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Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #17

This is a nice herbal mint blend. It does not taste like the chocolate mint that I grow and dry from my own garden, but it is nice. It is more vegetal and has less menthol than peppermint. It has some other herbal notes (from the hyssop I assume). A nice herbal, but nothing really stands out from other mint blends.

Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #16

A really interesting blend with lightly floral notes and some light vegetal white tea flavour (like bai mu dan and other delicately vegetal whites). Very smooth. the brew is very light but is aromatic and smells slightly of honey, flowers, and green tea.

Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #15

This made a lovely breakfast tea with my bagel. I was surprised about how creamy this was with the aromatic vanilla. I got some toasty notes and lots of tannin, but not as strong as most breakfast blends. I did not get any smoky notes like other people, but I added a bit of vanilla soy milk and it might have muted this a bit. I did not realize this blend would have smoke notes so I did not think to check for it.

Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #14

I’m behind but will eventually get all of my tasting notes uploaded! (they are written in a notebook)

This has a lovely strong maple scent. The brew is flavourful and the green tea comes through a lot. There are vegetal green notes and some maple. I get a hint of dried apple, as well. I would have liked a bit more vanilla and cakey/buttery flavour or maybe some apple butter/caramelized sugar notes. If I didn’t know any different, I would think this was just a maple apple green tea.

Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #13

I enjoyed this as a latte with a splash of soy milk in my second cup (1st steep was a plain cup without milk). I think the milk is a really nice addition to a genmaicha, despite being unconventional. I got lots of green tea and toasty rice, but the banana and marshmallow must have been overwhelmed. I couldn’t taste much in the way of banana and I couldn’t taste vanilla in the plain cup. Still a nice tea, but it didn’t live up to its name like I hoped.

Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #12

This is a wonderful mint blend. I normally do not drink green/mint combos since I stick to non caffeinated mint herbals instead. I did like how the tea make this a bit more well rounded and varied. Mint is great, but the addition of tannin and vegetal flavours really brings nuance to the drink and even a bit of sweetness. The mint was very fresh, as evidenced by how potent it was when I forgot about my cup and let it steep for 30 minutes. The upside is that I diluted it and made multiple cups out of the one steeping.

Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #11

Steep 1 – 5 minutes in almost boiling water, 3 minutes
I love how nutty this tea is. I found the base very flavourful and bold without being too tannic. It almost has a creamy vanilla flavour to it, which pairs with the walnut flavour well. I could have used more vanilla in the after taste, but it was still a nice blend.

2nd steep – 10 minutes in hot but not boiling water + dash of soymilk
I brewed a second cup, which was weaker, but also delicious. Hints of butterscotch. The soy milk really elevates it to a super smooth decadent latte.

Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #10

This is an interesting blend. While I go understand the blend is supposed to be a negroni that uses bitters in it, I find this blend way too bitter. Not in a bitter melon way but more like orange rind (marmalade?) or that white pithy stuff on a Mandarin or tangerine. The rooibos is nice, but even milk couldn’t save this one. It did brew up very orange in colour though! I can taste a herbaceous kind of flavour, especially in the after taste. It isn’t quite sage but is some sort of plant I can’t identify. Overall just not for me at all. It also doesn’t taste like any Negroni cocktail I’ve ever had (no sweetness or acidity)

Homemade Advent Exchange Tea #9

This tea is delicious! I wouldn’t say it tastes like cookie, but the thick, sweet, creamy taste makes me think of cinnamon rice pudding. It’s an excellent dessert tea. I’m astonished at how creamy and vanilla-y this blend is. The tea is so fresh too! The cinnamon doesn’t have that fake sweetener taste that some teas get when they are heavy on the cinnamon bark. I think I just found a new favourite!