24 Days of Tea Holiday Countdown – Day 22 from Teanzo 1856

The big day is almost here.  Just two days left to shop for it!

Day8Today’s artistic inspiration comes from another 12 Days of Christmas swap.  This ornament was created by Autumn.  (Sorry, Autumn, I didn’t take note of your last name!)  This is really a cool ornament.  It’s difficult to tell from the photo (and the photo isn’t the greatest anyway!) but the base of the ornament is a juice concentrate lid.  You know, the stuff you get in the freezer section of the grocery store in the cardboard cylinders with metal ends?  Autumn took the metal ends and made ornaments!  Really cool!

It’s not only a beautiful ornament that adds a lot of sparkle to my tree, but I love that it was made out of something upcycled – something that was otherwise destined for the landfill!  Day8-1

Here is an up close view of the ornament…

Like I said, very cool.

I love doing the 12 days of Christmas mail art swaps for things like this – I find it very inspiring to see what other artists are doing with everyday “throwaway” items like juice can lids!  Pieces like this really get the creative juices flowing!

Today’s teas is one of my favorites thus far.  This is one tea I’m likely to buy again from Teanzo, because I suspect I’ll be wanting more of it soon!

Earl Grey Green Tea

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Teanzo 1856

Tea Description:

If you love Earl Grey Tea, then try our Earl Grey Green Tea.  You get all the health benefits of green tea, with that familiar Earl Grey flavor that you already love.  A perfect gift for Earl Grey lovers!

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I’ve reviewed quite a few Earl Grey black teas (an understatement!) but significantly less Earl Grey green teas.  There are a couple of reasons for this:  the first is that there are far fewer Earl Grey green teas available out there.  With just about any tea company out there, you’re likely to find an Earl Grey black.  Most tea companies has at least one black variety of Earl Grey.  But, only a fraction of those actually carry an Earl Grey green tea.

Earl-Grey-GreenThe second reason is that as much as I love an Earl Grey black tea, I’ve not found a lot of Earl Grey green teas that I’ve enjoyed as much.  I’ve enjoyed a few, but if it came down to a choice between an Earl Grey black and an Earl Grey green, I’d choose the black version every time.  Bergamot just seems to meld better with the flavor of black tea better than the green tea.

BUT!

I think I may have found an Earl Grey green tea that I enjoy as much as I enjoy some of my favorite Earl Grey blacks.  Maybe not as much as those Earl Grey black teas that are at the very top of my list, but, this Earl Grey green even when placed among the black teas would be somewhere in the top ten.  Yep.  I said it.  This is a GOOD Earl Grey green.  Really good!

I’m not sure what makes this one so much better than the other Earl Grey green teas that I’ve tried.  The bergamot?  Perhaps.  This is a flavorful bergamot, tangy with just a little contrasting sweetness, it’s bright and invigorating.  A nice, sunny citrus note that isn’t overly floral or perfume-y, but still very distinctly bergamot.

Perhaps it’s the tea itself?  The green tea here looks like large gunpowder pellets and it has a pleasantly sweet flavor.  It’s not overly vegetative.  It’s a little earthy, it has hints of buttery notes.  It’s a mild tasting green tea and it blends in a very agreeable way with the notes of bergamot.  It has a slight creaminess to it that softens some of the sharper notes of the bergamot.

Together, this is a delightful match.  The tea resteeps nicely too, I find that the bergamot notes soften somewhat in the second infusion but the softer notes are quite pleasant too.

This tea was one of the most pleasant of surprises discovered in this Advent Calender from Teanzo!

24 Days of Tea Holiday Countdown – Day 12 from Teanzo 1856

It’s day 12!  We’re half way through this Advent Calendar!  Wow!

wreathHow goes the holiday rush?  Have you finished your holiday shopping?  We haven’t.  Then again, we have been a little under the weather!  Both hubby and I came down with a horrible cold.  I’m glad that neither of our daughters caught it.  Hubby had to take a few sick days, neither of us were feeling well enough to get up and go anywhere – much less face the crowds of a store filled with frenzied Christmas shoppers!

