United KingdomOverview
The 23 caddies: Christmas Black Tea (twice), Christmas Green Tea (twice), Christmas Plum, Apple & Cinnamon Infusion (twice), Queen Anne, Royal Blend, Breakfast Blend, Albion, Celebration Blend, Victoria Grey, Earl Grey Classic, Darjeeling FTGFOP, Assam TGFOP, Ceylon OP, and flavoured teas: green with elderflower, green with lemon, green with mandarin, and black with peach, strawberry, fig and vanilla.
Christmas Black Tea has cocoa nibs, clove and orange, Christmas Green Tea has cassia, liquorice root, star anise, vanilla and pink peppercorns, and the infusion has hibiscus, rosehip, cinnamon, clove, apple and ginger. Victoria Grey and Christmas Green Tea contain liquorice. The infusion is the only caffeine-free tea. Door one holds the silver-plated star infuser.
The box is rigid card with an intricate design, built to be reused. Fortnum sells a separate Christmas Tea Advent Calendar Refill, 600 g, at £95, and delivers to the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand among others.
Taste & variety
Christmas Black Tea turns up twice, with cocoa nibs, clove, orange, ginger and chocolate flavouring, and so does Christmas Green Tea, with cassia, liquorice root, star anise, vanilla, coconut and pink peppercorns, which is more spice rack than green tea. The house names carry the middle of the month: Queen Anne, Royal Blend, Breakfast Blend, Albion, Celebration Blend, Victoria Grey with bergamot, lavender, cornflower and liquorice.
The origin trio is Darjeeling FTGFOP, Assam TGFOP and Ceylon OP, plus Earl Grey Classic. The only infusion is Christmas Plum, Apple & Cinnamon with hibiscus, rosehip and ginger, which turns up twice and is the one caffeine-free option. Fig, peach, strawberry and vanilla blacks, and elderflower, lemon and mandarin greens, round it off.
Packaging & gift appeal
The box is rigid card with an intricate design and is, in Fortnum's words, designed to be reused and reloved year after year. That is a larger claim than it sounds: advent boxes are normally the most disposable thing in the house by 26 December.
Here the first door holds a silver-plated star infuser, and the rest hold 25 g caddies of loose leaf, 575 g in all. A refill, a 600 g Christmas Tea Advent Calendar Refill, is sold separately for £95, which turns a showpiece into an annual habit.
What is in the box
23 caddies of 25 g loose leaf tea (575 g of tea) and a silver-plated star tea infuser, in a rigid card box with an intricate design. A refill is sold separately at £95.
Key features
- 23 caddies of 25 g loose leaf tea, 575 g in total
- Silver-plated star tea infuser behind door one
- House blends, Darjeeling, Assam and Ceylon, and Christmas teas
- Rigid card box designed to be reused year after year
Our verdict
Door one gives you an infuser, the other 23 give you real quantities of tea, from Royal Blend to Darjeeling FTGFOP. This is Fortnum doing what Fortnum does: a lavish present for a serious loose leaf drinker. The question is whether the second December earns the £95 refill.
What we like
- Full 25 g caddies of loose leaf tea, not sachets
- Silver-plated star infuser included
- House blends plus Darjeeling, Assam and Ceylon
- A box designed to be reused every December
A few things to know
- A showpiece price at £145
- Only one caffeine-free tea, appearing twice
- The refill is a separate £95 purchase
Questions about Fortnum & Mason Tea Advent Calendar
What is in Fortnum & Mason Tea Advent Calendar?
24 doors. 23 caddies of 25 g loose leaf tea (575 g of tea) and a silver-plated star tea infuser, in a rigid card box with an intricate design.