Santa's Secret

I utterly adore this tea! I tried it tonight when my coworker — hello, Abby! — offered it to me, and IT WAS SUPER DELICIOUS. I am so upset. I’ve been using the word “smooth” a lot in my notes tonight and I probably shouldn’t overuse the word, but it remains true for this one too! It was super delicious, rich, creamy with just beautiful hints of amazingness. I wish it was the Christmas season always, because this definitely shouldn’t be stashed away.

Santa’s Secret was the final tea in the 2013 DavidsTea advent calendar, and it was a nice way to finish off the box. I love the look of the tea, with its lovely candy cane sprinkles, and the peppermint goes well with the black tea.

Essentially, this is just a pepperminty black tea, which is perfect for a cold winter morning. It doesn’t actually taste like candy canes, though!

I really liked this tea—black tea with the punch of peppermint. The little candy cane candy in it makes for a nice appearance if you steep it in a clear container. The tea is a bit lighter in colour than a straight black tea, but still works with milk. A lovely black tea for winter!

I guess I should preface by saying I’m not really a mint tea fan but I love this tea. It’s sweet and minty in a way that doesn’t remind me of toothpaste as most mint teas do. There is enough black tea to balance out the sweet mint.

Day 25 of my do-it-yourself scavenger hunt advent calendar!

Well, it’s official. These last few days of December are the worst days of the year because I don’t have any new tea to discover :( Boo.

I got an extra-large bag of this tea to try, since I had expressed how much I was in love with this tea prior to it even being re-released this Holiday season. I had originally tried it in the official David’s Tea advent calendar the first year it existed and remembered how awesome it was. I love tea, I love candy canes, I can’t see how I WOULDN’T love those two things together. This tea, at the time, didn’t disappoint. But since many of their teas change during a re-release, I was hesitant to buy a kilogram of it in case I didn’t like it anymore. The 20g bag purchased by my dad was just enough to remind me if I liked it enough now, and to tide me over until I could get to the store to purchase a bunch myself.

And, let me tell you…I am not disappointed. It is sweeter than I remember, but maybe that’s because I haven’t had a black tea with candy bits in it that I’ve liked in a long time. I don’t ever add sweetener of any kind to teas, so candy pieces that add their own sweetness usually don’t sit well with me. But as soon as they’re candy canes…whole different story. Yum, yum, yum. I love the black tea leaves with peppermint leaves (reminds me a bit of Moroccan Mint tea with Chinese gunpowder green tea and mint leaves), and the candy cane candy pieces make it so festive. This is probably one of Santa’s best kept secrets.

Verdict: Will go buy a bunch this weekend before it’s gone for another year!

I received this as a sample with my David’s Tea Christmas gift … figured this would be a good blend to try this evening with my new kettle. The smell upon opening was very inviting – vanilla crème. The peppermint aroma was very faint, very subtle. The candy canes were oh so cute. I know some people do not appreciate the “kitsch” of decorated or even flavoured teas, however, I am a sucker. I love blends and I love David’s for their creativity on adding to the visual sense as well as the smell/taste.

The smell upon steeping: A light peppermint crème – definitely picked up on the minty-ness. Very seductive, if that can be used to describe a scent. Why yes, I will drink you tea, don’t you worry.

And now for the taste: Very minty right off the bat – hit much stronger than I was expecting from mild initial aroma. This was followed by a creamy middle, and a lovely tingly lingering mint aftertaste. The taste lingers on the palate and peaks about 15 seconds after finishing your sip. Very nice and rounded.

Took this one to work Christmas Eve morning before he retail rush… Got us off to a good start!!

Now, this is a nice DT. I enjoyed it a lot last year, and had quite a few 50 gram sealed pkgs in my cupboards. It seems really cold tonight, but no rain or wind warnings, so clear and cold is fine with me.

It’s peppermint theme night for me – went to bath & body yesterday and got some of their Christmas candles, including, my favourite, twisted peppermint. Burning it now, and it is a cool creamy strong mint scent. Kind of just like this tea…..

I brewed 6 tsps in a liter in the breville tea maker, set to “strong” and “black”. Realizing….it’s a little late for me to be drinking a liter of caffeinated tea, but….oh well. If I had an unlimited supply, I would rather drink butiki peppermint patty at night, but trying to hold off on another order until I can see their new teas. So, in the meantime….

This is a tea I enjoy. The mint is smooth and creamy. I think I wrecked my first cup by adding a big shot of Starbucks peppermint syrup…..that’s just too much mint. Going to dump it and have another cup with just a bit of rock sugar and cream. Now, if I only had some peppermint patty candy around, that would be delightful. But, unfortunately, do not, and can’t let myself run to the store, just to get candy. Hopefully another cup of this (without the extra starbucks) kills my candy mint craving.

It’s rich, it’s fresh and very nice!

I liked it last year so I picked up some this year and I still like it a lot.

It’s the perfect fireside companion (I don’t have a fireplace, but to hell with that, I have a the Fireplace channel on my TV!)

Ho Ho Ho!

Delicious!