The holidays are my favorite time of year. And, for me, it’s not just about the decorations and the gift-giving and time for family – oh those things are very important to me – but there’s also a part of me that can’t deny that it’s also about the TEA! Hot tea just tastes better when the weather is cooler, and I love how so many tea companies out there offer special teas to celebration!
And sometimes, you happen across a company like Della Terra Teas that offers a whole collection of 12 teas to count down the 12 Days of Christmas!
Fireside Spice
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
Open up this amazing chai spice inspired tea and sip away. You’ve earned it!
This black tea will bring more magic to this already magical day with the taste of clove, cinnamon and spice! You may not of gotten two turtle doves, but you did get this impressive tea! Enjoy and relax!
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
When I opened the pouch of this tea, I recognized the scent immediately. It smelled like red-hots! Many tea companies out there offer a tea similar to this one … but don’t mistake that comment as my way of saying that if you’ve tried one, you’ve tried them all. I’ve found that as it is with most things in life, some of the cinnamon-y holiday teas are better than others.
This is one of the better tasting ones I’ve tried. It’s sweet and hot, but, I like that the spice is not overwhelming my palate. I like that it’s not as much like the “red hot” candy as some others that I’ve tried (I like those as well, but, it’s nice to have a more subtle approach to that candy taste too.) This tastes like someone took a few red hots and dissolved them in my tea, rather than like someone liquefied a couple of handfuls of red hots and mixed them with a quarter cup of tea. There is more tea to be tasted in this cup than candy-like sweetness, and that’s got me smiling.
But there is something else that makes this chai-like tea different. In place of the strong, orange-y flavor that is often part of a holiday tea like this, there is vanilla! The vanilla adds a hint of sweetness and a touch of creaminess that gives the cup a sort of “latte” kind of taste without the dairy.
The black tea offers a nice, solid background of rich flavor, while the notes of cinnamon, ginger, cloves and the creamy vanilla tantalize my taste buds. Every once in a while, I can swear that I taste that aforementioned orange-y note, and I’m not sure if it’s just that my taste buds are playing games with me because I’m used to tasting that kiss of citrus in this type of blend, or if it’s actually there. But, I like the way it all comes together.
As I write this review, it is cold and wet outside – we had a bit of snow earlier this week, it’s all melted now, but now it’s wet! – but this tea is warming me up from the inside and working it’s way to the outside, that the chill of the outside doesn’t bother me. I’m happy as I sip this tea!
On The First Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas Sent To Me …
Wow! Can you believe that it’s already December 14th, people? Well, every year, I do a 12 days of Christmas Teas countdown, and this year, I’m not just doing one countdown … but two! However, my second countdown will start a little late because … I haven’t yet received that package! Hopefully it will arrive sometime today so that I will only be behind by one day. Who knows, maybe I’ll do the second 12 Days of Christmas batch starting on Christmas Day … and continue through the 11 days that follow.
Isn’t it cute!
In the meantime, it’s time to get my Della Terra Teas 12 Days of Christmas Tea countdown started! The box arrived wrapped in brown paper, and when I tore away the paper, I saw the beautiful box! I love the packaging that Della Terra Teas uses for their countdown – it’s a gift in itself.
Inside the box is an array of twelve festive “goody” bags tied off with tags to indicate which day the bag is for, and inside each bag is the secret tea of the day. Today’s tea is:
Spiced Pear
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
On the first day of Christmas something delicious was given to me, and that was a Spiced Pear tea!
On this first day of your 12 Days of Christmas, please sit back and enjoy a cup of this delightful, spiced pear tea that is exclusive to the sets of twelve! What a way to start!
Taster’s Review:
Last Year’s “first day of Christmas Tea” was also a pear tea, but, I was certainly not disappointed to find another pear tea as this year’s first tea. I love pear teas! And I was especially happy to see that this is one of the exclusive to the holiday countdown box teas – I LOVE that Della Terra Teas does this! It might not seem like a big deal but it makes the whole countdown box seem that much more special when there’s exclusive teas in it, you know?
