Stash: Holiday Chai - black tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Blended black teas, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, clove, ginger, gingerbread and Jamaican rum flavors, nutmeg oil.

Aroma: Dry tea smells like a holiday explosion. All great holiday dessert spices wrapped into one tiny little bag, what will they do next? After steep tea smells like a warm holiday dessert explosion.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and colorful tea flakes.

Taste:   Woah, a gingerbread man, a pumpkin pie, a shot of rum, and spicy eggnog all in one. So rich, so warm, so calming. I snuggled up with my mug after I added my tea crack, which is why I don't have any pictures of it with the creamer..er crack. I still tasted this tea hours after I finished it. It is perfect for a rainy or snowy day snuggle. When I go snowboarding this & next year, I will pack this tea for sure.

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 9/10

Overall 9/10

Stash: Holiday Chai

Stash: Christmas Morning - black tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Assam, Ceylon, Keemun, Sumatra, Jasmine.

Aroma: Dry tea smells like Christmas Eve.. or just amazing jasmine and exotic  ceylon and sumatra. YUM! Rich, sultry, sexy (yeah I called tea sexy AGAIN) and just yum.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and deep colored tea flakes.

Taste:   SEXY! A well-balanced blend of malty (from the assam) and sweet (from the jasmine) the hint of floral sweetness blends with the brisk malty-ness (yeah) into a more complex blend than I expected. Subtly spicy, sweet, floral, smooth, delicious, and uh.. all things great. Tea had so many layers and they all hit you separately with each sip, also the mix of the taste and the strong (also layered) scent is fantastic. This shouldn't be a holiday only tea. I would stock up year round, if I had the cabinet space. 

When I added my french vanilla creamer (I will now start referring to this as my tea crack) I was impressed at the balance of the vanilla and the tea flavor. The vanilla didn't overpower the flavor, it added to it perfectly. 

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 10/10

Overall 10/10


Stash: Christmas Morning

Stash: White Christmas - white tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : White tea, peppermint, ginger root.

Aroma: Dry tea smells like spearmint gum, after steep it smells the same, but amplified.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and colorful tea flakes.

Taste:   It taste like spearmint gum. I know there is peppermint in it, not spearmint, but the mixture of the white tea, the peppermint and the ginger root make this tea an amazing clean, sweet, fresh, minty, and all that good stuff - tea. Just YUM. I added french vanilla creamer and BAM, my new favorite drink was born. Seriously, I need to order 365 bags. Also note that the "plain" tea picture has some creamer in it, oops. I got too excited by the smell and original flavor that I had to add creamer right away.

Aroma 10/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 8/10

Overall 10/10


Stash: White Christmas

Stash: Pumpkin Spice decaf tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Decaf Black Tea; Nutmeg; Cinnamon; Ginger Root; Natural Flavor of Pumpkin Spice; Clove

Aroma: Dry tea smells like fake/sweet pumpkin: dislike, after steep the scent of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger take over, its delightful.
 
Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Rich and colorful tea flakes & other ingredients.

Taste:  It tastes like a bland chai tea. I do taste some pumpkin, must it's muted by the other spices. I added french vanilla creamer and honey (my Lose It! app was not happy) and I was still underwhelmed by the flavor. I tried a second cup with a 6 minute steep (first cup I only did 4) and there wasn't much of a difference. Disappointing as I LOVE pumpkin.

Aroma 6/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 5/10
Tea Quality 8/10

Overall 7/10


Stash: Pumpkin Spice

Stash: Peppermint caffeine free herbal tea

Steep time: 3-5 minutes

Ingredients : Oregon peppermint leaves

Aroma: Dry tea smells like fresh sweet peppermint, after steep it smells like a stick of peppermint gum.

Packaging: Tea is packaged in an aluminum foiled packet.

Tea Leaf Quality: Deep and colorful peppermint leaves.

Taste:   Ahhh-mazing. I love peppermint, I love the smell, the fresh taste it leaves in your mouth, the tingle I get in my throat when I have it, the way I feel fresh and light afterward. This tea is great, it's fresh, it tastes clean, it is minty, and left my mouth feeling clean and cool. I am impressed by the single ingredient, but am perplexed as to what the different shades of green and white are in the tea mix.

I added french vanilla creamer (not fat free *sigh*, note to self: never send Don to do my specialty grocery shopping) and it made the tea get a different feel. Not so clean and fresh anymore, but sweeter and richer.

Aroma 9/10
Packaging 9/10
Value: 10/10

Taste 10/10
Tea Quality 8/10

Overall 9/10


Stash: Peppermint tea

Have a great Thanksgiving!

I am brainstorming for my next post, which will be after my fabulous extended weekend. A weekend full of eating my weight in dessert and bird, and not waking up on black Friday to shop!

See you Monday!

Working on something special

It will hopefully be up tomorrow...

excited?!