Violin in C Sharp

 LAST DAY OF THE CALENDAR!!! *Ehem* excuse me.  After not finishing my 2022 calendar due to health and taking about 7 months to finish THIS calendar as well, I'm feeling more than a bit of accomplishment here at the end of things. When I opened my final little door and discovered the name of this tea I was OH SO HOPEFUL that I was going to get something for Christmas Eve that tasted a bit like hot apple cider - but tea. The write up began to confuse me.  "Orchard-ripe fruit and berries infused with warm baking spices."  I say confused because... berries?  I was not expecting berries.  Still, I cued up Muppet Christmas Carol and brewed my cup.  No tea, just an infusion, which was a fine way to wind down at the end of my day. When I sipped my first sip, the berry flavor hit me first - and it was delightful.  I think it was a mix of cranberries and maybe blueberries?  Regardless, the berries gave the infusion a tartness that balanced out the swe...

 Oh dear. Chamomile. *sigh* There is a skit from YouTube comedian team Foil Arms & Hog called Tea Addiction in which one of the characters perfectly describes what chamomile tea tastes like to me.  He says that chamomile is just "water that's gone off!" and I wholeheartedly agree.  It tastes and feels like dusty water with no additional flavor to me.  I'd rather drink a cup of plain hot water. That having been said, when I read the description and it said "Egyptian chamomile by herbs and flowers" I was EVER SO HOPEFUL that "Egyptian chamomile" might taste different than the regular chamomile that I'm used to.  Or perhaps the herbs and flowers would give the tinsane an additional flavor so that it didn't feel both wet and dusty in my mouth. I was sorely disappointed. This went down the drain.  It was just regular old chamomile with a fancy description.

Boy did I drag my feet in trying this blend Belgian Mint - the name sounds just fine, and I like mint Oh.... oh dear - dark chocolate?  The worst of all chocolates in my world.  I opened the tea bag box and it smelled like a Thin Mint cookie.  I realize for some people that this would be a GOOD thing.... but I happen to HATE Thin Mint cookies with a violent passion. I brewed it and for a mint based tinsane, it got pretty dark.... which made me worry that the dark chocolate flavor was going to be pretty strong. I got through the first sip - it wasn't pleasant.  It was like mint coated in semi-sweet chocolate chips.  The 2nd sip was worse as the chocolate got stronger.  The third sip made me physically gag from the combination of the heavy chocolate mint scent and the dark chocolate flavor swirling heavy in the mint water. I handed the mug to Jodie who finished happily while I took the salted caramel shortbread as solace to cleanse my palate and sooth my upse...

  Oh joy - a rooibos. Ok, so sometimes rooibos can be tasty.... sometimes - but more often than not I lump it in with honeybush as a sad weak tea substitute that only makes me crave a real cup of tea.  There are some exceptions - I have a lovely rooibos blend in my regular stock called Party in the Jungle which is a delightful cup, and my friend Brian used to stock an absolutely FABULOUS rooibos chai with spicy chili in it that I could not get enough of - but those are the exceptions and not the norm when it comes to rooibos for me.  This name - African Solstice - tells me NOTHING.  Time to look at the write up. Ok... now I'm full concerned.  Rose is such a strong flavor in tea for me.  Rose without a black tea to balance it... I would be tempted to skip this blend entirely except my roomate's girlfriend is down for the weekend and she likes florals.  So, I know if I don't like this, I can pass it on to her and she'll enjoy the hell out of it. The colo...

  This is another blend that it took me several days to work up to trying. I am not often a fan of either apricot or amaretto flavors in my tea. Amaretto flavor tends to hit my palate as almonds that have started to turn towards spoiling.  Apricot, on the other hand, tends to make anything it's paired with turn sickly sweet ..... I was not filled with hope. The color was a pale orange-y yellow.  My first sip... all I got was the fruity apricot hit to the front of my palate.  The second sip was almost like sucking on a warm jordan almond.  I took several more sips trying to get the flavor to settle instead of bouncing between the two extremes without the flavor actually being at all extreme.  I couldn't pick it apart, but I know I didn't enjoy it.   In desperation, I dipped in the little shortbread heart.  My next sip tasted 100% like liquid marzipan.  It was delightful!  I fully enjoyed the liquid marzipan tinsane ..... but then I f...

