24 days of tea!

Advent calendars are very big in this part of the world. I think they’re great, not because I particularly care about Advent, but because the idea of getting some little treat each day for 24 days is lots of fun. The basic idea is that the recipient receives something small to mark each day from December 1st through 24th (if you want more of an explanation than that, grab your nearest Catholic and ask him/her, or check out this site).

Most of the pre-made ones on sale here involve tiny pieces of milk chocolate hidden behind cardboard windows (like this one).

Since my husband is not a big fan of milk chocolate, last year I made him a custom Advent calendar by wrapping 24 individual gifts, most of which consisted of some form of dark Swiss chocolate. It was a big hit.

The other day when browsing through my local health food store, I was delighted to come across a tea Advent calendar – basically a box containing 24 different-flavored tea bags, each one labeled for a specific day of Advent. And no regular every-day tea either – each bag is a mix of ingredients with names like ‘warming Hildegard tea’ and ‘Rooibos magic trunk’. I immediately bought one for myself (although I’m sure they’d make great gifts, too…). I can’t wait until December 1st, when I get to start trying my new tea!

If you can’t find a pre-packaged tea calendar where you live (I have a feeling these are only marketed in the German-speaking world), you could always make one yourself. The best part about making your own Advent calendar is that you can put whatever you want into it – tea, chocolate, beer… Hmmm, sounds like this could be a good project for next year…