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This was fine. Not terribly exciting, and I definitely got a little more ginger bite than anything else. As it cooled the green tea was more noticeable.

Adagio advent day 4

Fascinating as a concept for a tea, and very pretty. Not a favorite flavor for me. It’s hard to pinpoint why, even. The cocoa is pleasant if a little bitter, and the flavor seems balanced well with the tea, but I didn’t particularly enjoy it (then again, I’m also not a fan of red velvet in baking, so maybe that’s all!)

Plum Deluxe advent day 4

This was definitely a richer green tea than the last couple have been, but despite the stronger profile I got absolutely no bitterness in either steep. It is smooth and even, with a profile that mostly feels like grass (and after reading their notes, I’d agree with the seaweed as well). I could see this working quite well with a meal; it seems like it would stand out even among other strong flavors but would not be overwhelming in the midst of them.

Nio Teas advent day 4

I was absolutely taken out for the week by an unplanned tooth extraction and bridge prep and all the fun recovery that went along with it, so there’s a lot of catching up to do.

Day 4 was a lot of fun because of the variety across teas.
I can’t figure out how I feel about this one! It absolutely feels like drinking in a garden, with a wide variety of blooms and a hint of fruit. Rose, which is a favorite of mine, is one of the few florals I can distinguish; I don’t recognize many of the other flavors. I love that it’s bold and unique, and I keep coming back to smell it (including the packet that held the sachet!) But there’s one particular flavor that lingers just a little too long in the scent and taste, and while I don’t know what it is, I can say I’m not a fan. I think I’m going to skip a numerical rating on this one completely. Definitely glad I’ve tried it though – a fascinating tea!

Dammann Freres advent day 4

I wasn’t really looking forward to this so I decided to be a little reckless and dump both packets into my soup mug and drink it in one go. Much to my surprise this worked so well.
The smell is lovely. Something sweet and cinnamony and a little bit like baked goods. Strangely, it smells exactly like my graham cracker chapstick. I don’t know how much caramel really stands out; it almost leans more maple. And though this is a rooibos blend, I didn’t notice any of the wood chip flavor that I dislike so much. I don’t know that I’d drink this often, but I’d be willing to buy it to have on hand!

Plum Deluxe no caffeine advent day 3

The ingredient list here is interesting, but I’m mostly getting hazelnut. Occasionally I get a little bit of generic berry now that it has cooled. It’s good, just not what I was expecting!

BrutaliTeas advent day 3

I didn’t hate this, even though it’s absolutely a strong toasted coconut. The white base worked well for me and I think I preferred having no fruit to try and compete with the coconut. I wouldn’t buy more but it wasn’t bad.

Adagio advent day 3

My general impression without their notes is of a lighter green tea with some grassiness that is more prominent in the scent and back of the sip, and it fades as the tea cools. It’s not bitter. I don’t have a great word to describe the dominant flavor I’m getting, so I’m heading to the website to see what they say.

Their website describes this tea as high in minerality and sweetness, and after looking more at minerality (which I guess I had always assumed was just “salty” but is apparently more complicated than that) I think that’s exactly it. I suppose I can see some natural sweetness that I would have categorized more as an absence of bitterness. They rated it med-low on vegetal and umami scales as well, which makes sense.

Very drinkable in both steeps. Probably my favorite of theirs so far.

Nio Teas advent day 3

Tried this one hot and iced again. On its own, it’s fairly bitter black tea with artificial strawberry as an afterthought. They suggested some sweetener to bring out the flavor profile, so I tried a little strawberry infused honey in the hot version. That improved the bitterness. In the iced, I used a little crystalized lime instead and wound up enjoying it quite a lot more. I still think strawberry is hard to do right, and I didn’t feel like I got honeysuckle at all, but not a bad iced tea.

Plum Deluxe advent day 3

A peach green tea with a strong peach and smooth green tea is one of my favorites, and this was a winner. The peach flavor dominates the scent, and while it fades in the flavor, it’s still present and clear. I’d love to try a cold brew on this one – I suspect I’d bump up the rating.

Dammann Freres advent day 3