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!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 10-Spoilers!
Day 10!
Day 10 and we are really getting festive now with Yunnan Eggnog.
I feel like eggnog gets a lot of love and hate over the holidays. I get it, it’s not for everyone. But I like a cup of lactose-free nog now and then over the holidays. It’s like a cross between milk and vanilla pudding. It’s weird, I know.
This Yunnan Eggnog tea has a very appealing scent in the dry leaf. There’s spice, but it is not the usual chai tea trio of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger; instead there’s something a little more unusual like nutmeg or allspice. There is a sweet peppery flavor that might be from the spice or the tea itself.
Brewed, the tea is both bold and mellow, with lots of raisin and fig flavors and an undertone of crushed leaves earthiness. Without milk, this blend focuses on yunnan and all of its golden caramelly goodness. Just a touch of spice reminds you this is a holiday blend, suitable for sipping while you deck the halls.
A splash of milk does wonders to bring out the eggnog part of this blend. The milk adds a thicker mouthfeel that is more similar to eggnog, and lets a little more of the spice peek through. Not to mention, you can enhance the whole experience by grating some fresh nutmeg into your mug and filling your kitchen with the scent of the holidays.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
Organic Royal Golden Yunnan infused with organic eggnog flavors, cinnamon chips, marigold petals and a touch of nutmeg. This long, tippy-leafed Yunan steeps a smooth cup with rich aroma and superb taste. The hints of creamy eggnog and spices just makes it an extra special treat.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 7-Spoilers!
Day 7!
Have you had any figgy pudding yet this season? How about fig newtons? If you like figs, you will love today’s tea: Sticky Fig Oolong. This tea is also our first oolong of the 12 Teas of a Christmas set this year.
This tea has plenty of the bright, mineral taste oolongs are known for. These flavors are the right match with the sweet-yet-fresh fig taste. Beneath all the oolong brightness, the tea has a bit of complex, roasted, caramelized taste, making the fig part of the blend feel more like a candied dessert.
I’m always a bit intimidated by unflavored oolongs, so having a touch of holiday dessert flavor mixed in made this oolong more approachable for me. The sticky fig flavor isn’t overpowering, so if classic oolongs are your favorite teas, you will still find this blend to be very enjoyable.
I haven’t run into many fig tea blends so this is a great unexpected flavor for a holiday tea set, rounding out the Christmas theme.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
This tea was inspired by one of my customers who is also a frequent poster on Steepster, who – in one of her posts – mentioned that she’d like to see a fig tea from me. So here it is (and it won’t be the last, fig is one of my favorite fruits, I just haven’t gotten around with experimenting with fig in tea yet . . . but now that I have, I think I’ll keep it up because – YUM!)
So I started with these three ideas in mind: Holiday tea, Oolong tea & Fig tea. I crafted a blend of Oolongs – Ruanzhi, Wuyi and Qingxin cultivars – which I chose because I wanted the Oolong to be a little more fruity and a little less floral. To this lovely Oolong blend, I added some figs. For the holiday element, I added some cinnamon. For the final touch, I added a little honey essence.
Really lovely – this tea. The oolong is smooth and sweet. It has pleasing notes of fruit with just a hint of floral. The fig is well-defined and the honey compliments the fig nicely. The cinnamon is warm and inviting without overwhelming the cup. As I say: really lovely! It’s also organic, VEGAN, gluten free & allergen free!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 6- Spoilers!
Day 6!
It’s not Christmas morning yet but today’s tea is a great blend to have at breakfast: Banana Pancakes Black Tea. Put your nose in the bag, and you’ll see that the tea smells like your favorite diner or breakfast restaurant, with plenty of maple syrup flavor and a whiff of sliced banana.
Brewed, there is a pleasant starchiness in the black tea that suits the natural starchiness of the banana and adds to the pancake feeling. The maple and banana flavor combination reminds me of banana nut muffins or banana bread. This is a fun, sweet blend on its own but it would also go great with a few mulling spices for a banana chai, or with some coconut milk or nut milk for an almost banana nut cereal taste.
I’m always a fan if banana teas, so I was more than happy to go bananas over this brew!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
52teas
Description:
I don’t think it’s any big secret that I love banana teas. So when I go a couple of months without releasing a banana tea – I really start to miss them. And it seems like it’s been quite some time since I’ve done a pancake tea (actually, I haven’t done a pancake tea since the famous Pancake Breakfast tea which I reblended back in January of last year.) So, I’m thinking – why not bring these two flavors together in one tea?
I started with a fantastic blend of black teas from China: an Assamica from the JingMai Mountains, a Fujian Black and a Yunnan Gold. Then I added some bananas along with pancake and maple essence. But don’t worry, it’s vegan and gluten free – and depending upon how you serve it, its also sugar- and fat-free!
Take a sip on this and experience a stack of banana-filled pancakes dripping with maple syrup! Yummy!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 5-Spoilers!
Day 5!
The 12 Teas of Christmas has had a nice variety of tea types and flavors so far, so I am never bored with the flavors in store for me. Today is a green tea with fruity, creamy tones: Blackberry Custard Tart Green. There nice purple dried blackberries in the dry leaf and plenty of juicy dark fruit scent in the bag.
Brewed, the creamy, vanilla pudding flavor of the custard comes through more strongly, adding a smooth mouthfeel alongside all the delectable dessert tastes. I appreciate that green tea was used as the base for this blend to give the blackberry and cream more room to shine. A black tea might have taken over with its own tartness and tannins. The green tea adds a gentle vegetal note that compliments the berries, and a bit of nuttiness that feels like the fruit tart cookie crust.
This is a nice blend for midway through your day, when you want something with a little pep but not too sweet or caffeinated. It is bright but decadent and the perfect way to treat yourself during the busy holiday season.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
One afternoon as I was perusing through my Pinterest feed, I found a recipe for Blackberry Custard. It looked exceptionally good and whenever I see a dessert recipe that looks exceptionally good, I immediately think about how I’d translate that recipe to a tea flavor. Yep, I’m kind of nerdy like that. So I thought … hmmm, blackberry custard sounds like a winning idea for a tea. Then I remembered that there was already a Blackberries & Cream Shou Mei so how different could a blackberry custard really be?
So, I thought, what if it had a delightfully buttery pastry crust? Well, then it would be a Blackberry Custard Tart.
So that’s what inspired me to make this with my green tea base (a blend of organic Chun Mee and organic Gunpowder). I added blackberry, custard and pastry flavors. Then I tossed in some of those big, beautiful freeze-dried blackberries. This is really good!