Bird & Blend Tea Co.

Thanks again, AJRimmer! First I must mention that I didn’t steep this iced like B&B intends, I prepared it hot and drank it hot. But whoa, there was hardly anything to this cup at all, and I steeped it at boiling, so if there was flavor here it would have been there in the hot cup, probably less so if I wanted to ice it? There is always the possibility this blend doesn’t like being steeped at boiling. Sometimes flavors shine at a lower temp. The brew color is the palest of yellow, so it isn’t even a pomegranate or strawberry red. There is the slightest hint of strawberry and pom to the flavor. I probably should have used two teaspoons but I’m not sure that really would have made a difference here. This is one of my least favorite blends from B&B. Meh.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // just boiled // 6 minute steep

Firstly, I want to say that you can vote back candied yams, but it’s losing handily to banana bread chai. I mean I would totally drink anything banana, but candied yams is so so good, I wish the votes were going differently!

Anyway, the ingredient list for Jack Frost was intriguing, so I had to grab some when it was on sale. I love mint, and I love seeing it mixed with other things. The eucalyptus definitely reminds me of August Uncommon’s Tropic of Capricorn, which is another great blend. Yeah, the flavor here is so pleasantly cooling. I don’t sense the coconut at all. It’s mainly the mint and eucalyptus, but that’s fine because it’s quite tasty! I love that I have 50g of this!

B&B sent this as a sample in both the orders I made this year. I love the creme flavor in this. It didn’t even need milk. It was light and sweet and the perfect morning treat. I’m glad I have a second bag! It’s almost a dessert tea. I’d definitely order this if they had it in decaf!! Have I at last found the perfect earl grey creme? Maybe not, since here the main focus was the creme over the earl, but I’m definitely a fan regardless.

A free sample from my B&B order! Thanks so much, you excellent team of tea people! This blend was intriguing. First, I had to look up what mascarpone is. It seems like a fancy cream cheese, but also, how the heck would that translate in a tea?!?! Let’s say since I didn’t know what mascarpone tasted like, I was looking for cream cheese and definitely wasn’t tasting that… if anything there was a hint of salt, but that can sometimes be from oolong leaves itself. So there was a savory element more than not but only if you’re thinking about mascarpone. I’m not sure if I’ve had a B&B oolong before, except for the tasty Brighton Rock, but that might not even be the same base oolong. Another B&B blend where the hibiscus and rosehips are tame enough not to overwhelm. I hope nobody sees those ingredients and gets scared away from trying B&B blends… in most of the blends, the hibiscus and rosehips are subtle. I really wish the blend didn’t have orange peels though? They don’t fit here, but I’m also not tasting them. The first steep has the most flavors of tart cherry and cranberry. But those flavors slowly fade in the second and third steeps. With a slight cream note throughout. Credit for actually using cherries and cranberries in the blend though! The color of the brew was actually lavender which was different. I like this tea, but it just isn’t special enough for me to really crave or call amazing. But this is why I LOVE samples.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 18 minutes after boiling // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 7 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

April 2020 subscription, but decided to cut open this tea today.

I needed a strong caffeine boost as I need to do lots of study. And I have slept badly. And I had a headache. Almost a migraine. But I hope it’s not that.

Worked well. Okay I took painkiller, but this tea was so caffeine strong! Yeah!!

And in taste? Well, it was mellow and creamy, with coffee notes and overall very enjoyable. Vanilla here as well, with bit juicy from currants and cranberries maybe? I noticed both of them there today. I wonder if they reblended it or I was just more lucky with ingredients in my DIY tea bag?

Sipdown :)

Apparently both tasting notes are here.
I am happy that I have finished this tea. It’s tasty for sure, but coffee flavours aren’t my favourite. Tasty though.

It lose some of the creamy notes, some vanilla ones as well. But it was still creamy and tasty. And it is probably quite strong in caffeine, which I kind of need, as I am awake from 5 am, as I woke up and could not fell asleep again… meh.

Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6NjTxs_MWo
I would love to know, why I like it that much. But I do!

I placed an Bird and Blend order today to support them in these not easy times! I went bit overboard with samples, but when everything looks so delicious! I hope I picked nice ones!

I thought I have rated this tea before! And telling it is like a tiramisu…

But apparently not. Or it is just another part of Steepster mess? I don’t know.

Anyway, this tea was prepared in thermos, I recall 5 grams per litre? Don’t know exactly; but I prepared it for my inventory check part-time job. But it was very busy and I did not had even time for drinking one cup. So yesterday tea-free day :/
I took energy drink instead. It tasted horrible, but made its job. On the other hand, I don’t know if it was some stronger one, I felt that my heart is beating much more often and I felt even bit weak after. Never buying that one again, though, I slept only 3 hours, as I wasn’t sleepy at all.

