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I wasn’t really looking forward to this so I decided to be a little reckless and dump both packets into my soup mug and drink it in one go. Much to my surprise this worked so well.
The smell is lovely. Something sweet and cinnamony and a little bit like baked goods. Strangely, it smells exactly like my graham cracker chapstick. I don’t know how much caramel really stands out; it almost leans more maple. And though this is a rooibos blend, I didn’t notice any of the wood chip flavor that I dislike so much. I don’t know that I’d drink this often, but I’d be willing to buy it to have on hand!

Plum Deluxe no caffeine advent day 3

The ingredient list here is interesting, but I’m mostly getting hazelnut. Occasionally I get a little bit of generic berry now that it has cooled. It’s good, just not what I was expecting!

BrutaliTeas advent day 3

I didn’t hate this, even though it’s absolutely a strong toasted coconut. The white base worked well for me and I think I preferred having no fruit to try and compete with the coconut. I wouldn’t buy more but it wasn’t bad.

Adagio advent day 3

My general impression without their notes is of a lighter green tea with some grassiness that is more prominent in the scent and back of the sip, and it fades as the tea cools. It’s not bitter. I don’t have a great word to describe the dominant flavor I’m getting, so I’m heading to the website to see what they say.

Their website describes this tea as high in minerality and sweetness, and after looking more at minerality (which I guess I had always assumed was just “salty” but is apparently more complicated than that) I think that’s exactly it. I suppose I can see some natural sweetness that I would have categorized more as an absence of bitterness. They rated it med-low on vegetal and umami scales as well, which makes sense.

Very drinkable in both steeps. Probably my favorite of theirs so far.

Nio Teas advent day 3

Tried this one hot and iced again. On its own, it’s fairly bitter black tea with artificial strawberry as an afterthought. They suggested some sweetener to bring out the flavor profile, so I tried a little strawberry infused honey in the hot version. That improved the bitterness. In the iced, I used a little crystalized lime instead and wound up enjoying it quite a lot more. I still think strawberry is hard to do right, and I didn’t feel like I got honeysuckle at all, but not a bad iced tea.

Plum Deluxe advent day 3

A peach green tea with a strong peach and smooth green tea is one of my favorites, and this was a winner. The peach flavor dominates the scent, and while it fades in the flavor, it’s still present and clear. I’d love to try a cold brew on this one – I suspect I’d bump up the rating.

Dammann Freres advent day 3

Moving along these advents at my own speed and I’m really enjoying just letting that happen this year.

Another interesting national park tea that has faint echoes of the last, but is much improved in my opinion. Here I also get some slightly sweet hay, but between the green tea base and the blueberry it’s definitely more of a background flavor than a dominant one. I am picky about blueberry in general and I’m a fan of this version. It almost makes me feel like I’m eating a blueberry jam cookie.

Simpson & Vail advent day 3

BrutaliTeas advent day 2

This tea definitely lived up to its description as a mint chocolate tea. The mint is far more forward, but I like that in a chocolate mint in general, and I think it suits the tea. It’s smooth, and while chocolate teas are hit or miss for me, I don’t get any of that cloying sweetness. As the cup cools, the green tea is more noticeable in the initial sip. It’s a shame this is a sold-out seasonal blend, because I quite enjoyed it.

Adagio advent day 2

I expected something else given the ingredient list, but the cinnamon is the strongest flavor by far, and it’s more like hot cinnamon candy. Honestly, I’m not mad about it – I’ve wanted to find a tea like this without the rooibos base and here we are. Occasionally something else comes through – a hint of ginger, a bit of pepper – but it’s mostly cinnamon candy and I could see myself enjoying small cups of this as an occasional treat.

Plum Deluxe No Caffeine advent day 2

It’s interesting to read ingredient lists like this one, with two kinds of rooibos, coconut, orange, almond, when I’m really only getting a couple of flavors. In this one, it’s coconut. The coconut is smooth and compliments the rooibos, taking the woodiness away (though it’s still prominent in the scent). Unfortunately, coconut is another one of my least favorite flavors!