O Christmas Tea, O Christmas Tea! Week 1-ish

For Christmas this year, my parents-in-law gave me a special kind of Advent calendar: a David's Tea collection. Each of 24 little drawers pulls out to reveal a little screw-top container with a different kind of loose-leaf tea. Dear Husband decided that drinking the same tea every morning would be something nice to do "together"--no matter where I was on the interview trail. So we re-packaged the tea into single-serving baggies that I tucked into my luggage with the tea infuser. [Insert dime-baggie joke here.] Every morning we brewed a different tea and texted each other a photo. I've broken up the teas into three-ish weeks of eight days of deliciousness.

Day 1 ~ "Sleigh ride" ~ a "fruit infusion" sans caffeine. Lovely pink-red color with fruity smell and taste that we enjoyed together before driving to the airport.

The floating frog-on-a-lily-pad tea infuser was a gift from my Aunt J. It stayed home with DH.
I traveled with the collapsible infuser on the left that came with the box of loose-leaf tea.

Day 2 ~ "Mango madness" ~ a white tea with a light caffeine. The delicate flavors of mango and white tea blended well together.

Peek-a-boo,
orange pekoe!

Day 3 ~ "Orange pekoe" ~ a black tea with medium caffeine. I ran out of hot water for this one, so I spiked mine with some almond milk. The black tea flavor was not too strong.

Day 4 ~ "Organic sweet almond green" ~ a green tea with low caffeine. The almond really came through in this one.

Day 5 ~ "Banana nut bread" ~ a fruit infusion sans caffeine. Smelled good--like raisins? Tasted like your standard fruit tea.

Day 6 ~ "Glitter & gold" ~ a black tea with medium caffeine. Having had two colds in two weeks, I did not feel like "glitter and gold" that morning.

Day 7 ~ "Organic North African mint" ~ a green tea with low caffeine. You could really taste the organic goodness.

Day 8 ~ "Cherry blossom" ~ a white tea with low caffeine. I sort of forgot this one, steeping in the hotel bathroom while I ironed, dressed, and packed. It was unobjectionable.

That's me enjoying Day 7's tea out of a Texas wildflower mug, having just rolled out of bed at my parents' house on a non-interview day.

Continue reading with Week 2 and Week 3.