For today’s artistic inspiration, I’m going to show another piece that I created a few years ago.  This is my holiday wreath.  It was very easy to make.  It almost feels a little “wrong” for me to say that I made it when I think that most of the work came from an artist who calls herself “Confections” on Etsy.  She made this gorgeous “ragamuffin” style “yarn” that I used to wrap around a foam wreath shape that I bought from my local craft store.  I’d wrap and wrap and then, every once in a while, I’d tie it off to enhance that ragamuffin look.  Then I attached some glitter adorned holly leaves and big red buttons for holly berries, and added a big red bow to finish it off.

It was a fun project and really simple.  I managed to finish it in a few hours and it’s a wreath that I proudly hang up every year.  The colors in the ragamuffin yarn are so beautiful and were exactly what I was looking for for this type of project.  I love it!

Speaking of love, today Teanzo sent me a tea I adore!

Organic Bergamot Earl Grey

orventureearlgreyTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Teanzo 1856

Tea Description:

Our highly aromatic version of this legendary American favorite Earl Grey tea is blended using organic tea giving this Bergamot Earl Grey Tea its depth of flavor.   Bergamot Earl Grey tea is also delicious served over ice. 

Taster’s Review:

I was greeted with a bright, beautiful fragrance when I tore open the sampler pouch today!  That amazing aroma of bergamot!  It’s a little sweet, citrusy and there are notes of flower in the fragrance.

To brew this, I grabbed my Kati Tumbler (boy, my Kati is getting a work out with this advent calendar!) and poured the contents of the packet into the basket.  Then I heated 12 ounces of water to boiling and let the tea steep for 3 minutes.

This is a good Earl Grey.  I like that it’s an organic selection!

The flavor is bright and tangy.  The bergamot flavor is strong but doesn’t overwhelm the black tea base which is bold.  There are notes of malt and notes of caramel that mingle nicely with the energetic flavor of the Italian fruit.

I taste hints of flower in the distance, but don’t mistake this as my saying it tastes “perfume-y” because this doesn’t taste like that at all!  It’s a strong, forward flavor but it hasn’t been overdone.  A good quality bergamot oil was used to craft this blend because it doesn’t come off as soapy.  It just tastes like a really smartly blended Earl Grey tea!

This is an Earl Grey tea I’d be happy to drink any day!  I’m so glad that Teanzo included this in their advent calendar!

24 Days of Tea Holiday Countdown – Day 1 from Teanzo 1856

Every year since we’ve been doing this SororiTea Sisters thing, I’ve done a Holiday countdown/Advent calendar of tea.  For the previous four years, I’ve done a 12 Teas of Christmas, but this year, I’ve decided to do things a little different.  This year, I’m going to double down on the 12 Teas of Christmas and go for a full Advent Calender of 24 Days of Tea!

tea-advent-calendar

The company I’ll be featuring for the countdown this year is Teanzo 1856!  I’m so excited!  The teas arrived in a bright red gift box with a festive label on the top featuring Teanzo’s cute elephant logo.  Inside the box were 12 coppery colored, small sample packets, each with a numbered label on the front.  They are glued – rather securely, really, I think they need a glue less tacky for this job – to a strip of card-stock.  On the back of each packet is the name of the tea and the list of ingredients.  Inside is the good stuff:  a sample portion of each tea – just enough for my Kati Tumbler!  Also included is a package of DIY loose leaf tea bags so that you can brew these right in your favorite mug.

Because the packets are securely attached to the card-stock strip, it isn’t easily revealed which tea will be enjoyed the next day (so it’s a little bit of a surprise until you remove the sampler from the box), which helps keep those that are inclined to “cheat” at bay a little bit.  A persistent “cheater” would be able to find out easily what future days have in store, of course, it’s not that difficult and it’s not like some of the other countdown boxes that I’ve had in the past where I either would need to open the pouch to find out what tea is inside, or scratch off a “scratcher” (like the lotto cards) to find out what tea is inside.

While the element of surprise is a fun thing, it isn’t the most important thing about these calendars.  For me, I like the idea of having a different tea every day.  I like counting down to the holiday with tea.  Mostly because – and this may come as no big surprise to you – I like tea.

