When you go out shopping for Christmas fruitcake and Christmas cookies, you almost HAVE to look for Christmas tea, right? How excited was I to find Peppermint Bark from The Republic of Tea? Very! Because it is an herbal that I can have anytime I want, and it is made with green rooibos which I enjoy instead of red rooibos which I…let’s just not go there.
The tin said “Cool Winter Herb Tea” and under that it said “Organic Green Rooibos with Organic Peppermint, Vanilla, and Cocoa.” All good, right? Until I get it home and get ready to make it and on the back the ingredient list adds “organic stevia leaf.” Argh! WHY?????
I don’t just dislike stevia leaf. For some reason, it makes my reflux flare and my stomach stays ticked off for days. In the interest of tea reviewing I will go ahead and try it since I am already in the midst of a flare anyway. Surely a few sips will be okay…
Six minutes, boiling water, and I have a minty smelling cup. The vanilla is not pronounced and the cocoa is almost undiscernable. This is mostly just mint, but I suppose a white peppermint bark would taste more or less like this. There must not be a lot of stevia because it isn’t particularly sweet, at least, no sweeter than mint already makes things taste to me.
If you are into mint and you don’t mind stevia, you might love this tisane. I don’t hate it, but I wouldn’t go looking for a stevia free version. Honestly, the pretty tin would make a great stocking stuffer. Since I have already opened it, I will pass it on to a friend.
Note to self: Don’t go by the blurbs on the front of tins. Check the ingredient list carefully before you buy.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Description
Cool Winter Herb Tea – Fill your home with the aromas of peppermint and chocolate with this sweet herbal tea. Green rooibos mingles perfectly with the flavors of organic cocoa and peppermint. This caffeine-free cup is best savored by a roaring fire after a holiday meal to settle the tummy and satisfy your sweet tooth.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tea 24 Advent Calendar 2018 from Tea Revv. . .
Nothing says holidays like starting each day with a surprise gift. Advent calendars are literally the gift that keeps on giving. Usually they are filled with chocolate but for the tea lover on your list, I recommend checking out the Tea 24 Advent Calendar 2018 by Tea Revv.
Tea Revv was kind enough to send me a sneak peak of their upcoming advent calendar and just from the looks I was excited. The advent calendar box was smaller than I anticipated but its true when they say good things come in small packages! The box is beautifully designed with geometric snow-capped mountains and two little geometric penguins. It certainly evokes the idea of winter and fun.
Inside are 24 small satchets with 2 cups of loose leaf tea each. The satchets are all stacked on top of each other, with the Day 1 tea on top. One thing I
will say is that those who like the surprise of opening a door or scratching off a label to discover what the tea of the day is will not get that here. As you pull out one satchet, the next day’s satchet is right there with all the details of the tea. For me, the surprise factor is not essential and I actually like having all the details about the tea (including ingredients and brewing instructions) conveniently in front of me. In addition, the satchets are sleek and carry the geometric theme throughout with colorful and fun holiday images.
One other face-value perk of Tea Revv’s Tea Advent Calendar is it’s price. Relative to other companies offering advent calendars, Tea Revv is not very expensive and thus a great gift for every budget.
Now, how can I talk about a tea calendar without discussing some of the teas? I pulled out a couple of teas just to get a feel for the different blends the calendar has to offer. There is a lot of black teas and warming winter/holiday ingredients. Chai lovers would certainly be pleased. However, there are also fruit tisanes, rooibos blends, green teas, etc. Something for everyone.
One of the first teas I tried was the Day 1 tea, Frosted Fruit Spice. Frosted Fruit Spice is a black tea with cinnamon, ginger, apple, cloves, cinnamon quillings, amaranth petals, safflower petals, and natural flavors. The dry leaf and steeped tea have a deliciously sweet and spiced fruit smell. It has me thinking of fruit filling in a winter-themed fruit pie. Flavorwise, that spiced fruit pie filling transfers over to the taste though more subtle than the scent would suggest. Mostly that is because there is a floral component that is strongly coming through and conflicting with the pie filling. The floral picks up some of the base tea which gives it a bit of a drying effect. I don’t love that drying but the spiced fruit component is really tasty and the reason I keep reaching for my mug and with a splash of milk that is the flavor that is highlighted with the floral and drying drowned out.
