Violin in C Sharp

  I have to admit to a lukewarm reaction when it was revealed what today's "tea" was on my calendar.  I tend to only drink Rooibos in complex blends with a lot going on, and not just straight Rooibos infusions.  And yes, contrary to the popular belief of many, rooibos IS an infusion.  Rooibos is NOT a type of tea, but is in fact a sort of tea substitute from South Africa.  It's a bush - a shrub called Aspalathus linearis and it tastes NOTHING like tea.  Not that it isn't a pleasant beverage to steep, but I tend to enjoy it more when there are other herbs and berries in the mix. None the less, I brewed up the cup of redbush "tea" to try it out.  After all, just because it's not something I usually drink, doesn't mean that I wouldn't like it!! ....... except that I didn't really like it.  It tasted like shrub water.  No, really - it tasted like I was sucking on a wet shrub close to the ground so that I could taste the dirt too.  I added mi...

 The second tea from my massive Christmas Twinings sample box. This is a caffeine free rooibos option - and it is one that I very much enjoyed.  I was expecting the cinnamon taste to be stronger on the profile.  Instead, what I got was something that tasted like the unsweetened tea version of orange juice - which was entirely delightful.  I have a korean tea that is sort of like an orange marmalade jelly that you add to hot water which I really enjoy but is often too sweet for me late at night.  This reminded me of that jelly tea without the sweetness. Final thoughts:  I will need to buy more of this - it is a delightful caffeine free option.

 This is a lovely caffeine free rooibos blend with a heavy spice profile. When I first bought this blend I was super excited and then when it arrived, I was horrified to see cacao pieces in the ingredient list. I can't stand chocolate, let alone chocolate in my tea.  Because of that disappointment, I've had this tin sitting in my tea cupboard for a good month unopened.  Today, I finally decided to brave the cacao - and I'm so happy that I did. I absolutely love that part of the brewing instructions are "Relax and enjoy". Rooibos blends are sort of hit or miss with me - this one is a hit.  I'm downright in love with how wonderfully spicy this is.  The cinnamon, ginger, cloves, black pepper, and cardamom are bold and wonderfully present in the first note.  Under the initial spice hit, the black currant, plum, and hibiscus sweep in with a fruit based sweetness that is followed up by the orange peel tartness that I love so much and a final hit at the back of my...

       Last year I did the David's Tea advent calendar and found myself some lovely new blends from a company I wasn't very familiar with.  I'd had some of their teas before and really enjoyed them, but only a few and so I loved trying blends I never would have purchased for myself.      I had so much fun with the experience last year that I decided to do it again this year and choose a different tea company to explore.  I settled on Adagio Teas because their calendar looked so cute in the add. The inside of the Adagio Teas advent calendar     Last year's David's Tea calendar design was a bunch of little drawers that pulled out to reveal pouches of loose leaf tea portioned for two.  I like this punch/perforation pocket design better.  The little drawers slipped out before their time a lot and revealed blends before their days.  This also feels a lot more like the little chocolate advent calendars that I had as a kid....

A mix of black and rooibos tea leaves. I expected the lemongrass to be stronger and almost overpowering and am delighted to find that this is not the case! Delightfully complex while still remaining light. Straight off the 5 min steep and I don't find it to need any cream or sugar - though most palettes will likely want to add a touch of sweetness. For that, I think honey might be the way to go with this blend. Verdict: delightful

Super Ginger is a rooibos tea blend that was featured in the 2019 tea advent calendar put out by DAVIDs Tea. The scent of this is ALL GINGER ALL THE TIME!! But the flavor is best described as pepper water. Yes, those are full pink and black pepercorn balls chillin like villains in the tea blend. It has black pepper, white pepper and pink peppercorn in the blend and they overpower any hint of ginger there might be- except for in the end note in how the ginger goes down the back of my throat. Verdict: this is an AMAZING tea for when I have post nasal drip or a cold. Would definitely spend money on this blend.

Alpine Punch blend by DAVIDs Tea. This tea was part of the Tea Advent Calendar that DAVIDs Tea put out in 2019 - it was, in fact, Tea #13 on the calendar. The pouch from the calendar It's a rooibos tea as the base of the blend, and to be honest, I'm a bit hit or miss with rooibos.  My palate either loves the blend or can't stand it.  When I first smelled the leaf before adding water I thought that this blend would be a total miss for me because the almond scent is so very strong.  (I'm not a big almond flavor fan when it comes to my drinks) The tea leaves Straight off the steep, the almond was indeed too strong for me, but when I added a touch of Italian sweet cream to the tea it morphed into something that tasted like the liquid version of a delicious biscotti. Very blurry, I know, but it does give you an idea of the tea color at least. Verdict: Delicious.  I would buy this blend for myself again.