1445 Tasting Notes
Yes! This is definitely a CrowKettle tea. I’ve never had the actual sugarplum dessert but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying it! This is a sweet and sugary white tea, with a wisp of syrupy stone fruit and a touch of mint. I’m such a sucker for this kind of thing, even if it is kind of crude in a way.
Thank you, Frank, for the fun advent box! Merry Christmas, steepsterites!
Preparation
How am I supposed to drink other breakfast blends after this? The cream and the honeyed caramel notes are delivered as promised. Yet another tea from Verdant that I now wish I had more than a sample of.
Bonnie’s note mentions that this is low in acid? Sounds like a good tea for me! :)
Preparation
9/12 teas of Christmas, 2013
I knew this one was in the box from the clue dropped on the thread a while back. Vanilla, caramel candy corn tea, with a nippy and syrupy sweet finish. I like these types of candy in small doses, which makes it easier to resist plucking all five pieces from the dry blend (I only took one).
I’ll try to write something more interesting later.
Preparation
The bunny graham is whole!!! (Every time I use more than one exclamation mark I think of Terry Pratchett’s Reaper Man, but I’m good since I’m still under five).
This tea is the sweet taste of spring, although drinking this is not bound to that season. It’s a big cup of delicious vanilla pastry and red berry goodness.
Preparation
8/12 teas of Christmas, 2013 (I’m not ready!!)
So far, this box has contained quite a few flavoured black teas. Many of them I’ve enjoyed quite a lot, but eventually the common base starts to numb these sweet teas out for me. Root Beer, Buttered Rum, Buttered Beer.. (OK, that last one isn’t in here but I have some in my stash). Anyways, I’ll admit to tiring of drinking them all concurrently.
My own personal grievances aside, this does smell a lot like spiced rum, with a very convincing candied butterscotch take on the flavour. It IS enjoyable, and I was also curious about this blend too when it came out. :)
Preparation
oh, sweet chocolate, why didn’t I discover you sooner?
Preparation
I was actually craving a cup of this earlier today
This is one I want to try.
It’s soo good, and now it’s the only thing I want to drink. I deeply regret only getting a little sample pack on Black Friday, whereas I opted for 1oz of Vanilla Citrus Spice (which I ended up liking, but why!?).
I meant to bring this one over to Tony’s, & just realized I left it on the counter.
Of course, I only live 5 minutes from here…
I did a six minute Sil steep and it’s like a cake or some other kind of bready dessert. It’s a richer, more self-indulgent, cup than my relaxing short steep session. The latter was all about “watching” the various ingredients draw in and out through the various steeps, but this throws everything together at once as a dense, finished product. I like it both ways, and may have to pick up more.
I don’t know how I feel about the last two movies but I love hobbits oh, so very much (I had to declare this somewhere). I think I’m finally ready to finish LotR. I never got around to reading the very last book, although I’ve read the other books a few times now (weird, eh?).
Preparation
I’m drinking this right now as well – yum!
Yay for hobbits! :-)
I should give this one a 2nd chance. I had a small sample, & it didn’t do it for me, which was unexpected. I think I was really grumpy that day, or something.
I enjoy this one but I think there are many teas that I love from Verdant a lot better. I’m thinking about adding some extra Zhu Rong or some Laoshan Black too (Stephanie mentioned doing that), since there aren’t a lot of tea leaves in my package. Might give it a little more oomph?
I wandered away while making this and got distracted for who knows how long. Now it tastes like cinnamon domineered potato pancakes with a touch of bright apple sauce. The potatoes are very starchy now (almost oily fried).
I actually think this may have worked out well in my favour, taste-wise. This is so good, and the green base is forgiving.
Preparation
7/12 teas of Christmas, 2013.
I try not to do these so early to prevent spoilers, but the Vancouver snow has seized up my brain. (Wait! What does that have to do with anything?)
This is a nice, if not overly complex, caramel tea, with somewhat of a bitter nip at the end. I had this a while back but I don’t recall the buttered toffee that I’m getting today. I’m glad I can taste that now. There’s something almost salty about it, that with the butter creates a popcorn finish for me.
Mm, I like this a lot more than I did last time. It’s the butter.
Preparation
6/12 teas of Christmas, 2013.
I don’t particularly care for honeybush or rooibos, and that whole tobacco, fruity medicinal thing they have going for them, but I like the idea of this blend. It’s also nice to drink something that isn’t full of caffeine for a change.
There’s a weird sweetness that may be buttery cream, or chocolate covering. It’s not quite reaching the full glory of peanut butter cheesecake for me though. I still want a piece of cheesecake after this. Oh, well. That creamy sweet coat over the honeybush is still decent, even if I can’t identify what it reminds me of with confidence.
Edit: I over-leafed it for my last session and the cheesecake, plus a bit of chocolate, really came out. Still no peanut butter though.
