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knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 23 (my pick)
Theme: White Christmas
Her pick: Forever Frosty from DAVIDsTEA

Ahhh such a lovely and relaxing tea… I don’t even like plain Earl Grey generally, but this is a good one. Something about the bai mudan base just makes it so much more elegant and special, and I always feel so relaxed drinking it. Plus the light flavor just feels so right for watching the snow fall, which is why I chose it for this prompt!

The jam of the day is Apricot-Orange Blossom Spread. I love apricot, and I think the orange blossom is a nice accent. It’s sweet and a touch floral, but thankfully not overpowering.

Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 22

Didn’t end up drinking much of this one, as my stomach was bothering me. It’s a bit of an odd one to me, as mostly it tastes like vanilla custard? I know sometimes steamed puddings are served with a custard sauce so maybe that’s what they were going for. But I didn’t really taste any of the actual pudding.

Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 22

Backlogging notes from yesterday. One of the puglets is not feeling well, so we spent most of the day watching shows on the couch with her snoozing in my lap. Vet appointment today, so we’ll see how that goes.

Anyway! This was fine. I’ve had it before and it’s never been my favorite. The mint is the strongest flavor, and I don’t get a ton of cocoa from it. Still pleasant, just not one that I would order for myself.

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 22
Theme: Holiday Cookies
My pick: Winter Wonderland from Simpson & Vail

I’m pretty sure I’ve had this before, as I had the holiday cookies sampler at one point. No note though, so maybe this wasn’t included?

Anyway, it’s a bit bland. There’s supposed to be almond and vanilla, but I mostly only taste the spice flavor, and not a lot of it. Very light on flavor overall, and more of a very mild chai than a snickerdoodle.

From Bonne Maman, today it’s Mirabelle Plum-Linden Blossom Spread. I adore plum and plum jam, so hooray! Lovely plum flavor, and a strong note of honey as well. I could taste the airy linden when I tried it plain, but for me it’s not detectable once it’s on toast. Still delicious though!

DIY Herbal Infusion Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 21
Name: Lemon Toddy
Ingredients: tulsi, lemon, ginger
Movie: Mickey’s Christmas Carol

I didn’t actually end up drinking a lot of this, because my stomach decided to randomly be super upset, and I didn’t feel like having anything but water. But the few sips I did have were lovely ha ha! Lemon is such a nice compliment to tulsi, IMO, which I suppose makes sense given it also goes well with basil and mint. And the ginger seemed the obvious choice to complete this trio. Will have to make a cup of this another night when I can enjoy it properly!

Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 21

I’m not a big fan of hibiscus-heavy infusions, but I enjoyed this more than I expected because of the tulsi. The slightly basily, minty flavor helped add some interest and depth to an otherwise mostly hibiscus tisane. Not something I’d ever order, but it was pleasant enough.

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 21
Theme: Sugar Plum Fairy
My pick: Thé de l’Abbaye from Dammann Frères

This happens to be one of those plum blends I was referencing in my other note ha ha, all cinnamon and hibiscus and not tasting much like an actual plum. It’s not bad, sort of a mulled wine vibe. The cinnamon is a bit much, and it tastes to me like there’s cinnamon flavor as well as the spice. Hibiscus isn’t terribly sour. It’s a pleasant enough cup to have once or twice during the holiday season.

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 21
Theme: Sugar Plum Fairy
My pick: Thé de l’Abbaye from Dammann Frères

This was an extra bonus tea that Marjorie sent for today!

It sounded good, but somehow tastes exclusively of musty hay and dirt to me ha ha ha. I feel like maybe I just don’t get along with Adagio’s white base… Anyway, not pleasant lol.

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 21 (my pick)
Theme: Sugar Plum Fairy
Her pick: Organic Passion Plum from The English Tea Room

I had to choose this tea for Sugar Plum Fairy day! Definitely the best plum flavoring I’ve ever had. I love plums, but plum teas are always so disappointing to me, most of the time they have cinnamon and hibiscus, and even when they don’t, they rarely taste like actual plum. This one does taste just like a sweet & tangy plum, the small yellow-green kind or the ones with reddish-purple skin and yellow flesh (I don’t know the names lol). The smell is intoxicating when it’s steeping.

But the base here is a bit odd, it gets bitter so easily. I would consider my usual steeping parameters for flavored green tea to be quite conservative – 2 minutes at 175 degrees. But this tea still has an edge of bitterness, even with a short steep. Next time I’ll have to try lowering the temperature even more to see if that helps. Regardless, still delicious, so it’s worth the trouble to suss out the right parameters!

Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 21

Holiday tea! They really did save all of these for the second half the advent ha ha, which makes sense to me. I definitely feel more festive as we get closer to Christmas, so I probably crave more festive teas as well.

As gingerbread teas go, this one is more on the chai side to me than specifically gingerbread. It does have a bit of a molasses flavor, but nowhere near as much as, say, Harney & Sons or Adagio. Mostly I taste the clove and ginger, followed by the cinnamon. It kind of tastes like there’s nutmeg as well, but that could just be part of the flavoring. It’s a tasty gingerbread-ish chai, and I enjoyed the cup. The clove is a bit too strong for it to be something I would order a tin of.

The jam of the day is Pineapple Passion Fruit-Spread which, needless to say, is delicious. I love pineapple and passion fruit, so of course I enjoy the combination of the two. It is mostly pineapple, I would say, with a bit of extra juiciness and zing from the passion fruit. Delightful.

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