Oteas: Christmas Cookie Green Tea

As you are probably more than aware, I'm a huge fan of Christmas and Christmas tea's in particular. There are quite a few good ones on the market at the moment, but I can't resist trying new tea's and the amount I've spent this year is very naughty indeed. But what a joy all the tasting has been.

I recently became aware of a new (to me anyway) tea company called Oteas. And they have a delightful selection of Christmas tea's that cover each taste. They have a black tea, rooibos tea and a green tea. I've brought them all so will be reviewing them all over the next week.

Today though I've opted to review their green Christmas tea. It's a delightful little gem called Christmas Cookie Green Tea. 

This tea comes in a single, silky tea pyramid.

I think I opted to try their green tea first because I've been drinking a lot of Christmas tea (it's a hard life!) recently and most are black tea that need a bit of milk and sugar so I appreciated a lighter drink that could be taken on it's own without adding anything extra.

There are only a few ingredients in this tea. We have cinnamon, cloves, almond and pink pepper. An interesting, sweet mix.

As this was a green tea I was particular as to how I infused this tea so boiled the water to 80 and infused this for two minutes. It infuses to a light green, attractive colour and has a gorgeous sweet aroma.

My first impression of this gorgeous (and it is gorgeous) tea is that it's so smooth and easy to drink. With the addition of cloves and cinnamon I was preparing for a bit of a pow moment when I took my first sip, however, in fact it's a sweet, gently spiced tea and I'm really impressed.

I know I've been going on about the blending of Christmas tea's for month's now, but this is a very good example of how a decent blend can make the difference in a spiced tea. Good blending makes for a delicious, poor blending makes for a awful one. This, I'm happy to say, is certainly in the former category.

From the first sip the most prominent flavour is the sweet almond. It brings that rich, desert element to the tea without it being overpowering, unlike the addition of vanilla which some Christmas tea's have this year. This is sweet and rich without it being sickly so.

The cinnamon and cloves are there too, but the amount is so little that you can taste their presence but it doesn't overpower anything. Obviously you can't add milk to green tea anyway, so it's nice a little bit of limitation has been used so this tea remains pleasant and refreshing.

However, it's the addition of the pink pepper which I really like and which makes this tea different and exciting. It gives a generous kick at the end of each sip. And it makes your mouth dance and fizz and truly comes alive with the vibrant flavour.

Christmas Cookie tea is really a journey in each sip. Initially you get that sweet kick from the almond, then you get the familiar warmth from the cinnamon and then a kick from the pink pepper! It's really awesome and I find this tea quite charming.

The green tea is mellow, smooth with a slightly nutty element which I find totally enjoyable. It rolls nicely across the tongue and adds a bit of depth to the tea.

I found this a light, refreshing alternative to the normal black spiced tea's that are gorgeous but can sit a bit too heavy if too much is taken in a short period. This would be great on Christmas and Boxing Day when you've over indulged a bit and fancy something a wee bit lighter.

Additionally, this is also very refreshing and a great palate cleanser, too!

I am very impressed and cannot wait to try the other two Christmas tea's I've purchased from Otea's.

And do you know what makes this tea even better? Each single silky pyramid tea bag - that is crammed full of tea - was only 49p each! But, when I sat down to review this today checked in on Otea's site and their Christmas tea's are now on sale for 39p. There really isn't anything as nice as a bargain at this time of year!