Bird & Blend Tea Co.

Another of B&B’s new Earl Grey teas.

To the point I made in another tasting note earlier today, there seem to just be soooo many more floral tea blends in Europe compared with North America – and elderflower in particular was a flavour/ingredient we saw quite heavily!

My experience has been that, to the average North American palate, elderflower is not a very commercially well received flavour at all. However, personally I really like it so I was excited to see it used in this way. I think it works really well. The dry leaf is highly aromatic and very fresh, slightly citrusy and floral. A good mix of more heady florals/aromatics (ie. the bergamot) balanced by lighter, brighter florals.

Steeped it works out this way too. Medium to full-bodied black tea with a pretty typical amount of bergamot, but just highlighted by the fresh, bright and slightly sweeter and citrusy notes of the elderflower. Not too floral or heavy or perfumed. Quite well integrated. It very much feels like a more Spring-centric take on a classic Earl Grey. Of course, I would be very, very curious to see if someone less fond of elderflower than myself felt the same way…

B&B released a new Earl Grey collection while we were in Europe with four different EG blends, so of course we wanted to try them. In the end we picked up 3/4 – choosing to skip the chocolate Earl Grey because it seemed a little less interesting and unique to us.

This was the one I was most personally interested in, and I have to admit it’s left me perplexed. The ingredient list is interesting to me. Licorice root I understand the inclusion of both as a natural sweetener and because it’s very mouth/throat coating properties will likely enhance the feeling of this being a more rich and caramel-like blend. Cardamom, on the other hand, seems out of pocket to me. Though, I have to admit the dry leaf smells INCREDIBLE with such a buttery toffee aroma, and you do also clearly smell cardamom too and it seems nice and complimentary…

Steeped I’m not mad about the taste, but it left me questing who this was for customer wise. If I’m attracted to this profile because of the Earl Grey, I think the bergamot note in the blend is actually maybe a little too light – that’s a quality that I personally appreciated, but that I could see bothering others. On the flip side, if I’m attracted to the blend because of the caramel (like in my case) I also feel like the caramel could be richer. It is a sweeter leaning profile with the buttery quality of the caramel and the licorice root acting in the way I expected both flavour/mouthfeel-wise. But I just want more caramel. Particularly a deeper, thicker caramel note. A bit less bright/aromatic.

And the cardamom. It’s there. You can clearly taste it, and honestly it’s nice. It compliments all the flavours pretty solidly. I just don’t understand why it’s in a Caramel Earl Grey. That’s still so confusing to me.

…so I’m definitely torn with this one!

Even though I’m keeping things pretty uneventful this weekend, I decided to treat myself to some fancy carrot cake from a local bakery to go with an afternoon of drinking Easter themed teas like this one, a seasonal blend that I picked up when I visited London earlier in the month. It’s a really beautiful blend with different flower petals strewn throughout the black tea leaf, along with marshmallows and popped rice. Brewed, it’s surprisingly smooth with a distinct toastiness from the brown rice that is immediately cozy and comforting. The primary flavour is a simple cocoa note that’s neither creamy and sweet nor too dark and bitter. There is some earthiness to tge undertones from the beets in the blend, but it’s still a very clean and approachable nostalgic chocolate flavour well suited for Easter.

It is really interesting paired with the carrot cake, though. This cake has really thick layers of cream cheese buttercream, and combined with this smooth, medium bodied and chocolate-y tea it ALMOST makes me think of another type of cake when I sip and eat the two in tandem: red velvet cake. The allspice, nutmeg, and pineapple compote in the carrot cake break the illusion, but for a split second it does feel like I’m eating my cake and drinking it too!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DIrxn1hyStr/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGPn9E1Viu8&ab_channel=SunCasino-Topic

Proper review coming soon. I made this with barista oat creamer and I want to try it with just plain soy milk first before I speak to how creamy the base brew actually is.

It’s good, though. Very tasty.

My order finally arrived and that’s when I realized I still have some sample pouches from my last order I never tried.

This is a nice Easter morning tea. It’s got some chai notes but it isn’t super spicy. The rooibos is really nice (if you like the flavour of rooibos) with some woody notes. There is a caramel flavour, although I wouldn’t call it distinctly toffee but more very slight molasses. The dry leaf smells a lot like molasses. I get cinnamon but would have liked some ginger and clove. I’m drinking this with a dash of vanilla soy milk so that helps make it creamier and add some vanilla. I would have liked a bit of vanilla in the chai itself.

