Apple & Mint Matcha

Adventageddon Day 24 – Tea 1/4

Welp, we did it. As I do every year on the 24th, I’m breathing such a tremendous sigh of relief now that Adventageddon is over. As much as I love it, every year it’s so much to keep up with. I feel so much lighter every year as I wrap things up though; it’s truly just like this massive release of tension. I can’t even imagine how Cameron B feels with her dozen or so advents, haha!

This was a nice matcha to end on, though admittedly not the flavour I would have guessed they’d pick for day twenty four. Granted I’m a overthinker, but I feel like the first and last days in an advent are the most important so the tea selection should match the gravitas of those days. I probably would have put the Gingerbread Chai Matcha here, personally…

Truly, though, every new matcha from this year really impressed me. The apple note here was so fresh, crisp and ripe tasting – very much (if not the same) as what was in the Blackcurrant & Apple matcha from earlier, but much more of a dominant flavour. The mint was cooling and really accented the sweetness of the apple while doubling down on the overall crispness. It was mostly in the finish, and it was very nice. I haven’t always loved the mint flavours B&B incorporates into their matcha but this.. wow.

Just a super solid flavour. I bet it would also be so good iced!

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1QHuq0OvkR/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWxzf9ff6CA

Bird & Blend Matcha Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 24

What an odd choice for Day 24. I always wonder if companies just don’t think about the ordering of the teas in their advents sometimes, for instance when they put similar teas near each other, or like this when they don’t save a festive or special tea for the end of the advent. I can’t imagine they don’t put a lot of thought into it, but I also can’t imagine why they’d choose a summer matcha for Christmas Eve otherwise. Especially when they had more festive flavors earlier in the month… :P

Anyway, this is probably a weird flavor to make as an iced latte, but I’ve done every other matcha that way and I’m not going to stop now! :P This smells strongly of crisp apple, with just a dash of the mint. As a latte, I also mostly get the apple, and mixed with the oat milk, it sort of reminds me of oatmeal with chopped raw apples mixed in. The mint is more noticeable at the end of the sip, leaving a creamy but refreshing mint finish in my case. Will have to try the remainder of the tin as a sparkling iced matcha at a later date, since it’s probably better suited for that.

As for this advent as a whole, I was really impressed with it. The last time I tried a lot of B&B’s matcha was many years ago, and I’m pleased to see they seem to have moved away from the “tea powders” they used to carry more of, with rooibos or herbal bases, and transitioned to more actual matcha. And their matcha base seems significantly better than what it was originally (I think it had white tea or something?). Definitely considering ordering a few of these flavors, though the price point is a bit high for me. But they have a lot of unique ones, so might be worth a splurge. Would definitely recommend this advent for future years!