White Christmas

I loved the description of this so I decided to order some with my initial H&S sample order.

It’s got whole flower heads in it, which I thought at first might be chrysanthemums. Thankfully they are chamomile flowers as I don’t get along well with mums. The leaves are a green/grey, and look like white peony. The smell is, oddly, chocolate/vanilla mint/creme. Like Andes mints with vanilla ice cream. No idea where this comes from given the almonds and chamomile, but I’ll go with it as I like Andes mints just fine. ;-)

It still has that Andes note in the aroma after steeping and there’s some almond here as well. The liquor is sort of a light amber. A bronzed yellow. Clear.

The taste is pretty interesting as it’s very similar to the aroma but not at all something you’d expect from the ingredients list. For one thing, it’s like the cardamom is chocolate instead of itself. I wonder whether that’s why some chais that aren’t chocolate chais still have a sort of chocolate note to them. I don’t taste anything that tastes like what I’d expect cardamom on its own to taste like. This isn’t a spicy tea. It may be spiced, but it isn’t spicy. The almond is sort of hiding as well. The vanilla is there, but paying homage to the chocolate/vanilla continuum in that it’s kind of hard to tell where one flavor stops and the other starts. Though let me reemphasize that as far as I’m told through the ingredients, there IS NO CHOCOLATE in this tea. Tell that to my taste buds.

I maybe get a little of the underlying white tea, but it seems mostly a base here for the flavors to do their frolic and detour on. Flavored white teas, it seems to me, are tricky. Not as tricky and more forgiving than flavored greens, but tricky nonetheless. The flavor of white tea can’t really stand up to anything intense. It does best with subtle fruit or floral flavors superimposed on it, nothing heavy which obliterates the tea.

This isn’t an unpleasant drink at all, it just doesn’t seem very self aware. I would think it could call itself White Chocolate and get away with it, but the Christmas name suggests something heavily spiced or appley, maybe. This isn’t that. Probably a good thing as I’d think that would make for an even worse white tea.

I don’t feel compelled to reorder this but I would drink it again if it were offered to me. And I wish there was some way to reconcile the actual ingredients with the flavor that didn’t leave me feeling entirely disassociated.

I reduced the steeping from the last time I tried this tea and there is a significant improvement. The tea isn’t as sharp or vegetale tasting and I’m also picking up some chamomile along with a bit of vanilla.

Christmas in July? White Christmas, nonetheless. Ah, well. It was there when I was looking for a less-caffeinated tea to drink this morning.

It smells minty and sweet. The taste is pure white chocolate. With mint. It’s surprisingly refreshing and makes my mouth tingle. More surprising is the fact that there is NO chocolate in this tea. It certainly smells and tastes just so. I don’t think it was smart marketing to label this one a holiday tea as it’s clearly one that can be enjoyed year-round.

So me and my compadres went on an outing today and ended up in a Barnes and Nobel. Thusly, I had to check out the cafe for tea and saw 10 tins of beauty. Harney & Sons? Do my eyes deceive me? I know my contacts need to be replaced, but seriously? Seriously. Needless to say it took me forever to pick out the kind I wanted and went with this one due to the outbreak of Vanilla and Almond. I regret nothing. I also bought Candy Cane Lane earlier in the evening, so expect a epic Virgel style on that later tonight.

The first thing I noticed about the tea was that the water was way to hot, and that the white was definitely being mistreated. Then across the store after stopping and examining books, that I forgot to take out the bag in a timely manner. Needless to say, the white was being prissy and bitter about the whole thing. After the initial shock of “how can a white be so bitter?” comes very enjoyable notes of almond with vanilla, vanilla lingering a bit longer on the tongue. There is some astringency that is ill-fitting with the texture of the tea, not as crisp as it usually feels. I want to say more and feel like I would have more great thing to say, if only the circumstances had been different. Thus, a relatively low grade, as it is very bitter.
This tea and the other Christmas tea are selling for like 16 bucks together (60 satchels overall), and there is no isolated tin of White Christmas. However, the other tins are like $10 for one so I might just have deal with having another tea when I return to buy it. Life is so cruel.
Also, mentioning being a “tea fiend” in conversation has become a new hobby, that annoys most of my friends.

Dry: This one caught my husband and I from first sniff in a curious way. It smells fairly unique and difficult to separate the notes, but in a good way if that makes any sense. In some teas, that can be described as muddy, but in this one it is just warm and appealing. Vague nutty aroma with cozy spices- a good holiday scent! I understand the base is Mutan White, but it almost looks CTC with shredded dark green leaves with a few silvery tips mixed in, so maybe not the highest quality base. It looks like this tea is served primary in sachets, but I purchased it as a loose leaf sample.

