‘Tis the season to bundle up and get cozy with winter tea blends. A nicely spiced holiday tea gets you in the festive mood with notes of cinnamon, clove, and ginger. I’ve come across seasonal blends that have a range of winter spices, dried fruits, and sweet notes like vanilla, chocolate, or caramel. Everyone may have their personal favorite (I sure do!), but this year I wanted to try a selection of Christmas and Winter themed teas to see if any come close to (or dare I say supplant) my ideal winter tea.

All I want this time of year is a hot cup tea full of warming spices to transport me to a winter wonderland. One sip and I’m in a wood cabin snuggled under a blanket by a crackling fire, watching the snow fall outside. This year I’ve found 7 teas to sample and rate, looking for the top tea to give me those cozy winter vibes. Let’s start our journey exploring a range of winter teas!

Winter Solstice: 5/5 | Peet’s – $

My all time favorite winter tea, this is comfort in a cup. I love the delicious aroma and blend of warming spices, with cozy vanilla, and hint of citrus. Winter Solstice has everything I want for a winter tea. This blend used to be really good, but over the years I think the ratio of ingredients has been tinkered with. I still love it even though I miss the Peet’s original blend (pre Mighty Leaf). I grew up drinking Peet’s tea so I have a particular fondness for this tea; some may find find it strong and bitter. I think it’s the bergamot that appeals to me. Is this the best winter tea, or am I just biased? That’s why I tried the following to compare!

Ingredients: Black Tea, Cinnamon, Orange Peel, Allspice, Natural Flavors, Bergamot Oil, Clove, Vanilla Bits

White Winter Chai: 5/5 | Art of Tea $$$$ 

This tea has nice, comforting, uplifting flavors of peppercorn and cinnamon with cozy cardamom and festive notes of anise and fennel. I really enjoy the combo of cardamom and white tea. Cardamom coats the tongue with the accompanying chai ingredients smoothly blending in. While drinking, your nose is filled with a fresh, subtle aroma of warming spices. 

This tea is on the pricier side (especially if you splurge on the artisan tin like I did), but the quality is good and you can always wait for a sale. I took advantage of their black Friday deal. I will definitely be repurchasing in the 4oz pouch to restock my pretty tin! I’d rather have Winter Solstice for the price, but I am looking forward to enjoying this tea in future winters.

Ingredients: Organic White Tea, Organic Black Peppercorns, Organic Cinnamon, Organic Fennel, Organic Cloves, Organic Cardamom, Star Anise, Natural Flavors

Christmas Black Tea: 4.75/5 | Fortnum & Mason $

This tea reminds me of eating a chocolate orange on Christmas morning. It is a citrus forward holiday blend both in flavor and aroma. Clove is the dominant spice and when I accidentally over brewed it was a strong aftertaste that sat on my pallet for a while. (I realized there are proper whole cloves in the blend, so check how many you are getting in each teaspoon when measuring out your tea!). Since I don’t live in England I thought I would have to pay a lot for shipping, but found out Williams Sonoma carries a selection. You get a lot of tea for your buck and I can see this tin will lasting me until next year when I will gladly restock. At first I gave this a 4.5/5 since I’m not usually a fan or orange forward teas, but it has grown on me. Definitely a good contender for a winter favorite.

Ingredients: Black Tea, Cocoa Nibs, Cloves, Safflowers, Flavors of Orange, Ginger, Clementine, Chocolate