I am generally slow at getting into the holiday spirit. I think it’s pretty much like everything else with me, I’m a procrastinator … and somehow I convince myself that if I don’t put my tree up yet, Christmas won’t come until I’m darned good and ready for it to.
Truth be told, though, we’re more ready for Christmas this year than we have been in previous years. Usually, we seem to have to wait until the last minute to do our shopping because the budget won’t allow us to do anything but. I guess things must be getting better … because most of our shopping was complete with the arrival of Black Friday. We still have some minor shopping to do, but for the most part, I think we’re done. Woo hoo!
And I love how my Christmas TEA tradition starts to get me all excited for the holiday. Really, I couldn’t HELP but be excited this year, with this amazing box from Della Terra Teas.
So … for the Second Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas sent to me ….
Cinnamon Crackle Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
On the second day of Christmas a tea was steeped for you, Cinnamon Crackle, pop-pop and a snap too.
Oh, how the turtle doves would of been intrigued by this enticing cinnamon tea! Listen closely as you pour water over this tea, you’ll hear a bit of a pop and a crackle!
Learn more about this tea here.
Note: While this tea is part of the 12 Days of Christmas tea box, it is not an exclusive to the Christmas box tea … so it is available on the website.
Taster’s Review:
This smells deliciously cinnamon-y and from the moment I opened the pouch, my kitchen was filled with the delightful (and strong!) scent of cinnamon. I looked at the dry leaf, mostly checking it out to see if I saw any pop rocks which are supposed to be in this blend, but I didn’t see them. I did see big chunks of cinnamon though, as well as some cloves and pieces of orange peel amid the black tea leaves.
I was a little disappointed when I poured the hot water over my leaves and did not hear a single snap, crackle or pop. But I tried not to let that bum me out too much, because really, what’s important is the taste, not the sound of the tea (although I do think it would have been fun to hear this tea crackle!)
As this tea brewed, I sort of built up some expectations in my head about the tea I was about to sip … the strong cinnamon-y note suggested to me that this would be the strong, spicy-hot-cinnamon tea that tastes a bit like liquified red hot candy. Not that a tea like that would be disappointing to me, because I love those teas! But, I was pretty prepared for that kind of tea by the time I was pouring it into my teacup.
And at the start of the sip, that’s pretty much what this tea delivered. A fairly hearty black tea base with a strong, somewhat spicy-yet-sweet cinnamon-y taste, with notes of clove in the background and a hint of orange. But, the finish on this tea is DIFFERENT from those other teas that I’ve tried that are similar to this one. This finishes smoother and sweeter … and the heat seems a bit less intense than some of the other strong cinnamon teas I’ve encountered. Yes, the cinnamon is strong, but, it doesn’t overpower the orange or the clove … or the tea!
And you know what? I love this tea for its differences. Sure, I love those strong, “hot tamale” kind of teas, but, I like that this one has a slightly more subtle approach, because it allows me to explore the dimensions of the tea a bit more than one that is an all-out assault on the taste buds and nasal passages. While those other teas are very effective at clearing the throat and the sinuses, this tea is allowing me to enjoy what it is … TEA! And that, alone, is enough to bring a smile on my face.
Red Hot Cinnamon from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas (this tea was a limited edition tea and is now sold out)
Product Description:
This is not your grandma’s cinnamon tea! We got some special ordered red hot cinnamon flavoring for this blend, and it burns sooooo good!
Our premium Indian black teas blended with real cinnamon stick pieces AND red hot candies!
Prepare to be blown away!
Taster’s Review:
To be honest, this was not a tea that I was immediately excited about and had to order right away. I mean yeah, I like cinnamon, and I love red hot candies, but, I’ve tried a few hot cinnamon-type teas and I didn’t think that this would be much different from those.
I was wrong! (Just don’t tell my husband I said that!)
This is really good, and MUCH different from the other cinnamon teas I’ve tried. This one doesn’t taste as much like red hot candies as I thought it would. It has a spicy cinnamon-y taste, but, unlike some of those other cinnamon teas, the black tea base is not overwhelmed with cinnamon flavor here. Rather, the black tea base is the dominate flavor. I like that a lot!
That’s not to say that the cinnamon isn’t strong here, it is plenty strong. But, the black tea taste is equally as strong. It is a full-flavored, robust black tea. The black tea base that 52Teas uses in most of their black tea blends is a combination of Blue Mountain Nilgiri and Assam teas. And even though this is the black tea blend that is used in most of 52Teas blend, it seems like with every blend, the black tea tastes just a little different. The flavorings bring out different aspects of the tea and this is something that I’ve really come to appreciate about 52Teas.
Here, I can taste more of the sweet, fruity tones of the Nilgiri and I love the way these notes play with the cinnamon flavor. This is really much more flavorful and delicious than I expected from this tea, and that’s coming from someone who is a BIG fan of 52Teas! Bravo!