Ahhh … this Spiced Pear Tea from Della Terra Teas is nice! When the tea first finished brewing, it looked a little “light” in color in my glass teapot. I was worried that it wasn’t going to be flavorful enough. But it’s just right. I can taste the sweet pear notes, the spice tones and the black tea in the background. It’s a nicely rounded tea.
The pear flavor is strong here and as has often been my complaint when it comes to pear teas, there is often just not enough pear flavor to satisfy me! I love pears, but because it is kind of a delicate tasting fruit it is sometimes difficult for the right flavor to be captured in a tea, especially one with a black tea base like this.
So, now that I think about it, perhaps it was a good thing that the tea looked a bit light in color, a stronger, more robustly flavored tea would have overpowered the softer pear tones. As it is, there is a nice balance between black tea and pear.
And then there is the spice. It’s a gently spiced tea, just enough to add some warmth to the cup without dominating the taste buds with a powerful spice flavor.
This is a very soothing tea to sip … it’s very nice on these cold winter days, and a really delightful tea to start off the 12 Days of Christmas! YUM!
White Christmas Black Tea Blend from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Here’s our premium black teas blended with peppermint, marshmallow root and organic flavors. I know we’ve done a few marshmallow/mint blends this year, but this might just be the crowning jewel. As a few of our 12 Teas of Christmas sampler purchasers have already commented, the black tea lends a faint chocolate note to the mixture of mint and marshmallow.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh yum!
I have tried the other marshmallow root teas that 52Teas has crafted in the past, and I’ve enjoyed them all, but, this White Christmas Black Tea Blend might just be my favorite thus far. (I don’t know though, the Sun and Cloud Mist Tea is really amazing too!)
First, I really like that the black tea is not overpowered by the other flavors. I taste the black tea right up front, and while I do enjoyed my flavored teas, I do appreciate it when the tea is not overwhelmed by the flavors. Here, the black tea is robust, rich, and delicious, with a moderate amount of astringency. And as it has been mentioned on Steepster, there is the faintest note of cocoa to this that is quite delightful – and I can’t help but wonder how AMAZING this tea might have been with chocolate flavors too. That’s not to say it’s not already delicious – it is! – but, I’m a chocoholic and chocolate always makes things taste better!
The peppermint is crisp and refreshing. My mouth feels clean in the aftertaste, I can feel the cool mint tingle over my tongue. Very invigorating! I like how the marshmallow softens the mint somewhat though … this doesn’t taste TOO minty. The marshmallow gives the cup a soft, sweet taste that I really like.
What a great tea! I really like this one a whole lot. Well done, 52Teas!
On the Fourth Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas sent to me …
Good day, and welcome to day four. Oh … wait, I guess I should save that for day twelve, right? (Anyone who is unfamiliar with Bob and Doug McKenzie probably don’t get that. For those of you who want to know what I’m talking about, click here.)
And now that I’m sitting here, listening to that, I think maybe I should have used “French Toast” as my inspiration behind the the 12 Days of Christmas tea swap I told you about yesterday. I should have been able to find a French Toast tea. Right?
Anyway, on to today’s tea that Della Terra Teas sent to me . . .
Chocolate Raspberry Truffle
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
On the fourth day of Christmas your the calling birds will be calling for some of your Chocolate Raspberry Truffle!
A festive blend of the rich chocolate and tart raspberries create a decadent truffle in your cup. Being it’s the holidays, it’s perfectly fine to overly enjoy this one. Grin away!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I opened today’s package I was really excited! I mean, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle??? Hello? YUM!!!
I had very high expectations for this tea, because Della Terra Teas has one of the very best chocolate teas that I’ve yet to taste (which I’ve just realized I misspelled … it should be “Dubbele Chocolade” … sorry Della Terra Teas!) so I wanted chocolate – lots of it – and true raspberry flavor. I wanted liquified Chocolate Raspberry Truffle!
And that’s just what I got! 
This is rich and chocolate-y, and with just the right amount of raspberry flavor. The raspberry is sweet and tart. The sip starts out smooth and sweet and chocolate-y, and then about mid-sip, the raspberry comes in … it’s almost as if I were biting into a Chocolate Raspberry Truffle … I’d notice the chocolate first, and then the raspberry would come in. The finish is sweet with that berry tingle that tickles the tongue.
