Day 24 of Plum Deluxe’s Tea Advent Calendar- Spoilers

Day 24. . .we are almost there to the end and I have to say, this has been a tea adventure for sure. Today’s tea had me giddy as soon as I saw the title. . . Snow Covered Blueberry White Tea! Squee!! I am not a black tea girl at heart and a good chunk of the teas in this advent calendar have been black tea based. So I’m beyond excited with the idea of this white tea.

White Tea, blueberries, and peppermint are not a flavor combo I’ve had before but I’m happy to give this tea a try. I prep my water up to the recommended 175F and allow the tea to brew for 4 minutes and cool for 2 more. Take my first sip and I am delighted.

Blueberries, white tea, and peppermint are all present flavors and not one flavor is more prominent than the other.  I will say that I wish the peppermint flavor was a bit more highlighted just to elevate this tea a bit more on the festive level, but that is just me. Beyond that wish, this tea is delightful.  The flavors are more on the lighter side so I can’t say that it wowed me away, but it definitely is a solid cuppa and one I won’t have a problem having another serving of.  Just a delightful ditty to enjoy on this cold blustery afternoon.

I can see this blend being a great one to share with friends and families that may not necessarily be tea drinkers because it does have a lighter touch. A great tea to have on hand when you are looking for a lighter tea to carry you away!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description

This tea is part of the tea advent calendar offered by Plum Deluxe.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Winter Wonder Berry Tea/FarmHouse Teas from St Fiacres Farm

About a year ago or so,  I took a solid look at my tea stash and realized I had way too many teas that I had been neglecting and cancelled all of my tea subscription plans. I adored the teas I was getting, but decided that I really needed to buckle down and drink what I already had.  The only subscription I kept was Sipsby because, well for $15, you can’t really go wrong with their offerings no matter how much tea you have.

Fast forward to the present day and I’m happy to say, I’ve drank down a considerable amount of my tea stash and decided it was time to pick up one tea subscription plan.  I have done Plum Deluxe, Blend Bee, 52Teas and a few others in the past, but I wanted to go a different route.  Right about that same time when I was trying to see which one I wanted to go with, I received an email from the lovely people at St Fiacres Farm about their new FarmHouse Teas.  I checked out the site and remembered that St Fiacres Farm offered a tea subscription plan.  Each month you are sent one of their teas (1oz) and a few goodies.  So far, I’m super impressed with what I’ve received but this blend I devoured in just a few sittings.

Winder Wonder Berry Tea is a blend of green rooibos (my favorite!), peppermint, spearmint, berries, and a few other inclusions.  Besides this tea smelling amazing, the look of this tea is just wonderfully comforting.

I prepared this tea with with fresh boiled water and allowed to steep for 6 minutes, then allowed the tea to cool for about 3 minutes.  Took my first sip and was in heaven. Fresh blueberries with mint and a honey background with notes of a sweet tartness probably coming from the vanilla extract and hibiscus.  This tea has it all.  It is refreshing, crisp, and down right amazing.

Green rooibos teas really don’t get much better than this and this is one tea that I’m going to need to get more of STAT. I can’t wait to try this tea as a cold brew if I can save some for the upcoming summer months.

And what where my treats to go along with this blend? Glad you asked. The most amazing toffee I’ve ever had.  Ever heard of cashew almond toffee? Or do I just need to get out more?  This treat was simply heaven and one that if I do place a larger order soon to get more of this tea, you bet there will be a few toffees thrown in to go along with my tea!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Green Rooibos
Where to Buy: St. Fiacres Farm
Description

Brew’s up a light greenish brown color with hints of pink from the berries. A slightly tart berry flavor greets you before surrounding you with minty freshness from the peppermint and spearmint.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Blueberry is Super Starling’s New Jam. . . Blueberry Jam from DAVIDsTea. . . . .

Are you looking for sweet, dark berries — but they aren’t in season? Or maybe they ARE in season but you don’t want to go outside? Because there are mosquitoes, mud, heat, and other people out there?

