This is another one by Stash. I have to say I love the creativity of the names of their teas.
Flavor: It is simultaneously warming and cooling. The warm, slightly spicy flavor starts first and then almost immediately is cooled by a soft minty aftertaste.
Suggested Additions: I added just the tiniest bit of white sugar. There was a faint bitter taste, perhaps from the white tea, or from the mint. But just a little sprinkle of sugar corrected that.
Ingredients: White tea, peppermint, ginger root.
Purpose: A light amount of caffeine in this tea helps you wake up a little. This tea is reminiscent of a white Christmas morning: crisp and clean and cool but simultaneously warm and cozy.
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Christmas Eve Tea
This one is made by Stash.
Flavor: Earthy, slightly spicy, with a sweet aftertaste. Even after a long steep time, it is not overwhelmingly earthy or spicy. It is a pleasant blend of tastes that is not "too much" of any one thing.
Suggested Additions: I grabbed the honey just in case, but in the end I never put it in. Honey, I feel, would enhance the spicy flavor just a bit but I found it not lacking in anything so I decided not to try and fix something that wasn't broken.
Ingredients: Cinnamon, orange peel, spearmint, and natural flavors of vanilla, orange, cinnamon, and clove.
Purpose: This tea is a bit warming because of the spices and earthiness. Also it has no caffeine, so it is appropriate for Christmas Eve when you are ready to hop into bed and get an early start when the kids wake you up at 4 am to see what Santa brought.
Flavor: Earthy, slightly spicy, with a sweet aftertaste. Even after a long steep time, it is not overwhelmingly earthy or spicy. It is a pleasant blend of tastes that is not "too much" of any one thing.
Suggested Additions: I grabbed the honey just in case, but in the end I never put it in. Honey, I feel, would enhance the spicy flavor just a bit but I found it not lacking in anything so I decided not to try and fix something that wasn't broken.
Ingredients: Cinnamon, orange peel, spearmint, and natural flavors of vanilla, orange, cinnamon, and clove.
Purpose: This tea is a bit warming because of the spices and earthiness. Also it has no caffeine, so it is appropriate for Christmas Eve when you are ready to hop into bed and get an early start when the kids wake you up at 4 am to see what Santa brought.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Christmas Tea
Christmas Tea, by Twining's.
I almost didn't review this tea, because I thought I'd already reviewed it. But as it turns out, it was Holiday Chai, not Christmas Tea that I reviewed.
Flavor: I went right ahead and added my additions without tasting it plain first so that may have skewed the results. But I thought this tea was weak on the "tea" flavor- that slightly tannic and hearty taste, even though it is a black tea. It also has a slightly spicy, slightly sour citrus taste.
Suggested Additions: I thought this was a sort of chai-tasting tea so I went right ahead and added a little sugar and a generous amount of milk. As it turns out, its not spicy enough to be a chai. The presence of an orange-citrus taste really doesn't work well with the milk. It didn't come out horribly; I still enjoyed the drink a lot. But my suggestion really would lie closer to the raw sugar or honey end of things. No milk is needed, and raw or brown sugar would add just a tiny bit of spice to the flavor. Put a cinnamon stick in to stir with and you're good to go.
Ingredients: Black tea, artificial flavourings. I do wish Twining's had more natural stuff, but their teas are generally delicious, artificial or not.
Purpose: A friend was making tea and suggested I drink what she was drinking. I declined, thinking I'd tried this one and hadn't liked it. Today, I saw the box sitting there and thought, "I guess I could try it just to remind myself why I didn't like it. As it turns out, I do like it. Although, I should have prepared it differently.
I almost didn't review this tea, because I thought I'd already reviewed it. But as it turns out, it was Holiday Chai, not Christmas Tea that I reviewed.
Flavor: I went right ahead and added my additions without tasting it plain first so that may have skewed the results. But I thought this tea was weak on the "tea" flavor- that slightly tannic and hearty taste, even though it is a black tea. It also has a slightly spicy, slightly sour citrus taste.
Suggested Additions: I thought this was a sort of chai-tasting tea so I went right ahead and added a little sugar and a generous amount of milk. As it turns out, its not spicy enough to be a chai. The presence of an orange-citrus taste really doesn't work well with the milk. It didn't come out horribly; I still enjoyed the drink a lot. But my suggestion really would lie closer to the raw sugar or honey end of things. No milk is needed, and raw or brown sugar would add just a tiny bit of spice to the flavor. Put a cinnamon stick in to stir with and you're good to go.
Ingredients: Black tea, artificial flavourings. I do wish Twining's had more natural stuff, but their teas are generally delicious, artificial or not.
Purpose: A friend was making tea and suggested I drink what she was drinking. I declined, thinking I'd tried this one and hadn't liked it. Today, I saw the box sitting there and thought, "I guess I could try it just to remind myself why I didn't like it. As it turns out, I do like it. Although, I should have prepared it differently.
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