Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Tisane Description:
A champagne cider cocktail for the day after the holiday party. Apple is the undercurrent of this fantastic flavour combination that really does taste like champagne. Add in spiced apples, hints of orange and a touch of natural sweetness and you get this incredibly unique tea.
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Taster’s Review:
This Champagne Cider Honeybush Blend from Butiki Teas is really delicious. Of course, I certainly didn’t doubt that it would be, given the success that I’ve had with Butiki Teas’ blends. Stacy at Butiki Teas knows what she’s doing – she’s brilliant!
I don’t know that I’m tasting a lot of champagne here, but I can definitely smell the champagne in both the dry leaf and the brewed tisane. The flavor of the champagne is a little more difficult to discern, but I do pick up on the champagne-like taste when I slurp to aerate the liquid as I take a sip.
But I do taste the fruit! The orange, which can sometimes be an overly-prominent flavor in a tea or tisane, is instead a subtle note here. The apple is sweet and equally matched with the level of orange flavor. These fruit notes are softer flavors to mimic a “mulled” champagne cider.
And then we have the spices. The spices are also on the subtle side. I taste the notes of cinnamon and clove, but neither is overpowering the cup. Everything stays nicely balanced, even the cinnamon which can often be a selfish spice and take over. It doesn’t do that here, it stays gently warm … softly spiced.
I’m not typically all that excited about tisanes. That is to say, I’d rather drink a camellia sinensis tea than an herbal tisane like this honeybush blend. But, I do like this quite a bit. Butiki Teas really knocked this one out of the park!
Rooibos Spice Tisane from Mint Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Tea Purchased from Mint Tea
Product Available Online at Strand Tea
Tisane Description:
Rooibos Spice Caffeine Free Herbal Tea. Organic Red Rooibos blended with Natural Cacao Bits, Ginger Pieces, Cinnamon Bark, Chicory Root, Barley Malt, Cardamom Pods, and Black Peppercorns. What a great winter tea! Rich & flavorful, sure to be a favorite treat any time of year.
Taster’s Review:
I bought this tisane when I visited the Mint Tea Shop in Vancouver, Washington some time ago. I knew that they obtained some of their teas from Strand Tea, including this one.
While some of the ingredients in this Rooibos Spice Tisane from Mint Tea appear to be chai-like, and the flavor of the tisane is somewhat chai-esque, there’s some other flavors going on here that I don’t usually find in a chai.
Like chicory and barley malt, for example. The chicory gives the drink a coffee-ish background note, a deep, roasted sort of flavor that accentuates the spices in a really interesting way. I also enjoy the way the chicory and the cacao work together. I also taste the malty tones from the barley malt, giving the cup a “grainy” flavor that adds an intriguing depth.
The spices are well-defined here. I taste the cinnamon throughout the sip, and there is a backdrop of pepper and ginger. The cardamom adds some exotic warmth to this beverage.
This is really tasty, winter-y kind of tisane, something that I can see myself drinking whenever I want something warm and soothing, but something that won’t stimulate me the way a caffeinated tea would.
On the Sixth Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas Sent Me This Tea …
Day six! Are you having as much fun counting down the days as I am?
Mouse King’s Cuppa
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
Want to be as warm as a fluffy goose on this 6th day of Christmas? Sip down this one!
Feel like a king, a Mouse King even, right from the infamous Nutcracker ballet! This delicious spiced cranberry tea certainly is fit for a king!
Taster’s Review:
The last couple of days, I have been wanting a cranberry tea. I couldn’t find one in my stash (that doesn’t mean that I don’t have one there, just means I didn’t find one!) so I was really happy when I opened today’s package from Della Terra Teas and found this Mouse King’s Cuppa – a spiced cranberry tea! YUM!
The aroma that wafts from my teacup is a warm, cinnamon-y scent. Interestingly, this seems to be something that many of the teas in this year’s Christmas countdown box from Della Terra Teas have in common. Then again, this time of year inspires those warmly spiced teas. I don’t smell a lot of cranberry fragrance. Maybe a faint berry scent, but nothing too obvious.
The flavor is really nice. Up front, I taste the sweet flavor of the cinnamon. The cinnamon here is less spicy than it is sweet, but it certainly does still have some of it’s gently soothing and warming qualities to it. There are hints of other spices here too, perhaps clove. There is a warm, cozy background flavor.
Shortly after my palate recognizes the cinnamon, the tart notes of cranberry come through. The tangy berry notes are a delightful contrast to the the sweet notes of the cinnamon. This drink evokes thoughts of a winter-y party punch where someone steeped some spices in cranberry juice.
But the black tea is not lost in the medley of flavors. It is a mellower black tea flavor, yes, but, I can definitely taste it. It’s got a smooth, mild black tea taste. Part of me wonders how this combination of flavors might work with a more robust tasting black tea – perhaps something malty like an Assam.
As it is though, I enjoyed this cranberry tea! Another great gift in my box of goodies from Della Terra Teas!
On The Second Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas Sent To Me…
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!