I’ve bought loose leaf sticky chai before, but made with agave and never a rooibos blend. So, the fact that this is honey as the sticky component mixed with the dry leaf was already interesting to me, and then the rooibos based was like the cherry on top.

The “dry” leaf (if you can really call it that) has almost the look and feel of damp sand, and there’s a part of my monkey brain that kind of wanted to play with it and try shaping something out of it. Steeped up it was quite pleasant, though! Initially sweeter with a more baked banana note tinged with an almost caramelized sugar sweetness. It then gets more spicy and chai-like. Cinnamon a first, but then a lot of ginger and a pretty hot ginger too. Definitely tickles the back of the throat. I liked how it wasn’t too sweet despite the honey being pre-added, and the shift of indulgent fruit notes to hot and aromatic spices was very nice too!

Sipdown (2901)!

I finished this off over the weekend and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I think it’s supposed to be lavender and lemon? The lavender definitely comes through very strongly, but not strong in a perfume or chemical sort of way. It’s just fresh, aromatic and wrapped up in a bit of a natural sweetness that feels little creamy like a vanilla but also a touch honeyed. I personally love the rooibos that Bird & Blend uses and I think that sweeter taste of it really worked well here. I suppose it’s also citrusy, but I really think that smooth, supple lavender really store the show. It made for a really soothing and relaxing brew.

Cold Brew!

This is one of the few “new to me” teas I brought back from Bird & Blend when I was recently there. It’s described as pineapple and turmeric, which is a combination of flavours I’ve had before and quite enjoy. The dry leaf was really appetizing smelling with a much fruitier aroma than expected. Pineapple, yes, but also an also soda-style strawberry note that I found quite interesting. Syrupy and sweet in a way I wouldn’t expect for a turmeric tea.

At least cold brewed I think the taste actually loses a lot of that fruity aroma, though. It starts very earthy and turmeric forward before slipping into a mellow (pun not intended) tropical note that resembles pineapple well enough. A little apple-y too, which isn’t a total surprise given the blend composition. From there is goes back to a more earthy finishing flavour. Not too heavily spiced, but definitely more spice forward than you’d expect from the nose. I still enjoy it, but there’s definitely a sort of mind game happening here given just how different the smell and taste are.

…and I’m caught up!

I’m currently just finishing off a mug of this tea, which I’ve been slurping on since starting to write my trip tasting notes a few hours ago. It’s one of the blends we brought back with us, and I’m enjoying it even if I find the flavour combination quite familiar. Brisk, full-bodied black tea with fresh, smooth notes of garden roses. I’m a sucker for a rose black tea, but this is definitely a profile I’ve tasted countless times and can get elsewhere. The naming, however, is quite clever.

It’s exactly what I expect it to be. The peach flavour is very distinct but not overwhelming. With milk, the blend becomes silky and creamy. Will repurchase

It has an overwhelming fruity and berry coconut scent but lacking in flavour. I added milk but it didn’t really complement it.

I was looking forward to try this because of the name but I am underwhelmed. Very astringent and tannin taste. It’s smells nice but no amount of milk can save this tea. Let’s just say it’s best to keep this tea on the secret sale as it doesn’t really live up to the hype.

This one worked for me better than expected. Nice with honey to bring the mint and jasmine together. Even without honey, this tea actually did not clash in the way I thought it would. Will have to write more notes on it.

Okay, I’m being a picky jerk about this one. It’s really tannic and easily bitter with boiling water. I only did this for a minute and it’s still to heavy on the tannin for me.

The cream and bergamot ratio is good, but the aftertaste is something I really don’t like. I’m going on full teasnob with it. It needs cream and sugar. I wouldn’t be so bitter if I didn’t pay six pounds for it. I could have gotten Harney and Sons for much cheaper at this rate.

Advent Day 24

I have no idea who Carrie Hope is, the collaborator on this tea. It is supposed to be sparkly, so I dug out my glass travel thermos. It does have some blue sparkles in it, but not much and I have to have it held in a sunbeam to see it. There is a little hibiscus present, but the liquid is just the palest of pink, so I have hope. It smells like lemongrass, which must be the lemon myrtle. It tastes lemony and has that slight bite provide by an appropriately small amount of hibiscus. It is said to contain vocal soothing herbs. It’s a good blend with lemon at the center. Not exciting enough that I’d stock it, but fun for a cup.

