Mulled Wine Magic

A failed spiced fruit tea blend. Heavy on the spice, but not in a good way. The fruit is completely apple forward.

Adventaggedon Day 10: Tea 3/7

This is the tea I started my morning with today and it really hit the spot and kind of just set the tone for how I was going to experience the teas from the rest of the day. I even added a cinnamon stick to my hot mug of tea to bump up the festive feelings to a whole new notch!

The dry leaf did kind of smell like bubblegum which is the case for the majority of Mulled Wine inspired teas out there. It’s just something about the combination of spices and orange that sometimes does that. Doesn’t come off the same way steeped though – instead it’s mostly a wine-y hibiscus/berry type note with stewed/cooked orange and orange rind, and then a medley of warming spices with cinnamon being the main one.

It’s not even that it’s a particularly unique or exquisitely good mulled wine tea. It’s more that it was just a solid enough take on mulled wine that in the moment felt incredibly classic and very, very cozy and festive which was as much something I wanted as I think it was something my soul needed.

Ugh this one is way worse than their spellbound cider. The main scent is anise. The spices actually taste pretty good, but the fruitiness turned out so strange. It’s so artificial and has this weird sourness, while also being sort of thin. Yeah this one is sort of gross. I don’t know what they’ve done wrong. I shared a cup with my sister, and she ended up pouring hers out because it tasted so strange. Other reviews aren’t this negative, so perhaps my sample was from a bad batch.

This does indeed taste like mulled wine. The hibiscus is appropriate here, helping to create a tart wine base. Some nice orange present, with a lovely blend of spices. Clove and anise are dominant.

Holiday Tea-son! After my failed hibi-hip cider last night, I find myself really in the mood for one as my nightly tisane tonight. Thankfully they are quite popular holiday blends. Got this in a little sampler pack in more of T2’s typical ridiculous packaging during their after-Christmas sale last January. It was in a three-pack of their holiday teas (well, mostly, it had their chocolate mint Rooibos in it with this tea and Hot Choc, and I think the chocolate mint rooibos is part of their regular collection, and I was least interested in that, as I’ve had so many choco-mint rooibos at this point, but ah well… I mean, the whole pack of three samplers was dirt cheap!)

This tea is properly red (phew! That’s a good sign!) and the smell of this is amazing! I think the aroma alone has to be one of the most enticing I’ve had from one of these “holiday hibi-hip spice cider” type blends I’ve seen. I do smell the typical fruitiness, citrus orange, cinnamon, anise, but there is something I can’t quite place that makes me think of red wine, too. Huh.

Mmm, yes, I like this one! It fills out warmly on the tongue, with that tart/tangy base with nice warm orangy notes, but not nearly so overpowering on the orange flavor as the Spiced Clementine I drank yesterday. The spices are nice and rich here — not spicy, just a full flavor that really adds to the cider flavor — I can taste cinnamon, clove, and a touch of anise toward the end of the sip, which gives this very subtle licorice note.

I really like this one. I’m on total tea-ordering lock-down, but knowing this is a holiday blend, and I only have a sampler, I was actually tempted to go check T2’s site… but they only have another little sampler in some ridiculous packaging available this year, too. Not a proper tin, or even one of their stupid cubes (I really hate those cubes they sell their tea in). Ah well, probably for the best. I don’t need more tea, but… I would’ve been happy to stock this one. I really like this one!

Home – 10:00 PM

OOF.

This is a big ol’ pot of hibiscus. It’s sour enough to make my face pucker a little bit.

There is spice – clove and cinnamon. Maybe a touch of apple.

But mostly, it’s hibiscus.

Nope, nope, nope!