So without further ado, I will announce the first day of the countdown – there are 24 days until the big day – today’s tea is:

Winter Earl Grey

Winter-Earl-Grey

 Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Teanzo 1856

Tea Description:

Our Winter Earl Grey Tea is sure to please with this creamy twist on a classic Earl Grey. The vanilla tones down the citrus flavors and is a perfect way to warm up this season.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:  

So my first thought is:  Teanzo knows how to kick off a countdown right!  Earl Grey baby!  This Winter Earl Grey Tea is – essentially – an Earl Grey Creme tea.  I’ve had some really good Earl Grey Creme teas and I’ve had some less than memorable ones … and I’ve had some that aren’t even worth mentioning.  This Winter Earl Grey Tea is a really good Earl Grey Creme!

My first indication that this is a good Earl Grey Creme?  When I opened the pouch I could smell a strong bergamot aroma.  STRONG!  I like that.  I like that while I could smell the creamy vanilla tones, the bergamot stood out – loud and clear!  This is an Earl Grey first, a creamy Earl Grey second.

And what can I say?  I’m a happy tea drinker at this moment.  There are few teas out there that elicit as much joy from me as a good Earl Grey tea and/or a variation of the classic Earl Grey (like an Earl Grey Creme).

To brew this:  well, as I said above, these little sampler pouches holds just the PERFECT amount for my Kati Tumbler.  This Advent Calender does include 24 unbleached loose leaf tea bags (and the amount in the sampler pouch is also just the right amount for these tea bags, should you decide to use them instead of the Kati Tumbler), but I prefer my tumbler.

I poured the contents of the sampler pouch into the basket of my tumbler and then added boiling water to the tumbler and let it steep for 3 minutes.  Earl Grey Creme (or Winter Earl Grey!) perfection!

I’m overjoyed that this tastes as good as it smells.  The bergamot has a clear and well-defined profile in this cup.  The creme does not overpower the Earl Grey.  The sharper notes of the bergamot are softened by the notes of vanilla.  The creamy vanilla adds a sweetness to contrast with the tangy bergamot.  It’s a nice contrast:  sweet, creamy (almost fluffy!) vanilla together with the sharp, vibrant notes of bergamot.

And let’s not forget about the black tea base because without it … we wouldn’t be drinking tea, now would we?  The black tea is not overwhelmed by the presence of the bergamot and vanilla.  Conversely, the black tea is not an overly assertive flavor in the cup.  Instead, it offers a smooth and rich backdrop of flavor and allows the sweet vanilla and citrus-y bergamot do their thing in the foreground.  It’s not a bitter tea nor is it what I’d call astringent.

Overall, a really LOVELY tea, this Winter Earl Grey.  It’s a fantastic way to kick off this countdown to Christmas Day!

Mindful Morning Blend from Plum Deluxe

mindful-morning-blendTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Plum Deluxe

Tea Description:

The mindful morning blend is the Plum Deluxe take on classic Earl Grey.

Everyone loves Earl Grey, but we found a way to make it even better so that we can start every day with a tea blend that is truly luxurious. We began with our absolute favorite black tea, Ceylon – it is a tea from Sri Lanka that has a gentle vanilla flavor to it. We then added a tiny pinch of sweet honey, a bit of flavor and color with the cornflowers, and topped it off with the bergamot oil that makes earl grey so famous. The orange peels give it a final flavor boost.

All Plum Deluxe teas are hand-blended and infused with love in Portland, Oregon.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I’m enjoying my second cup of this tea.  With the first cup, I neglected to “shake” the pouch and this is one tea where you want to do that.  There are honey crystals in the tea and they tend to settle to the bottom of the package so you want to mix it up a little before you scoop out the tea.

I wasn’t too sure about having honey crystals in my tea.  I have often said that I prefer it when tea companies don’t put sugar, honey crystals, stevia or other sweeteners in my tea because I like to decide if I want to have a sweeter tea.  I like to make that decision for myself and not have it made for me.  But, I like the honey in this.  I like the touch of honey flavor.

To brew this, I used my Kati Tumbler.  I decided to use the tumbler rather than the tea maker because I didn’t want to put honey in the tea maker.  I don’t know why, but, I made the catastrophic mistake of attempting to heat milk in an electric tea kettle a long time ago, (before there was a Breville One-Touch) and since that time, I have been very careful about what I’ll put in my kettles.

Learn from my mistake and don’t ever heat anything except water in tea kettles.  Just say no.

