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Apparently, I last drank this one 4 years ago. This is a new bag, though – don’t worry! I read quickly through my last notes, and it looks like I was in two minds about it. The banana was milder than I wanted it to be, and I mostly got caramel and vanilla (not a bad combo, though!) I was drinking it with milk back then, though, so maybe that has something to do with it.

Today’s cup is without additions. I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 2.5 minutes so as not to give the base tea (Ceylon, of course – it’s Bluebird!) chance to become too overpowering. The dry leaf contains a decent amount of banana chunks (more than I remember it having), so I’m fairly hopeful.

To taste..? Initially, it’s nuts. You know how walnut skins can be slightly bitter? Like that. Then there’s banana (hooray!), and it’s quite natural-tasting, so that’s all to the good. It’s not super-strong, which would be okay if it lingered, but it doesn’t. A few seconds, maybe, and then it’s the base tea I can taste and nothing else. It’s a touch bitter, even with a short brew time. Hmm.

I think I actually like this one less than I did last time I tried it. The bitterness was unexpected, and the banana really isn’t prominent enough for my liking. No caramel or vanilla this time, either. Maybe I should go back to drinking this one with milk…

I originally rated this one 70, but I’ve lowered that as a result of today’s tasting. Maybe it’s me, or maybe it’s the tea, but someone’s tastes have changed.

There are a good few Bluebird teas that remind me of Davids Tea blends, but this one is probably chief amongst them. It’s not a flavour thing, necessarily, but more of a chunky-blend-with-lots-going-on kind of thing. I think it’s slightly unfair on my part, but similarities to Davids Tea are not a bad thing in my book, so it’s really a disguised compliment.

The dry leaf is so pretty – easter in a bag, basically. There are large, chunky chocolate chips, cacao nibs, mini marshmallows, toasted rice, and a smattering of black tea. There are a few green leaves in there, too, and I think this is the base blend that combines Ceylon and Houjicha. It’s not my favourite of Bluebird’s base teas, but there isn’t a great deal of it here so I suspect I’ll be fine.

I used 1.5 tsp of leaf, and gave it 3 minutes in boiling water. The marshmallows and chocolate chips melt fairly readily, although they give the finished cup a murky, oily appearance that’s not entirely attractive. I can forgive that, though, because it smells amazing – hot chocolate, anyone?

To taste, it’s also pretty good. It’s a chocolate rice crispie cake in a cup, basically. The initial flavour is a chocolate/marshmallow combination, and tastes as sweet and sugary as that sounds. That’s quickly followed by a light toastiness from the rice/genmaicha element, which helps to tone things down a bit and makes for a more rounded flavour. Really, though, this is an in-your-face sugar bomb, a brilliant dessert tea, and a good alternaitve to Easter Eggs if you’re trying to stay away from chocolate. Tasty!

I’ve had this one a while, though as I’ve been trying to drink up teas that are even older, it hasn’t been out of my cupboard until today. I love the idea of this one – I’ve not tried many bacon teas, but those I have had have been positive experiences. It something that sounds like it shouldn’t work, but somehow does. It’s an idea that’s super appealing to me as a breakfast tea, so that’s how I’m drinking it this morning. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in boiling water. No additions.

The initial sip is pancakes smothered in maple syrup. The maple is up first – sweet, rich – and then there’s a thick butteriness that’s very reminiscent of pancake batter. It’s like taking a bit of freshly-made pancakes that you’ve just added a lot of syrup to. Maybe too much syrup for some, but I think it’s pretty perfect.

The bacon is more muted than I expected, and seems more like a flavour that evolves as the result of the ingredients, rather than an additional “thing in itself”. It’s not like 52Teas bacon, for example, or like bacon teas that actually have those bacon crispies in them. I think, here, it’s the combination of the smoky lapsang souchong, the earthy pu’erh, and maybe even just suggestion brought to mind by the strong maple/pancake elements. It’s subtle, in any case.

There’s a hint of cinnamon in the aftertaste, and a touch of smoked chili, which add a little something extra to the overall effect. On the whole, this strikes me as a tea that’s been well blended and put together with care. The flavours work well together, and the overall effect lives up to the name. I’m really pleased with this one!

