Candy Cane Lane

Dear Candy Cane Lane,

Let’s not beat around the bush. I know we’ve just met and all, but I think you’re really something special.

I’m just going to say it. I love you. I love your creaminess and the blast of cool mint. That little hint of cinnamon? Oh, I think I love that most of all.

I know you’re bagged, and I know people will judge us for being together, but I don’t care. We can make it work.

I guess what I’m trying to say is…would you move in with me? Permanently?

Just made a Candy Cane Lane White Russian. Took a Candy Cane Lane tea bag and steeped in good helping of vodka for approx 10 minutes. Poured over ice, added simple syrup and half and half.

Wow. That was amazing. :)

1 bag left in my first box, and a full second box. Still think that will not be nearly enough to last me until next Christmas. My grocery store, which had a full display a few weeks ago, is down to a few Sugar Plum Spices and Nutcracker Sweets, aka the teas no one likes in the holiday collection. And they weren’t even on deep discount yet! Blergh.

This was part of a gift basket full of decaf/chai bagged teas that my good-intentioned sister-in-law put together for my Xmas gift. Bless her heart for trying (even though she has a local tea shop within 5 minutes of her house ::sigh::).

Anywho, this was the one tea that I was like “hey — this has got potential!” And it does. It’s not knocking my socks off, but it’s a rather pleasant pepperminty tea. In a future note I’ll go into detail of flavor/aroma, but I’m absolutely exhausted after watching Monday Night Football (Geaux Saints!) and need to get some sleep. Overall, thumbs-up on this tea from little ole me, and I’d consider getting more. NE

Grrr. Decaf teas, why can I taste something off in you so prominently?!

It isn’t as apparent in this as it was in Vanilla Comoro, thankfully. So I can drink it. And I want to love it, so hopefully just a little tweaking here and there makes it amazing.

It does taste just like candy canes. But I just am not falling in love with it like I feel I should. In fact I think if I wasn’t in such a mood for minty teas right now, I’d probably feel pretty meh about this.

I’ll give it another shot though.

We meet at last, Candy Cane Lane. As a peppermint junkie I’ve wanted to try this forever: I went to 6 different grocery stores during the holiday season and not a single one had the CS seasonal blends! What the heck. But thanks to a swap with Marcel Duchamp I am finally trying this one out!

Piping hot this really just tastes like peppermint, I was a little disappointed. No vanilla, definitely no cinnamon! But I let it cool a bit as I was reading and once it was hot but not too hot the magic happened. Peppermint, vanilla, cinnamon, oh my! This reminds me of Santa’s Secret and Della Terra’s Peppermint Bark, only a bit softer (because of the green base instead of black) and the cinnamon gives it a really warming feeling.

This is so good! Like, outrageously good for a bagged tea. I usually have Twinning’s Peppermint on-hand for when I need a bagged mint but I think I will be swapping it out for this. I mean, it has everything! Super minty and refreshing, smooth vanilla, warming cinnamon, plus it’s decaf. Yum!

Picked another box of this at my local grocery store. I really enjoy drinking
this after a meal, the peppermint comes through first followed by a creaminess that is very satisfying.

This tea is like a treat when left to cool entirely. Better than a candy cane! The bagged aspect creates a somewhat dusty note, but the mint and vanilla make up for that. I quite enjoyed my cup, and I certainly wasn’t expecting to. Then again, I have a soft spot more mint green teas :)
A friend gave me half a dozen bags or so. I’m not sure that I’d want any more than that at one time, so I’ll have to go halfsies with her next time as well!!

Another horrible-feeling-stomach day today, so I had to pull out this tea. It really helps (along with Sprite Zero)… usually “Tension Tamer” tea is my bad-stomach-go-to, but I forgot to restock that, so CCL fills in nicely.

So I have a confession to make. Even though I’ve primarily drank loose leaf for the past two years or so, I’ve been re-indulging in Celestial Seasonings teas lately, especially this one. I don’t know what it is about CS that attracts me, a loose leaf drinker, to go out of my way and find some of the rarer ones. Maybe it’s the cute cover arts (especially this one- I mean, it features bears painting candy canes- what’s not to like?!). Or maybe it’s the nostalgic novice tea drinking years of my life. I remember getting into tea around the time I started my first year of college. Freshman year was a great year for me and very exciting. It’s no surprise that tea held a very special place in my life, especially CS teas which I drank very often.

So, I see no reason for not enjoying a bagged tea occasionally… or even often as it’s the case with this tea! I love the cooling simplicity of this tea. It’s minty and slightly green with a touch of comforting vanilla. There really isn’t a wrong way to brew this tea. Even though CS recommends cooler water (they consider it a green tea), I haven’t found this tea really anything more than an herbal with a tad of green to it. The only way I can pull out the green tea flavor is to let the bag infuse for 15 or so minutes. Even then, I swear it might just me mentally thinking it’s there. The big point is, though, the tea won’t run bitter on you. I’ve had this brewing for two hours once and it still tasted good!