Noël à Londres

Ummmmm I was a little skeptical of this one at first because of my love/hate relationship with non-masala chai spiced blends. However, as soon as I smelt this tea in the mug I was in LOVE! It was the perfect mix of spice and syrupy baked apple for me and my tastes!

This was included as a sample. Thank you! I’m not quite ready for Christmas/winter blends but I’ll take it.

It’s such a cinnamon apple tea – with the sweet, non-burning kind of ginger that tends to blend well with other spices & ingredients (and my brain likes to pretend it’s not actually ginger). A hint of vanilla and some creamy (almond thin) nuttiness round this out into a lovely seasonal beverage (a fancy, not quite hot apple cider). Not bad!

I’ve a few spiced apple teas right now (I don’t even love apples), and this one is definitely the least “candied”.. but also maybe the most perfume-like. It’s pretty smooth and heady with the milk.

2021 sipdown no. 3

This one is tasty, but not order-worthy tasty. I think H&S does this one well, but even so, a cinnamon tea isn’t one I generally reach for, though I wouldn’t turn down a sample. I’m happy I had the opportunity to try this one!

Advent day 2! I predominantly get a sharp cinnamon, followed by a bit of ginger and orange. It’s warming and comforting, and I so wished I didn’t make it on my break at work, because by the time I went to finish the last half of the cup, it was cold and tasted awful. Totally bitter and the warming spice notes were gone. Ah, well. Nice while it lasted.

#adventageddon Day Two – 3/5

This might have been my favourite tea of the day – and it was nice pulling something from the DF calendar that I hadn’t previously tried, as well.

Flavour wise it was really smooth and warming, while also having a gentle sweetness and creamy taste. I thought that all the flavours described by DF were present (cinnamon, ginger, apple, vanilla) and unlike yesterday’s tea they worked really well together. It felt appropriately festive in the flavour choice while not being at the “Santa Claus shoving a fistful of Yuletide cheer down your throat” levels – I could sip this in the evening, curled up with a good book or TV show and it would feel merry but also relaxing, and I like that.

Strongest note was cinnamon, erring on the sweeter side, and then apple – more of a red apple with that sweetness but slight floral undertone. Plus, as with most DF blends, the flavour of the black tea base wasn’t lost either.

It was just a solid tea overall!

Again I am getting licorice! Ginger, cinnamon, apple and licorice!

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 12
I am back in the land of the living, and feeling much better! I took this tea with me on my morning walk, and I’m so glad I did. I don’t think I would have appreciated it yesterday when I was so under the weather.

Although to be fair, I almost passed on it when I opened the packet. So much cinnamon. But brewed, the apple came out and the cinnamon & spices calmed down. Not sure that I got much almond in my cup. This tea was perfect for a cold December morning. Spiced apple tea or spiced apple cider is the best description I can come up with. I wasn’t sure at first but halfway through the walk, I decided it wasn’t bad at all! All in all, I liked it much better than in my previous tries. Still not a tea I would yearn for but it was a nice change of pace from my usual favorites. This would be a great tea for apple tea and cinnamon tea lovers.

Day 16 Dammann Freres Tea Advent Calendar

This one was a ok. A black tea, a teensy bit astringent, sort of apple-y, a little bit cinnamon-y. Not a bad tea, but not one I’ve ever order.

Days 14 & 15 were Carcadet Pomme d/Amour, which was a gorgeous reddish purple in the cup and horribly, horribly sour, and a Christmas Herbal Tea which I did not enjoy either. We’ll see what I get to enjoy tonight.

Had a damn good job interview today and now I’m back at home chilling out watching Scrubs and drinking tea. So exhausted. Went to bed at 12:30am, which is early for me, hoping to get a good night’s rest, and kept tossing and turning until past 5am. Ugh.

This is pretty good but not amazing or unique. The dry leaf and taste are very heavy on the cinnamon, like cinnamon heart candies. And the almond is trailing close behind and seems rather astringent too, almost like almond extract. These two notes are so strong that it’s almost too difficult to even tell which one you’re smelling/tasting since it’s an ongoing battle between the two. It reminds me a lot of holiday spice candles, or the smell of craft/Michaels stores, you know?

Another DF tea! This one sounds like the quintessential “holiday” tea with a blend of spices, orange, and a few others flavors including almond. To be honest, I’m never a fan of these teas, as generally they’re too heavy on the spice and not heavy enough on the other things. Visually, the tea is a mixture of black tea leaves and yellow flower petals. Dry scent is sweet and cinnamon-y.

First of all, I’m drinking this stone cold because I got distracted while making ramen for dinner. It came out really tasty! Anyway, this is mostly a mild cinnamon tea. It’s a little bit sweet and there’s perhaps a tiny amount of nuttiness, but otherwise it’s a cinnamon tea. Ho hum!