Black Forest

Thanks to AJRimmer for a chance to try this! This was day #1 of my advent calender.

Also thank you for the advice to add some sweetener! I’m glad I followed this because I think if I had tried this plain or even with just milk I would have found this blend lacking. The milk and sweetener are necessary to fully enjoy this blend. The black blend was alright, but the cherry isn’t as strong as I would have expected. It isn’t a medicinal cherry or anything it is like you would expect from a black forest cake (cherry pie filling). I wouldn’t have minded more vanilla and some prominant cream notes. The cocoa also should have been stronger.

This is an interesting tea.. there isn’t anything that really sticks out and makes it super tasty, but I still keep drinking it despite its lack of true flavor. I was expecting a stronger chocolate, cherry or even black tea base flavor, but I don’t get a whole lot of anything. There are faint notes of chocolate and a little bit of something that wants to be cherry, but is slightly medicinal and reminiscent of hibiscus. Overall, drinkable and rather comforting in the strangest way. Would I repurchase? Likely not.. but I’ll finish this cup.

Thanks to AJRimmer for this one!
I didn’t read the ingredients and added cream, and it curdled. Boo. I drank it anyway, though. Really enjoyed the cup. I could definitely taste the cherry and cocoa notes pretty equally. The more I sipped the more I actually enjoyed it. Very pleasant!

My first time having this tea, even though I drank a huge mug, I must say that it didn’t leave much of an impression. The main flavor was a light, tangy, artificial red fruit. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was a bit disappointing. I didn’t get chocolate cake at all. The resteep tasted similar to the first steep, meaning not that flavorful.

The second time I tried it, I went for a longer, cooler steep, and I made sure lots of cocoa husks were in there. This time, it did taste like chocolate, along with a tangy cherry flavor. It tastes best with sugar and milk. It’s not a tea I’d reach for often, but it has a unique thing going on that makes me glad to have tried it.

Another cake tea today.
Apparently I had this tea so often that I have last steep in pouch. Little sad, as I apparently enjoyed it a lot. NOw I had even troubles to fill strainer with tea. So certainly not overleafed.

Anyway, after again, 4-5 minutes steep the colour turned into nice copper-golden. I should buy a new strainer, as this one can not be closed properly and one cocoa nib and little of something else went out. Otherwise it is quite clear.

Aromas are strong and vivid. I notice sour cherry, general fruits, all covered in cocoa sponge cake with cream on top. Yeah – certainly it smells like that.

The taste. Well, aromas as it is known, are way more easier to describe. In taste it is still quite well, also quite strong with sour cherry, way less cake flavours (drinking hot though). There is little creamy sourness which I really like.

I am sad that this tea is going to be discontinued, but it seems was quite for long time up. Maybe I will find another similar tea I will like.

I always perk up when I open the bag of this. It smells like cherries and cream, and it would be delicious, if it tasted like it smelled.
But it always brews up tart and a bit bitter, as if the unpleasant aspects of cherries and tartness (sour, bitter) showed up and left all the good parts elsewhere.
Bleh.

Finally reviewing this one from my order months ago. I don’t love it as much as I’d wish. (Chocolate! Berries!) While using a teaspoon in previous steeps, I didn’t love the weakness of the Ceylon black tea, so I used two teaspoons this time around. It resulted in a deep and delicious cup, but I don’t think it needed two teaspoons (1 1/2 or 1 3/4 would be enough). The description mentions an amazing mix of berries: raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, elderberries, cranberry (apple too) and I do see pieces of berries, but just not enough of them. To create a black forest cake blend, there is also vanilla and cocoa shells. I would say the cocoa shells take over more than anything else but I love that Bluebird uses cocoa shells, with hints of berry but also with tanginess from the bits of hibiscus included in the blend (I wish they weren’t there but it doesn’t ruin the blend more than it could have.) Mostly, this blend is like chocolate and hibiscus no matter how I steep it. I would love more of a cakey flavor and berries from this though, so I’m not rating it very high.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 6 minute steep

This tea is essentially black forest gateau minus the cake. To my taste buds, it’s more like a cordial cherry more than a black forest cake/gateau. There are so many berries in this blend. The added hibiscus gives the berries just a bit of the tart, sour cherry flavor that one would expect from a traditional black forest gateau. The chocolate is there but only just. I also find that I’m missing the cake element, especially since the vanilla isn’t really coming through very well in my cuppa. Cherry doesn’t rank very highly on my list of berries I enjoy in teas (especially black tea blends), so I’m not really wowed by this tea. It’s pleasant and has decent flavor, but it’s not a tea that I’ll be repurchasing.

Last night’s after dinner cup! I pulled out a stack of Bluebird teas when I went through my tea box on Sunday, so it’s no surprise that I’m starting to work through them. As ever, I only wish I’d done it sooner because this one. Is. Amazing. It smells great as soon as you open the pouch, but I’m always slightly wary of building up hopes at that point because scent and flavour are two entirely different things. I’ve learned this the hard way when it comes to tea and expectations. It’s not the case here, though, because this tea actually tastes like black forest gateau in a cup! I used 1.5 tsp of leaf, gave it a good 4 minutes in boiling water, and then added a splash of milk.

The initial flavour is cherry – concentrated black cherry, and a little syrupy. Second comes the chocolate – dark chocolate, rich and creamy. It has a lightness that really reminds me of sponge cake, although I have no idea how that’s achieved. Last of all is a hint of vanilla, which puts me very much in mind of the whipped cream topping a black forest gateau would have. Altogether, it’s pretty well a spot-on recreation in liquid form. I wasn’t expecting to be quite so impressed, but I’m more than glad that I am. This will definitely be a repurchase once I have my cupboard a little more in order. I’ve just placed an order with Bluebird for their new Spring collection anyway, so it’ll be a while yet I suspect.

One thing that did stand out to me is the sheer amount of different berries that went into this one – elderberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and cranberries, but no cherry. I just found it interesting that the effect they create is so different from what they actually are, and that it took so many different berries to achieve it. There’s also apple and hibiscus, so go figure I guess. In some ways, Bluebird strike me almost as a smaller, UK version of David’s Tea. “All the ingredients”, huh? Given that it tastes this good, though, I’m not really complaining!

I feel like I’ve been super absent from everything the last three weeks due to work, traveling, being unwell and just life in general but fingers crossed I’m back into the swing of things… more or less… I had such high hopes for this tea, I mean seriously, Black Forest Cake Tea!! And although the dry leaf smelled super amazing and was fully of the most chocolatey-cherry-berry scent the liquid was a disappointing and lacking in flavor… and I’d even gone a little above and beyond by trading my usual skim-milk with heavy cream!!! I’m not giving up yet however, I’ll give this another go (probably with a little more leaf) and see how it goes… I’m starting to realize I’m a chronic over-leafer and prefer way more leaf than recommended in order to get the flavor I want and I really shouldn’t hold that against a tea when I’m brewing as per the recommended parameters!! Watch this space… I have faith in Bluebird!!