Hello friends! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I bought not one, but TWO advent calendars this year!! I was only intending to get the Mariage Frères tea advent calendar, but then I saw a kinder chocolate one in stores and couldn’t resist.

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I’m actually late on the Kinder calendar because I’ve had a sore throat this week from eating too much chocolate and therefore could not each chocolate. It’s the circle of life/chocolate. But, I am on track for the Mariage Freres advent calendar and enjoying it immensely! So far, all the teas blends are flavoured teas and very well-balanced – I’ve not met a tea I didn’t enjoy, even the blue teas!

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Anyway, as a way of keeping track of the teas in case I ever want to buy some, I thought I’d start writing this post and then update it weekly with the teas that I’ve tried!

Week 1

• Day 1: Marco Polo Vert Sublime – A green tea that tasted like fruits and vanilla! Sweet but not too sweet and a great way to start the calendar.
• Day 2: Apollon – This was a blue tea! Unlike the other butterfly-pea teas I’ve tried (I assume that’s where the colour is from, this one had a gentle fruity taste that was very pleasant.
• Day 3: Blanc & Rose – This is a white tea with roses! It’s a nice blend but this is also a fairly common flavour.
• Day 4: Earl Grey in Love – I was quite surprised to see a blue earl grey tea! The bergamot smell was initially quite strong, but I was pleased to find that the taste of bergamot in the brewed tea is actually quite subtle.
• Day 5: Locombia Colombia – This flavoured green tea was very sweet and reminded me of a fruit candy. I got a bit of umami from the green tea at the end and went to look it up – apparently the tea and the fruits that flavour it are from Colombia! This makes me want to try some unflavoured Colombia teas.

Week 2

• Day 6: Orange Angelique – This was a great tea for breakfast! It’s an orange-flavoured black tea, but I found the orange notes to be quite subtle so I got to enjoy the black tea. I liked this, but if you’re looking for something with more orange, you may be disappointed.
• Day 7: Paris in Love – Another blue tea, this was sweet and fruity but actually pretty similar to the other blue teas I’ve had (like Apollon).
• Day 8: Rainbow Rhapsody – This was a fruity white tea that deepends to a nice dark red colour as you let it steep. Pretty delicious!
• Day 9: Colombia Breakfast – The first spiced tea in this calendar! People who are not me and who like spiced tea will probably enjoy this. I tried this with and without milk, but I find that there are coffee notes if you add milk and that is not for me.
• Day 10: Bouddha Bleu – This was a fruity green tea, but had a weird spicy note when dry and when brewed with hotter water (though mostly in smell rather than taste). The sweet and fruity notes taste like the other fruity teas, but honestly the most striking thing about this tea is the name – was that really necessary? It’s not like it’s made from a Tie Guanyin.
• Day 11: Love Story – This was the winner of the week and one of my favourites so far! There’s a sweet caramel-like note to this one which distinguishes it from the other fruity teas and I like how it works with the black tea.
• Day 12: Tokyo in Love – I really love Japan (as you know) but this blue tea was a miss for me. It looks blue and that’s about it; I didn’t even get the fruity notes that other blue teas have!

Week 3

• Day 13: Gabacha – This was a GABA Japanese green tea and personally, the lack of umami was a surprise! I also don’t think an unflavoured green tea was the best choice in an advent calendar because some of the scents from other teas seems to have infused into this.
• Day 14: Opera Rhapsody – This white tea had clear vanilla notes that I thought went really well with the fruity flavour!
• Day 15: Marco Polo Sublime – I already know that I like this and I was not disappointed! The whole is greater than the sum of its parts and this floral and fruity black tea is lovely and sweet.
• Day 16: Yuzu Bouquet – This was a yuzu flavoured green tea and this is another one that I really enjoyed! The yuzu notes were distinct but not too strong so it was a really lovely and refreshing cup – I can see this working well if you cold brew it too!
• Day 17: London in Love – This blue tea is supposed to be flavoured with mint and citrus but the first thing I got was bergamot; it really reminded me of an earl grey with a minty aftertaste!
• Day 18: Russian Breakfast Tea – I always thought that breakfast teas were unflavoured black teas but this one reminded me of an earl grey. I’m apparently not the only one – I’ve got another friend who thinks the same way!
• Day 19: Flower Moon – This was a blue tea and I thought it was going to be the same sweet and floral tea but it turns out that this was a spiced tea, which isn’t really my style.

Week 4

• Day 20: Earl Grey Rhapsody – This is supposed to be a twist on the usual Earl Grey but it’s so fruity that I could not find the bergamot note.
• Day 21: Milky Blue Absolu – I’m not sure how this is a blue tea given that it’s straw coloured but I really like the milky caramel notes here!
• Day 22: Black Leopard – This was a black tea smoked with guava leaves and I can’t lie, it tastes the same as the Thyolo Moto from Satemwa Tea Estate. The smoky notes are very warming and it’s a comforting tea on a cold day.
• Day 23: Fantôme de L’Opéra – This was supposed to be a green tea but it was blue! (Perhaps it got mixed up with the Milky Blue?) I got lots of fruity notes from this but not the ginger note mentioned in the description.
• Day 24: Noël in Love – Another blue tea, this is supposed to have the taste of Christmas desserts in it. I found it very sweet, but I couldn’t figure out which Christmas dessert this was supposed to be.
• Day 25: Noël Rhapsody – The last tea in this calendar, this tea had fruity and caramel notes and luckily for me, was not as sweet as it smelled. It was a well-balanced tea for me and I thought it was a nice tea to end the calendar with!

Overall, I really enjoyed this advent calendar! I’ve only had two Mariage Freres teas before I started drinking these, so I liked being able to sample their various blends and I even found a few that I’m tempted to purchase!