Oh Christmas Tea, oh Christmas Tea...

Yeah, I'm a little late on the Christmas tea post. I know. I know.

In case you don't know, my name is Jamie. I like metal music, sewing, hiking, cooking, gardening, beer and... tea.  Tea was certainly my first passion in life. I collect tea cups with skulls on them, make bad-ass tea cozies and wallets, and drink tea on a daily basis. Tea probably runs through my veins. I like black tea, green tea, flavored teas and tisanes, but I'm not a huge fan of oolongs, rooibos, or white tea. In a pinch, I'd probably still drink one, though.

I'm also not a huge fan of teabags. I like loose leaf teas, but bagged teas have their place in life too... Like in my travel mug. On my way to work. In a tea wallet. Occasionally you will see me mention bagged teas, but most of the time my tea talk will be about loose leaf teas by the pound. I'll also be featuring new beers every week, as I try them.

My biggest pet peeve about tea is stale tea. I hate stale tea. There's nothing you can do to make stale tea taste good, except throw it out and replace it with fresh tea.

Currently, my daily drinker is Russian Caravan tea from New Mexico Tea Company. My friend David runs NM Tea Co., and they have an excellent assortment of super fresh loose leaf tea. Yes, I'm probably biased towards David and his teas, but it's because he knows his shit like no one I've ever met save for my mom, and my mom was an unofficial tea scholar. For serious.

Juan sporting his scarf.

So, on to the Christmas tea post! I didn't buy any special new tea for the holidays this year, but my amazing friend Sheika, her other half Micah, and Micah's mom Judy sent me a bag of Gentleman's Blend from The Vintage Tea Leaf in Long Beach, CA. It came with an adorable teeny-weeny itty-bitty spoon and some cute ACEOs. My husband Juan received a tactical head scarf from them, complete with skulls and crossbones woven right into the fabric. It came just in time, too, because it's been cold as balls here.

On first inspection of the tea, the name got a laugh out of me. I've often thought I have drifted from green teas towards drinking stodgy old British gentleman tea, not to mention Gentleman's Blend sounds very James Bond-y, so I've read the label in a Sean Connery voice since I opened the box.

Gentleman's Blend is a blend of Lapsang Souchong, a smoke-dried Chinese tea (they use it to make Tea-Smoked Duck) and Russian Caravan, which can be a blend of various black teas and Lapsang Souchong tea. I've found Lapsang Souchong usually has the milder flavor of the two, and smells like chicken flavored ramen noodles. Russian Caravan is stronger in flavor and more acidic. In this tea blend, the Lapsang Souchong really cuts the acidity down and mellows out the tea while still imparting a smoky flavor, and the Russian Caravan destroys the chicken ramen smell I get from the Lapsang Souchong. It's a win-win situation! The tea is very fresh, too. It must be a popular blend!

I've been brewing a full teaspoon of this tea in a mug with boiling water and one spoon of turbinado sugar per cup. The brew is a lovely dark gold color, mild and sweet with an almost vanilla aftertaste, and the leaves sink to the bottom of the cup, so I didn't need an infuser.

My only complaint is that The Vintage Tea Leaf uses waxed paper bags for storage of the tea. Good thing I have extra airtight containers around - if I don't drink it all in the next week or so, which is a very real possibility, I can store it to keep it fresh. I highly recommend that anyone who likes tea invest in an airtight jar or container for tea to prolong the freshness, or use those metallic ziplock type bags to store it. Either way will keep the tea good and fresh for a few months.