Blue Ginger

I’ve been wanting to try this tea for a while now. I had thought I would get some in a swap, but I got a package in return (even though I didn’t intiate the swap!). Oh well, I ordered a sample with my Harney order so I definitely have some now. I love ginger, and I love lychee, so this was a must-try.

The steeped tea on this smells a lot like ginger but not a lot like lychee. The flavor is a bit more balanced, although the blend is such that I don’t really pick up any one particular flavor very strongly. The most predominant is probably the ginger, which is not really spicy and is a bit sweet, like candied ginger. I do get a bit of juicy, lightly floral lychee to it as well, rounded out by a decently tasty black tea base. Overally a pretty tasty tea, although I am not sure that I would reorder.

Slightly tainted tasting note, sorry. I didn’t get a chance to try the unadulterated tea as Mum was waiting for her steaming cuppa, so these are my thoughts on my remix…

I’m getting a lot better about not sticking my nose in the whole tin/packet. Still, the fragrance is off-putting. This doesn’t smell like lychee and ginger to me. At all. It smells really quite like perfume, which isn’t something I seek in my food or drink. The brew also smells perfumed, but less so, thank goodness.

Flavour-wise, the lychee-ginger combination is really nice. Overall, the tea tastes pretty good, but every once in a while that perfume sneaks in and casts a pall of artificiality over everything. (Note that I don’t know whether in fact any artificial flavour has been added. It could be that this is just a side effect of the combination of natural flavours in the tea.) It has a really nice black tea-lychee aftertaste. If you’re sensitive to caffeine, be careful with this one, it’s hitting me pretty hard.

In the end, I like this tea enough to finish it, probably not enough to buy it again. I do really love both lychee and ginger, though, so I’m looking forward to trying other blends. If I can find a flavourful, natural-tasting lychee blend, I can always grate fresh ginger into the infuser. The ginger is easy, it’s the lychee that’s hard to get right.

Tea amount: 1 sachet
Water amount: 6oz/~175mL
Additives: ¾ tsp/~3.5g Demerara sugar and a few thin slices of fresh ginger

Hmm? I ordered a sample and thought I was getting a pouch of loose leaf, but it’s really three sachets instead? Oh well, it smells good either way. And I’m feeling a little under the weather today, so hopefully the ginger will help.

The aroma reminds me of strong ginger ale and candy. Maybe candied ginger if it was a bit more fruity. Must be the lychee. I can’t say that I would have been able to identify the lychee on my own from just the scent. But lychee is always welcome, especially blended with Fujian black tea.

The flavor is well-rounded and pleasant, with the warm spice of ginger in the aftertaste. It’s not as strong as I expected from the scent at all. The lychee is peppery and sort of gentle, reminding me of rose tea. It’s more on the perfume-like side than fruity. I sort of agree with what others have said about this tea, though. It’s nice, but not something I’d crave. I’ll certainly finish the sample, but I probably won’t get it again.

I thought that this tea sounded fun, so I added a sample pack to my most recent Harney’s order. The dry leaves smell really florally-gingery. I am not the biggest fan of ginger, but I love lychee-flavored teas, so I hope that I like this. Anddd I just spilled my poor little sample packet all over the kitchen floor. :( I have just enough left to make 2 cups. Is it ok to cry over spilled tea leaves?

-Blend is made up of plain tea leaves.
-Dry leaves smell sweetly of ginger. Tea liquor aroma is more floral and of lychee.
-Tea liquor is a very dark brown color.
-Pleasant lychee flavor with hints of ginger. No bitterness.
-Best with sweetener.
-Very good tea. Sweetener brings out more of the spicy ginger flavor.

I can’t believe this one wasn’t listed yet and I am the first one to review it!

This was a free sample provided by Russel Allyn of Harney and Sons. Thank you for sending this for me to try! This is one whose description has intrigued me for a long time. The only thing that held me back was that it is only available in sachets, and I prefer to buy loose leaf.

When I steeped this I thought the ginger was the predominant aroma, so much so that I wondered if I would like it. I like a bit of ginger, but not too much. The sip was different, though. While the ginger is plainly there, it didn’t bully me. It added a nice sweetness to the cup. I have had only one lychee flavored tea and that was also by H&S, and I remember thinking that it tastes like light rose scenting instead of fruit. (I tried the fruit once and it was >t use because it smells so bad. Like lychee fruit. Maybe I got a mutant one.). The H&S Lychee Black tea was so good I would consider keeping it on shelf as a floral black.

In this one, the ginger and lychee are running neck and neck in strength, with ginger maybe winning out a bit. This is leaving a sweet taste at the back of the mouth, sweetness at the end of the first sips, and a lingering heat on my tongue from the ginger…not a really strong heat, just an aftertaste.

I have never had Thai food, but I bet this is what it tastes like. Very nice to get to try this! Thank you!

Totally bought this tea solely due to its name. Marketing works! Ha ha.

The dry tea smells like those little gelatin type desserts you can get at asian restaurants. Definitely smell ginger and floral lychee. The floral scent is not perfumey, more like what candied flower petals taste like. Also sweet, like candied ginger. The ginger is not overpowering.

The tea tastes strongly of sweet, candy like lychee flavour. The have never actually had a lychee fruit. I would like to buy one but have no idea how to eat it. Ha. So I avoid them at the grocery store. But I have had lychee flavoured foods and desserts and I would definitely say this is lychee flavour. There is definitely a ginger flavour but it is very light. Blends well with the lychee. There is a sweet taste to the tea. Moreso sweet like how fruit can be sweet and not sweet like sugar.

Glad I tried this one. Am impressed with the tea, even after falling for a brilliant marketing ploy! :)

I didn’t read the description of this tea very well when I ordered it.. But that’s ok because I’m up for trying something a bit strange :] Well… At least lychee and ginger sound weird to me…
The aroma is floral and a bit spicy. The flavor is odd.. It almost tastes over-steeped, but I can still pick spicy notes of ginger and the floral notes as well. Still enjoyable but maybe next time I make this I’ll shave off a few seconds.

Eight ounces of boiling water; five steeping minutes.

After waking up feeling like I’d become a sword-swallower in my sleep, I thought this would be a wise tea choice. I had drunk plenty of powdered ginger teas in the past, so what-the-hay, Blue Ginger made sense. I’d already soothed my throat with half of a banana popsicle so my palate was optimistic.

The tea is nice and dark. The ginger isn’t overpowering. The tea has a strength to it but in no way is it bitter. Wondering if there is another steep in this bag.

Second steep was lighter, but still plenty flavorful.