Thirsty Elf Elixir Blend

I’m having a serious case of holiday malaise over here. Hopefully this elixir will help cure it all. Although, since I suspect most of my issue is due to not sleeping well lately – a caffeine filled tea may not help as much as I would hope. Oh well, at least it is smooth, non-bitter, and just plain tasty.

I purchased this just after the sale that was announced in the forum. How could I resist free shipping and 20% off? I couldn’t. The package arrived today – oh happiness!

When I opened the tin, it looked very much like the Holiday Blend of the previous year. When I read through some of the tasting notes here, I noticed that others have compared it to the holiday blend… so as I sit here waiting for my Breville to brew the Elixir, I wonder how similar it will taste to the Holiday Blend. As I have no more Holiday Blend with which to compare it, I will have to go from memory… but since I had some just before the holiday, I think my memory will be pretty good.

Yes, I can see some similarities to the Holiday Blend, but, this one seems a bit smokier, and perhaps a bit less “creamy” than what I noticed from the Holiday Blend. I actually think I may like this a bit better than the holiday blend, or at the very least, just as much.

I am happy that I have this blend … but even happier that I was able to take advantage of the special sale to acquire it.

This blend has got me puzzled. My first cup was perfectly balanced, I drank the entire pot in just a few minutes. My next brewing yielded a bitter mess…down the drain it went:) My third brewing was this morning..boiled the water, brewed for four minutes(thought I might follow the directions this time around…Ha!) the more I drank, the smokier it got and when the thought of cigars crossed my mind, BAM I was done and down the drain it went:) I just don’t understand how it could be so good at first and now I can’t get a decent cuppa out of it.
Any suggestions?

GAME ON!

Here we go Terri….first cup of the morning and I KNOW you’re probably still sleeping. This is a sample sipdownfrom Kittenna who was awesome enough to bring it to me since she knows I’m a fan of black straight teas. I haven’t had many Damn fine teas, but those that I have have had a taste that I can get behind. Teas one is no exception. It is not a knock your socks off sort of tea, but it IS a great morning tea. There is a smooth creaminess to this tea, while still being obviously black. It’s not overly bold, rather this is like a more mellow cousin. :) a really nice blend – I’m sure I’ll be up for trying more of get he I limited editions when they come out!

Here’s another one courtesy of Auggy’s Spoil Ang Rotten Parcel. After the days c25k jogging and the shower, I was just craving a cup of tea. Any tea. Seriously, the lowest quality floor sweepings that you could have presented me with, steeped builder’s brew style would have been like nectar from the gods at this point. No reason to do that, though, when I’ve got all this good stuff.

Also, I don’t care if it’s a Christmas blend.

Unfortunately A&D, while producing generally good stuff, is one of those companies that doesn’t seem to feel it’s necessary to elaborate on what’s in their blends, and they’re actually worse than most, as most companies at least put the producing countries of the teas used. With A&D, all we seem to get is that it’s a blend of black teas.

Well, yes. I can see that!

I think this is a big part of the reason why I haven’t bought any of their holiday blends. I rather want to know what I’m buying, you know? When I don’t even get a hint about it, I just seem to lose interest. Even though I know for a fact that the one from last year was really good. (I can’t remember who shared that one with me… I think it may have been Ricky)

Another game of Guess The Region, then. With added difficulty! O.o

The leaves smell sweet and malty and there are some decidedly long and golden bits in there, so that leads me directly to Yunnan. The maltyness also makes me think of Assam, although I’m not sure about that one at this point.

The aroma of the brewed cup confirms the Yunnan for me, but also the Assam. There’s definitely something in there of that sort. It’s all sweet smelling and honey-ish.

I’m not getting anything smoky or floral out of it, so I’m ruling out Fujian and Keemun. Still, there’s a part of me that insists that there must be something Chinese in there somewhere, and no amount of reminding it that Yunnan is China will make it settle down.

