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Kittenna drank Snowball Hot Cocoa (formerly Snowball) by Bird & Blend Tea Co.

6127 tasting notes

There was a glitch in the system when I placed my recent Bird & Blend order, resulting in me ordering a sampler that was already sold out, which was pretty disappointing, as I really wanted to try the included teas! However, to make up for it, I was both refunded for the sampler, and B&B included a whopping 5 samples of other Christmas teas, none of which I had tried. Very generous compensation, so thank you!

This was one of the freebies they sent along, and perhaps the most interesting-sounding of the five, as I like a good desserty chocolate/coconut black. The aroma when I opened the bag was a bit disconcerting though – despite the best before date of January 2020 (I think), it smelled like the coconut was going off. Just barely, but that familiar, dreaded pungency was present. It’s also detectable in the flavour, but as this was a free sample, I’m not too worried about it (though I probably would be sad if I’d paid for this tea.) Ignoring that, the flavour is coconut-creamy, chocolatey, and a bit thin in body though there’s a good amount of flavour – kind of like DavidsTea’s Chocolate Macaroon, if I recall correctly. Not sweet at all, which is good, though it may or may not curb a sweet tooth (I say this while I have a box of cereal out for a midnight snack – yeah, my sweet tooth is not buying this substitute dessert business tonight.) This tea probably is best as a latte, or at least, with added milk for body, so I may try that next time. Which should be soon, as this tea is going to be flagged for coconut which hopefully means I get back to it sooner rather than later…

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3 comments

tea-sipper
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Now that B&B has fixed their weak Ceylon base problem, I’d say their only problem now is their fast aging coconut.

Kittenna
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Do you think part of the problem is the small shards? Maybe if they switched to large flakes?

tea-sipper
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Possibly… somehow the smaller pieces do seem to age faster than bigger pieces.

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tea-sipper
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Now that B&B has fixed their weak Ceylon base problem, I’d say their only problem now is their fast aging coconut.

Kittenna
Delete

Do you think part of the problem is the small shards? Maybe if they switched to large flakes?

tea-sipper
Delete

Possibly… somehow the smaller pieces do seem to age faster than bigger pieces.

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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