So, after one day I finally decided to taste the tea. As I said before, it reminds me bit tiramisu cake, so some coffee and cake flavours. As well vanilla, cream. I believe drinking hot is better than lukewarm, but it’s not bad. Overall, this blend is nicely balanced in taste, I don’t think it needs some tweaks. I would like to keep it like this. And I am not a coffee lover at all.

I woke up really tired today.
So, I took probably one of the most caffeine teas I have. Black tea with coffee beans. And fruits.

Kittena hit the nail on the head with description of this tea. It smells after Tiramisu, or, rather Czech chocolate bar called Kofila. It is bar filled with coffee cream. That is it.

I prepared it with splash of cream. Thus I would not rate it. But, it is delicious even plain. Cream added creaminess (how surprising), and made it bit milder.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Wednesday, April 13th: National Peach Cobbler Day #3

The no caff option for Peach Cobbler day!  Opening a fresh pouch of this guy.  Has a very large fragrance and taste of almond / marzipan now which is VERY out of place for this blend.  Very weird and can’t say I’m happy about it.

additional notes: Just wanted to say, this one is really really good. I’m sad B&B doesn’t sell it anymore and I don’t have much remaining!

Thanks so much for sharing this, AJ Rimmer! I must say…. this blend is SPOT ON what it supposed to be! It’s a herbal blend and the hibiscus and rosehips didn’t have me convinced. BUT I didn’t notice the hibiscus and rosehips in the mug at all. This is straight-up peaches with ice cream…. the only thing missing is a bit more raspberry flavor. But the peaches and ice cream is amazing. Completely unique to any other tea I’ve tried. I really appreciate that this blend actually includes peaches. Many peach teas are wrong, so I love finding a good one! The brew color is a pale peach color. Both steeps were delicious, so I definitely don’t want to miss that resteep in the future. If done right, resteeps can taste exactly the same as the first steep.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 6 minute steep
2019 Sipdowns: 63 (Silk Road – Congou)

Okay, lazy person here again.
I took 1 teaspoon and – grandpa.

Dry leaf smells strongly peppermint with little (but noticable) blackcurrant. When brewed, it turns blue-green colour. Yep, again they have added blue pea.

The brew was very minty in aroma, but blackcurrant tartness was certainly there. When sipped, it was refreshing and fruity. Berry fruity. I had even one whole black currant berry there, so I crushed it with spoon and that was value adding! It was really fruity with minty freshness.

I thought about adding a tea spoon of sugar, but I did not. The berry added exactly what was needed there I think. Some fresh fruit taste.

In conclusion, it was bit weird – but rather surprising. I expected some combination which I could not drink, but in fact, it is very tasty. Nice refreshing drink for summer.

Evening came quickly today. I am at home since 4 pm, but somehow I could not do anything but wasting time.

Now a tea, caffeine-free naturally. Very strawberry in aroma this time. And marzipan.
In taste similar. Marzipan with strawberries, maybe like a pancake too.

Enjoyble fruit tea.

Tomorrow a funeral of my dear aunt. Still sad about it. But today a new B&B subscription came. As you can see in my cupboard, three new teas appeared. This is one of two caffeine-free teas. Rooibos with strawberries sounds interesting. And there are almonds? Whoa.

After opening the pouch, a combination of strawberries and almonds (marzipan) hit my nose. It smells really nice.

I took recommended 1 tsp of tea and as I thought there is no strawberry pieces, I dig again and get some strawberries. So, maybe 1 1/2 tsp in strainer. I do not know about steeping time, I assume about 5 minutes.

It smells like strawberry jam! I just imagined having strawberry pancakes. Yum.

In taste, it has got some woody notes from rooibos, but overall, it is quite sweet and marzipan-like with strawberry topping.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Sunday, May 2nd: National Lemonade Day Tea #2

To be honest, I think I forgot I had this one.  Then thought it was a sample but taking it out of the stash, it’s a 50gram pouch.  oops.  I think their Blue Raspberry blend always takes over this one in my mind, but that doesn’t make sense either, as that one doesn’t have lemon.  I’m glad to have a reason to brew it up today though.  And further examples that I’m glad I didn’t acquire any more tea yet this year!

