Anyone else sad that we no longer have Advent Calendars to open and share? There's such excitement over it all and the big build up to Christmas and then - Boom - it's over. Done.
I do have some other items to share including this review of an Advent Calendar I was really looking forward to opening from Tea at the White House.
Tea at the White House is a Canadian Tea House and Online Retailer. They are located in Waterdown, Ontario and boast "A Tea Shop for the Tea Lover, A Tea Room for the Tea Drinker". They have unique flavours of tea and other items including scones with the fixings and items from the Royal Family. I have been making a big effort to support Canadian made items and companies so was really looking forward to trying a large variety of their tea flavours through the Advent Calendar.
The Calendar was available for order in October and I snapped one up for $40 CAD. It arrived promptly in November. It was 24 days of tea. Each day was one single pyramid style tea bag. It breaks down to $1.67 a day/cup. The box itself was very well made and really nice in a light blue magnetic box. Each day had a perforated window to peel back to reveal the tea bag individually wrapped in a clear plastic bag. The box was easily displayed in my kitchen and was a lovely size.
There was an adequate variety of flavours of tea however it seemed to me that many of the first flavours included mint. The majority of the tea was caffeinated. While I do enjoy tea in the afternoon, I also use it as a wind down at the end of the day so it was disappointing that there were so few decaf teas in this box. I don't think I'm really alone in this because we are so busy during the holidays and all need some relaxing moments with a cup in the evening. I had to adjust my ritual to accommodate drinking this tea at another time of day.
My favourite flavour hands down was German Christmas Cake. This flavour was so good and totally a Christmas flavour for those of us who enjoy fruitcake and mincemeat pies. For me the worst flavour was the Ontario Ice Wine which I'm convinced was a poor batch because it was totally floral. I don't think I was able to finish the cup.
Okay, I'm going to spill the tea here, beyond the name of the tea on the label there was absolutely nothing included to tell you what the ingredients were or how to brew or enjoy the tea. After opening the tea, I would head to the website and look up the flavour to see if it was caffeinated or not but that's all the website tells me as well. Instructions like, use water at this temperature and brew for these many minutes would be HUGELY appreciated. It's possible that Ice Wine tea was so terrible for me because I let it steep too long, but how would I know otherwise? Another super helpful detail is to tell us consumers whether it's appropriate to add sweetener or a creamer or make it into a latte or it's terrific iced. These things definitely add to the overall enjoyment and likelihood that I'd not only come back to buy that flavour again but recommend it to others as well. I'm also going to mention that it sure would be nice to receive some other little perk on the final day. Back when I first started with the David's Tea calendar, there were mini ornaments included on the last day and I think there were coupons in some as well.
I'm going to admit this. I really felt like I was missing out on two other Advent Calendars. I've really enjoyed the Bird & Blend calendar previously but because of shipping costs I decided to not get that one this year. I felt like there was a whole portion of the tea community enjoying that one and interacting with their social media. Of course the David's Tea calendar is super popular but another one which I've put on my wish list for next Christmas season is the T.Kettle Tea Advent Calendar. It was a similar design to David's Tea and the flavours looked intriguing. I think the folks at Tea at the White House have missed out on interacting with their fans.
I'm definitely not saying to not try this company out for yourself because there are very worthy products. For the price, it's a nice little calendar but just be wary that there are others out there which I feel are much better. I really wanted to like this one but I feel rather underwhelmed and likely will not purchase another calendar from them.
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