Advent Day 23

Playing catch up here. No info on the website for this tea. It’s a cinnamon rooibos and it smells very strongly of cinnamon. It tastes very strongly of cinnamon as well. Almost (but not quite) enough to hide the rooibos flavors. There is a slight spicy sensation left in the finish. A bit like melted Red Hot candies without the intensity of all that sugar. This is nice, but it is reminding me of another tea I have enjoyed with so much cinnamon that my stomach would get cranky. I’m not likely to finish this cup because of that, but I will get a few more sips in before I abandon it!

Advent Day 22

It’s a rooibos. I get some of the caramel flavors, but can’t pick out turmeric. Not bad for a rooibos, but I am not it’s intended audience.

Advent Day 19

My cup has cooled now. I think this tea was a little more exciting when hot. It has a light lime flavor and a good amount of mint. Not a knock you out level of mint, but enough that you know it is there. I’m feeling like there is something that is trying to hint at being sweet. A little bit of green tea under it all. Mojitos are a summer drink to me and making it into a warm drink for the winter is messing with my understanding of the universe a bit. I think I would like it better cold steeped in the summer.

Advent Day 17

This… yes. I really enjoyed this cup. It had such a warm baked flavor to it. In my morning haze I didn’t realize it was ginger until I reread the name. It’s a baked ginger… like banana bread kind of baked, but with ginger. I had no idea that there was a thing called gingernut biscuit, but I wonder how it compares to gingersnaps. I over steeped this tea and it was very forgiving. I tried for a second steep and got a not too bad, but lighter in flavor second cup. I’m into this tea.

Advent Day 16

The days have just been flying by this month. I get to the end of every day and feel like I didn’t do much with my time until I go back and break down my day: yard work, processing persimmons for drying, unpacked and set up my casting equipment, cast. I need to be a better cheerleader to myself because I am using my time better than I give myself credit for!

First sip was “Oh wow!”. The creaminess of the coconut pairs so well with the milk oolong. It looses some of that magic if I sip too frequently, maybe my tastebuds need a moment to reset. The finish is a lovely creamy oolong as well. I get zero flat flavors in here. My brain kept reading the name as “coconut milk” oolong as opposed to a milk oolong with coconut flavors, like somehow they infused coconut milk into the oolong in the processing. Then as my brain woke up a little more I could understand it was the latter. The coconut doesn’t mask the milk oolong flavor either, they are in such a nice balance with each other. The coconut almost amplifies the oolong. I’m going to have to resteep this one because I have drunk down this cup fast!

Advent Day 15

Hibiscus ruining another cup for me. The tea wasn’t even that red, so there wasn’t as much hib as in other blends, but I got that murky alkaline taste and was done. :/

Advent Day 14

I’m behind a day! Yesterday I woke up to the electricity out, the attic leaking and a storm storming before a planned outing for a friend’s birthday. So a hectic morning with no way to make hot water and start my day sensibly with a cup of tea. Morning Kick would have been the perfect sentiment for a tea yesterday.

This cup has lemongrass flavor with some ginger in there and maybe a hint of mate. It tastes like an herbal cup. It was easy to sip through and I’m hoping it gives me a little kick to help start the morning.

Advent Day 13… and it’s a Friday!!!

Happy Friday the 13th! I have no idea who Ruby Granger is, the collaborator for this tea. I had to look on the B&B website to find out she is an influencer on tiktok and youtube. I’m trying really hard to stay off social media because my feed is overwhelmingly negative and it sucks time away before I realize an hour has gone by.

While sniffing this tea I keep trying to find malty notes. I don’t know why my brain wants to go there, but I’m not finding it. I get a hint of creamy coconut and something that makes me think mellow warmth, something cozy. Is this what a warm library smells like? Is this what aging books smell like? Something like chocolate in the scent, but not quite. When sipping I can pick up a tiny bit of the roasty hojicha. It’s very mild. Maybe the tiniest bit of malt at the back of the sip with that aging flavor in the finish. Some sips have a ghostly showing of coconut rounding any edges. It’s funny how much the name is making me try to connect the flavors to an old library. This is a tea I’m having to concentrate on. If I didn’t I think I’d just mindlessly sip it because it is so subtle and there is nothing trying to jump out and grab your attention. It’s a fun experience, but I’m left pondering how I feel about the tea.

Advent Day 12

Steeping up very red and I’m hoping it’s beetroot related. Nope, hibiscus. This had a citrusy fruity flavor in the first few sips and smells like strawberries and lemons, but it changed over to that gross hib tang in the start of the sip and then alkaline at the back. Very unpleasant, but it’s what I’ve come to expect in blends that have hib in any amount above the most miniscule. Hibiscus is like my cilantro. This tea is not for me!