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I wanted something familiar yet new this morning, so I went with this, the only sample from the advent calendar that I never got around to trying.
Well, I like it. It’s far smokier than the other “breakfast” blends I’ve tried. I would even compare it to a yerba mate. It feels substantial and bold and makes me want to get things done :)

I wasn’t expecting much with the campy name, but this is competing with Gyokuro Yamashiro for the best green tea I’ve had. It’s buttery and even almost kind of sweet. I’ve never had a matcha/full leaf mix before. Too bad I only had a sample package of this! I’ve only got enough left for maybe one small cup. It’s expensive but I may have to get a tin of this…

Everyone has already said so much about this tea… basically is it the perfect blend of mint/chocolate/black tea with some kick from the peppercorns. The epitome of chocolate tea. Mmmmmm

Augh this tea smells soooooo gooooood. I don’t even know how to describe it except to say that it smells like berries and white tea, but that’s pretty obvious. But trust me it smells awesome. This is actually similar to my other Octavia white tea experience where it smells amazing but tastes weak as hell. What little flavour there is is actually very nice though. The white tea isn’t overwhelmed by the flavouring which often happens with whites, and it mixes really well with the berries. I did my usual short steeping time for flavoured white teas and used quite a bit of tea, but maybe next time I’ll try a longer steep.

Side note, I totally broke my clear David’s mug today. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
At least I got a lot of use out of it. And I still have its infuser and the lid so… it’s still a nice infuser. And this will give me an excuse to buy the new watercolour print one… but I really like clear mugs so maybe I’ll look for a cheap clear mug too.
Love of teaware + small apartment = bad.
Love of teaware + small apartment + clumsiness = good. Except for the whole spending money thing.

I drank this last night after a day full of (unsweetened) black tea: English breakfast, Irish breakfast, then French breakfast. So drinking this was like going to a rose garden after a day of something bold and brisk like uh… chainsaw shopping. I brewed it for 3 minutes and it came out just a little bitter, so I’ll try maybe 2 minutes next time. The dry leaves smelled like a bottle of vanilla extract to me, which I love. It showed up a great dark red colour and I got black tea + vanilla but without any creaminess. I think the rose petals are mostly there for show. I didn’t get any caramel, but maybe next time with a shorter brew? I only have a sample size but I think I might order a tin of this. It did make me picture some twee Parisian ivy-covered balcony.

Very very spicy and the orange oil is there too. I wouldn’t say it reminds me of pie at all. This would probably be good as a latte. I’m not really feeling it that much right now but I have a feeling I would love it in the fall.

I wasn’t expecting to like this one because I thought the dry leaves smelled weird and kind of alcohol-y. But it was actually amazing! The only chocolate teas I had tried before this one were from David’s, with the little tiny dark chocolate chips. This one had chunks of a lighter, milky chocolate and it made a huge difference in the taste. At first I thought the creaminess was caused by the vanilla, but I even tried a chocolate chip from a David’s tea and then a piece of chocolate from this tea to compare and it’s definitely the chocolate itself. I really like the milk chocolate, it makes it seem like more of a wintery tea. I didn’t taste the mint that much, I think I got it more in the feel than the taste. The second ingredient after rooibos is apple pieces! What?? I tried to taste the apple in this and didn’t get it at all. I wonder what they’re doing there? Despite the apple pieces and the melty nature of chocolate, this was good for a second steep too!

At first I was a little disappointed by this tea because it wasn’t as sweet as I thought it would be. I thought it would be more like maple syrup. But I got over it pretty quick and decided that this tea is awesome. The sweetness in it isn’t really a bright candy sweetness, more of a warm toasty sweetness. The rooibos and maple work really well together. I’d be interested to try Tealish’s Oh Canada, which uses a black tea base instead. This one is a cozy tea with a lasting flavour. Also it smells amazing.

I took this from my house in Oregon right before I left from winter break. This is my first milk oolong! It was a little less sweet than I thought it would be, and somewhere between milky and buttery. There wasn’t much difference between each of the four steeps I did. Overall it tasted basically like the dry leaves smelled. Very toasty and a little vegetative.