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January is National Hot Tea Month

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January is National Hot Tea Month, but I think it’s safe to say that every month is hot tea month around here!

I had a bit of a break from tea reviewing, but December was a bit jam-packed with my 24 Days of Tea advent calendar and all the reviews that resulted from that. I have a long list of teas that I have that I still need to review. The first will be coming up later this week! I’m excited to get back into it, and I added more to my backlog of teas to review with teas that I had received as Christmas gifts.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season, and I hope your tea cups are full with good cheer this year.

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24 Days of Tea: Santa’s Secret

Santa’s Secret by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

It is Christmas Eve, the first day of Hanukkah, and day 24 of the 24 Days of Tea advent calendar and the last tea is: Santa’s Secret. Santa’s Secret is one of the first teas that I tried at DavidsTea and one of the first teas that I bought from them. In a word, I would describe this tea as being “cute”. I really like the little candy cane sprinkles in it. The ingredients are fairly easy to see with the black tea leaves and the dried peppermint leaves mixed in.

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When smelling the dry leaf, the tea smells like mint and vanilla, the black tea base is fragrant as well, and tends to linger in the background a little bit but is very much present in the mix. The ingredients in Santa’s Secret are: black tea, peppermint, sprinkles, natural and artificial vanilla flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Santa’s Secret in near-boiling water (90-95°C/194-203°F) for 4 to 7 minutes. I opted to steep my first pot for 4 minutes.

First Taste

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While Santa’s Secret is steeping, there’s a noticeable minty and vanilla smell that comes from the tea. The vanilla reminds me a lot of Christmas baking because I like to use vanilla in my cookies. This tea definitely touches on all the holiday smells that are familiar to me! Santa’s Secret steeps to a golden orange. I find that the mint and vanilla flavours are less in-your-face when drinking the tea, as the black tea base is well balanced with the flavours. There’s a smoothness to the tea that is nice, no astringency or bitterness noted.

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I find that a little touch of sweetener helps brighten up the mint and vanilla flavours in the tea, and I also make this one into a tea latte fairly frequently because it makes for a nice treat.

A Second Cup?

The candy cane sprinkles don’t fully dissolve for me with the first steep. After a second steep (for 5 minutes), I find that the flavours are comparable to the first steep and the little candy canes are completely melted away. Santa’s Secret is good for one more steep. I find subsequent steeps to be lack in the vanilla flavour.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved DavidsTea’s Santa’s Secret. It’s a nice change to a straight black tea, and it has a great mint and vanilla flavour combination to add to an otherwise plain tea. Santa’s Secret is delightful, and the fragrances really make m think of the holidays which I think is great in a holiday themed tea. This is a tea that I already have a big stash of in my tea collection/stash for year-round Christmas cheer and I may need to get more after the 25th…

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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24 Days of Tea: Organic Kashmiri Chai

Organic Kashmiri Chai by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

Getting near the end and day 23 is Kashmiri Chai! One of my first tea loves from my undergrad was indulging in Chai lattes from one of numerous Starbucks on campus. The sweet and spicy scent profile from DavidsTea’s Kashmiri Chai reminds me a lot of the Starbucks Chai latte, just with a stronger punch of spice fragrance to it. The cardamom, clove, and cinnamon are the most obvious, with slight hints of the green tea base lingering in the background.

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Organic Kashmiri Chai is a mix of: green tea, cinnamon, cardamom seeds, ginger, cardamom husk, clove buds, and marigold flowers. The mix (according to the packaging) is kosher.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Organic Kashmiri Chai in hot water (75-80°C/167-176°F) for 3 to 5 minutes. I steeped my first cup for 3 minutes.

First Taste

While I was steeping the Organic Kashmiri Chai, I couldn’t help but notice that there were a lot of fine dusty tea particles that didn’t get caught by the stainless steel infuser that I was using. I’m not sure if that’s just because of what I got in my little calendar tin, but I would consider using a filter bag in the future to avoid that.

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The level of spicy flavour in this Kashmiri Chai are divine. I love the heavy taste of cinnamon, cardamon and cloves. The green tea just acts as a base and I can just barely taste it – but that’s really okay with me because the warming spices are just a delight in my cup. There is a level of sweetness to this tea that is nice, I think it could benefit a lot from having the addition of a sweetener.

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Because I’m a fan of Chai lattes, I opted to make it into a latte as well (my tutorial on making lattes at home here!) and it is delicious! I think I want to try steeping this particular tea in milk in the future, like how traditional Chais are done, to see how it holds up flavour wise.

A Second Cup?

Organic Kashmiri Chai does well with one more steep. The heat from the ginger is more prevalent in the second steep, with the cinnamon and cardamom taking a back seat. Overall, I think a maximum of two steeps is good for this tea.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved DavidsTea’s Organic Kashmiri Chai. From the warming sensation of the spices to the way the tea works deliciously well as a latte, I really enjoyed the Kashmiri Chai. I think that the level of sweetness and spiciness works well, and it translates into a great cup of tea that I would buy to have some in my tea stash.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.