Well here we are everyone… Day 24… the last day of the Advent Calendar… it’s Christmas Eve… and I am almost out of tea… If you are have endured this review process and are still reading these blogs… congratulations… I will try to make the blog a little more exciting after Christmas… there will be no more tea reviewing for the foreseeable future… I also promise not to do this again… because it turns out that while I have enjoyed the novelty of the tea Advent Calendar when it comes to the teas I like I am actually pretty boring… I just like black tea… nothing fancy… just black tea.

Through this process though I have tried new things, I have confirmed that I am not a fruit tea person and found a couple of teas that I could be tempted by again… and that some of these new teas I can have without my usual one sugar, so that’s a plus… but mostly I have just confirmed that I am most likely to stick to the plain stuff… Thanks for sticking around… I hope it wasn’t too tedious.

Tomorrow for Christmas day my gift to you will be no more tea reviews and my gift to myself will be a regular ceylon tea…

Day 24:

Tea: Christmas Breakfast 
Initial Reaction: I thought you might be hiding here Christmas breakfast… and what a good idea to pop you last…    
Brew Time: 4 mins 
Enjoyed with: a dash of milk
Flavour: Good… There is a lot going on in this tea… and I was hoping for a relaxing finish to a hectic season… but the tea is also hectic… it tastes like Christmas spice… and look it’s probably me not the teas… but I do enjoy a less is more with spice… but it was a fun way to finish… 
Score: 6/10

Bonus review from Dave: Not as festive as I hoped… I was looking for some real excitement… 7/10

Day 23:

Tea: Pumping Pomegranate 
Initial Reaction: Wow… where do they come up with these names?   
Brew Time: 4 mins 
Enjoyed with: boiling water 
Flavour: Good… again, not as sweet as I thought it would be which is a nice surprise… it’s tangy though
Score: 6/10

Day 22:

Tea: Melbourne Breakfast 
Initial Reaction: Hello my old friend!    
Brew Time: 4 mins 
Enjoyed with: Milk
Flavour: I am a fan of Melbourne breakfast… which is good because I am also a fan of Melbourne, Breakfast, and breakfasts in Melbourne, it’s sweet and smooth and just delish
Score: 9/10

Day 21:

Tea: Eggnog
Initial Reaction: In tea? Wonderful… and I love the pink… well done T2… I know it doesn’t look pink in the picture… but just trust me on this one.
Brew Time: 3 mins 
Enjoyed with: Milk
Flavour: I am yet to have any actual egg nog this season… so I’m not sure if this is what it’s supposed to taste like… but there is a LOT of vanilla… but it does taste festive 
Score: 6/10

Bonus review from Dave: much like the real thing if you drink too much of it you’re going to be sick… 2 cup maximum… 5/10

Day 20:

Tea: Sleep Tight
Initial Reaction: Well this is awkward… where having this first thing in the morning because that’s the only time we have today   
Brew Time: 4 mins 
Enjoyed with: Nothing, just good water
Flavour: It’s good… I would enjoy this at the correct time of day
Score: 7/10

Bonus review from Dave: Relaxing… 7/10

Day 19:

Tea: Go Go Goa
Initial Reaction: What the heck does that mean? What kinda tea even is this? 
Brew Time: 3 mins 
Enjoyed with: Milk and honey…
Flavour: Rooky error… I should have tasted this before I added the honey… all I can taste is honey… but if this was honey tea it hit the mark… 
Score: 5/10

Bonus review from Dave:  All I can taste is honey… what’s it supposed to be *emma reads description* oh it tastes like a weak Carmel latte… 6/10

So it’s been a BUSY couple of days… but really no one cares because it’s Christmas time and let’s face it these reviews aren’t really mind-blowing… so you probably haven’t missed them all that much… so rather than do 5 separate posts, I thought I would just pop them all in this post together…

Day 14:

