Category Archives: Tea Advent Calendar 2015

Advent Calendar Wrap Up

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First off, I apologize for not getting this up sooner, work got a little crazy for a while and I needed to focus my energy there.

As for Teanzo’s Advent Tea Calendar…. overall this was something that I enjoyed enormously. I loved getting to experience a new tea every day, it was truly a holiday treat! I did feel as though some of the teas fell flat, particularly the majority of the teas that had ‘natural flavors’ listed in the ingredients. The strongest teas were definitely those that either were just tea not blends, or when actual ingredients versus ‘natural flavors’ were used. My favorites were Peppermint Rose (Day 5), Breakfast Tea (Day 14), Acai Berry Green (Day 6),  and Ti Kwan Yin (Day 9). All in all, I would be interested in doing this again next year, and considering the variety of teas Teanzo offers, I would certainly consider using them again. However I would definitely check the list of teas they would be using in their calendar, and if they were similar to this year, (or full of teas with ‘natural flavors’) I would probably check out a different store.

Tea Advent Calendar — Day 24

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Christmas Chai — Organic black tea, rooibos, ginger, cinnamon, green cardamom, vanilla and with natural flavors.Day-24-B

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone! This is the perfect tea to end this advent calendar with.  Even all the ingredients sound christmasy!I brewed this tea for 5 minutes with boiling water. This tea is a great blend of flavors, though out of them all it is the cardamom that I taste. The tea is a great variation on your traditional chai tea.

Overall Rating: 3.5 cups

3.5

Hope everyone has a great christmas and I will see you in guys in a couple of days.

Tea Advent Calendar — Day 23

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Chocolate Coconut Tea — Black tea, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, and natural flavors.

Day-23Christmas is almost here, barely even two days away. 🙂 I am really excited about this tea. I don’t know if I have ever seen a tea with chocolate in it, so I am interested to see how it tastes.

I brewed this tea for 5 minutes in boiling water. This tea smells like coconut, as one would expect. As for flavor… it is somehow both weak and bitter at the same time. You can’t really taste either the chocolate or the coconut, and all you are left with is a sub-par black tea. I don’t know if the black tea that was used wasn’t of the greatest quality or if the blend of additional flavors distorted the tea, either way the result isn’t the greatest.

Overall Rating: 1.5 cups

1.5

 

 

 

Tea Advent Calendar — Day 22

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Earl Grey Green — Gunpowder Green tea and natural flavor.

First off, let me say, that I am not sure why this tea is called ‘Earl Grey Green’, as it implies some sort of connection to Day-22-AEarl Grey teas. As it is a green tea and not a black tea… that would mean that the additives would be similar to Earl Grey, for example bergamot oil.  However, as the ingredients in this tea only state ‘natural flavors’  that implies an unknown
element. If it was actually a known ingredient of ‘Earl Grey’ tea, why didn’t they name it?

As this was green tea, I brewed this for 3 minutes in 175 °F water. It has a slightly astringent smell to it, that I can’t quite put my name on it. As for flavor, there is definitely the flavor of gunpowder green tea… but there is something else as well…. I thought perhaps there might be some bergamot oil in it (due to the Day-22-Bname), but just to give you a more rounded opinion on the tea, I also asked my mother and sister to try it. My mother said, “Maybe a hint a ginger”, my sister plainly said “It tastes like soap.” At which point my mother who was the first to comment on the astringent smell of the tea, commented that it is what it smelled liked….
Gunpowder green is a well-known and popular green tea, that honestly I would recommend getting that instead of this tea. Personally speaking I tasted a hint of bergamot oil in this blend, however it (if that is what it is), both in taste and smell, blends oddly with the Gunpowder green.

Overall Rating: 1.5 cup

1.5

 

Tea Advent Calendar — Day 21

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Fennel Chai — Black tea, ginger root, cinnamon and fennel seeds with natural flavor.Day-21

I am really excited to try this tea. The combination of all the ingredients sounds really appetizing. As this is a black tea, I steeped it for 5 minutes with boiling water. This tea smells mildly of licorice, which is the fennel seeds. As for taste, it similar to you typical chai teas, but with a hint of cinnamon on the back of your tongue. If you normally don’t like the dairy aspect of traditional chai, this good alternative. You have all the flavors of chai tea without the creaminess.

Overall Rating: 3.5 cups

3.5

 

Tea Advent Calendar — Day 20

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Orange Creme Dessert Tea — Black Tea, orange peel, vanilla pieces and natural flavors.

