David's Tea's holiday collection hit stores and online this past Sunday and I couldn't resist picking up their 24 Days of Tea advent calendar! I wasn't too interested in the selection of teas included in last year's advent calendar and passed on it. However, this year has a couple I've been meaning to try (Sweet Almond Green, Moment of Zen) and some of my confirmed likes (Buddha's Blend, Cherry Blossom). The tea advent calendar sold out super fast last year, and after some brief mental math on the value, I caved haha.
I'm going to try to be good and open each one day by day like I'm supposed to, but I decided to make a post talking about the value of the set and take lots of photos of the beautiful packaging. JOIN ME AND GET IT.
The 2015 advent calendar is packaged in a sturdy teal box, book-style, with a satin ribbon to help pull it open.
Inside:
penguins!! But also, neatly arranged drawers in a variety of festive colours and patterns, each with a tin of tea inside. Something about how they designed/presented the drawers really appeals to my obsessive side.
This year's holiday collection is designed around mint, teal, and penguins wearing scarves and sipping tea--so basically I love and want
everything. But seriously I will probably end up doing some nail art inspired by this set.
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| Paper drawers with festive patterns |
Each tin contains enough tea to steep two cups (or more, if you're like me and do second steepings!) Because the amount required to make a cup varies from tea to tea, tins range from 4.8 g (Nepal Black, a straight black tea) to 17.2 g (Banana Nut Bread, a herbal tea -- these usually need a higher volume of tea because of big pieces of dried fruit, nuts, etc.)
The full list of teas included:
- Snow Day (new for Holiday 2015)
- Hot Chocolate (new for Holiday 2015)
- Cardamom French Toast (new for Holiday 2015)
- Mulled Wine (new for Holiday 2015)
- Sweet Almond Green (new for Holiday 2015)
- Santa's Secret (Holiday 2013)
- Dark Chocolate Delight
- Buddha's Blend (permanent)
- Mango Madness
- Cinnamon Rooibos Chai
- Honey, I Dew
- North African Mint (permanent)
- Cherry Blossom
- Forever Nuts (permanent)
- Nepal Black (permanent)
- Orange Pekoe (permanent)
- Moment of Zen
- Japanese Sencha (permanent)
- Sleigh Ride (Holiday 2013)
- Gingerbread Cookie
- Alpine Punch (Holiday 2013)
- The Spice Is Right
- Banana Nut Bread (Fall 2012)
- Glitter & Gold (permanent)
Santa's Secret and Sleigh Ride are currently not available for purchase outside of this set, by the way. Same goes for Gingerbread Cookie, which I think is a brand new tea and exclusive to the set.
Something I really like about this set is the way you "open" each day without wrecking the packaging. Some advent calendars have "doors" that require you to tear them open to get to the gift inside. Having drawers that slide out and back in keeps everything intact. And, as
Sheila pointed out to me, this allows you to re-use and make a custom tea advent calendar by filling it with your own teas if you wanted.
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| Day 1 drawer and tea |
Anyway, I crunched the numbers by determining $ per gram of each type of tea provided (for Gingerbread Cookie, which is not sold outside the set, I estimated based on similar rooibos teas available). The tins have an average value of about $1.59 each; the total value of the teas provided comes out to
$38.12. The advent calendar is selling for $40 CAD, which is not bad considering the sturdy, reusable packaging and the intangible enjoyment of opening a little gift to yourself for 24 days--think of it as a collector's item >;)
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| Day ??: Glitter & Gold |
The teas included in the set are listed on the back along with ingredients, so you can decide if it's to your liking. The actual order of teas is a mystery though!
The advent calendar is available for a limited time and again, tends to sell out quickly, so I would consider snagging it for yourself or as a gift soon. It sold out online on launch day, but has come back into stock again.
Are you doing any advent calendars this year? This is my first one of any kind ever, so I'm pretty excited!
Available at
David's Tea: $40 CAD / 222 g