This tea is a lovely solution to that issue. This blend is mostly currants, blueberries, and elderberries. At first glance, you might think the blend is rolled into balls like an oolong, then you realize it’s berries! TONS OF BERRIES! There is black tea in this, but not much. This tea is a “1” on the David’s Tea caffeine scale, which means “Low.” (There’s “None,” “Low,” “Medium,” and “Stimulant.”) Black teas tend to be “2/Medium”, but this one has so little black tea in it that it’s a 1. This is great if black tea isn’t your jam (GET IT?) or if you need something less high in caffeine for health or time-of-day reasons.

This tea will also help you find a bridesmaid dress, if that’s what you need.

Seriously.

I bought this tea after a devastating day at the King of Prussia Mall. I’d forgotten to pack my bridesmaid dress for a wedding three hours away and was trying to find a replacement. Nearly in tears, I ducked into the KoP’s David’s Tea for a breather.

Sometimes a person just needs to stand among tea for a few minutes. Especially a David’s Tea store, which has a rainbow of pleasing colors, free things to sip, and, typically, interesting-looking employees.

Today was no exception. There was one cute nerdy girl and one badass punk girl, both of whom were lovely to behold and chat with. We talked about favorite flavors and my aversion to matcha. They let me sniff EVERYTHING. I bought this tea and Lemon Pound Cake (which I’ll also review shortly!).

Then I found a suitable bridesmaid dress replacement right after!

Was it the tea calm that gave me the inner strength to find the right dress?

YES.

PROBABLY.

So, in summary: I looked great in the dress, I like this tea, and I like the store. Win win win!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  DAVIDsTea
Description 

A fruity blend of black tea, blueberries elderberries, cornflowers and stevia.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Blueberry Muffin Honeybush from 52Teas. . . .

I love 52 Teas. They have a great selection of unique and exciting flavored teas thanks to their business model of releasing a new small batch custom blended hand-crafted tea each week. The only downfall? The flavors go fast so if you fall in love, you have to act quickly to make sure you get your hands on that particular tea before it is sold out. That, or you hope and beg and pray for the 52 Teas gods to bless you with a reblend of your beloved flavor. I mention this because this particularly tea, Blueberry Muffin Honeybush, is not currently available on 52 Teas website but it may return in the future.

The blueberry flavor of this tea is perfect. It is juicy and just a little sweeter than the fruit itself but that is because it is more reminiscent of the blueberries found in muffins which are more syrupy sweet than fresh blueberries. The honeybush, though a little woody, also contributes a honeyed baked goods flavor that helps sell the idea of blueberry muffins. On top of all that, this tea is a touch buttery which is like the cherry on top.

This tea is a great evening treat. Being based on honeybush means it is naturally caffeine free and that means even the caffeine-sensitive won’t be kept up at night after enjoying a cup.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description

This blend is not currently available but click below for blends that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish from 52Teas. . . .

This blend was one of 52 Teas’ monthly blends for May. I was excited when I saw it because I find it really unique and intriguing. I unfortunately steeped this cup a little too long because I was steeping some other teas at the same time and forgot to un-steep this one first. So, I took a tentative sip because I was thinking that it would be pretty bitter. Thankfully it wasn’t! Phew.

Guys and gals…let me tell you what this tea tasted like. Are you ready? You sure? It tasted like….A blueberry cream cheese danish. Shocking! No, i’m just being silly.

But really it does taste exactly like a blueberry danish with cream cheese. Both the dry leaf and steeped liquid smells like blueberry, but once I taste it I swear I can taste the cream cheese and sweet pastry bread. How they liquidized a blueberry danish, I have no idea. All I can say is that it tasted like Willy Wonka transformed a blueberry cream cheese danish into a mug of tea (instead of a stick of gum!) It is so creamy and tangy from the blueberries and cream cheese, but sweet from that classic danish icing and the sweet pastry bread.

This is a winner, hands down, one of my favorites of all time. I highly recommend you try it!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:   52Teas
Description

This blend is no longer available but click below for blends that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!