Day-20-BSo this tea smells like exactly like a creamsicle. So if you don’t like that, run away now. 🙂

The taste of tea, while similar to a creamsicle, is slightly different. It is almost a black tea, with a floral vanilla overtone of flavor rather than orange. You certainly smell the orange, but it isn’t the most dominate in taste. Every now and then you get a relative strong dose of orange, but is isn’t in every sip. Who knows why? All and all, I am not a fan. It isn’t a bad tea to drink, I just personally don’t particularly care for it.

Overall Rating: 2 1/2 cups

2.5

 

Tea Advent Calendar — Day 19

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Darjeeling — Black tea from Darjeeling

This is perhaps one of the most well-known teas in the world. Darjeeling can be any number of black teas, but they are always from the Darjeeling region in India. It is also known as the Champagne of Tea.Day-19

For anyone new to Darjeeling tea, in simplest terms there are three tiers of quality. The lowest tier is those that are in tea bags since the leaves in them tend to be the crushed cast offs of other Darjeeling teas. The middle tier is loose leaf teas (or those found in sachets)  that are of relatively good quality. The highest tier is loose leaf teas that are of the highest quality. If you were to try a sample of each of the three tiers, there would be a distinctive taste difference between all of them. This Darjeeling tea, while it certainly is better than any random Darjeeling you get in the supermarket, it isn’t anything speculator; it is solidly in the middle tier of Darjeeling teas. Personally for me, since Darjeeling teas are so ubiquitous, I prefer those of a higher quality. But if you are just starting out in the world of tea, this tea is a great jumping off point.

Overall Rating: 3.5 cups

3.5

Tea Advent Calendar — Day 18

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Vanilla Rooibos — Organic red tea from Africa and natural vanilla.

As the description states, Rooibos is from Africa, South Africa to be specific, and it actually means ‘red bush’, in Great Britain it is sometimes known as ‘Redbush Tea’. It is mostly grown in Cederberg, a small mountainous area in the region of the Western Cape province of South Africa. Since this tea isn’t actually derived from the traditional tea-plant, it is considered to Day-18be an herbal caffeinated tea.

I steeped this tea for 4 minutes with boiling water. As soon as the tea begins to steep, you really start to smell the vanilla. This tea tastes exactly like its name. The rooibos has that great balance of nuttiness and earthy flavors, which meshes beautifully with the few hints of the vanilla. For anyone looking for a strong vanilla flavor, this isn’t your tea. It does smell strongly of vanilla, but the dominate flavor is that of the rooibos tea.

Overall Rating: 3.5 cups

3.5

Tea Advent Calendar — Day 17

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Moroccan Mint — Gunpowder green tea and peppermint.

This tea originated in the Middle East, and is known as Maghrebi Mint Tea. The Greater Maghrebi region is the northwest Day-17African countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania. It is a mix of green tea, spearmint and sugar. Today’s Moroccan Mint is a derivative of this first drink and it came from Spain and Morocco.

As this is a green tea, I brewed this tea for 3 minutes in 175 °F water. Mint, in any form, is a strong flavor and aroma, as such, that is mainly what I both taste and smell with this tea. There are some subtle undertones of green tea and its vegetal flavors, but it is the peppermint that really is the highlight here. Personally speaking, I enjoy a mint tea, so I love this. The flip side of that is if you don’t like mint, you will not like this tea.

On a brewing side note. There are some very fine leaves in this tea, I would pour the tea through strainer before drinking, as the mesh of my loose tea infuser, didn’t catch all the leaves.

Overall Rating — 3 cups

3

Tea Advent Calendar — Day 16

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Tropical Iced Tea — Organic black tea with safflowers, marigold, cornflower, and blue mallow flower and natural flavors.

Day-16

So I didn’t realize today’s tea was an ice tea, until about 30 minutes ago. There are several ways to make ice tea, but most ofthe traditional methods take several hours (typical 4 to 12 hours depending on the method). Since I don’t feel like staying up till midnight… or later, I used a short cut. 🙂 Basically, I boiled water and steeped the tea for 5 minutes. I then poured it over a cup of ice, and then put it in the fridge for 15-20 minute to cool it down. I then served it with a couple of extra ice cubes, and a little bit of sugar to add that hint of sweetness.

Day-16-BI am not exactly sure what the various flowers in this tea add flavor-wise, because for some reason the only thing I taste with this tea is a mango or peach. It is good, just not sure where that flavor came from, perhaps the ‘natural flavors’? Considering that it is called ‘tropical’ ice tea that might be a good guess. At which point I have to wonder what was the purpose of all the different flowers in the blend?

 

Overall Rating: 2.5 cups

2.5