Tea Review: Holiday Bled from Los Rios Tea House


 Mum and I went to a special invitation only shopping event at our local tea house around Christmas and while we were there, this house holiday tea blend was on hand for sampling - so of course, we imbibed (we had to do SOMETHING to counter the three free glasses of champagne we'd each had!)


The aroma of the leaf is DIVINE!  I mean, you can SEE the massive bits of orange peel and the cloves in with the leaf.  In all honesty, the amazing fragrance does not translate to the brewed tea fragrance, but it DOES translate to the flavor, which is the important part.


The color is just beautiful and belies the rich flavour of the black tea base.

Fresh off the steep, Mum and I both agree that the blend is.... nice.  It's nothing special.  A serviceable strong black tea that would stand up to the heavy foods of a Christmas meal.

When we added just cream, it softened the mouth feel in a wonderfully pleasant manner, and took the tannin level down a touch.  So, cream alone slightly improved the blend, but still didn't make it shine.

When we added just sugar, it brightened the blend and made me think that there might be something truly special going on there if I could find the magic code to unlock it.  The sugar really brought out the orange peel and made me think of candied orange peel in all the best ways.  The flavour made me smile.

When we added both sugar AND cream.... MAGIC HAPPENED.  OMG, with sugar and cream this tea just screams English Holiday season.  It is nostalgic, warming, spiced, holiday flavours.... it's Christmas / Yule in a cup and it might be my favorite holiday tea blend of all time.

Today, I made a pot of this because while the holidays are over, I didn't have the best holiday season health wise and so I missed out on a lot of the flavours.  Hence, today I was in the mood still for some of those missed flavours.  I was going to perform the magic potion spell of adding sugar and cream... but then I spied the eggnog in the fridge.... and had a moment of genius inspiration.  Lord have mercy, this blend with eggnog is somehow even better than the cream and sugar experience.  With eggnog, this is hands down my favorite holiday tea blend ever.  The full brightness of the orange comes out because of the eggnog sweetness, the clove mixes with the eggnog spices to fully bloom the spice profile to JUST the right balance, the creaminess of the eggnog cuts the edge of tannin from the strong black tea but doesn't take away any of the fullness of the body - it DOES soften and thicken the mouth feel in all the best ways.


If I've sold you on this tea but you live nowhere near me - fear not.  The Tea House On Los Rios has an online store where they sell their tea blends (all of which are just lovely by the way).  Be aware, however, that as a seasonal blend, this particular blend may or may not be available in the store by the time you check out the link.  I can only do so much after all!

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