Day 9!
The 12 Teas of Christmas are counting down! Day 9’s blend is Chestnut Praline Green tea. This tea is the epitome of chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Tightly rolled green tea leaves bring a bit of smoke and a bit of natural nuttiness to form the base of this blend.
The forward flavors are all brown butter and roasted chestnuts. This tea reminds me of every old-fashioned candy that tastes best this time of year, like toffee or butterscotch. Using a green tea base lets more of the nuttiness come to the forefront, instead of competing with a bold black tea.
This tea is smooth yet crispy, with warming notes and a hint of saltiness that makes you think of peanut brittle. If you can’t eat these old-fashioned desserts, just brew a cup of this tea blend instead.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
For our Ninth Tea in our Holiday countdown, I created this tea – inspired by the newest member of our family, Jimmy! I asked him for some ideas for a Christmas tea and he listed off a bunch of different flavor ideas, and two of those flavors were Chestnuts and Pralines – I’ve not done a Praline tea yet and I also didn’t have any chestnut teas planned for the season, so I thought it would be perfect to combine the two.
And YUM! This is a delightful flavor combination!
I started with a blend of organic Chun Mee and Gunpowder green teas. I added chestnut and praline essences (don’t worry – this is nut free!) and a little bit of cinnamon for some seasonal warmth. Then I tossed in some calendula petals for a little color to the blend.
This is sweet, smooth and nutty and deliciously holiday-ish!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 8-Spoilers!
Day 8!
Today’s tea is French Vanilla Marshmallow Assam Black Tea. I’m already excited seeing the name, because I love what 52Teas does for marshmallow teas, whether it is the marshmallow root or a little extra flavoring, they always taste great. Even in the bag, the creamy vanilla scent is so welcoming and relaxing.
When the holidays are keeping you busy and you want a pick-me-up like a cup of hot chocolate, but you don’t want a chocolate-flavored tea, this blend can really hit the spot. It has plenty of black tea robustness and caffeine, but is coated in marshmallowy goodness. Feel free to add milk or actual marshmallows to your mug to make a pseudo-hot-chocolate.
This would make a nice house blend to have on hand and bring out for tea parties or guests. The vanilla is classic and creamy without being too sweet, and the black tea base is pleasantly malty and full-bodied. For when you want a cup of tea with a familiar, comforting flavor with a touch of fancy French vanilla.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
I started with a blend of Assam teas that includes a first flush Assam as well as a second flush Assam. Together, these two Assams create a rich, flavorful, fruity and malty cuppa. It’s a powerful blend of Assam teas – it’s going to get you revved up in the morning – or revive you in the afternoon when you need a perk-me-up. To these teas, I added some vanilla beans and marshmallow root as well as some French vanilla extract. I also added some cornflower petals to make it pretty (but not enough to add a strong floral note.) The vanilla and marshmallow notes soften the edge of the Assam nicely – you still get that robust black tea flavor but you also get this sweet, soft, fluffy vanilla-y/marshmallow-y note that is quite divine. And it’s also organic, VEGAN, gluten-free & allergen free!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 7-Spoilers!
Day 7!
Have you had any figgy pudding yet this season? How about fig newtons? If you like figs, you will love today’s tea: Sticky Fig Oolong. This tea is also our first oolong of the 12 Teas of a Christmas set this year.
This tea has plenty of the bright, mineral taste oolongs are known for. These flavors are the right match with the sweet-yet-fresh fig taste. Beneath all the oolong brightness, the tea has a bit of complex, roasted, caramelized taste, making the fig part of the blend feel more like a candied dessert.
I’m always a bit intimidated by unflavored oolongs, so having a touch of holiday dessert flavor mixed in made this oolong more approachable for me. The sticky fig flavor isn’t overpowering, so if classic oolongs are your favorite teas, you will still find this blend to be very enjoyable.
I haven’t run into many fig tea blends so this is a great unexpected flavor for a holiday tea set, rounding out the Christmas theme.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
This tea was inspired by one of my customers who is also a frequent poster on Steepster, who – in one of her posts – mentioned that she’d like to see a fig tea from me. So here it is (and it won’t be the last, fig is one of my favorite fruits, I just haven’t gotten around with experimenting with fig in tea yet . . . but now that I have, I think I’ll keep it up because – YUM!)