Tea: Chai
Initial Reaction: I had forgotten about Chai tea… this could be fun…   
Brew Time: 4 mins 
Enjoyed with: Milk and honey… probably a bit too much milk… it come out quicker than I thought it would…  
Flavour: Spicy and sweet… although honey will do that.  It’s actually quite nice… nicer than I had expected… although I think my expectations were fairly low… it’s always the cinnamon… 
Score: 7/10

Bonus review from Dave: Ummmm… it’s sweet… but it tastes exactly like I thought it would… 8/10

Day 15:

Tea: Spellbound Cider
Initial Reaction: I do love cider… but in tea form? I guess we will find out.  Brew Time: 3 mins 
Enjoyed with: Just water… but by the time I got to it mine was cold… that’s what you get when you’re busy… 
Flavour: Sweet… and cider my… I think it might have even been better cold… I am really realising that I am not a fruit tea person… but it wasn’t terrible… either my expectations for fruit tea are getting lower or I am learning to appreciate them better. 
Score: 6/10

Bonus review from Dave: It tasted like someone left the appletiser out at Christmas… 6/10

Day 16:

Tea: French Earl Grey
Initial Reaction: Oh I don’t mind an early grey… excellent… and this one is French 
Brew Time: 3 mins 
Enjoyed with: Milk and sugar… it’s how I’ve always had my earl grey… despite it telling me it will be fine by itself… lies…
Flavour: This one was super fruity… and sweet… but the sweetness was probably my fault… as far as earl grey’s go it was pretty tasty 
Score: 7/10

Day 17:

Tea: Jade Mountain 
Initial Reaction: sounds exotic… green tea and chocolate what an odd combination 
Brew Time: 3 mins 
Enjoyed with: Nothing… there is already enough going on here
Flavour: look if I haven’t already said it… I should… I’m not sure chocolate and tea mix in the tea… chocolate is an on the side thing of its own… and tea should be left tea… I taste the cocoa, I taste the praline… I taste the green tea and separately sure… but hot and together not so much
Score: 4/10

Bonus review from Dave: A bold choice to put chocolate and green tea together but admits the confusion, not a bad drop… 7/10

Day 18:

Tea: Strawberries and Cream
Initial Reaction: I think someone gave me some of this once… maybe… I’m actually not sure… we’ll now is as good a time as ever to try it again… or for the first time… 
Brew Time: 3 mins 
Enjoyed with: Just water  
Flavour: Not as sweet as I was expecting which was a pleasant surprise… I mean it’s sweet, but not overwhelmingly so like some of the other teas I have tried from the calendar… would I rush out and buy it, probably not, but if they had it in-store as a taster would I have some… sure 
Score: 6/10

Day 13:

Tea: Detox
Initial Reaction: Oooo a purple tea… Oh it’s Detox, what does that mean? Contains liquorice… sure why not…
Brew Time: 4 mins
Enjoyed with: Nothing
Flavour: Not at all what I expected… it’s almost a bit woody… there is a flavour in it that I can’t quite put my on it… to be honest… I am not sure I like it… I’m also not feeling particularly cleansed or detoxed… but that could also be due to the fact that I have natural suspicion that rings when ever I read the word detox…
Score: 4/10

Day 12:

Tea: Twinkle Berry
Initial Reaction: Doh! More fruit tea… although I do like berries… I am choosing to stay positive and hopeful that I might find the right fruit tea for me…
Brew Time: 3 mins
Enjoyed with: Nothing
Flavour: Look… to be totally honest this was better than I thought it would be… and it was really pink… I thought it would taste like hot ribena, but it didn’t and it was no where near as sweet as I was expecting… in fact as far as fruit teas go it was pretty good.
Score: 6/10

Bonus review from Dave: It was good, I finished the cup and I’d do it again 8/10

Day 11:

Tea: Green Rose
Initial Reaction: This sounds delicious… I like green tea and I love rose… so it could be a winner, seriously what combo.
Brew Time: 3 mins
Enjoyed with: Just hot water
Flavour: I was right, it was delicious… I think I might be getting more of this.
Score: 8/10

Bonus review from Dave: I got a tiny Turkish delight tinge 6/10