I also tried Ginger Green. Ginger Green is a much simpler blend which simply combines green tea and ginger pieces. I was curious to try something other than a black blend and this is the first non-black tea I grabbed from the pile on my table. Now I should preface this by saying I am not a green tea lover and for that reason this tea will never be my favorite. With that said, I should note that it is actually a nice tea. The ginger has just the right amount of flavor and burn to keep things interesting against the green tea base. The base has a lot of umami flavor. Usually greens are grassy but to me this has more of a seaweed flavor. It took my by surprise but also had a richness to it that is more consistent with the winter theme of this tea advent calendar box.
All in all, I have enjoyed the teas I have tried so far and I am just getting started. I look forward to exploring all the blends this calendar has to offer.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Tea Advent Calendar
Where to Buy: Tea Revv
Description
2018 Blends Include: Chilly Willy Chai, Cranberry Apple, Notorious Eggnog, English Breakfast, Coffee Lover, Spiced Apple, Christmas Cake, Ice Cream Earl Grey, Relax, Ruby Amaretto, Golden Turmeric, Gingerbread Man, Belly Bestie, Pumpkin Pie Chai, Irish Cream Breakfast, Rum Pud, Snowballs, Christmas Eve tea, Breakfast Pancakes, Ginger Green, Chocolate tea, Ruby Chai, Achooo, & Frosted Fruit Spice.
Winter is here. But fear not. Defrost those hands kick back relax with Tea 24. 24 seasonal loose leaf tea blends! Each sachet has its own winter illustration packaged in a beautifully designed box. All designs produced in-house. Each sachet contains enough tea for two cups or one large mug. Brewing advice on front of sachets.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Holiday Tea Alert! Carol from Lupicia. . . . .
The holiday season for me might be a bit different than most but it’s what I call my own way of doing things. I don’t decorate. I focus on gifts for my parents, my sister and her husband, and my husband’s family does a Secret Santa of sorts. My husband and I don’t really focus on gifts for each other usually. We first and foremost make sure those on our lists are taken care of. There are a few Christmas songs I like but I don’t go CRAZY for the festiveness much anymore. I do like GIVING and that is mostly what I tend to do this time of year.
But I have to say one thing I enjoy is sampling different Holiday Tea Blends. When I heard that Carol from Lupicia was back in stock and our SororiTea Sisters had some floating around I was pretty excited about having a cup of it.
I had Carol from Lupicia YEARS ago but just had another cup recently and it was pretty yummy and comforting! The strawberry, vanilla, and rose trio of flavors blended well – so well, in fact – that it seemed to create a whole new flavor of its own! It was a bit fruity, a little creamy, and a tad floral…makes sense based on those 3 ingredients, eh?
Overall, I really like Carol from Lupicia. Oddly, with all of the tea I have drank over the years I have tried very few of the teas from Lupicia considering their very large selection. I’m always overjoyed when one of their teas comes across my desk! And let me tell you – I have more on the way – so more smiles and Lucipia cups are sure to be seen here – and soon, at Sororitea Sisters! CHEERS!
And for our readers mention SororiTea Sisters when checking out and Lupicia will add in a special treat!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Flavored Tea
Where to Buy: Lupicia
Description
Tea flavored with strawberry and vanilla and elegantly decorated with rose petals.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Fall Blend Alert! Cranberry Autumn from Harney & Sons
Ah, fall. Cooler weather signals the slow switch from iced or cold brewed teas to hot cuppas throughout the day. I find myself excited about teas that are fruity but earthy, deeper but still bright. Happily, Cranberry Autumn from Harvey and Sons perfectly fits that description.
Cranberry Autumn has light, citrusy notes from the orange as well as a good bit of tartness from the cranberry and hibiscus, but the base tea keeps the other flavors grounded. It has a good bit of depth with a slight woody note that works well with the other flavors.
This tea is a fall go-to for me. It’s something I will happily steep in my cup again and again as the days get shorter and my need for something to warm my hands and spirits gets stronger. Cranberry Autumn has earned its place in my tea cabinet.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Flavored Black Tea
Where to Buy: Harney & Sons
Description
Ideally sweet and tart, our Cranberry Autumn is a black tea artfully blended with cranberry and orange flavors. You’ll find it a full bodied brew that is exceptionally smooth and delicious in fall, or anytime if you’re a cranberry fan. Kosher.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