After shaking the pouch and getting some of those honey crystals to the surface, I measured 1 bamboo scoop of tea into the basket of my Kati and added 12 ounces of boiling water to the tumbler.  I steeped the tea for 3 minutes and removed the basket.  Now I have a tumbler full of Earl Grey yumminess.

This is actually a spin on an Earl Grey Creme tea.  And it’s quite lovely.

The black tea base is a smooth, medium-bodied Ceylon.  It has a pleasant flavor that’s a little earthy and a wee bit malty.  It has a slightly dry finish, indicating some astringency.  I would say it’s mildly astringent and it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the cup or the smoothness of the sip.

The bergamot is not exceptionally strong in this blend, but I think that’s probably because the vanilla notes have softened the bergamot, creating a lovely citrus-y, creamy flavor that hints at caramel tones.  Bring in the light honey notes from the honey crystals and that’s where this tea really “hits the sweet spot.”  The honey plus the caramel is delightfully delicious.

I do get a bright, tangy note of bergamot that’s softer than a typical Earl Grey.  Then again, this isn’t a typical Earl Grey and it’s not meant to be.  The vanilla adds a touch creamy.  The orange peel highlights the brightness of the bergamot.  And these flavors mingle in a really beautiful way with the aforementioned honeyed caramel.  Mmm!

This is the first tea that I’ve tried from Plum Deluxe, and I’m so pleased with it!  I really like what I’ve seen (and tasted!) from this company thus far.  I love that they’re a company based locally (Portland, Oregon) and I was touched by the story that inspired the company.   And I just LOVED getting a purple bubble envelope in the mail the other day!  What fun!  (Get it?  Plum Deluxe?  Purple Envelope?  Loved it!)

Children’s Hospital Vanilla Black Tea from The Secret Garden Tea Co.

ChildHospVanillaTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  The Secret Garden Tea Co.

Tea Description:

A playful blend of  baby rosebuds, vanilla, and bergamot that reminds us of childhood tea parties. Proceeds go to BC Children’s Hospital.

Ingredients: Black tea, rosehip pieces, rose petals, blackberry leaves, natural flavors.

Learn more about this blend here.

Taster’s Review:

After reading the ingredients listed and then opening the sample pouch of this tea, I was a little surprised to immediately recognize a chamomile blossom.  I see the rosehips and rose petals and blackberry leaves, but they need to update their ingredient list to also include chamomile.

This is a tasty blend.  The black tea base has a robust flavor and it melds nicely with the notes of vanilla to create a really rich, creamy flavor that is both malty and vanilla-y sweet.  The sip starts out really smooth yet strong, and it remains smooth to the finish where I pick up on a slightly dry astringency.

The bergamot is a little less distinct than the vanilla and even the floral notes in this blend.  When one reads the description of this tea, they might be led to believe that this is a “Earl Grey Creme” type of tea, but I wouldn’t call it that.  It’s more of a flowery cream type of tea than it is a creamy bergamot type of tea.

The floral notes are soft and sweet.  I like the way they contrast with the silky vanilla tones.  I don’t taste a lot from the aforementioned chamomile blossoms, not even that distinct apple-y flavor that I usually pick up on when I drink something with chamomile.  The strength of the black tea and other flavors seems to cancel out the chamomile – but that certainly doesn’t disappoint me.  What I do taste is the rose and it’s quite a nice flavor.  It starts out rather delicate and by the time I made my way to mid-cup, I was noticing more and more rose essence emerge in every sip.

I’m also so pleased to find that this tea is a tea that benefits the BC Children’s Hospital.  I like that Secret Garden Tea Company has found a few favorite charities and offers help to them through the sales of their lovely tea blends.

This is a really nice tea.  It has many different layers of flavor and what I think I’m realizing now that I’ve just passed the mid-cup point is that every sip seems to be just a little different than the one that preceded it.  I might notice a really strong presence of the black tea in the first sip and with the next sip, I pick up on more vanilla.  The sips that follow allow my palate to explore other flavors:  hints of bright bergamot notes, a rose essence that develops, and the creamy-malty flavor of the vanilla and black tea flavors.

It’s quite an interesting tea – I’d recommend this to anyone who is looking for a blend that’s a little less ordinary!