 I was predisposed not to like this herbal blend.  In all honesty, it took me days to work up the interest and willingness to try it. Blueberry Merlot just did not sound appetizing to me. The write up didn't make it sound much better than the name - mainly because sweet and sage are not buzzwords I enjoy in my tea. I didn't get a photo of the brewed cup, but the color was a deep rich burgundy that really did look like the color of a merlot wine.  That was the first thing that intrigued me and gave me hope.  I do tend to enjoy a darker tinsane more than a lighter brew. The first few sips were super heavy on the blueberry and not at all unpleasant.  In fact, I very much enjoyed it.  It was slightly sweet, but not as sweet as blueberry juice.  Whatever they had added for the merlot bit, gave an extra tang to the sweet of the blueberry that I very much enjoyed. When I added the shortbread round, suddenly my tea tasted like a lovely cup of mulled wine!!...

I admit, I did not expect much from this herbal.  I've had multiple Ginger and Lemongrass tinsanes in the past, and they never fail to underwhelm me. Most blends of a similar name, the lemongrass tends to mute the ginger to the point where there's no spice, and hardly any flavor except for that signature lemongrass aftertaste.  Because of that, this write up that mentions citrus notes, spearmint and licorice both confused and intrigued me.  I mean, it's called Ginger Lemongrass, but nowhere in the write up do they mention either ginger or lemongrass.  What the hell? The color was about what I expected - it looked like someone had relieved themselves in my cup.  Mmmm... so appetizing - not. So - let's go through the flavors in the name and write up to see what I could actually taste: Ginger - barely Lemongrass - only on the end note / aftertaste Citrus - nope Spearmint - not at all Licorice - nope So.... I've gotten more ginger flavor from when I dropped some pic...

  2nd herbal of the calendar but I was slightly more excited for this one.  Mint, when done right, is a nice pleasant cup that I can enjoy. Straight out of the box, there wasn't much aroma from the dry tea bag.  A little bit of mint, and not even a hint of citrus - so I was a little confused and slightly worried. The write up is pretty basic, and in all honesty, so was the blend. Don't get me wrong!  Basic is basic for a reason - it's a no nonsense serviceable blend that isn't trying to be fancy because it doesn't need to.   The mint dominated any citrus that may have been in the blend.  As I drank, mouth got that weird tingly antiseptic feel that strong mint gives in toothpaste, so in that way it was refreshing. Today's shortbread was also basic - a plain butter shortbread heart.  In all honesty, I didn't expect them to pair well together.  I thought the butter of the shortbread and the astringency of the mint would fight.  I was deligh...

  Today was our first herbal tea or, to be more correct - tinsane, since it contains no actual tea. I admit, when I opened the little door and saw Strawberry Apple, I was not excited.  I'm not usually a fan of either apple or strawberry flavors in my tinsanes.  I find that apple tends to over dominate whatever it's paired with (unless it's paired with cinnamon), and strawberry never hits quite like strawberry. That being said, the bouquet of the tea bag before steeping surprised me.  I one hundred percent expected my nose to get hit with nothing but apple.  Instead, I couldn't smell anything other than strawberry leaves. Once brewed, the aroma carried that same strawberry leaf, but with the addition of a slight lemony scent.  The color, however, was pure apple.... and that's if I'm being nice.  It just didn't look appetizing to me.  My first sip tasted like hot water with an aftertaste of berries by LaCroix.  Thankfully my second sip was much...