I received this as a free sample during the Christmas in July sale! Thanks so much, Bird & Blend! I know this is one of the summer blends that B&B intended to be iced. I must mention first that I didn’t ice this any way, shape, or form. I steeped it like a typical green. But I LOVE the way I steeped it… it probably couldn’t be better to my tastes. B&B’s raspberry teas are like no other. They are now my official go-to raspberry teas! It’s such an awesome, unique, full, buzzy, raspberry flavor, even if it’s the “blue” raspberry flavor. I love it. To be honest, I can’t really tell much of a difference between this blend and the Blue Raspberry blend. There should be lemon here, but it isn’t tasting much like lemon. So the raspberry and the green tea tastes mostly like Blue Raspberry. Both blends turn blue. I didn’t notice too much of the apple, rosehips or orange that should be in the blend, which is okay with me. Perfect on a hot day. This one gets a lower rating because these extra ingredients don’t need to be here. So both blends are fantastic, but I’d choose the Blue Raspberry over this one, because it showcases that amazing blue raspberry that I haven’t tasted in ANY other tea anywhere. I’m glad Blue Raspberry is part of the tea wall.
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for a full mug // 32 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep

This tea is a little weird hot, so I always put it in the fridge, and some magic happens in there that turns it into a really great tea. It feels true to its name. It’s really creamy, and the fruit flavor totally comes through as strawberry jelly. It’s so rich and tasty. It feels like a real treat! Hot, it’s like vaguely fruity rooibos nothing, but cold, it has to be one of the best fruit teas.

Entry #3 for National Fragrance Day, although honestly, this cup was a bit of a disappointment, not as much flavour as usual, and the aroma was a bit bland. This tea is quite hit or miss for me, and I’m not sure why. Still alright today, but not that magical buttery aroma I was hoping for!

First cup of this was a dud for unknown reasons; I’ve had it multiple times since and it is delicious. I am super into this caramelly flavour, and it even lasts an extra infusion or two. Upping the rating a solid 15 points to 90.

This tea smells absolutely lovely – richly caramelly and decadent. The flavour doesn’t quite match, however – there’s a hint of caramel, but it’s mostly just a slightly astringent, malty black tea that I’m tasting. I’m thinking a hint of sweetener might help it out a bit, although I was hoping that that wouldn’t be the case. It tastes very much like some past 52teas, maybe Weeping Angel? So I like it despite the lack of sweetness – just wanted more from it!

Tried adding a bit of sugar – it actually doesn’t taste any better, which is kind of too bad. The astringency seems to come out more, and the caramelly flavour isn’t as noticeable. I guess I’ll just enjoy it as is.

Thanks again for the sample swap, AJ Rimmer! This was the tea that basically started the swap. I really wanted to try it. ALSO, in amazing Bird & Blend news, they have new book blends and one of them is PAN GALACTIC GARGLE BLASTER. Now if only the blend sounded appealing… but it’s mint and and black currant which is just weird. It looks like it has new gold sprinkles though! On to this tea… I love lemon meringue pie but not sure if I’ve had key lime pie? I had some lemon pie ice cream to go with this tea. (Turkey Hill… it’s pretty good!) Honestly, this one tastes like Della Terra’s Chiffon blends to me. Which is great, I love those. But there is possibly more of a lemon peel sort of flavor here that is only noticeable because that seems to be the only difference from the Della Terra Chiffon. Thankfully the rosehips don’t make an appearance in this blend, unless it was that my teaspoon didn’t have rosehips. But it was also missing that biscuity flavor I wanted to find. Both steeps tasted identical. I do like the citrus element with the slight cream. I’m very glad I was able to try it!
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 13 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

There’s something a little strange about this tea when it’s hot. The peach is pleasant, but there’s also another flavor in there that’s kind of weird. It definitely tastes better cold. Actually, it tastes really good cold. I’ve been leaving it in the fridge overnight to have in the morning, and the peach and pastry flavor is fantastic. I steeped it for way too long, and that didn’t even make the rooibos weird. Very pleased. Just drink it cold.

Honestly, I bought this only because tea-sipper likes it so much. Haha. Otherwise, it may not have particularly appealed to me, being a rooibos. However, it’s actually pretty tasty – the first couple sips reminded me strongly of DavidsTea’s Swampwater, without the sprinkle slick. So, kind of a strawberry/fruity rooibos. I can taste some creaminess, but wish there was more. I’m interested to try it chilled, though the flavour isn’t particularly strong and chilling usually dampens flavours.

Overall, worth the purchase!

Another tea I was quite excited about (despite the steep price tag, IIRC!) But – this one delivers! I can’t really taste much oolong, which I’m sad about, BUT the flavouring is very similar to 52teas (Frank’s) original Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha! You might actually be able to fool me, it’s that close. So, naturally, I love it and am quite pleased. Creamy marshmallow vanilla with some popped rice toastiness. Just wish, as I said, there was some oolong here, since we’re paying oolong prices!