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Gave this one a try last night. Instant tea isn’t generally one of my go-tos, but this was a gift and I’m always looking for a decent sleep tea. It’s way sweet, though. Like, seriously. So. Much. Sugar. The fruitiness is nice, if you can find it – I got mostly apricot. According to the ingredients, this one has a black tea base. That seems kinda counterproductive in a sleep tea, but I figure it’s probably so barely there as not to make any real difference – at least not to a hardened caffeine fiend like me. And let’s face it, this is mostly sugar…

That being said, I quite liked it. I wish it was less sweet, just because that’s not really my thing, but I did get a good night’s sleep. Whether this tea helped or not remains to be seen, but I’ll give it more chances in the days ahead.

It’s always halloween in my heart, but I tend to save this one for the more autumnal days since it only reappears for purchase once a year. Today almost qualified, so I drank a couple of cups at work. It’s as good ad ever – smooth, lots of pumpkin/squash flavour, pleasingly muted spices. Still my favourite pumpkin tea.

Apparently I was on a latte kick last night, because this was my pre-bedtime cup. And I slept so well. I’m thinking this tea made the difference, because I haven’t slept that soundly in a long time.

Sometimes tea that’s supposed to inspire sleep gives me weird, super-vivid nightmares, but fortunately that wasn’t the case here. I’ve more or less identified passionflower as the cause of that, but it doesn’t explain why B&B’s Dozy Girl does the same thing…

I made a latte with this last night and, even though it’s super-old, I was reminded how amazingly awesome it actually is. With some added honey and vanilla, it tastes exactly like liquid blueberry muffin. When I’m back in more of a routine with things, I’ll definitely be buying a fresh tin.

It’s peppermint; not too dank. I drank it during our office move this week, since most of my loose leaf tea and infusers were being held hostage in a crate for the best part of two days. I’m still not sure how I survived.

Also, I think I might be back. It’s been a while!

365/365

Today is the last day of my 365 Days of Tea challenge! It’s gone so quickly, it feels odd to be at the end already. I saved this tea until last because it strikes me as a celebratory kind of blend. I’ve got a good feeling about it!

I had to try this one, literally as soon as I saw it. It has sparkling wine flavouring, and gold shimmer. Sold! The scent of the dry leaf upon opening the pouch is similar to opening a bottle of prosecco – alcoholic in the best possible way! Strong, though. Unexpectedly so, given that this is tea.

The scent holds even once brewed, and the gold shimmer is really pretty. It’s not quite as gaudy as David’s Glitter & Gold used to be, but it’s not subtle either. I tried to capture it in my photo for my facebook challenge album, but it turned out to be impossible. You’ll just have to take my word for it!

In terms of flavour, it’s really nice. It’s rare that a tea claiming to taste of wine actually does, but it’s true of this blend. Prosecco is the first thing I tasted! The pomegranate is there too, as if you’d added some to a glass – juicy and tartly fruity, but definitely a background flavour. It’s all about the wine here!

I’m glad I picked this one up. It’s a really nice festive treat, and an excellent way to round off my challenge. If you can try this one, you absolutely should!

364/365

I assume the name of this one is a play on “War & Peace”, that notable sleep-inducer. I find that cutely amusing, but in practice this is a pretty ordinary blend – chamomile, lemon balm, and lavender. The flavour isn’t bad, but it’s not unique or particularly inspiring – I mostly get lavender, with just a hint of lemon, and then the sweetness of chamomile in the background. It’s like a lot of sleep teas I’ve tried, in that respect, but I’m always up for trying a new one! So far, the Twinings Superblends and Bird & Blend’s Dozy Girl have been most effective for me, but both seem to give me crazily vivid dreams, which is a side effect I could do without. So, the search continues…

I didn’t experience any dreams with this one, but I’m not sure that it really helped me get to sleep. It took me at least an hour to drop off. I felt I stayed asleep more readily, although that could be coincidence. I’ll have to give it a few more tries before I can say for certain. I wouldn’t say I particularly like the flavour, but that’s more to do with my own personal preferences than anything else. I’m not generally a fan of floral teas, but sleep blends tend to be that way inclined. It’s drinkable, but not particularly…interesting? I’ve tried more flavoursome options, let’s say. Still, I don’t tend to drink sleep teas for the flavour, on the whole. It’s time I stopped complaining.