The flavour is very golden Yunnan-y and quite sweet. There’s a little bit of that hay note that I don’t normally care much for, but it’s being carried up and camouflaged by something else. I find myself coming back to Assam again, here. There’s a certain dark grey feeling to it that just reminds me of that region for some reason, even though I haven’t really had anything of the sort for a pretty long time.

I think that’s it. Assam and Yunnan. I’m giving up on the idea of a third, Chinese ingredient. I just can’t think what it could be. Only what it definitely isn’t.

So how can two teas produce such a pleasant result, when neither of them are really anywhere near my list of favourites? Curious!

So my baby girl, Daliya, was born on June 10! I haven’t been getting much sleep or much time for myself lately, but I have been drinking tea in the mornings. It has been very rough.

Anyway, I drank this tea this morning. Yummy with some milk and sugar. I need to eat and drink more in general. Bfeeding is taking a toll on me!

Thank you LiberTEAS for this sample!

What a nice black tea! I find it being a little more toned down black, but it certainly produces a very nice flavor (whatever the 5 teas may be).

There is a little smokiness along with malty and subtle sweet notes. At times, I could promise there is a touch of cinnamon and cream added to these leaves. Even after allowing the leaves to steep slightly longer, the liquid is still very smooth with little to no dry bitterness. It’s nice to have such diversity in one cup!

I’m certain this tea suits my taste just fine, so I’ve chosen to remove the seasonal implications and remind myself everyday is a special day with a delightful cup of tea at hand.

I am sooo far behind on trying all my tea swaps! This was sent to me by Tommy months ago and I’m sorry I am just getting around to trying it now.

When I first saw the leaves I was wondering if there was a darjeeling in here because I see some lighter tips. Very attractive leaves and the tea brews up quite dark, IMO.

This does remind me quite a lot of an English breakfast tea which is traditionally made with Ceylon, assam and kenya teas. It’s a bold cup with a bit of wine and tannins in the aftertaste. It was ok to drink plain but I really felt it needed soymilk. Fairly enjoyable as a bracing afternoon cup, but would also be good in the morning.

Backlog. 8 days ago. Last Thursday morning.

I’ve been drinking a lot of DFT’s previous year’s holiday blend lately because it’s older than this one and logically, I should use it up first. But decided to have a mug of this one today to change it up a little. I drank this while packing and getting ready to leave to go to my parents to spend the night there before leaving out from there early the next morning to go on an overnight shopping trip to Charlotte with a stop in Seagrove the first day.

So coming to this page, I was surprised to see this tea not only not in my cupboard but never been logged either. I’ve prolly had it half a dozen times. I see that I gave DFT’s previous Holiday Blend an initial rating of 74 so I’m giving this one an initial rating for 76 because I remember liking the smokier richer notes slightly better.

The smell of this tea, steeped, reminds me a lot of “regular black tea”. I don’t know what that smell corresponds to, really, as I haven’t tried enough straight blacks to know.

The taste is a bit more complex though. I have no idea how long it was steeped (somewhere between 2-5 minutes; I swear I set the timer for four minutes but when I checked after what felt like less than four, it was already expired), but there’s no bitterness. It’s almost a touch sweet, not really malty… ok, I don’t have words to describe black teas. There’s a nice “tea” aftertaste though, which I’m enjoying (and don’t tend to taste with poor quality teas).

Ok, I’m cheating and reading other peoples’ notes. It’s definitely mild and mellow, and I can taste a hint of smokiness now that that possibility has entered my mind. Overall it’s decent for a black tea, but nothing I’d actively seek out. Right now, if I want a straight black tea, I’ll be going with Verdant’s Laoshan Black :) (But black tea appears not to be my thing, so I’d probably pick an oolong instead, haha.)

Thanks for the sample, LiberTEAS! For teas like this, it’s really nice to just have a sample size to try, so that I can at least get acquainted with different straight blacks (and yes, I know this is a blend), but not have to attempt to drink 50-100g of them.