I let my daughter pick the teas we would drink together during our visits. She loves chai, she loves marshmallow treats, and she loves tea so this was a natural choice out of my box for her to try.
When she started making it, I hadn’t seen that it was a Genmaicha, so when the water hit the infuser basket I thought, “Oh no! Someone must have left coffee in the pot!” Ah no! It was the roasty scent of genmaicha, that comforting burned aroma that smells like warmth in winter time, like a campfire on a late fall night, like a warm mug clutched by frozen fingers.
Add to it the scent of chai spices and you have a real comfort food vibe. This tea has a lot of whole or large spices in it, so stir it up to distribute them according to your liking. We love cardamom and this had lots, giving it a lovely lemony flavor.
The funny thing was that almost together, as I was about to say that these were very pleasant chai spices, one daughter said, “Oh, it’s so cardamom-y!” at the same time the other said, “It tastes like marshmallow!” I think we each picked out our favorite flavors and focused on them.
And the good news is that it resteeps like a champ! Since these are almost all limited edition teas, you want to get all you can out of your favorites.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
The Rest of the Plum Deluxe Tea Advent Calendar Run Down. . ..
If you have been following along, here are the rest of the goodies included in the Plum Deluxe Advent Tea Calendar along with some final thoughts regarding this whole experience. . .
Day 19- I think this is a little star shaped candle, but I’m not 100% sure. Honestly, the candle is so little, I’d be a little scared to burn it.
Day 20- Coconut Macaroon Dessert Tea- This blend features red rooibos and if you have been following along with this countdown, you know I’m not a fan of red rooibos so this blend will be passed along to someone I know who will enjoy it.
Day 21- Thoughts for this blend were posted on the 21st.
Day 22- Raspberry Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans- As delicious as this sounds, I’m not a huge chocolate or espresso fan so I’m going to pass these along to my stepsons who I know will love them.
Day 23- Holiday Embrace Herbal Tea. . . Oh sigh. . another blend with red rooibos in it. Too bad this one didn’t have green rooibos because the blend sounds amazing! Cranberries, orange peel, hibiscus, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and clove. . .sounds so festive and amazing.
Day 24- This tea got its own post on the 24th!
Day 25- Chocolate Cinnamon Black Tea (I think)- I knew Christmas was going to be crazy so I pre-tried this tea out and loved it but I can’t seem to find my notes. the tea was chocolaty with the right amount of cinnamon to elevate the flavors. I really loved this black tea blend and would have no problem devouring more if anybody didn’t like theirs. . . . .
We are now done with the Plum Deluxe Advent Tea Calendar. For the most part, I enjoyed the offerings. I will say that if I do this calendar again, I will only get the teas (if that is an option) since I wasn’t a huge fan of the treats that were included. I was hoping for more tea related treats but then again, the calendar can really only hold so much.
As a side note, If you are a picky tea drinker like myself where you don’t care for all black flavored teas or red rooibos, I will say this may not be the calendar for you. I was hoping for more of a variety of teas like green flavored teas, green rooibos teas, or even more white teas, but almost all of the teas had a black tea base. Just a personal preference. Again, I’m pretty picky about my flavored teas.
What I did love about this calendar was the calendar itself. I’m going to try to figure out a way to cover up the snowflake parts of the decoration so I can use this calendar all year round to keep me on track with what teas I need to review, drink, and just enjoy. Being someone who has a crazy huge amount of teas, sometimes blends that I was super excited for get pushed back to the back of the cabinet and I forget they are there. With this calendar, I’m hoping I can keep on track with what I need to drink and what I have.
I also found some amazing teas that I wasn’t for sure I’d love and I hope they get released to purchase on the Plum Deluxe site. If not, I’m happy that I did step out of my box and tried so many different black flavored teas. Something I should do more often!
All in all, I’m happy I took the jump and ordered this calendar. If nothing else, it was a fun experience and reminded me how much I adore Plum Deluxe.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type:
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description
This is the final posting about the Plum Deluxe Tea Advent Calendar
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
On the First Day of Christmas, 52Teas sent to me. . . . .
Every December we happily look forward to the Christmas teas that 52Teas puts together for their Christmas box. Our Sister will be giving us the daily low down on which teas made their way into the box this year . . . . .