So I started with these three ideas in mind: Holiday tea, Oolong tea & Fig tea. I crafted a blend of Oolongs – Ruanzhi, Wuyi and Qingxin cultivars – which I chose because I wanted the Oolong to be a little more fruity and a little less floral. To this lovely Oolong blend, I added some figs. For the holiday element, I added some cinnamon. For the final touch, I added a little honey essence.
Really lovely – this tea. The oolong is smooth and sweet. It has pleasing notes of fruit with just a hint of floral. The fig is well-defined and the honey compliments the fig nicely. The cinnamon is warm and inviting without overwhelming the cup. As I say: really lovely! It’s also organic, VEGAN, gluten free & allergen free!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 6- Spoilers!
Day 6!
It’s not Christmas morning yet but today’s tea is a great blend to have at breakfast: Banana Pancakes Black Tea. Put your nose in the bag, and you’ll see that the tea smells like your favorite diner or breakfast restaurant, with plenty of maple syrup flavor and a whiff of sliced banana.
Brewed, there is a pleasant starchiness in the black tea that suits the natural starchiness of the banana and adds to the pancake feeling. The maple and banana flavor combination reminds me of banana nut muffins or banana bread. This is a fun, sweet blend on its own but it would also go great with a few mulling spices for a banana chai, or with some coconut milk or nut milk for an almost banana nut cereal taste.
I’m always a fan if banana teas, so I was more than happy to go bananas over this brew!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
52teas
Description:
I don’t think it’s any big secret that I love banana teas. So when I go a couple of months without releasing a banana tea – I really start to miss them. And it seems like it’s been quite some time since I’ve done a pancake tea (actually, I haven’t done a pancake tea since the famous Pancake Breakfast tea which I reblended back in January of last year.) So, I’m thinking – why not bring these two flavors together in one tea?
I started with a fantastic blend of black teas from China: an Assamica from the JingMai Mountains, a Fujian Black and a Yunnan Gold. Then I added some bananas along with pancake and maple essence. But don’t worry, it’s vegan and gluten free – and depending upon how you serve it, its also sugar- and fat-free!
Take a sip on this and experience a stack of banana-filled pancakes dripping with maple syrup! Yummy!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 5-Spoilers!
Day 5!
The 12 Teas of Christmas has had a nice variety of tea types and flavors so far, so I am never bored with the flavors in store for me. Today is a green tea with fruity, creamy tones: Blackberry Custard Tart Green. There nice purple dried blackberries in the dry leaf and plenty of juicy dark fruit scent in the bag.
Brewed, the creamy, vanilla pudding flavor of the custard comes through more strongly, adding a smooth mouthfeel alongside all the delectable dessert tastes. I appreciate that green tea was used as the base for this blend to give the blackberry and cream more room to shine. A black tea might have taken over with its own tartness and tannins. The green tea adds a gentle vegetal note that compliments the berries, and a bit of nuttiness that feels like the fruit tart cookie crust.
This is a nice blend for midway through your day, when you want something with a little pep but not too sweet or caffeinated. It is bright but decadent and the perfect way to treat yourself during the busy holiday season.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
One afternoon as I was perusing through my Pinterest feed, I found a recipe for Blackberry Custard. It looked exceptionally good and whenever I see a dessert recipe that looks exceptionally good, I immediately think about how I’d translate that recipe to a tea flavor. Yep, I’m kind of nerdy like that. So I thought … hmmm, blackberry custard sounds like a winning idea for a tea. Then I remembered that there was already a Blackberries & Cream Shou Mei so how different could a blackberry custard really be?
So, I thought, what if it had a delightfully buttery pastry crust? Well, then it would be a Blackberry Custard Tart.
So that’s what inspired me to make this with my green tea base (a blend of organic Chun Mee and organic Gunpowder). I added blackberry, custard and pastry flavors. Then I tossed in some of those big, beautiful freeze-dried blackberries. This is really good!