Advent Calendar – One More Steep

Tea Advent Calendar by Adagio Teas
Black Tea, Fruit Infusion, Green Tea, Herbal Infusion, Oolong Tea, Rooibos, White Tea / Straight & Flavoured
$29USD for 24 assorted teas

Adagio Teas has provided me with Tea Advent Calendar for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Adagio Teas asked me if I wanted to give their annual Tea Advent Calendar a try – and of course my answer was yes! This is going to be a bit of a different review as I’m not going to be giving any spoilers to the advent calendar and talking about the general product itself. It came quite nicely packaged in a sturdy shipping carton – there was an appropriate level of padding for the calendar box itself.

Each door for the calendar is perforated for easy opening, and all numbered so you drink in order. According to the product page, each day consists of an individually wrapped tea bag. There are no repeats, with 24 teas (and tisanes) in total. A nice little countdown to Christmas, if you ask me! The total weight of the tea isn’t listed on the packaging, and I couldn’t find it online. However, Adagio Teas’s tea bag products tend to be ~2.5g of tea per pyramid sachet, and while there are 24 tea bags in the whole calendar, I believe there should be approximately 60g of tea in there.

Now, Adagio Teas did include a tea list card that also lists the ingredients. However, the tea list is in alphabetical order rather than chronological order (so there is a bit of a spoiler, but not entirely). I will tell you that the assortment of teas and tisanes includes: black tea, fruit infusion, green tea, herbal infusion, oolong tea, rooibos, and white tea. There are both traditional teas as well as blends. Some of them are regularly stocked teas by Adagio Teas, while others definitely have more of a seasonal flair. The assortment honestly sound really good and is a great primer for the Adagio Teas product lineup.

Preparation

My plan for the Tea Advent Calendar is to drink each one daily throughout the month of December. I don’t want to inadvertently spoil anyone’s advent fun, so I won’t be publishing any posts early. I will be sharing each day on the corresponding day on my Instagram Stories (@onemoresteep) regardless of if I’m at home or work, I’ll be making it happen! Hopefully you’ll be playing along at home with your own Adagio Teas Advent Calendar.

My Overall Impression

I love the Adagio Teas’s Tea Advent Calendar. I’m really looking forward to drinking through all 24 teas and tisanes this December! I’ve been in a busy-mode lately with the balancing of full-time work, school, and everything else that it’s made it hard to really plan anything. While I did do a DIY calendar last year, I don’t think I would have had the time to prepare my own advent calendar again this year, which is why I’m thankful for the opportunity to have Adagio Teas’s Advent Calendar for next month. And if you’re looking to buy your own Tea Advent Calendar, Adagio Teas has it up on their website (it shipped pretty quick from them to me in British Columbia, Canada).

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

I have been on the hunt for the perfect tea advent calendar. While my local dollar store has a chocolate advent calendar for the low, low price of $1, there are many tea advent calendars available out there that are full of tea. Tea sachets, loose leaf tea, matcha – the sky is the limit, but there is no limit on price! I’ve come across tea advent calendars that vary anywhere from $35 to $150 (after currency conversion, although I did not take into account the shipping costs or potential customs & duties). But goodness gracious, I just don’t have it in me to drop $150 on a calendar, regardless of how good it may or may not be.

It may not surprise you that I have a lot of tea in my tea stash. So when faced with the idea of buying a $150 advent calendar, which was really enticing, it was pointed out to me that I had enough teas to come up with my very own custom DIY Tea Advent Calendar.

At first I protested, because there was just no way that I had 24 teas to have for the first 24 days of December. And then, upon reevaluation of my tea stash, I realized that I doth protest too much. I could easily come up with 24 teas that I would love to have over the course of the month. And that’s not even including the new-to-me tea that I purchased at the Vancouver Tea Festival earlier this month – should I be embarrassed at this point? Should I just embrace my tea enthusiast lifestyle? Anyways, I opted to do a 24 day Tea Advent Calendar because I’m going to be having Christmas morning at my parents’ house, and having tea with them (and they have a huge tea stash too! The apple does not fall far from the tree). I do love the idea of having a tea designated for Christmas morning, so if you’re wanting to do a 25 day Tea Advent Calendar that is totally okay too!

Of course, since I am putting together a tea calendar for myself, I know exactly what teas will be appearing throughout the month (if you continue to scroll down, I list out the teas that will be featured throughout the month of December – not in order).

For your very own DIY Tea Advent Calendar, you will need:

24 or 25 teas in sachet format or loose leaf
24 or 25 filter bags to fill yourself (if the tea is not in sachet format)*
24 or 25 envelopes
Number stickers, number stamps, or a marker
Holiday-themed stickers
Box or tray to hold everything

* If you’re going this route, don’t forget to include information about the tea on a piece of paper and tuck it into the envelope unless you’re into the idea of mystery tea! Some information you’ll probably want to know: type of tea, steeping temperature, steeping time. If the tea company doesn’t provide you with steeping instructions, check out my guide to Steeping Times for Different Teas!

I am using a mix of commercially made tea sachets and loose leaf teas. My first task was to decorate the 24 envelopes, because I consider that to be the more ‘fun’ aspect of this project. I stacked the envelopes and shuffled them with the number side facing down so I was blissfully unaware of which date I was filling. I stuffed the envelopes, sealed them with an appropriate holiday sticker, and then arranged them in numerical order. My DIY Tea Advent Calendar is now sitting by my kettle, waiting eagerly for December 1st so I can drink my daily cup of tea.

You still have time to put together your very own DIY Tea Advent Calendar! Or give as a gift to your favourite person! This whole process took me about half an hour – not including the purchasing of the tea.

If you’re short on tea, I recommend picking up a sampler box of tea sachets from your local tea shop or grocery store as it’ll help round out your 24 (25) teas. You can find envelopes, stickers, and markers at your local dollar store if you don’t have any on hand – or you can raid your favourite child’s arts & crafts box for the goods.

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