I’m glad to be drinking this one again – it’s certainly been a while! For the record, this pouch is the 2016 version (I know, I’m so behind). As usual, I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup. As with the 2015 version, it appears to be predominantly rooibos, with some ceylon leaves – about 70:30 to my mind. Dry, the scent is very orangey, with an undercurrent of almond. I gave it 3 minutes in boiling water, no additions.

To taste, it’s more or less hot cross bun. There’s a lot of orange, some dried fruit (raisin, cranberry), and a big hit of vanilla. There’s a whisper of cinnamon, but it’s fairly fleeting. Lapsang Souchong is listed in the ingerdients, but it’s fairly well down the list, and to be honest I can’t taste it. I’d have liked a touch of smoke – I remember last year’s (2015) sample had just a little, and that was perfect.

Ultimately, I’d have really liked more of a “bread” flavour – maybe if the Ceylon was a Yunnan? As it stands, it’s not quite hot cross bun for me, but it’s close enough. It’s certainly a pleasantly creamy, fruity cup, and great for spring! Next year, if I’m caught up with my cupboard, I’ll definitely try again.

This is an interesting looking tea, and certainly one of the most unique green teas I’ve ever seen. I’ve read tasting notes for this one previously, and I know that people said the leaves were large, but I wasn’t actually expecting them to be this large. Like, so-large-they-won’t-fit-in-my-work-infuser large. They’re very thin and flat, like dried seaweed sheets, and feel similarly brittle. The colour is variagated – from dark green tips to yellow-green leaf base. The scent – in keeping with the appearance – is strong, and quite seaweed-y, or marine-like. I like that you can tell they’re leaves. It seems somehow more honest than a lot of teas, and is surely a more expensive production process. There’s everything premium about this one.

I used approximately 1/3 of the sample pouch for my cup, not really having much to go on. I’m kind of hoping that the leaves will soften and fold into the infuser, otherwise brewing this one is going to be interesting. At the moment, they’re leaning against the side of the infuser basket, and poking out a good couple of centimetres.

Fortunately they do, so it’s all good. I gave them 2.5 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The scent is milder than I was expecting, vegetal and a little nutty. The taste is similar – quite subtle, with notes of samphire, salt, and an edge of almost-floral. There’s a slightly mineral aftertaste, like wet rock. The floral is a bit of a surprise, especially in the way it “blooms” at the end of the sip. Up until that point, this struck me as a pleasant – if fairly standard – green tea. That floral, which graually gives way to the more mineral, oolong-like end-note, makes this an altogether more unique experience. Added to its overall smoothness, and complete lack of bitterness or astringency, this makes for a very pleasant cup. I’d happily seek this one out again, from future harvests.

As ever, I’m well behind with my reviews, because the selection of green teas I’m about to start are from the Spring 2015 harvest. I first tried this one in 2014, and at the time I thought it was vegetal, with notes of green bean and asparagus, and perhaps a touch of grass towards the end of the sip. I said it was clean-tasting and smooth, maybe a little reiniscent of Bi Luo Chun (which is one of my all-time favourite green teas…) It’ll be interesting to see how the following year’s harvest compares!

To begin with, the leaf is similar – quite long and thin, predominantly dark green in colour but with downy creamy-white tips. The scent is mildly vegetal. Definitely green beans! I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 2.5 minutes in water cooled to 180 degrees.

Once brewed, the leaves fade to a more olive green. The flavour is mild, although with a vegetal edge. I don’t think I’d say green bean so much this time – perhaps freshly shelled garden pea. It’s a sweeter, softer flavour than I remember. The end of the sip has an edge of almost-sharpness that’s making me think of lemon squeezed into water. It’s an interesting contrast with the sweet opening notes.

I’m enjoying this one. It’s clean and refreshing, and I like the sweet/sharp interplay. A great spring cup! My rating is unchanged from my previous (2014) tasting.

Another tea I picked up on my trip to Scotland last summer. This one is described as “delicate”, but I think in many ways that’s quite misleading. The only delicate thing about this one is the heather, which is pretty much non-existent, except perhaps very briefly in the aftertaste. The black tea base itself is bold; strong and very malty, with a thick sweetness. It’s not floral, light, delicate, mild, or any of the other words that appear on the box, at least to my mind.

