Good morning, dear tea friends! Last weekend, my desktop computer finally died, after 15 years. Unfortunately, it’s the computer I write my blog from so now I need to figure out what to do. Until I can sort that out, I’m going to rerun some holiday posts from years past. I hope to have a new tea post for you very soon. Enjoy and Happy Holidays to all!

To start the holiday weekend festivities, this morning’s tea is a decadent treat – an India black tea (my guess is Assam) with cardamom pods and cocoa and cinnamon pieces – called Melange de Chamonix. Named after the luxurious resort in the French Alps, this is indeed a luxuriant morning treat. Yum.

I think my reindeer friends approve.

The dry leaves have an aroma of spicy chocolate liquor. With the addition of cardamom and cinnamon, I thought this tea would be more like a Chai Spice tea but the cocoa pieces predominant in the aroma and flavor so it is its own wonderfully unique blend.

Look at all of those lovely cardamom pods. I love the taste of cardamom.

I steeped the tea for 5-6 minutes for a rich, cocoa flavor with warm, spicy nuances. After sipping the tea plain for awhile, I poured half a cup and then added sweetener (mine is agave syrup) and a good dollop of whole milk. The flavor is strong enough to come through the additions and I found that the milk gave the tea a creaminess which I really enjoyed. I’ll say it again. Yum.

Comet seems to enjoy the aroma of the deep amber-colored tea liquor.

As much as I love tea with nothing added to it, this lovely tea sure has “spiced up” my morning!

I am going to Michigan for the holidays so there will be no Saturday Morning Tea post next Saturday. I will return in 2 weeks with some new tea to share with you in the brand new year.

Happy Holidays to all of you, dear friends. May your days be filled with light and love and many delicious cups of tea!

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!”

~Ebeneezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens