The 2018 Tea Advent Calendar

So, what is Advent? Advent is the four-week period beginning on the Sunday nearest the feast day of St Andrew the Apostle on 30^th November, through the following three Sundays. Advent Calendars typically don’t follow the traditional period of Advent. Instead they begin on the 1^st December and mark the 24 days before Christmas. Nowadays most Advent calendars are made up of paper doors that open to reveal an image or a piece of chocolate and in our case some delicious loose-leaf tea!

You might think that traditional advent calendars have been around for centuries; the main elements, the church’s countdown to Christmas, paper and candles all have. As it turns out, the practice of counting down the days to Christmas in paper form, using wreaths or candles is actually relatively new. The real blueprint for the advent calendar originates in Germany, the advent calendar we know and love; the little doors to peel back, revealing pictures, candles or chocolate.

Towards the end of the 1950s, chocolate advent calendars re-appeared and started to spread across the world. Ten years later, many countries were using the advent calendar to count down the days to Christmas.

Advent calendars are still very popular all across the world and now come in thousands of different varieties, some with just pictures in, others with just chocolate. Some are even made in themes of television programs, movies, sports and toys.

Christmas is coming!

At Cup of Tea we have an exciting Tea Advent Calendar containing 24 different loose-leaf teas to try throughout the advent period.

This is a great tea gift idea for you friends and family.

Each window contains a 10g sample of tea, enough to make a pot of tea for 4-5 cups.

£29.50

The teas included in this year’s Tea Advent Calendar are:

Malty Black, Colombian Natural Toffee, Nepal Guranse Superior, Oolong Ti Dung, Milky Oolong, Duke of Grey, Winter Fairy Tale, Vanilla Apple, Christmas Punch, Red Chilli Chai, Chai Ginger Orange, Stay in Balance, Yuncui, Morning Dew, Yin & Yang, Rooibos Chocolate Truffle, Rooibos Ginger & Lemon, Rooibos Snowflurry, Black Elderberry, Magic Fire, Plum and Cinnamon, Fruity Baked Red Apple, Heavens Delight, Herbal Energy.

FUN FACTS ABOUT ADVENT

Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning “arrival”; it was meant to be a season of fasting and contemplation, in preparation for the feast of Christmas
The first Advent calendars containing chocolate were produced by Cadbury in 1958.
In Britain and America, a quarter of all personal spending for the year takes place in December.
In Nordic countries there is a tradition of having an Advent television series that starts on December 1 and runs until Christmas Eve.
The most expensive Advent Calendar cost $50,000 and was available from Harrods in 2007. It was a 4-foot Christmas tree shaped structure from elm and walnut wood. Each of the 24 compartments contained a piece of organic chocolate from Green and Black. The proceeds went to support cocoa farmers in Belize
Although the modern Christmas colours are usually red and green, the traditional colour for the church is almost always a vibrant purple.
The World’s largest ever advent calendar was built in 2007 in St Pancras Station, London to mark the station’s refurbishment.
Advent chocolate is said to taste “different” to normal chocolate because its rounded shape causes it to melt faster on our tongues and we savour the flavour more.
The loose leaf teas in our Tea Advent Calendar come from 9 different countries around the world!