Morning Kick

Sampler Sunday! This is the last single-serve Bird & Blend sampler I had sitting around, back from their Bluebird Tea Co. days, and it’s a lemon ginger tea blended with yerba mate… basically a caffeinated lemon ginger. I do like lemon ginger teas when I feel nauseous (from the ginger, I either go for a ginger or mint tea in those cases) and I’ve been quite nauseous recently… my sister has been similarly afflicted, and we are thinking stress stomach ulcers may be the culprit due to a major family stressor we are dealing with at the moment. Caffeinated lemon ginger tea first thing this morning sounds kind of nice…

While my cup is steeping, I just want to take a moment to say I’ve been going through a lot of stress, frustration, and depression due to several things that I don’t really want to get into publicly, and I’ve been shown nothing but absolute kindness from my “Steepster family” during this hard time and it’s been really appreciated. It means more than you could ever know and I seriously appreciate it. You are all the best. ♥

The aroma of the tea actually smells very juicy lemon citrus, with a touch of a peppery ginger spice note; I’m not getting any of the herby vegetal/smoky notes I typically get from yerba mate, at least from the aroma. I’d have a hard time telling just from the scent that this wasn’t just a typical lemon ginger tea, and it also smells much more lemon heavy than ginger heavy, which is precisely how I like them (I especially don’t like lemon ginger teas filled with a bunch of artificial lemon pledge tasting flavoring or super strong artificial ginger flavoring that burns my tongue off… blech!)

With the taste, the mate makes itself more apparent, but it’s quite smooth and blends well with the lemon herbals. I’m getting some of the dry hay/grassy notes from the mate, but the smoky tobacco notes that I really don’t like from mate aren’t present in the cup at all; in fact, I think the grassiness of the mate is emphasized a bit by the lemongrass, helping bring out a bit more of the lemongrass’ herbiness, as well. The lemon flavor in this tea is excellent! I’ve had a lot of lemon teas that tasted too artificial or “cleaner” in their flavor, but this is very juicy and citrusy to me, it has a pleasant tanginess but doesn’t come close to approaching tart or sour at all. And honestly, the ginger is incredibly mild! It’s just a subnote, a slight warming sensation you feel as the sip slides down your throat, but you don’t really get that strong “gingery flavor” and there is no lingering heat or taste in your mouth. It’s a bit hard to even tell it is there, honestly, which is quite unusual for me compared to most lemon ginger teas I drink. You really have to look for it. Other than my beloved Tulsi Lemon Ginger by Davidson Teas, which I’d still say is probably my favorite non-caffeinated lemon ginger tea option, I’d say this one would be up there, just below it, as a perfect caffeinated option for those days you want lemon ginger but want a buzz to go along with it.

I hope B&B hasn’t changed the blend/mix on this much over the years, as I know this is an older teabag, because I’d gladly get more of this one sometime.

Sipdown (524)!

Free sample from the order that showed up today. Not really a flavour that interests me the bulk of the time; lemon and ginger that is. Still, a free sample is a free sample and I’ll try anything once!

I will say that this definitely did give me a really good burst of energy/kick. Unfortunately, it’s pretty late at night so that may or may not be a good thing. I should have waited drink it until tomorrow morning, but oh well. As for flavour, it’s not bad as far as ginger/lemon combos go. Much more lemon than ginger, in my opinion. Drinkable.

Ideal situation for this one, I think, would be with a bit of honey when one was feeling sick because the flavour would be really soothing/calming and you’d get the energy you generally need when you’re feeling unwell.

I think this is the last tea I have to try that MissB sent me a while back. Once again, thanks so much! I promise not to order any more teas for the rest of the year … except for Bluebird towards the end of the year. This one looks like it’s mostly lemongrass though it’s supposed to be yerba mate. There is plenty of lemon flavor, I think from the verbena. I love the flavor from lemon verbena! I would have like some more yerba mate… I couldn’t really taste any at all. Not bad, but not my favorite from Bluebird.
Steep #1 // few minutes after boiling // 3 min steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 min

This was a free sample from Bluebird Tea Co. with my order, so thank you very much for the try! The sample came in an adorable fancy teabag, with the bluebird logo printed on.

Looking at the bag, I can’t see a whole lot of maté, it mostly seems to be lemongrass, and smells very lemony, too. Steeping, the lemon smell intensifies and kind of gets sweeter, so that after brewing the tea smells almost like a sherbet lemon sweet to me. It is a very pale infusion, even though I left if for forever.

The overall flavour is of lemongrass, and I can’t really taste the ginger at all, although there’s a nice tingly heat kick at the end which I think is down to the ginger. This was perfect for me, though, as I really do not like ginger at all. I can’t taste any smoke from the Yerba, I don’t think, but I’ve never had it before so I’m not really sure what I’m looking for exactly. I’ve just gotten to the end of the cup, and the last two or three mouthfuls had a weird fishy taste. Ew.

Overall, a nice delicate cup, but not something I would choose to wake me up as it’s just not strong enough.