So, I’ve started the on my Bird & Blend matcha advent! And I received a new one! (No, I did not buy it)

This advent is The 1872 Clipper Tea Co.’s advent calendar and Bekah came by the day before Dec 1st to give it to me! Honestly I was really surprised and since the Matcha Advent is a 12-day calendar too, I’ll start this one on the 13th.

Advent Part 1

Quick tea reviews, in a pretty random order:

Gingerbread Chai Latte – This was a little sweet with a strong ginger kick that I like. It was very hard to get the matcha to foam for this, which is weird because I’ve been doing okay with my plain matcha. I gave up in the end and made it a latte, which is also okay because this goes well with milk.

Ice Cream Matcha – I’ll be upfront and say that I had a lot of problems whisking the matchas here. I just managed to make huge bubbles for these but you know what? It’s a sweet matcha, it works as a breakfast tea for me too. I’m going to embrace the Christmas spirit.

Peaches and Cream Matcha – I remember loving this the first time I had it and I still love it now! A fruity matcha that’s easy to make!

Maca Mocka – It’s nice to get teas that you’ve had because then, you can compare to see how things have changed. As with before, I could not whisk this to get a foam. In terms of taste… it’s like unsweetened chocolate. Even with milk, it’s not that tasty (probably why I avoided talking about the taste in my first review) and when I make this again, I’ll have to add sugar.

Salted Caramel Matcha – I thought I’d either love it or hate it, but I ended up pretty meh on it. It’s got some caramel taste, but it’s not very strong. I couldn’t form on opinion on whether I like it, but since I’ve got some more tea left in the tin, I can try again.

Mint Humbug Matcha – Today’s matcha! It’s a rooibos-based tea powder so I have no idea how to whisk it to get it to foam (anyone have any tips?). But I liked the taste, which was nice and minty.

Sipdown Part 2

I’m not sure how many teas I can finish before the end of 2020! So many of them are only half-drunk and it’ll take some time before I finish them. This week, I said goodbye to two teas:

Zhen Cong Shui Xian from Fujian Cha Hang: I bought this in Hong Kong, so I doubt I’d get to replenish it anytime soon. It’s been a very dependable tea, good for days where I want something with a little more character and a strong smoky note. (Original review)

Ying Hong No. 9: This is one of my tea pantry staples, so while it’s kinda sad to say bye to the last of the tea, I’m also certain that I’ll be repurchasing it sometime in 2021.

Bonus Section: Panettone Baking Attempt!

I tried making panettone yesterday! There is a class going on for about $148, but I figured that if I could make it from a recipe, I’d save quite a bit of money.

The dough took quite a long time to proof! I actually think I made a mistake with it because I had to go out for a bit, so I proofed it in the fridge for a few hours before bringing it back to room temp to continue proofing.

The end result was a “bread” that resembled a cake in terms of texture. On the plus side, it was still pretty moist and my grandma cut herself a second piece after trying it. So I think I can still work on this and get it closer to the panettone that we buy in stores.