 This one was quite the surprise.  I made it late at night because a house guest was looking for a tea that would help her sore throat and this seemed like it might fit the bill. As it is a Turmeric tinsane, I was predisposed to not like it.  I admit my prejudice against turmeric tinsanes. This time, I knew that the little stick bits were ashwagandha and I prepared myself for the strange hybrid of licorice and sassafras.  Of course, I also looked and saw what I thought appeared to be lemongrass - but I waved that off as my culinary brain getting in the way of my tea brain, because of course lemongrass wouldn't be in a tea blend...... The color, of course, was yellow as hell thanks to the turmeric.  I expected nothing less. The flavor - surprised the hell out of me.  Turmeric was NOT the dominant flavor for me!  Instead, it was almost a root beer sweet licorice top note with a black pepper finish and a lemongrass aftertaste. I mean... what the hell?...

  First off, let's talk about the title they've given this blend.  For all the complaints I see from folk about "chai tea" being redundant since chai is the word for tea..... I'm betting this blend name is equally as frustrating.  I say that because tinsane is the name for what most folk call herbal tea.  It's actually the more correct term since an herbal tea doesn't contain any actual tea.  Hence today's blend is Tumeric spiced tinsane tinsane. Mini pedantic rant over - on to the actual review.  Like the chai I had this morning, this blend has a generous portion of cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and black pepper.  On the dry leaf, those spices are present yet entirely overshadowed by the turmeric.  This is utterly unsurprising to me.  Turmeric overshadows nearly everything to my nose.  As a result, I admit to being biased against this blend before even steeping it.  Still - I pressed forward. The color was as golden/ yellow as I expec...

 I was surprised to get another mint tea so soon after the Moroccan Mint blend a few days before - but I admit that this is different enough to hold its own even against that lovely Moroccan Mint blend that I enjoyed so much. Unlike the Moroccan Mint, this actually doesn't have any tea in it.  It's a tinsane.  I've had more than my fair share of mint tinsanes, but honestly, I think this may be one of my favorites.  The liquorice root and toffee flavouring gives an added depth and complexity that I really enjoy.  Mint tinsanes can get a bit one note for me after a while, but this one was fun for the whole cup.  The toffee also combined with the mint to make for a surprisingly festive flavor. Final thoughts: Delightful.  A wonderful way to wind down at the end of a winter's day.

  When I opened this one, I was squealy happy because I was expecting it to be similar to a Harney & Sons blend with a similar name.   Alas, this blend did not have the depth or warmth of flavour I was hoping for.  It was mostly hibiscus and apple and.... nothing else much came through.  As such it was... meh. Final thoughts: Not memorable.  If you want a good spiced plum flavor stick with the Harney & Sons far superior version.

  Disclaimer - I don't like Chamomile - like... at all.  Chamomile tea to me tastes like water that's gone stale and dirty.  So, needless to say, when I saw the flavor on this day, I was NOT excited.  I made it anyway. So, on my first sip, the camomile was almost hidden completely by the bee pollen.... which.... is like honey in flavor but... not.  The write up is correct, there is a sweetness to this tea... as well as a waxy note... which builds with each sip.... and that I did NOT enjoy.  Unfortunately for my palate, as the waxy note builds up, the honey flavor fades and the camomile starts to peek through more and more.  What that meant for me was that half way through the cup I poured it out. Final thought:  Not for me.

 Another tinsane today. I admit to not being terribly excited when I saw this one.  Mint infusions don't often do it for me.  And then I read the ingredients and saw that it's 100% peppermint leaves..... I began to worry more. I took the bag out of the foil and was shot in the face with a cannonball of MINT scent.  Oh lord the mint!  My entire kitchen suddenly smelled of mint from the one tea bag!  I mean.... look at that bag, that's nothing but peppermint.  It was like living in an elf house at the north pole levels of peppermint. Ok, so I brewed up the cup and took a sip..... and was delighted.  It was like drinking a hot steaming cup of unsweetened candy cane but ... in a good way.  I paired it with my lamb korma curry and was delighted all the way through the cup.   Honestly, a lot of that is just that the quality of the mint is superb. Verdict:  More please!