Christmas Morning

The name doesn’t lie, this is definitely a cup of tea I would love to have on Christmas morning. The green and black flavors go so well with that light but noticeable hint of spices.

Was kinda disappointed in this tea. It was just a black tea. A step above your standard bagged black, just still . . . just a black. Didn’t taste anything special.

A basic black breakfast blend. This tea is robust with just a little bitterness. It’s decent, but nothing spectacular. It kind of seems like a strong cross between Irish and English breakfast. I would prefer the flavor be a bit more malty. Prepared with stevia and almond milk.

A nice blend of black teas with a hint of Jasmine. Added a touch of milk. Very smooth, round flavor.

This one’s a bit of an oddball as far as holiday teas go. There’s nothing really holiday-ish about it, their thought process seems to be that you need caffeine on Christmas morning? A bit of a reach, lol.

Anyway, it’s fine. If I’m honest, I’m not smelling or tasting the jasmine at all. It mostly tastes like a breakfast blend, which is essentially what it is. Not too strong or tannic, which is nice, but there’s not a lot going on either. Some bready, malty notes maybe. But otherwise it’s mostly tea-ish.

It’s all fine and drinkable, but basically just a breakfast blend, and not a very interesting one at that. Another one for rehoming, as I can’t see myself drinking the rest of the box.

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 8/19

I’m enjoying this more than I expected. The only ingredients are supposedly black tea and jasmine tea, but it tastes like there’s more in there. Maybe it’s just because the black tea is sort of interesting with good depth. Regardless, sweetened with milk, this tastes pretty nice. Thanks tea-and-cats!

Sipdown (1548)!

This was one of three teabag samples that my friend TeaWithJann included in a vintage teacup order that I recently placed from her shop – I thought it was a cute addition to throw some teabags in and, while I’m not a heavy teabag consumer, it’s been fun exploring them!

I’m not sure what I expected a “Christmas Morning” to be but it’s probably not jasmine. At first I was thrown because something like cinnamon would probably feel less out of place; however as I sipped the mug I think I slowly got more and more on board. I think the body of the black tea mixed with the soft and almost sweet fresh jasmine creates this feeling of calmness and as I sipped the more I felt like it was a good recreation of this romanticized elegance and sort of childlike wonder and magic associated with a perfect Christmas morning. Everything is peaceful, there’s a thick coat of fresh white snow on the ground and frost in the trees, everyone’s wearing their flannel PJs and gathered around the Christmas tree…

So, it wasn’t a great tea in terms of flavour but it did give me a great moment.

I don’t know that this is going to replace any of my favorite black breakfast teas. But that’s actually what I liked about it. Tasting lighter, and feeling lighter in my mouth was just a nice, pleasing way to wake up. This might become a nice weekend tea for me – when I don’t need the harshness of a work wake-up!

Wow. Total blast of bitter board! I dumped the dust like contents of the tea bag into my steeper so I wouldn’t have to taste the bag, but the bag taste may have dulled the bitter brew. I added cream and it makes this dark tea drinkable, but not quite enjoyable. There is absolutely nothing remarkable about this tea.
If I were a kid and this tea was a real life representation of Xmas morning, I’d be one heartbroken little kid opening gift after gift of nothing but worn mismatched socks wondering what the f*ck just happened to my holiday.
This cup is so representative of the difference in quality and care that is put into loose leaf vs bagged and offends me to my core.
I’m dumping the hell out of this cup.
This is starting out to be a feisty day!

Every time I drink this, I expect a peppermint flavoured tea. This is unflavoured, but is still tasty. I made mine with unsweetened soy milk for some bonus creaminess. It mellowed out the cup nicely (I’m not usually a fan of morning/breakfast blends).

The maltiness comes through, giving it a thick mouthfeel. It has undertones of wood and cocoa.