And, with all that flavor going on, you might be wondering if there is any tea to taste … and yes, I do taste the tea. It is a fairly mellow black tea base, it doesn’t really come forth in a very strong or powerful way. It seems kind of content to just work the background, and it does provide a very solid background.
Overall, this is a very satisfying Chocolate Raspberry Truffle flavored black tea. And certainly a treat that is perfect to enjoy this time of year … I’m really happy this was part of Della Terra Teas’ 12 Days of Christmas tea box!
On The Third Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas Sent to Me …
The third day of Christmas has been a very meaningful day for me this year, as it was the day that I’ve been busy with these past couple of months. For two swaps that I was involved with (12 days of Christmas swaps) the day that was chosen for me was day 3. Three French Hens.
The first swap I was involved in was one I facilitated on Steepster. It was a tea swap, and each participant needed was assigned a day from the song, and they needed to come up with a tea to send out to each of the other participants … and their tea choice needed to be inspired by the lyrics of the song … that is to say, they needed to choose a tea that was inspired by the day that they were assigned. I needed to choose a tea that said “Three French Hens.” Instead, I chose three teas that were somewhat French-like, and presented them in a large egg. Three French teas that were laid by French Hens. At least that was the message I was trying to express with my swap. Hopefully it made sense to the other participants.
If I happen to glance at the “French Hens” sort of carelessly and quickly, I instead read French Horns. Then I think of “How I Met Your Mother” and the blue French Horn that Ted pilfered from the restaurant where he took Robin on their first date. Maybe for my contribution for the 12 Days of Christmas art swap I took part in I should have done something French Horn inspired. Instead, I made Smash Books. I hope that everyone liked them.
So… without further babbling, I present the tea that Della Terra Teas sent me for the Third Day of Christmas:
The Gingerbread Man
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tisane Description:
On the third day of Christmas a gift of tea for you! The Gingerbread Man!
We don’t believe a french hen flavored tea would have been a grand idea, so we present to you a delicious gingerbread rooibos blend! So creamy and full of flavor.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve stated many times that rooibos just isn’t my favorite thing. But, I do drink rooibos, pretty regularly, in fact, and so I guess I should stop saying that. While it is true that they aren’t my favorite, I don’t really dislike most of the rooibos blends that I try. In fact, the majority of the ones that I’ve tried over the course of the last couple of years, I’ve enjoyed … some more than others, but for the most part, I’ve enjoyed most of the rooibos blends I’ve tried. So I really DO need to quit saying I don’t like rooibos, because there’s quite a bit of evidence to the contrary.
This rooibos blend is pretty darned good. The description above is correct, this rooibos blend actually tastes creamy. But I don’t agree that this should be called “Gingerbread Man.” I just am not getting a whole lot of anything here that makes me think “Oh … this is Gingerbread!” It’s tasty, and that’s a good thing, but, it’s not really gingerbread to me.
I’m liking that that this is sweet without that “funky sweetness” that I sometimes get from rooibos. I taste a somewhat nutty flavor from the rooibos, and this contributes to the overall freshly baked cake kind of taste … but there really needs to be more ginger for this to be something I’d be able to say “oh yeah, that’s gingerbread alright.” I’m just not getting much ginger at all here.
What I do taste is the aforementioned creamy tone, notes of nutty flavor from the rooibos, as well as pineapple. I taste more pineapple here than I do ginger. Perhaps we could rename the Gingerbread Man to Pineapple Bread Man.
Now I’m being silly. That’s what happens when I start drinking tisane too late at night.
It is sweet, creamy and I taste very subtle spice notes, hints of ginger and of cinnamon. And from the currants, I get just a hint of a berry tartness toward the tail end of the sip.
Overall, it’s really kind of an odd – as in unusual – tisane, but, I am finding it really tasty, even if it doesn’t live up to what I would expect from something called “Gingerbread Man,” and I’m really glad I tried it.