The First Day of Christmas
Coconut French Toast with Cardamom Maple Syrup Black Tea
For the First Day of Christmas, 52 Teas gave to me….coconut crusted French toast with cardamom syrup! This was the tea of the week for June 15, 2015 and at that time I had not yet heard of 52 Teas, so I am really excited to have the chance to try this. It sounds like pure Heaven!
The dry leaf smell is creamy, maple-y, and coconut-y! There are big chunks of coconut and cardamom pods. Maple and cardamom tend to go well together and, in my humble opinion, coconut just goes well with almost anything!
I steeped this tea for about 3 minutes with very hot water and I also added just a tad bit of agave. This is so, so good! The cardamom shines through so well, its not overpowering though. Sometimes I feel that cardamom can add such an intense flavor and end up outshining the other ingredients, but here it just accents everything. The combination of coconut and maple add this nutty sweet and creaminess. I am very much enjoying this one, so this holiday TEAson (see what I did there?) is off to a fantastic start! I am going to enjoy the rest of this cup now and also finish the entire sample bag- and can I be honest with you guys? I feel like I haven’t done that in a really long time. I mean yeah I’ve found the teas I’ve been ordering to be very enjoyable, but to finish off the cup and the rest of the tea leaves? That’s rare for me these days so i’m really happy to be loving this tea so much.
So cheers to you and yours, enjoy this lovely symphony of flavor, and come on back tomorrow to see what I have to say about Day #2!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
I think we should kick off this holiday countdown with some BREAKFAST – don’t you? How about some delicious coconut crusted French Toast with a touch of butter and some sweet maple syrup that’s been infused with the warmth of cardamom? Sound good? Yeah, it sounds good to me too!
Here’s our original description for this tea:
This tea was inspired by a very memorable breakfast. Coconut crusted French toast that was topped with melted butter and a cardamom syrup. I went a step further and added maple flavoring because it sounded like a good idea. It tastes even better than it sounds!
I stuck close to the recipe here although there’s a bit more cardamom here than in my past versions. I wanted to highlight the cardamom!
organic ingredients: black teas, toasted coconut flakes, cardamom pods & natural flavors
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Canoe Lake Blend
On Canada Day, I was looking for a festive tea to celebrate with when I happened upon this tea…Canoe Lake Blend by Pluck Teas. This tea that Pluck calls “a truly Canadian blend” is made up of black tea, rooibos, sunflower, jasmine, calendula petals, real maple syrup, licorice root, cocoa, safflower petals, cornflowers, and natural flavour. Meant to remind you of campfires and sugar shacks, I thought it was worth a try.
I brewed it at 200F for 4 minutes as the recommended steeping parameters of 5 minutes in boiling water seemed like it might be a bit much. Using my method, this tea definitely has a smokey campfire flavor to it. Smoke and maple sweetness. There is also a thick caramel sweetness here that is almost a bit burnt and a little bit stale. It hits you at the back of the throat and is a little offputting for my tastes if I am being honest.
I am surprised there isn’t more going on here given the list of ingredients that seem odd and out of place. What jasmine and sunflower had to do with a smokey maple/caramel tea is beyond me and though I know licorice root is often used to add sweetness, I am glad I can’t actually taste its cloying flavor. Plus, the cocoa is lost as there is no chocolate to be found, though it may be adding to the offness of the caramel since cocoa can sometimes read dusty and stale in teas.
I think this tea is trying to capture a relatively simple flavor with too many ingredients. Unfortunately, I think it suffers for it. Though it is not bad perse, I certainly found myself disappointed by the flavors promised versus the actual execution of it. It was fun to try but ultimately this tea just isn’t for me.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Pluck Teas
Description
Jennifer’s Tasting Notes
Notes of caramel, maple sugar, and pine smoke interwine in this rooibos and black tea blend. Memories of campfires and sugar shacks… a truly Canadian blend.
Ingredients
Black Tea, Rooibos, Sunflower, Jasmine, Calendula Petals, Real Maple Syrup, Licorice Root, Cocoa, Safflower Petals, Cornflowers, Natural Flavour.
100% natural.
Blended and packed in Canada by real people
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
