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DIY Kyoto Obubu Advent Calendar – Day 24

Happy Christmas Eve, tea friends!

Currently lounging on the couch with puglets in my lap, watching Polar Express with a big mug of this tea alongside a mug of hot chocolate from my Whittard advent calendar. Pure bliss, ha ha…

This is perhaps my favorite from Obubu, such a soft and mellow hojicha with sweet honey/maple syrup notes, hints of dried fruit, and that toasty autumn leaf base that just warms the soul. I certainly knew what I was doing when I saved this tea for Day 24, he he…

52teas 12 Teas of Christmas 2023 – Day 12

Ooh, interesting. I assume this is a riff on Graveyard Mist, which I think is a spearmint and marshmallow green tea? I’ve had it, but it’s been a while ha ha… Smells very orangey in the bag.

There’s definitely citrus, I think it’s reading as orange to me? I honestly don’t get any marshmallow or creaminess at all, but that’s fairly normal for me with marshmallow root. So mostly getting orange (?) on a mellow, grassy sencha base, along with a touch of mint. It’s pleasant enough, I just wish there was more mint and more marshmallow.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 24

Hmm, two puerh in a row, and not really a festive tea… You’re losing points for this, Sipology! XD

This is nice enough, sort of a mellow chocolate caramel puerh. Nothing is overly strong or sweet or artificial. However, there is something that is distinctly reminding me of sesame sticks? Which is sort of a weirdly specific association ha ha, I guess I should say it’s reminding me of sesame in a savory way. Must be some combination of the sea salt and the fenugreek? As I don’t see what else it could be. It’s still good, just maybe a chocolate-covered sesame brittle ha ha.

As far as this advent goes, it was maybe my least favorite of the bunch? A lot of very strongly flavored and artificial-tasting teas, though there were also a few that I enjoyed. Only two stevia teas, so I can’t really ding them for that, since I know they offer many others. Oddly high amount of coffee-themed teas, I think there were 3? Which I don’t personally mind, but seems like an interesting choice. The variety seemed decent though, good amount of different flavors and bases, and many festive blends. I think it mostly comes down to I just don’t vibe with this particular style of flavored tea, in the same way that I don’t vibe with DAVIDsTEA. And to be honest, a bit relieved about it since they seem expensive and also the MLM angle is a bit shady.

Thésaurus Tea Fandom Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 24

Awww Lilo & Stitch tea!

Another one with butterfly pea flower… Thésaurus seems to be a big fan. This actually ends up reminding me of a blue raspberry sno-cone or slush, partly because of the saturated blue color and partly because of the sweet blueberry flavor. Very candy-like for sure, but still nice on the light white base. The description mentions ginger, but I don’t taste it at all. So really just a sweet blueberry white tea.

This advent has 25 days, so overall review will come tomorrow!

Tea at the White House Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 24

Another nicely festive tea for Day 24! :D

This is actually really nice, one of my favorites from this advent. It has a bit of that candy cinnamon sort of flavor, but not too much, and there are also some other spices and a bit of a sugar cookie flavor as well. It’s quite light overall, but I like the balance of the sweet cinnamon with the slightly buttery cookie – it makes me think of snickerdoodles, which is pretty on-brand for a spiced cookie around the holiday season.

So this advent overall, was just kind of okay. It definitely was the most festive of my tea advents, which is what drew me to it in the first place. So many of the flavors were holiday-themed and just fun. However, in general the quality of the tea was just so-so. To be honest, I didn’t actually expect it to be amazing because this shop is obviously carrying teas from the major wholesalers, which in my experience aren’t generally outstanding. So I wasn’t too surprised or disappointed. I also found it a bit odd that there were a lot of seasonal and festive teas early in the advent, but then in the middle there was a sort of lull, with more generic dessert-type teas. I’m not saying all the teas need to be holiday-themed, but I do wish they’d been ordered in a way that they were better distributed throughout the month.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 24

Of course, the Christmas Tea! See, this is what I mean about saving a festive tea for the last day, heh heh… :P

So, unfortunately this just isn’t a good match for me, ha ha. It’s almond and cherry together – my two nemeses, joining forces! XD So needless to say, I dun like it. Very candy-sweet and cloying, and also medicinal. Jergens lotion, but make it tea! But I wouldn’t expect to like these flavors, so I’m not mad at it ha ha.

In terms of the advent overall, this was sort of middle of the road for me. I’m never a huge fan of when companies mix in unflavored teas, because they’re never great and I’m always disappointed to see them. I guess I’ve been spoiled by mostly getting my plain teas from specialists, and usually directly from the country of origin. But I do think the variety here was good, in terms of different flavors and types of tea. A good smattering of herbals without being too many, and only a few single-flavor teas like vanilla and caramel (which I don’t typically love). I don’t think there were any teas I was totally in love with, but there were a few that I would consider picking up if I were already making an order. I don’t think it’s a bad advent, but I do enjoy Dammann Frères more, and I think they’re somewhat similar so I would recommend that one over this.

Bird & Blend Matcha Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 24

What an odd choice for Day 24. I always wonder if companies just don’t think about the ordering of the teas in their advents sometimes, for instance when they put similar teas near each other, or like this when they don’t save a festive or special tea for the end of the advent. I can’t imagine they don’t put a lot of thought into it, but I also can’t imagine why they’d choose a summer matcha for Christmas Eve otherwise. Especially when they had more festive flavors earlier in the month… :P

Anyway, this is probably a weird flavor to make as an iced latte, but I’ve done every other matcha that way and I’m not going to stop now! :P This smells strongly of crisp apple, with just a dash of the mint. As a latte, I also mostly get the apple, and mixed with the oat milk, it sort of reminds me of oatmeal with chopped raw apples mixed in. The mint is more noticeable at the end of the sip, leaving a creamy but refreshing mint finish in my case. Will have to try the remainder of the tin as a sparkling iced matcha at a later date, since it’s probably better suited for that.

As for this advent as a whole, I was really impressed with it. The last time I tried a lot of B&B’s matcha was many years ago, and I’m pleased to see they seem to have moved away from the “tea powders” they used to carry more of, with rooibos or herbal bases, and transitioned to more actual matcha. And their matcha base seems significantly better than what it was originally (I think it had white tea or something?). Definitely considering ordering a few of these flavors, though the price point is a bit high for me. But they have a lot of unique ones, so might be worth a splurge. Would definitely recommend this advent for future years!

Thésaurus Tea Fandom Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 23

Another mostly honeybush tisane. Here the honeybush is stronger, with more of a peppery note to it. I do taste a bit of rose, and perhaps a hint of the herbaceous lemon verbena.

Not a favorite, but drinkable.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 23

This is mostly just honeybush and rooibos – there’s linden, but I can’t really taste it much. Mostly it’s mellow and woody with a slight sweetness. Fine, but not something I would reach for.

DIY Kyoto Obubu Advent Calendar – Day 23

Lovely, as always. Classic spring-harvested sencha with dried sakura blossoms and leaves. It has a fresh, grassy flavor with vegetal and umami undertones, and then that light, airy sakura just dances over the top, adding its delicate fruity-floral notes and that quintessential savoriness.

Just wonderful, and even more so during a chilly, rainy winter day. :)