Cunning and Ambitious

nope. this one is not for me. tried it a couple times now and just murky nope.

Geek + Tea Advent Teas – Day 9

As a kid who both loved to read the books and watch the movies, Slytherin seemed like the bad house. I mean we all remember Harry obviously did not want to be in Slytherin and most of the baddies were Slytherin so I feel like we were conditioned to associate that house with “bad”. While I don’t particularly think that anymore, part of me found this tea fitting when I saw it was full of ingredients, I think taste bad such as gingko, ginseng, and green tea. I also thought a green tea was fitting because Slytherin’s colors do encompass a shade of green. So at first I was like this is fitting. Then I started thinking that those green teas are all associated with health and wellness blends and because of the “bad” association, they seemed odd.

Drinking it, I don’t like it. As to be expected, I think. It just tastes like a health/wellness blend in that it is sort of medicinal and focused on twigs and stuff. So, its going into my swap box because I don’t want this again – mostly since I have a bunch more teas to drink that appeal to me more.

Adventaggedon Day 18 – Tea 6/6

…and with this blend, we have officially explored all four of Hogwarts’ houses!

I believe I mentioned this on my note for the Hufflepuff blend earlier in the advent, but aside from Hufflepuff the house I tend to test highest for is Slytherin – and on Pottermore I’ve tested as many times for Slytherin as I have for Hufflepuff. People I know well in real life often seem very surprised that’s the case, and for a long time I didn’t really much understand myself why I was testing so high in Slytherin either. However, I’ve recently come to understand that it’s because of the overlapping traits of Hufflepuffs being very hard workers and Slytherin’s being very ambitious. I have always invested a lot of energy and effort into work – but the reason I do that defintiely comes from a place of wanting career advancement or acknowledgement for my skills…

And I suppose, on a smaller level, there’s the fact that I’m incredibly empathetic/inclusive and able to see things from the perspectives of others very easily. While that is probably more of a Hufflepuff/Gryffindor-ish ability, the Slytherin side is that I also have the capability to use that perception strategically to my own advantage. So yes – Slytherin traits for sure.

I like the concept behind this tea, and the interpretation of Slytherin’s traits – a lot of Slytherin blends seem to play off the house colours, which I guess this blend does a bit with the use of green tea, or they tend to be very smoky and “darkly” flavoured to convey this sort of sense of “evil” – but I think that’s a cop out/misunderstanding of the house. My favourite Slytherin tea is from a small company called The Forest Witch and it’s a pistachio and cherry blend. I don’t think she had much of a rhyme or reason to why she picked the ingredients in it – but I do think cherry is a great Slytherin flavour. It can be dark like a Bordeaux cherry, or you can have a brighter cherry with bite to it.

This blend, while the concept is great, doesn’t really deliver on the taste IMO. It’s a whole lot of green tea, with more herbal ingredients tossed in there. The sweetness of the ginseng if, for me, the saving grace – but it also seems to exaggerate notes of seaweed, grass, and gingko. It’s a bit licorice-y, as well. Reminds me of a bunch of weird leaves and roots and things that one might use in a potion, so I suppose in that way it is kind of Slytherin-ish. I appreciate that, despite the herbal and vegetal direction, it’s not at all bitter though.

Honestly, I think that the Gryffindor blend would have probably made more sense for this house though. That was probably the tastiest of all the house blend too, imo.

Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CI9HTxrAALU/