
The 2024 Plum Deluxe Tea Lover’s Advent Calendar is a delightful treat for any tea enthusiast. Housed in a charming collectable tin, it includes 25 envelopes, a tabbed key sheet, steeping instructions, and of course, a variety of teas. You can choose between the Caffeine or No Caffeine options, with each set offering unique, overlapping flavors for an extra surprise each day. PS: There’s no spoilers for the tea flavors ahead in case you were wondering — I don’t want to ruin the surprise for others.
Please note: As soon as this calendar showed up I went to the Plum Deluxe website and discovered that the boxes were sold out with no plans to restock, but I thought you might like to see what was included in case you want to try again next year. It looks like they went on sale around mid-October.
I received my Tea Lover’s Advent Calendar at the end of November, just in time to have it ready to go on December 1st! I opened up the tin to find 25 sealed envelopes inside and numbered in order from 1-25. I received the version that contains caffeine but it’s not all black tea — there was white, green, oolong, and pu-erh in there as well. If you have a clothesline mantle decoration then you can hang your teas if you prefer!
Inside the box there was a tri-fold brochure with more info and Tea-Quently Asked Questions. I liked the suggestion to create a routine, and that’s what I did — I steeped a cup every afternoon while I snuggled cozily on the couch with a book, blanket, and my best buddy, who happens to be a Golden Retriever named Buddy. I added a bit of sugar and some half and half to the black teas, sugar or honey to the white, green, and oolongs, but of course let your tastebuds be your guide. There was a checklist with space to list the tea name once discovered, and a spot to note whether it “Jingles My Bells” or is “Not My Cup of Tea”. Half of the teas in the calendar are already available in the Plum Deluxe online shop, while the other half will become available on December 25th. Finally, on the back of the brochure there were hints to shake it up a bit, like trying the samples iced, or turning some into a latte.

I think this Advent Key Sheet was super fun to open each day! Each day I would pick the tea, open the sample, give it a sniff, and try to guess what ingredients might have made up that blend. Then I would pull a tab to see if I guessed correctly. Underneath the tab you will find the name of the tea and the ingredients. There’s also a colored dot that matches one of the two dots on the bottom of the sheet so you can see whether you need to steep in boiling hot water (black tea, pu-erh, or oolong) or just under the boil (green and white).
I’m not giving any spoilers here but I wanted to show you what you will find inside each envelope. I carefully cut open the envelope along the top and found two packs (each contain the same tea) filled with a blended tea. I put my water on to boil and then placed a tea infuser basket into a mug and emptied the contents of one pack into the basket. When the water boiled (or in the case of the white or green tea blends, I pulled the water off just before it came to a boil) I poured it over the basket and leaves and then set a timer for five minutes (three minutes for green or white). Then I gave it a sniff and checked out the key before emptying the spent leaves into my compost container. I added sugar (and sometimes half and half) and then enjoyed my tea surprise. I placed the extra sample back into the envelope to either be shared with family or, and please don’t judge me here, to enjoy the experience all over again in January!
I had a wonderful time discovering some lovely tea blends from Plum Deluxe and their Tea Lover’s Advent Calendar! I’ve tried Plum Deluxe in the past and I knew the teas would be tasty without being artificial. Even my husband commented on what a neat concept it was, and asks each day if I enjoyed my tea. Not only do I have 50 cups of tea to savor, I also have a beautiful tin to store tea supplies in when it becomes free, which should happen around January 25th!
Plum Deluxe offers handcrafted, luxury teas made from fresh, high-quality ingredients, carefully hand-blended to suit every mood and moment. Interested in a steady supply of high-quality tea? They also have a Tea of the Month Club, which features exclusive new blends in every box. Members enjoy free shipping on every order.
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