Fireside Snuggles

Bird & Blend Advent Calendar 2021: Day 8!

This is a divisive blend! I, however, enjoyed it. I’ve come around to smoky teas over the past few years, and something about this one just hit the right notes for me. I didn’t get a ton of cocoa, but that’s OK. The coconut was nice and subtle, more of a background marshmallow-y sweetness than anything overwhelming, and there was a hint of cinnamon toward the end, all rounded out by a gentle, woodsy smokiness. I’m not sure I’d drink it every day, but I definitely enjoyed my two cups today!

B&B Advent 2021 Day 8

Well, this smells like raw cinnamon and smoke both dry and steeped. Sigh. The scent of smoke is just repulsive to me – anything smoky I dump without hesitation. I will try at least one sip of this tea for advent’s sake… Nope. Nope. Dumped. If anything, this has deterred me from wanting to snuggle by the fireside.

Bird & Blend Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 8

Interesting, this is a smoked version of Snowball?

Yeah, I’m not a fan. The lapsang here is very ashy or charcoal-like, with a harsh and mineral smokiness. I do enjoy the more savory meat-liked lapsangs, but this is a bit harsh for me. The sweet flavors with it are interesting, I’m getting an almost whipped vanilla taste? I guess from the coconut. And there’s a hint of cinnamon. Chocolate, not so much.

Anyway, not a fan. Too much ash. :P But it’s still drinkable for me.

I only had a teaspoon of this left and I seem to remember thinking it was very weak last time so I mixed it today with a bag of Bird & Blend’s Snowball. These look exactly the same, so I’m not sure what the difference is. Maybe the smokiness in Fireside Snuggles isn’t in Snowball? I didn’t experience any smoky flavors in this cup, so to me they seem pretty much identical. The chocolate was stronger today, a creamy milk chocolate, with the two combined. Dropping my rating from a 70 because this one doesn’t really stand on its own for me and it’s much too similar to Snowball which is also not a favorite.

It’s cold. It’s blizzarding. I’m tired. I have been back to work since Monday but this pneumonia is kicking my butt. I was extremely tired on Monday but yesterday I did pretty well. Today not so much. I thought this tea would be warming and comforting. I used almost twice the leaf as last tine but it still was a bit weak. And a tad bitter at the end of the sip. Such a shame because it sounds lovely. I might go back to an old tried and true tea this afternoon. If I can stay awake. 4 more hours left of work. Not sure I’ll make it.

Sipdown. I almost finished it two days ago, but it would be too strong and I did not even wrote a tasting note.

Meh. I really do not like this one. Very smoky – meat like. No chocolate, no coconut. Some cake flavours, but somehow timid. Bit of cinnamon. Again, timid.

And it feels bit off drinking this tea in spring time.