the edge, but overall it actually quite smooth and pleasant. An easy drinker for sure.

2025 Steepster Advent Swap: Day 2

What a throwback! I haven’t had good ol’ Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride in at least a decade, possibly more like 15 years. Man, I used to love all the Celestial Seasonings holiday blends, especially this one, Nutcracker Sweet, and Candy Cane Lane. <3

Today I’m not getting much flavor, to be honest, even though I used two tea bags. It’s a little bit musty and a little bit sweet, with some very faint vanilla sugar notes and a distinct chalkiness.

So fun to have this again!

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 2

It’s grey and rainy outside, but also quite cold — it’s one of those days where if the temperature would drop just a couple degrees, we’d be getting a gorgeous snowstorm. Instead, it’s just nasty cold rain.

Tea is, of course, the antidote to the rain-when-it-should-be-snow blues. I wasn’t super enthused when I opened today’s box, because I don’t care for bergamot. But! I actually and legitimately like this one! It’s citrus-y and pleasantly tannic, with some lovely creamy vanilla notes rounding it out. I am truly enjoying drinking it while I lounge on the couch reading. I’m soaking up my last month of post-grad-school, post-internship freedom before starting a new job as a therapist in January, and I intend to fill it with lots more tea and books and crafting projects. I’ve got a snuggly beagle to my left, and although I wish my little fuzzball pup were still here and curled up to my right, I am generally content.

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 1

My family and I spent a week in France earlier this fall, and I booked my return flight with a long layover in London. I would be lying if I said the prospect of visiting Bird & Blend and picking up a few (shipping- and tariff-free) advent calendars for myself and a few friends didn’t play into that choice! Plus, a morning in London is always delightful.

Anyway, this rooibos-based chai is very ginger-heavy. I don’t really love chai blends on a rooibos base, because I generally want something stiffer and stronger to balance out the spices, and the rooibos doesn’t do a whole lot here. It really feels more like a ginger tea than gingerbread.

I sipped it while working on a holiday sewing project (a semi-quilted table runner) and the combination of crafting and tea was very pleasant. So, even though it’s not a favorite blend, it made for a nice evening.

2025 Steepster Advent Swap: Day 1

Iiiiit’s advent season! And this year it’s already bringing me a lot of joy. We had to say goodbye to our nearly-16-year-old pup the week before Thanksgiving, and the grief has been tough. We’re riding it out, but yeah… tough. She was my first dog as an adult and had been with me since I was 24 (I’m 38 now). Life without her is just not as bright.

Anyway, I’ve been looking forward to the festive fun of advent season. Michelle was my homemade calendar swap partner this year, and rather than label/number her teas, she suggested a random pull — with the instruction to choose another if the randomly selected tea didn’t bring joy. Well, I love that approach! Happily, my first random pull did bring joy: this lovely cookie-flavored black blend.

I am not Italian, but I did grow up in a state with a large Italian-American population, so pizzelle cookies were a staple of the holidays for me! My Portuguese grandma had a pizzelle iron and always made them for her annual Christmas party. I bet she still has the iron, actually — maybe I could veganize the recipe.

Pizzelles are very delicately flavored, in my recollection, but this blend does them justice, thanks largely to the anise and vanilla. It would’ve been easy to be heavy-handed with the anise seeds, but the blend has just the right amount. I’m not getting much orange, but that’s OK — I actually don’t remember tasting orange in the pizzelles I’ve had.

All in all, this is a tasty, simple, gently holiday-inspired blend that brought back some lovely childhood memories for me. A good way to start the advent season. :) Thank you, Michelle!