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FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 18

Well, well, a returning tea! I had this on day 4! If a tea must be duplicated in the advent, I wish it was most any but this. Like Smoky Earl Grey, come on, people, that would have been so much better!

I don’t hate it, but it is a standard breakfast blend that really tastes better with milk and sugar. I will probably make iced tea with the rest.

SONNENTOR ADVENT DAY 18

Although this is a green tea, you could have fooled me! There is a lot of other stuff in this one, and that is what I taste most.

The first thing I notice is the mouthfeel of licorice root, which I happen to like. The only thing is, you are supposed to have only a limited amount if you have high blood pressure, and mine does, sometimes. Anyone know just how much is safe? I am sure this one cup wonkt hurt, but how much it too much? Three cups a day? Four?

The second thing I taste is ginger, that bit of heat and tingle. Next comes lemongrass for me.

I really don’t taste the cinnamon. It must be pretty mild. And after having our first celebration of Christmas with half the family today, I am too tired to dig out more! But it is a nice cup to sit and relax with now that everything is cleaned up and put away.

FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 17

Third green in a row! Ha ha! I see a trend here….

I like certain Earl Grey teas a lot and really really don’t care for others. So far, I have enjoyed the Earl Grey Classic and the Smoky Earl Grey. This one follows suit.

The bergamot is very apparent but not obnoxious. The green tea base is a little brisk and grassy, as it should be.

Although I normally would not have something like this for breakfast, I didn’t mind it today and I am enjoying it. It will be a nice afternoon cup as I finish off this tin.

SONNENTOR ADVENT DAY 16

We had a beautiful warm day today but I was cooking and preparing for “first Christmas.” I never made it outside to enjoy it. After grocery shopping tonight, it was still quite warm and after bustling around putting away groceries I was not in the mood for anything hot. So I decided to ice this!

It looks like the blend has changed a little since Martin had it two years ago. The sentiment on the wrapper is still the same. I love the little short stories or memories on each one! They are a tiny snapshot of Christmas.

Martin lists chamomile but my box says apple mint, lemon balm, peppermint, blue mallow, daisies, blue cornflower, and marigold. It could be that one of these is another name for chamomile?

I made a cup of hot tea (Christmas Wreath by Lupicia) for the Ashman and a glass of this, sweetened and iced for me and we sat in the rockers and enjoyed the warm evening.

I think the lemon balm came out most for me, followed by apple mint and peppermint with the floral tastes rounding out subtly. It was just what I wanted, a refreshing drink to enjoy while relaxing.

It was good enough to make me want to ice more of these if we have more warm days, and we are supposed to hit 73 tomorrow and 76 Saturday. The next two in the advent don’t look like good icers to me, though. We will see.

FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 16

My second green tea in a row after fourteen days of black tea.

This was beyond surprising. I guess I have never had straight elderflower before, although certainly it has been listed in teas that had a long list of ingredients.

I have so, so much to do, so of course I sat staring out the window this morning catatonically and didn’t have breakfast. When I finally got started I realized I would have to stop for lunch.
I ran outside and picked greens and chives and made a pot of miso soup and a lettuce sandwich. I made this tea to go with it, and….I think I like this tea and potentially would love it but it really was a terrible pairing.

After a bite of miso soup I took a sip, and I felt like my mouth was full of bathwater. In comparison to the salty, brothy miso this was like sipping perfume. Weirdly, I kind of liked the tea, but it just didn’t go with the soup.

It was reminding me very strongly of something and I realized it was my first ever jasmine black tea that was not a great quality one. The jasmine was soapy and overpowering.

I think this will grow on me with the right pairing, and I think Ashman will hate it because he doesn’t like highly floral teas except for good jasmine and he says he is still traumatized by Evening In Missoula, which I liked. So it is up to me to finish this tin. I am okay with that. It just won’t be with miso soup.

SONNENTOR ADVENT DAY 15

Reading the description of baking an apple on the wrapper makes you really want a baked apple…

With all of the herbal blends in this advent (I think only three of the teas are not) I am leaving the bag in the cup as I sip. This one is decidedly apple, with a bit of gentle cinnamon. Almost every herbal apple tea I have had was more like a chamomile tea with added apple. This one is really an apple tea with no chamomile fighting for attention.

The body is thin as I find most dried fruit and herbals to be, and it makes a pleasant bedtime cup. Because of the flavor this is trying to evoke, a baked apple with cinnamon and brown sugar, I think most people would enjoy it even more with sugar or honey, but I just generally don’t add sweetener and am almost always disappointed when I do.

Y’all remember tea party? Well, I haven’t mentioned it but after a 53 week hiatus, tea party resumed. There are just two of us now, myself and my guest, but once we were all vaccinated we started back up! And today was tea party day.

I ordered this because it was a Christmas tea with Christmas in the name that was NOT simply black tea with orange, cinnamon, and clove.

It smelled really good when I opened it, and when the hot water hit the leaves. I was pretty sure I would enjoy it. I like the cranberry flavor! The cardamom is really nice. As for the “other spices”, they were clove. All of them. Ha ha! I like the smell of clove and I like the taste of a leeeetle bit of clove, but much clove becomes too much clove for me. When nice and hot the clove is good in this, but as it cooled I would have liked less clove. No worries, I will reheat it or drink it faster in the future.

I thought it was great, and my guest loved it, as she has the other Lupicia Christmas blends I ordered. She is turning 82 next week at our annual Christmas tea party, which we had to miss last year. I did put a big gift bag on the porch for her to pick up last year, though, pre-vaccines!

FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 15

My first non-black tea in this advent! And I love jasmine tea, but don’t usually drink it at breakfast. Hmmm. Decided to go for it anyway and just had a toasted and buttered English muffin so the tea could shine.

And… it is a decent jasmine green! I like it. The jasmine is pretty middle of the road here, not too weak, not too strong, just right. I can taste the green base and it is pretty smooth and sweet tasting with just enough grassiness to give you the feel of green tea base. It isn’t strong with seaweed flavors or anything, just a nice, neutral green base to carry the jasmine flavor. Might get lots more green base if it is drunk on its own and not with food.

Thumbs up, will enjoy drinking the rest of this tin.

SONNENTOR ADVENT DAY 14

My first darjeeling ever was baaaaaad because I didn’t make it properly. I discovered that I liked cooler water, short steeps, and enjoy second and Autumnal flushes. My favorite black teas are still Chinese, but I can enjoy darjeeling now.

This one is really unusual. It is herbaceous like the herbal teas. Is it just like this or has it absorbed flavors while stored? It is also a bit floral. I am drinking it while eating a Lindt Stracchiatelli and it goes really well. When I ran out of chocolate I could detect the briskness I expect from darjeeling, but there really is floral taste and a hint of mint.

Overall, it was a nice cup of tea!

FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 14

I had read Cameron’s note on this one before I tried it, so I knew a little bit what to expect. I thought it was great and was reminded of the flavor of Harney’s Cranberry Autumn. There are a couple of things I might like better about this one, though. Harney’s contains hibiscus to simulate or enhance the cranberry tartness, and also is not a Chinese base. That gives Fortnum two advantages in my book.

The Chinese black tea base makes this work for me. The tart fruitiness is somewhat light, not in your face. I really enjoyed it. I did have a fleeting moment where the cranberry reminded me of red rooibos, but not too bad. (Red rooibos is sooooo Robitussin cough syrup for me and I just don’t like it.) part of the time I really felt like I was tasting tart cherry instead of cranberry.

Overall, I enjoyed this one and look forward to drinking it again. These advent tins are 25 grams so there is enough tea for at least a couple of large pots of tea.

Thumbs up!