On Tea: Celestial Seasonings' Candy Cane Lane

Those merry, industrious polar bears aren't even remotely
considering eating you....  Honest!

Just so you all know, this is probably the only time you’re going to see Celestial Seasonings in this tea series.  Outside of Sleepy Time tea and Throat Tamer tea, their flavors are generally overwhelming to my palate and don’t usually count as tea in my book.  Just sayin’.

But there are exceptions to everything.  This is also an exception on the side of “color” of tea.  Most of the teas I’ve talked about so far have been black teas with a few of the more outstanding flavored/herbals mentioned.  Candy Cane Lane is a decaffeinated green tea, so there’s a switch.

This is my “Christmassy” tea, hands down.  And it shouldn’t be confused with any other “peppermint” tea.  Candy Cane Lane is particular in that it balances the peppermint with a touch of vanilla for a smoothly-sweet treat.  In order to keep that balance, remember that with a green tea you’ll want to take the water off the heat just before it gets to a boil.  You want to be mindful of the brew-time here, too.  About 3 minutes, tops, I’d say.

Because it’s decaf, you can enjoy this anytime of day, but I find especially nice on those cold, grey, late afternoons we get this time of year, curled up by the fire (if you’re lucky enough to have one of those!) or a Christmas tree, maybe even with some mellow seasonal music, or just a good read. 

Candy Cane Lane is a good tea to pair with whatever little holiday nibbles you’ve got around – cookies, sweets, perhaps dried fruits/nuts.  Light little things here, probably not your leftover turkey or ham on a sandwich.  Of course, standards like digestives or rich tea (or Jaffa Cakes!) are always applicable, as well.  I had mine with half a Tiffin bar the other night for dessert.  It would take the tiniest bit of milk nicely, but only the tiniest – less than a teaspoon!

For a nice, cosy, quiet moment in the middle of all the December “holiday” madness, this earns itself a 9/10.