Christmas Eve

Another one of my holiday favorites. One sip of this tea and I am filled with this cozy feeling that I love. I love the way the mint intertwines with the vanilla, it kind of lingers around after each sip. The aroma is sweet and spicy and smooth. I love it.

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Additives: none
Water: 150 F hot spigot water, 1 mug full
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes (using Steep.It)
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: candy cane, mint
Steeped Tea Smell: mint, spice
Flavor: minty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: warm spice
Liquor: light translucent yellow brown

Still have my head cold, so smells and tastes may be more potent than described. I am not picking up the orange or vanilla. The cinnamon and clove come in more toward the end, as the mint hits you first.

Now that I hunt for it, I can bring out the orange, not getting it strongly though.

This tea does as advertised and does bring to mind Christmas (with all the mulled drinks and cookies and candy canes).

I would say you need to want a mint tea, and like mint tea for you to enjoy this. The tea does bring in some spice to the end but it’s a complimenting note and not the main flavor.

Post-Steep Additives: none

Playing catchup with this posting. Pulled it out for Christmas Eve and remembered why it had been sitting around for so long. Totally agree with the others that mentioned the strong mint taste. While I like spearmint gum, this is just too much mint and not enough tea flavor.

Christmas Eve Herbal is the perfect compromise of spice and mint, with a little citrus. The aroma and taste do remind me of Christmas; the tea is all-season, though. Brew a cup in July to reminisce about the holiday season!

I want to make drinking this a standard Christmas Eve tradition :)

I decided to reach to the back of the cupboard and pull out the “Stash” of Christmas/Holiday teas that get neglected through the summer. The main smell of this one is mint, and the taste…mint. Spearmint. Upon a second sip I can smell cinnamon joining the party. The taste is still mainly mint, and it’s a nice moderate mint. Not too strong or weak. If you let the tea stay on your tongue for a couple seconds you can notice more of the spicey taste. Tastes best when it’s hot, not just warm. Steep this one in a winter themed mug (like I just did) for the full effect!

I wasn’t very optimistic about Stash Christmas Eve tea this evening because I had vague memories of not having really liked it the last time I tried it. They’ve been confirmed. My issue is that the flavoring of the blend smells like all of the spices added together to produce a stout cinnamon black tea—something along the lines of the original Good Earth tea. But there’s a big difference between the two: in Christmas eve, they forgot the tea!

I realize that this is supposed to be a no-caffeine herbal blend so that we can sleep on Christmas eve, but the effect of a blend with cinnamon as the primary component leaves something to be desired. A decaffeinated black tea would have made more sense than this cinnamon water taste. There are some other spices and herbs here, too, including mint, but mainly Christmas eve seems like a cinnamon-flavored water, not a tea. Not for me.

I had this this morning, which just happens to be Christmas Eve! I used the bagged variety. I really like the strong note of clove and cinnamon. It’s perfect for a relaxing tea that still has a strong kick of Christmas flavor. Let this one steep a long while and the notes come out stronger. The only problem is that the mint starts to turn a bit bitter, a sacrifice I’m willing to make for a stronger taste of clove. I added a bit of sweetener as well.

Quite minty but more.
Sad to say that it didn’t light my fire, and I always find myself choosing something else over this one.

Yay, the last one! \o/

This is a nice one. The spearmint and cinnamon are well-balanced. I don’t really get much orange, vanilla, or clove, but I’m not missing them. I’m a spearmint fan so this is right up my alley. It’s a nice, mellow spearmint tisane with the sweet cinnamon adding a festive touch. I could totally imagine sipping this on Christmas Eve!

Glad to be ending on a high note. And now I have to decide where to put all of these boxes of teabags! :|

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 19/19