Christmas Eve

It was kind of a shame to wind up with a Christmas Eve and Christmas “holiday spice” teas back-to-back, but that’s really on me; sipsby just gave me a “bag 1” and “bag 2” with 12 teas each and I randomly put them into pouches.

This was somehow even stranger than the mulling spices in water from the Davidson’s Christmas Tea, and I think it’s the spearmint in it. There’s definitely spearmint, orange, and cinnamon together here. The spearmint is the strongest flavor, though the subtle orange is there through the sip and the aftertaste is mostly cinnamon. I think it was really the orange with spearmint that was bothering me and kept it from being a win, because separately I love these ingredients. I drank it, but the whole time I kept going “so weird”.

sipsby bagged advent, day 11

I can’t understand why the overall rating for this tea is so low???!!! (69 at the time of this review.) I guess simplicity is underrated these days.
I thought that this tea was really good. Simple but lovely!
It reminds me of toothpaste but in the best possible way. I found it super-comforting. For me, it’s all spearmint and cinnamon and I’m here for it! A perfect choice for Winter.

I received a sample of this tea in my order last November or December and am just now getting around to trying it, thanks to my recent tea reorganization bringing it to the front.

I made this at about 1 am since I wasn’t sleepy ( I am about to fall off my chair with grogginess now) and sipped it in my rocker. It was sweet to be up all alone, in a mostly dark house, with everyone quiet and that contributed to the enjoyment of having tea, but the tea itself was just okay. It was a bit thin body-wise but at least it was not heavy on the clove. The mint was okay, as I prefer spearmint to peppermint anyway,

An acceptable cup, not one I want to buy, but nice to have another sample off the shelf.

Thanks to tea-and-cats for this tea! I taste a lot of peppermint, and to be honest, I can’t tell what else there is! There’s something herbal in there, but I’m not sure what. It’s a pleasant combination of herbs for sure. I’m enjoying it cold.

I just lost a tasting note, but it was so rambly, that may be a blessing.

To condense my previous novelette, at first it smelled like toothpaste, but in a good way—like switching back to Crest after muscling my way through an entire tube of Arm & Hammer baking soda/peroxide. What was my husband thinking?

Now that I’m about halfway through the cup, the spearmint (a pleasant change of pace from peppermint—it hits your tongue in different places), combined with the very detectible cinnamon and clove remind me of the spice gumdrops Mom would buy for Christmas baking. I’d grab a handful and eat them all at once. That’s what this blend is like.

Thanks to Lexie Aleah for this little evening treat and a good memory of our farmhouse kitchen!

Sipdown 95-2021
Why not drink a Christmas tea in May?
I smell a ton of cinnamon, but I’m not really getting any in the flavor. It’s mostly a slightly bitter spearmint. Maybe a touch of cinnamon in the aftertaste? Overall pretty boring, and not something I need to drink again.

As I dug around a box of tea baggies looking specifically for this, the tea multiple people told me approximates poison, it occurred to me that wasn’t something I should be doing, probably. I read the ingredients list once I found it. This will be bad, I agreed. Went downstairs, ripped open the packet. Initially I recoiled, because it smells at first blast like dentist toothpaste. But then I began huffing it frantically. Because do you know what it smells like? Cheap potpourri, my guilty pleasure. I might be the freak that likes this, I thought. But, I worried, because the steam smelled like nothing but boring old mint. I was right to be concerned; drinking it crushed me.
Who is having such moody Christmas Eves, I wonder? I asked myself. This tastes like going to sleep knowing you’ll be visiting your parents who both have dementia in the home and eating dry turkey with boxed gravy off of a plastic tray in what passes for a ‘festively decorated’ nursing home dining room. The cinnamon is felt more than tasted. The mint exists, but it’s scarcely bringing to mind snow flurries. There is an aftertaste of lemon and grass. I don’t think those are even in there. The lemon might be; I know there’s an orange. It is a liar. The grass was not invited. Can’t say I recommend a tea that made me sad about my grandmother.

My all time favorite herbal tea. My mother ended up buying me a year’s supply and I still drink it! The orange isn’t overpowering, and smells delicious!

When I found this at Marshalls I hoped it would be a less expensive alternative to Harney & Son Hot Cinnamon Spice, but I was dissapointed. This is weak in comparison.

(No numerical rating because I really Was Not In The Mood for a mint tea and expected this to be more cinnamon.)

Although the first ingredients are cinnamon and orange, this is really a spearmint tea, regardless of whether you do a short or long steep. The other flavors keep the mint from being overwhelming and balance things a bit; probably a good blend if you like that sort of thing.

Unfortunately I just discovered that I don’t like spearmint – this reminds me too much of chewing gum. If I had to rate right now I’d give it a 35. Will try it again when I’m actually in a mint mood and can give a fairer rating.

You can also leave it in a thermos of cold water for a faint hint of flavor during your work day.