Steeped: Olive green clear liquor. I steeped this at 175 for barely 2 minutes. I think it would have been fine for a little bit longer. It smells primarily of cardamom with a hint of vanilla and almond.

Taste: When I first sipped this one hot, I didn’t get much in the way of flavor other than subtle warm spices, but as it starts to cool it really blooms into something lovely! Delicate white tea meets creamy cardamom. Almond is not a primary note, but shows up in a soft marzipan-type aftertaste. This is not an in-your-face holiday tea, but rather a gentle and warming one, like being wrapped in a soft blanket. If you like lightly spiced teas, this one would be a good choice and I like that it isn’t loaded with the other typical holiday additions like apples, cranberries, cinnamon, etc. Unfortunately it looks like this only comes loose in a 1 pound bag and it is sold out, but maybe they will add more options once back in stock?

I never quite know how I feel about this tea. It sounded amazing (which is why I ordered it), and it didn’t quite live up to that expectation but I’m not totally sure I can explain why. It’s not bad, and I don’t know what I would change to make it GREAT so I always end up feeling kind of “meh” about it. It smells fantastic, and the vanilla note is strong but not overwhelming. I just don’t ever look forward to drinking it… I always end up going, “Oh, I haven’t had this in a while so I might as well have a cup” and it’s taken me forever to get through the tin of bags.

i freakin love the smell of this tea dry.
i know a bunch of ppl don’t agree but i think i might really like cardamom in my tea.
but … i’m not sure i really like white teas.
interestingly without thinking, i brought 3 white teas and 1 black with me to work today.
the almond and vanilla and cardamom all come through in this cup. subtle, but they are definitely there.

i listened to the Tea Rage podcast as i rode my bike to work today. He talked about the Tea Cellar in DC which i will now plan to visit soon. he also shared this quote:

“I am so fond of tea that I could write a whole dissertation on its virtues. It comforts and enlivens without the risks attendant on spirituous liquors. Gentle herb! Let the florid grape yield to thee. Thy soft influence is a more safe inspirer of social joy.”
― James Boswell

I received this from Denise yesterday and BOY OH BOY did she send me a bag full!!! :) Thanks Denise!

almonds, vanilla and cardamom, accented by white chamomile flowers…hum…

Usually I don’t go around looking for any of these ingredients in a tea…but I have been trying just about anything lately – because you never know what you might like, eh!?

I can smell a veggie-type smell with vanilla and almond. Not bad for scent.

It’s quite dark for a white tea…a medium see-thru brown color.

I can taste the cardamom and almond mostly.

I must say this is a highly flavored white tea and while I don’t normally go for the ingredients in this tea – it’s ok. I would say I would drink it everyday or even every week but I am very happy I tried it and now have it as a part of my tea stash.

The more I sip the more the cardamom and almond and vanilla and blending together…this might grow on me more. For now I will rate about average.

Thumbs up for creativity and bold flavor on this white tho!!! :)

With Thanksgiving weekend coming to a close, the Christmas season can officially commence. Rachel sent me some of this to try (thank you!!!).

I’m not sure it says “Christmas” to me. There’s a hint of spice, but nothing that you’d be able to point at and say “this is xx spice”. The white tea is nice, and there’s also notes of vanilla and almond. And the chamomile is there as well…but its kind of unsure of its role in the blend. Its okay, but it’s not really anything to write home about. And it certainly doesn’t live up to its name.

So here is yet another tea I had failed to add to my cupboard. Although I am finishing teas faster than I am buying new ones, I still have too many and I am discovering a ton of them have never been added on here. I never add my samples anyway, so there are probably double the number listed in my cupboard.

Tonight was Bible study night, and a big part of our gathering is snacks and tea. We have a good kettle and there are some teas in the church kitchen but I usually take my own. Tonight I took this one.

Anyone expecting a white tea to be bland or light on flavor hasn’t reckoned on just how flavored this one is. The aroma while steeping is powerful chocolate and rich vanilla, really more of a white almond bark scent.

For sipping, this one keeps the almond bark vibe and is almost thick with the richness of the flavor, but the mint really makes a strong impression here. The mint lingers well past the vanilla and almond, so this doesn’t really get too heavy. It is a good tea for a flavored sachet.

The first time I ever had it was at the Barnes and Noble cafe. The only thing I could taste was paper cup, so I am glad I gave this a try at home.