Sipdown no. 8 of 2019 (no. 496 total). A sample teabag.
I screwed up so I actually have no idea how long I steeped this. Perhaps not long enough as the color is a bit lighter than I expected. Sort of a medium amber headed toward dark. It smells pretty wonderful, though. I actually get a sort of a cocoa note from this, as well as cinnamon, orange, and almonds.
Not too long ago, I drank some of a sample of something called Christmas Tea from Upton.
Let’s compare:
The more inclusively named one from Harney (Holiday Tea): citrus, almond, clove, cinnamon
The one from Upton (Christmas Tea): cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, cardamom, orange peel, rose petals, almond.
So the delta is in the vanilla, cardamom, and rose. I tasted no cardamom in the Christmas Tea according to my note. So really the difference is vanilla and rose.
Did I mention the cocoa note? It could also read as vanilla — it’s that vanilla-chocolate continuum thing where sometimes the flavors overlap.
In any case, this explains why I was reminded of something I drank recently. The flavor of these two is extremely similar. They are both mild teas with a good balance of flavor. Sometimes stronger flavors like clove can be overpowering. It isn’t here, which is good.
I have to extrapolate a bit and imagine what this would have been like had I steeped it properly. It’s basically the Constant Comment flavor profile again, done with a bit more attention and depth.
I rate it the same as the Upton.
Flavors: Almond, Cinnamon, Clove, Cocoa, Orange
