Cranberry Almond Christmas Cookie Black Tea

2023 sipdown no. 51

This one has a perfume-y quality, though it doesn’t translate fully to the taste (thankfully). I’m thinking it’s from the cranberry because there was another cranberry tea that had that going on as well (if memory serves) — perhaps David’s Cranberry black tea? Otherwise, the almond is hidden a bit but can be picked up. I appreciate the variation in a holiday tea though — often much needed!

Thanks for sharing Kelmishka!

12th Tea of Christmas 2022

Woops! I never wrote notes for my last day of advents so let’s fix that (and now I must gather my fuzzy memory of a tea I drank over a month ago).

I recall enjoying this but also finding it a tad tricky. Sometimes the chemistry was spot on with the almond cookie bliss, while other times I steeped it a couple seconds too long – resulting in an astringent cuppa (confounded by cranberry antics). That was ok because then I happily added milk and had a decent brisk (for me) mug.

Anyways, I enjoyed my 12 Teas of Christmas a lot this year (as usual) even if not all the blends matched my preferences exactly (majority votes and I get out of my comfort zone lol). Looking forward to next Christmas 2023! :)

Sipdown 6

Liked this, but didn’t love it. I wish there was a bit more of both the almond and cranberry.

Mastress Alita’s Monthly Sipdown Challenge
December 2022 → A winter holiday tea

This is much lighter in taste than I expected based on the strong aroma inside the pouch. I can smell the bright sweet-tart cranberry most of all, but the flavor tastes primarily of almond.

12 Teas of Christmas: Day 12

I had a feeling I didn’t give this one due credit or attention when I brewed it up on Christmas, so I waited to review it till I could try it again. I’m drinking it on this second morning of the new year and really enjoying it! There’s a nice brisk cranberry note at the front of the sip, followed by the mellow, smooth sweetness of marzipan from the almond. Those flavors are layered on an equally smooth black base with very little astringency. It smells really, really lovely — very comforting and sweet.

I appreciate this one being the final tea of the box — sometimes all the traditional holiday/winter flavors can get a little overwhelming, so this more subtle approach is a welcome one.

Adventaggedon Day Twenty Five – 3/3

To be honest, I found this flavour a bit anticlimactic for the last in the advent – I would have expected something a bit more… classically festive!? But that’s a small criticism, and the bottom line is that the tea was delicious. My favourite of the day. It’s got the perfect balance of brisk, bold black tea with malty and baked good notes combined with the marzipan-like sweetness of almond and that sweet cranberry jam kind of flavour. Made me think a little bit of the thumbprint cookies that sometimes my mom or grandma would make for the holidays but with cranberry instead of raspberry.

Thank you Anne for a fantastic advent, yet again! Looking forward to next year’s already.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cmm1_S6uW2y/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n9qtBhwR_Q