The base tea here is Assam, and while that’s fine as far as it goes it’s really nothing very special. I wanted the heather to be more of a feature, and sadly, it isn’t. I was reasonably impressed with this brand’s Whisky tea, but this one just wasn’t in the same league. Drinkable, but lacklustre.

This was a bonus tea from my (last?) 52Teas order. I think, anyway. It’s definitely been a while. It’s also the last untried 52Teas blend I have in my cupboard, other than (quite a lot of) SBTs. I’ll be working on those again this summer, though.

I kept this one until last for a few reasons. I love the name, and it’s SPARKLY, and obviously that makes it the kind of tea I want to keep around for a bit. More significantly, though, it contains ginger. And ginger isn’t really (usually) my jam. I’m hoping the pluot is more apparant in the taste than the ginger…

I used 1.5 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. It was kind of hard to measure – these oolong leaves are big! Or at least, long and twisty. Despite my aversion to ginger, I do actually love the scent of this tea. It’s mostly sweet and stonefruity, but there’s a touch of ginger lurking underneath that actually strikes me as appealing…Who’d have thought?!

To taste, it’s pretty delicious! It’s sweet straight-off, mostly plum in my estimation but I get apricot, too. I’ve never tried a pluot before, so this is a learning experience as well as a tea. There is ginger, but it’s reasonably subtle. It adds a spicy warmth to the background, and works better than I expected with the fruit flavours. On the whole, this one’s a lot fruitier than I thought it would be, and juicy-tasting to boot. It’s perfect on a day like today, which is spring in essence but also cold; sunny fruit flavours, warming ginger kick. I couldn’t have chosen a tea more suited :)

The base oolong adds a mild nuttiness, but otherwise is pretty hard to taste underneath the flavouring. It didn’t make much of an impression on the blend, but I suppose in that respect it’s doing its job well – supporting the flavours without overpowering them. It might have some stone fruit notes of its own, but it’s almost impossible to say.

The sparkle in this one is very subtle, but there’s a touch of gold glitter swirling around. It’s not in-your-face in the way that Glitter and Gold is, but it’s cute just the same. More of a Bluebird Christmas Cake level of sparkle, if you’ve tried that.

The more I sip this one, the more I like it. Sad face for it being a limited edition, because I’m pretty sure I’m going to miss it when my sample pouch is gone. My conclusion is that pluots should be used more often in tea!

I’m drinking the reblend version of this tea, released during the “Anne” era. I adore maple in tea, although I think up to now the base teas have mostly been black. It’ll make a change to try an oolong! I followed the recommended parameters for this one – 1.5 tsp, in 180 degree water, for 3.5 minutes. It smells delicious, straight out of the bag!

To taste, it’s pretty good. Despite being green, the oolong adds a toasty nuttiness to the overall flavour, enhanced by the sweet, rich maple flavouring. It’s a good pairing! I can even detect just a touch of creaminess that’s almost cheesecake, although it’s not quite as prominent a flavour as I’d hoped. Still, it’s tea, not food. The maple is strong and distinctive, and that’s what I was really looking for. Luckily, it’s here in abundance! Noms.

I don’t know how it is that I’m the only person who’s ever reviewed this one? It came in the cutest heart shaped tin, so I’m guessing maybe it was a limited edition for valentine’s day once over, or something? It’s been in my stash a while, unopened, at any rate.

I originally bought this one because I was intrigued by the ingredients – strawberry, raspberry, black pepper, rose. I love pepper, so it was a must-try pretty much as soon as I saw it. I used 1 tsp for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in boiling water, no additions. It’s pretty well balanced, I think. The initial flavour is red berry – I think I’m leaning more towards strawberry, but there’s a tart/sour end note that captures raspberry well, too. Neither flavour is candy-like or over sweet – it’s pretty accurate “juice” flavouring, as far as I’m concerned. The pepper is discernible in the mid-sip, and it lingers for a long time. It adds a touch of spiciness and a whole lot of heat, which builds with successive sips. I really like the combination, even though it probably wouldn’t have occurred to me to pair those two things in actuality.

This one would have been a good warming winter cup, but it’s still pretty cold out in the mornings so I guess I haven’t missed the joy of that entirely. To be honest, though, it’s so good I’ll probably carry on drinking it this summer. It’s been sitting around long enough!