Candy Cane

I really loved this tea. Normally I’m not a huge fan of spearmint but it worked really well in this tea, making it refreshing with quite a subtle minty note.

B&B Advent 2021 Day 5

There is a minty creaminess which is nice, and it almost starts to taste like a candy cane, but then the stevia kicks in, stays for the aftertaste, and sadly ruins the experience.

Bird & Blend Advent Calendar 2021: Day 5!

They had me at “candy cane.” I could tell I’d enjoy this one after giving the tea bag a good whiff—it has that perfect creamy-sweet-minty scent that I associate with a candy cane tea. I think this is the first caffeinated version I’ve tried, and I appreciate it!

Brewed, the tea has a very slight mustiness to it—not quite sure where it’s coming from. There’s also a tiny citrus kick from the lime leaves, just at the back of the sip, but it seems to disappear as the tea cools a bit. Otherwise the flavor is lovely, with a full, creamy mintiness that is not at all overpowered by the accursed stevia. (Thank goodness for light touches.) I could drink this one all morning!

(I will note that the tea bag didn’t hold up well to a second steep—all the mintiness disappeared, leaving a slightly lime-y black base behind. Alas.)

Thanks to tea-sipper for letting me sample this one! I have to say that I don’t prefer it to other candy cane or minty teas I’ve had. The flavor is a little minty, but also a bit murky – honestly this is probably my fault for waiting too long to try it! So this one is all right, but I prefer a cleaner flavor. I guess my preference is also for herbal minty teas, or sometimes green. Maybe for me, the black tea just doesn’t jive super well with the rest of the flavors.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – December Theme: Holiday Teason Tea #4

It seemed like B&B started with their newer teas in the advent.  Here is one I have for today!  A decent peppermint blend, surely, but probably also could use a creamy element to make it more like candy cane.  At least I can’t tell there is stevia here. Other holiday teas I have been drinking (won’t log them separately):
Simpson & Vail – Gingerbread (5)
52Teas – Rumchata (6)

New Home! – 9:15 AM

First tea in our new home! We closed yesterday and spent the night last night so we could be here for early morning fiber installation and appliance delivery appointments. Today we’ll begin moving our stuff! Yay!

This was one of the tea “ghosts” that B&B only offered for one day. This one is a ghost of Christmas past, meaning it’s a blend they used to carry that they brought back to sell for one day only this year. I ended up with a 150g pouch because by the time I woke up, those rascally Brits had bought up all of the 50g ones! No biggie though, I’m sure I can find other Steepsters to share it with.

I’m very happy with their decision to use peppermint flavoring instead of leaves for this tea. There are a few dried mint leaf pieces mixed in, but they’re actually spearmint, yay!

This is less intense than I expected it to me. It’s a somewhat soft peppermint flavor, and there’s a lovely big dollop of cream and vanilla in there with it. It reminds me quite a bit of their Peppermint Cream oolong tea, with a slightly different peppermint flavor. It’s very yummy – like peppermint white chocolate! The stevia must be very minimal, I don’t think I would know it was there if I hadn’t read the ingredients before drinking this.

So not at all disappointed in my 150g pouch! But I’ll still be willing to share the wealth, don’t worry!

No notes for this one? It’s Christmas jumper day at work today, so I figured I might as well make it Christmas tea day also just to add an extra festive touch. I feel so far from Christmassy at the moment, I need all the help I can get.

I’m a fan of candy cane tea any time of the year, really, but I’ve been saving this sample pouch for a suitable occasion. Turns out that’s today! I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. I was thinking maybe milk, but in the end I went with no additions.

To taste, it’s actually pretty good. Spearmint is always a winner with me – it’s sweeter and more gentle than peppermint, and it does a good job of recreating a “candy” mint flavour. The vanilla adds a creamy touch, which is totally delicious in this context. I really am thinking candy cane as I sip this one. I’m not 100% sold on the ceylon base – it’s a little citrussy for my tastes, and then with the added lime leaves and pomegranate flowers it’s just a little confusing and muddled in the aftertaste. The initial hit of spearmint and vanilla is excellent, though. I’m not usually a fan of stevia in teas, but I will say that it works quite well here to create the candy cane effect. It’s not too cloying and artificial, either, so clearly it’s been added with a light hand.

The last thing to say, as with pretty much all Bluebird blends, is that it looks fabulous. Pink cornflowers, red pomegranate flowers, green mint, black tea. It does recall a candy cane, and it’s lovely to look at. The biggest joy is in the drinking, though. It’s pretty much liquid candy cane, and it’ll surely make this work day more bearable.