I’ll persevere for a while, certainly long enough to finish the box. You never know, after all.

363/365

The last of my untried flavoured matchas! I made this one as a shot in cold milk, because simple. It’s about the only thing I have time for on a morning at the moment. I like my new job, but the commuting is evil. Anyway, I was hoping for a creamsicle sort-of vibe with this one, but unfortunately that’s not what I got. There wasn’t much in the way of orange flavour, and what there was came across pithy and a touch bitter. This was one of Bird & Blend’s first flavoured matchas, if I remember right, so perhaps they just weren’t as on point with those early ones as they are now…but still, it was disappointing. I also found it a bit clumpy, but that might just have been my impatience.

It’s not awful, but there are definitely better B&B matchas out there.

362/365

Yet another sleep blend! This one’s a blend of chamomile, lavender, spearmint, passionflower, rose, linden, and lemon balm. It reminds me a little of Twinings Superblends Sleep, but it’s just not as flavourful. It actually tastes quite “flat” to me – mostly lavender, but with a background of chamomile. There’s not much of anything else. I was looking forward to the spearmint, but it’s not really there; maybe there’s a tiny hint of background sweetness, but it’s just as likely I’m imagining it.

I’ve tried this one once before, I think, although some years ago now. I remember really liking it, so I’m not sure if something’s changed between now and then. Unless my tastes have changed more than I thought they had…

I found the passionflower effective in the Twinings, but it did give me weird dreams so I’m hoping to avoid that here if I can. I’m drinking it a good couple of hours ahead of bedtime to try and help me relax, with the intention of avoiding the worst excesses. I did find it a little drying, which isn’t excellent in a pre-bedtime tea. I find I get thirsty during the night anyway. It’s not astringent, as such, just…very herbal?

I can’t say I really like this one for it’s flavour; it needs something to brighten it up. Lemon, maybe? A decent quantity of spearmint might have helped. Maybe my bag just needs a good shake! I’ll be trying this one again, so I’m not going to alter my previous raring for now. There’s time for it to prove itself yet!

361/365

Made this one up as a shot, since I’m having a lot of success with that recently. It’s also quick and easy to prepare on a morning, which is when I tend to need matcha most! I’m not sure why this is called swampthing – there’s certainly nothing particularly swampy about it, in terms of colour, scent, or taste. It’s described as lavender & lime, which gave me pause, but the initial flavour reminded me more of Skittles than anything. Or Starburst, maybe. The green ones, mostly, which would make sense, but not exclusively by any means. There’s a kind of tangy, fruity, sweetness that’s reminiscent of fruit flavoured candy generally – but I’m okay with that!

I get a lot of lime from this, in a tangy, candy-like sort of way. I don’t get much lavender at all, which is fine by me. The thought of floral matcha scares me a bit. I hadn’t expected to get along with this one, but it’s actually really nice. A good surprise, for once! This is another matcha I’d be happy to add to my morning repertoire – which, thanks to Bird & Blend and their sudden explosion of flavoured matcha releases – only seems to keep expanding!

Facebook reminded me this morning that today marks one year since I began my challenge. I’m happy that I haven’t slipped too much – only by 4 days or so, thanks to colds, new jobs, and general life stress. This year has gone so quickly, though! I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas already! Today is also my first work-at-home day, which I’m thoroughly appreciating. Peace, quiet, no commuting, no phones…I’m so glad I finally put the effort into changing job this year. My new one isn’t perfect, but it’s way better than my old one and I’m a lot happier for it. Hopefully next year will be an equally positive one!