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This is another Bluebird tea I have at work with me, and that I’ve been drinking a lot of over the last couple of days. It needs a good, long brew in order for the honey flavour to properly develop. A shorter brew time gives a more herbal, chamomile flavour, with a strong background of rooibos. Five minutes or more, though, and this becomes almost like drinking runny honey! I like teas that have a couple of “personalities” that can suit different moods. I went for the runny honey option today. It’s sweet, rich, and decadent, and also very soothing. It makes a great bedtime tea. Tomorrow is my last day at work before I’m on leave for a week, so I’m pretty tired already. No more of this for me just yet, I don’t think, or I might fall asleep for real! 6 day weeks are a real killer.

Second cup of the day. With sugar and milk, this is quite a different tea. It was fairly dessert-like anyway, although with an edge of spice and bitterness that pushed it away from that a little and more towards the realms of chai. With sugar and milk, the slight bitterness is completely gone, and the spice becomes a more integral part of an overall sweet, cookie-dough like flavour. It’s so desserty and rich — liquid gingerbread man!

I like this equally both with and without additions — each is a different experience. From my initial uncertainty, I’ve actually found a very versatile tea!

A sample from VariaTEA, and another one I’ve been hankering to try for a while. There was no way I’d be able to keep them until next Christmas! I gave this 4 minutes in boiling water, and the resulting liquor is medium brown (almost like a black tea…), with a strong scent of freshly baked gingerbread. I’m not sure how the flavouring is achieved here, but it’s pretty much spot-on gingerbread man, or maybe ginger cake. There’s definitely a hint of sponginess here, as well as a biscuitty nuttiness! It’s mildly spicy, too, particularly at the end of the sip — it’s mostly ginger and cinnamon, but there’s a touch of chocolate, too. I wasn’t sure about this at first, but I’m on my second cup now and I like it quite a lot. I’m drinking it black at the moment, but I think I’ll try my next cup with a piece of crystal sugar and some milk. This tea almost makes it seem like a shame it’s not winter! A wonderful warming treat. Many thanks to VariaTEA for sharing this one with me!

This sample has come to work with me, because I seem to drink far less green teas at home in the evening than I do if I have them with me during the day. This one is just as good as the first time I tried it — very smooth, unobtrusive green tea base, wonderful spicing, and a strong baked apple flavour. One of my favourite Bluebirds!

I’ve been drinking a lot of this in the evenings lately, partly in an attempt to move it nearer to sip down, and also because it’s a genuinely lovely treat. It’s like hot chocolate with a splash of strawberry flavoured cream. The little heart candies and the sprinkling of glitter make it a pretty cup, too, which never hurts. Perfect with milk on a chilly summer evening!

Today’s iced tea of choice. I know this one got three minutes in boiling water, because I used my timer. I can safely say, this time, that this bag got the standard SBT brewing treatment — 3 minutes in boiling water, topped up to 2 litres with cold, and into the fridge overnight. I’ve almost picked this one out to brew a couple of times, but I’ve always gone for something more familiar. Today, it finally got it’s turn!

It’s wonderful, as well. The base is in hiding, because I looked after it this time, although it’s still there in the background providing a solid base. The flavouring is primarily cherryade — it even tastes slightly fizzy, somehow — with a twist of lime. It’s a really nice combination, and although I was initially uncertain about the cherry/lime combination, it actually works really well. We’re talking artificial “pop” flavours, rather than actual “fresh fruit” cherry and lime here, but it’s absolutely reminiscent of the cherryade of my childhood, and I think that’s half the point. It’s a tiny bit sweet, a tiny bit sour from the lime, and pretty candy-like. I know I’m going to enjoy sipping on this one all day, and then tomorrow too. Inspired!

Another from the ML Collection sampler. I gave this 3 minutes instead of the recommended 5, as it had already brewed up to a typical mint tea swamp-brown in that time, and it smelled pretty strong to boot. I’m not ordinarily a plain mint tea fan, so the verbena was definitely the attraction for me here. Unfortunately, mint is pretty much all I can taste. It’s the kind of flavour that could overpower anything given half a chance, and it’s definitely given more than half a chance here. There’s a tiny hint of lemon, particularly in the early sips, but it’s hardly there and it’s soon knocked out completely by the mint. Not the tea for me.

I want to like this, probably because it looks so pretty, but I just can’t. The liquorice root is far, far too sweet and overpowers all of the other flavours. I can also taste it at the back of my throat for hours afterwards — it’s like artificial sweetner, ick.

This was the third sample with my first RiverTea order. Based on this experience, it definitely won’t be the last! The packaging was fabulous — it’s probably the most nicely put together package I’d received in a long time. The free samples and the complementary spoon were welcome surprises, too.

Anyway, the tea. This smells wonderful dry, and equally wonderful brewed. It’s sweet, with a strong note of fruit and berries. The dry leaf contains generously sized pieces of papaya, and pretty blue and yellow petals among the white peony leaves. The taste is luscious, rich caramel and mulberry, with sweet, juicy papaya. The white tea base adds a slightly floral, slightly peachy note, and there’s also a hint of apple. It’s very, very creamy. Drinking this is almost on a par with eating some decadent dessert!

I’d heard a lot about this one, so I’m glad to have had the opportunity to try it. It’s definitely one I’d consider adding to a future order. There’s definitely going to be one — I can feel it coming on already!

Another new try this morning. I’m trying to work through my smaller quantities of tea in order to reduce my cupboard — it’s fairly crazily out of control at the moment. It also gives me the chance to try some new teas, which is nice, as I’ve become a little jaded with drinking the same teas over and over again. I’m sure I’ll appreciate them more after a refresher!

Anyway, the tea. I followed the parameters for this one, and gave 1tsp of leaf 1.5 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The leaves are very fine and string-like, and (at least dry) are fairly curly. Wet, they unfurl and become uniformly straight, with some unfolding into complete leaves with stem! The scent is very vegetal, like freshly cooked green beans with maybe a touch of butter.

Brewed, the liquor is a medium yellow-green shade. The flavour is quite intensely nutty, with an almost mossy edge. Wet leaves is what it really reminds me of, I think! It’s relatively sweet, particularly in the initial sip, and there’s a tiny note of citrus. It’s very lightly astringent. It doesn’t taste nearly as vegetal as it smells, although there is an element of buttery green beans, or maybe asparagus. Mostly, it reminds me of walking through a young forest in spring, after a light rain fall. It’s a very fresh, light flavour. I can see this one holding up well, so I may resteep it later. A delicious green!

Second steep was much, much lighter in flavour. It’s still mildly vegetal, but I’ve lost most of the notes I picked up earlier — there’s not very much nuttiness, no forest…it’s pleasant, but I liked the full strength initial steep more. The second steep could be my friend when I’m looking for a milder green, though, so I’ll bear it in mind for the future.