Enchanted Narnia

So, let’s be clear. I steer away from floral blends. So why did I purchase a tea that has, literally, small rosebuds in it? The billing of “turkish delight”, of course. The fact that Bluebird is run by Canadian expats in the UK also helps.

Out of the bag, this smells like chocolate roses. Steeped I got little smell out of it. Taste-wise… I’m confused. I want to like it. I want to taste turkish delight. And yet? I add some Truvia. Okay, now I get turkish delight, the kind that’s been imbued with some form of light floral flavoring. It’s still a touch rose-y for me, however I can get past that.

Fans of turkish delight dipped in a light layer of chocolate that don’t mind floral blends will like this. Or, little girls who want high tea with something really, really pretty. Seriously, the little rosebuds are ADORABLE.

I was writing a tasting note for this one, then Safari crashed on my iPad and my iPad’s battery died. I didn’t want to get my computer out and then I realized I could log it on the app on my phone.

Still, I’m not going to write a long post with my thumbs. This will be a quick note to say that I really enjoyed this tea and it really lives up to the rose and chocolate notes. Yum. Thanks so much to MissB for sending me this one and I will write a more detailed note later.

I grabbed this tea from the traveling tea box that was sent my way recently. It looked very interesting — little rosebuds tucked away in a little plastic bag. I have certainly enjoyed the teas from Bluebird Tea Co. and I don’t mind the ingredients in this blend. It doesn’t smell the best after it’s steeped: herbal, a little soapy and a bit of rose.

Sipping… hm.. this is pretty interesting. It’s very smooth despite it having some ingredients that could potentially make it a little sharp or strong. I definitely taste the rosebuds, but they’re not over the top. The lemongrass is present, but lingers in the background and lends more of an earthy/herbal note to the cup. I can’t taste the cocoa shells which is a little sad, but there really weren’t too many so I can see why.

I’d say that this is a solid cup of tea. It’s nice, creative and calming. I don’t think it’s my favorite from Bluebird Tea Co. and I’m not sure if it’s going to be in a future order, but I’m indeed happy with this blend tonight. Lovely!

My Bluebird Tea Co. order finally came in!!!!! And I brewed this up this morning. I have to say I was very intrigued by this tea, hence why I ordered it. The second steep was better than the first. You can definitely taste the aroma of the rose buds if you have ever had rose tea before but I love the pairing with the cocoa. The lemongrass is a good base for the tea, very subtle… I did not taste he note of raspberry that say are blended in. But other than that i like this blend and can’t wait to try my other bag from them along with the 3 samples they sent:)

Lovely tisane. Nice mix of cocoa, lemongrass and rose. Coca note is stronger when brewed warm, rose not stronger when cold brewed. This one makes a surprsingly good cold brew – definitely worth a try!

I can’t believe I’ve never left a note for this tea! The packet I have still has the ‘Bluebird Tea Co’ branding, so that should tell you something…

It’s a decent herbal blend, but not my favourite. I love Turkish delight, and this is not that. It’s more a floral, herbaceous lemongrass blend, with a hint of cocoa at the end of the sip. There’s also strangely a black pepper note which I get fairly strongly in the scent, and it’s there at the front of the sip too. It’s not in the ingredients, and I would think I was picking up on it wrong, but I made a mug for my younger brother too and although he couldn’t smell the pepper like I did, he said he could definitely taste it. It’s not offensive, but not particularly exciting, apart from the appearance of the dry leaf, which is absolutely gorgeous (as per usual for B&B) and full of beautiful whole rosebuds. Points for that at least!

Steepster Freeze 2021 #3: 02/14/21

My herbal tea pick for Valentine’s Day! This is supposed to be a mix of roses and cocoa shells, but my (very old!) sampler packet seems to be 90% rose buds. They are pretty, but I can’t imagine I’m going to taste anything other than straight rose tea…

Aaand… yup. Just tastes like I steeped rose petals in water. I mean, I’m fine with the taste of rose, I quite like it in fact, but it just feels like there is no body to the tea, and none of the other ingredients are contributing anything, which makes it disappointing. If the cocoa and lemongrass were coming through, those notes paired with the rose, even if more subtle or background notes, would be a pretty pleasant flavor pairing. I like the idea conceptually. I want to believe somehow my 20g pouch was just badly scooped and I ended up with way too many rosebuds, but if the proportions are accurate, then… ya. Disappointing. Other reviews on Steepster are very positive and seem to indicate there should be chocolate here, so I don’t know why I pretty much just have a pouch of nothing but straight rosebuds.

I’ll probably just finish it off making rose water that I add to other things.

Low rating isn’t because I dislike rose tea, but because this was billed as a chocolate rose tea or “Turkish Delight” and that isn’t what I ended up getting.

I’m not actually a fan of herbal blends, but I like the world created by C.S. Lewis and I love Turkish delight sweets, so i decided to give it a go.
The aroma coming from the opened zip-bag is terrific, because the tea definitely does smell like rose-scented Turkish delights with chocolate added.
However, after brewing it is not as tempting. It is seems very floral, rosy, with only a bit of cocoa. Too much like perfume and soap.
Fortunately the taste is better. The blend really tastes like Turkish delights in a liquid form, a bit sweet, rich, not too rosy, with slight citrusy notes in the background.
All in all, I like this tea and I don’t regret buying it. But one sample zip-bag seems enough, I’m not planning to repeat it.

From today’s #SeptemberSipdown prompt – cold brew a tea in milk!

I brewed this one in cashew milk because that’s all I had on hand and it was pretty good! I like tea cold brewed in milk, and chocolate based teas are one of the best because in a way you’re just making fancier chocolate milk. That’s what this tasted like – really lovely and classy chocolate milk with a dash of delightfully creamy rose!

This tea blend is really beautiful – lots of lemongrass and rosebuds and flower petals. The smell is unmistakably floral, with cocoa notes in the background. I can’t say I’d pick up on them if I didn’t know there were cocoa shells in this though. I thought the mix of lemongrass and chocolate was interesting, but I love rose teas and chocolate too so I was glad that amandastory516 was able to share some of this with me. Also, I’ve been wanting to try something from Bird & Blend Tea Co. for the longest time! So glad to finally have the opportunity thanks to tea friends.

The primary flavor I noticed before sweetening is lemongrass. Adding a bit of honey doesn’t change this, but I do enjoy it more with the honey. My husband loves herbals more than anything, and I really think he would like this one. I only like tisanes in the evening usually, and I have to say that this is one I would drink again. It has flavor, it’s not watered down, and I keep reaching again and again for my cup. I do wish I could taste the rose more though, since that’s my favorite part about this blend.