Bird & Blend Tea Co.

Sipping on the last of my old pouch of this but it isn’t going anywhere because I just got 50g more of this in the post! This was one of the first teas I tried from Bluebird Tea Co. back in the day, and it’s still one of my favourites so when I saw that they brought it back as a limited edition I couldn’t just not buy more, could I? Even three years old (!!!) this is super tasty, but I can’t wait to dig into my fresh new batch. Nommy nommy noms.

I’m upping my rating from 90 just because I can’t bear to be without this tea in my cupboard and it deserves a higher rating.

So basically I love this tea. I have a lot of little candy hearts in mine, as well as rose petals, which just make it really really pretty. I have mentioned this before in another review, but Bluebird teas always seem to be beautiful. It also smells amazing, like fragrant perfume-y chocolate fruitiness. Which is pretty much what it is…
In the cup, the smell mellows out a little but stays mostly the same, only with black tea scent underneath.

What I really love about Bluebird’s black tea base is that it doesn’t seem to get bitter, no matter how much you forget about it. I left the leaves in my cup for over 10 minutes, and there wasn’t even the slightest hint of bitterness, and the oversteep just allowed the other flavours to develop more fully.

Plain – it tastes exactly as it smells, and I mean exactly. Even my flatmate pointed this out, and he hardly ever even agrees to taste a tea after smelling it. At first, the tea tastes like a strawberry dipped in dark chocolate, and the black tea base just seems to make the whole thing more smooth. The rose flavour really comes through in the aftertaste, and possibly because of the sweetness from the candy hearts, reminded me of powdered Turkish delight. Great for me, as I love dessert teas.

With milk – after adding milk, the flavours became more muted and subtle, but still very definitely present. I think I might prefer it this way, as although I love the flavours, I think they might become a bit cloying after a whole mug of it plain. The chocolate taste is probably the most subdued by the addition of milk, but there’s still a hint of it there.

With milk and sugar – the taste does not change at all by the addition of sugar, it just becomes much much sweeter. In my opinion, the candy hearts make this tea sweet enough to begin with, and adding sugar just made it too sweet for me. I still finished the mug, though, because even over-sweetened, this tea is just so good.

This is definitely a tea that I will be repurchasing from Bluebird, and I might have to make room for it in my next order.

Thank you MissB for this surprise sample with my other samples! I’m definitely up for trying any Bluebird teas, even if this one looks like hibiscus overload. I used the entire sample which is wayyy more than two teaspoons. Hopefully it doesn’t kill me! I ran downstairs so this one steeped for four minutes at boiling too. Yikes. I think I just realized… what if I steeped hibiscus teas at a lower temp? I could try it anyway. The color of the cup is magenta! Or like a beet? I don’t think I’ve ever had beets before! The flavor is actually NICE for a fruity tea! Wow.. this isn’t even the first fruity tea from Bluebird I’ve actually loved. They are even good at making fruit blends! Somehow this isn’t as hibiscus as I thought it would be… just enough to give it some kick. Really, it does actually taste like beets. Then there is a sweetness from the apple. Then some citrus from the lemon/orange. This is balanced wonderfully. Really over two teaspoons wasn’t overdone after all. WOW again… I really like Bluebird’s fruit teas. I might even like the fruity teas more than the black tea base that they use, because it isn’t enough of a kick for me. If only all fruity blends could be this nice.

My profile says, ‘No peppermint.’ so obviously it’s time to give peppermint another chance. It’s 2014! The year of tea bravery! Besides, I would really like to learn to enjoy minty teas.

In the bag, this smells very fresh and light; it’s all crisp, cool peppermint. In the cup, the scent seems much thicker, a little dirty – a gritty mint. The earth tone reminds me of gardening; a few years ago they sold me peppermint plants instead of regular mint by mistake and I didn’t notice until they started growing bigger (they were very small from the start) and I had to dig them up and banish them to a less coveted spot. (Don’t look at me like that. Think of the poor orphaned mojitos. Priorities, people!) This is exactly that – garden soil and crushed peppermint leaf.

Steeped, it’s… fair. It’s not the most aggressively evil peppermint I’ve tasted, but it’s not super mild. It doesn’t leave that minty coolness mouthfeel I have such a hard time with, and it’s consistent throughout the sip, taste wise. Unoffensive, fresh, clean and a little earthy.

That much said, I have not been converted – peppermint teas might just not be for me. Overall, I feel mint should be served in very small amounts, preferably inside some form of chocolate casing.

It was good to try, though, and definitely nice to add Bluebird to the list of tea companies I have tried. I’d never heard of them, but will consider placing an order with them after this – their website is great, the packaging pretty, they ship fairly cheaply within Europe, and they blended a peppermint tea I could actually finish a whole cup of. Definitely worth a try.

Thanks, KittyLovesTea for adding this to the box!

[Sample from the second round of the EU Travelling Box, spring 2014.]

This was a free sample from Bluebird Tea Co. with my order, so thank you very much for the try! The sample came in an adorable fancy teabag, with the bluebird logo printed on.

Looking at the bag, I can’t see a whole lot of maté, it mostly seems to be lemongrass, and smells very lemony, too. Steeping, the lemon smell intensifies and kind of gets sweeter, so that after brewing the tea smells almost like a sherbet lemon sweet to me. It is a very pale infusion, even though I left if for forever.

The overall flavour is of lemongrass, and I can’t really taste the ginger at all, although there’s a nice tingly heat kick at the end which I think is down to the ginger. This was perfect for me, though, as I really do not like ginger at all. I can’t taste any smoke from the Yerba, I don’t think, but I’ve never had it before so I’m not really sure what I’m looking for exactly. I’ve just gotten to the end of the cup, and the last two or three mouthfuls had a weird fishy taste. Ew.

Overall, a nice delicate cup, but not something I would choose to wake me up as it’s just not strong enough.

I’ve been putting off reviewing this tea for a few days, in the hope that it would grow on me. After several cups, I guess it’s time to accept that it hasn’t, and that I’ve found the first tea that I actively dislike (sorry Bluebird Tea!) Out of the five teas I bought from them, this is the only one that isn’t amazing, so I guess they’ve still done pretty well!

I am a huge fan of Terry’s Chocolate Oranges, so obviously I had to try this tea as soon as I saw it. Unfortunately, the dry tea smells nothing like a chocolate orange, but almost exactly like a chocolate orange flavoured alcohol shots drink I bought a year or so back before I stopped drinking. I say unfortunately, because that was possibly the worst drink I’ve had in my life. The smell is very citrusy, with just a hint of sour dark chocolate in the background, but the citrus smell is very artificial and I have a feeling it might be the smell of orange oil. When brewed, the smell becomes more pleasant and smells more of real oranges, although there is an oily sheen on the top of the water which I think comes from the theoretical orange oil.

I forgot to mention, on the plus side, the tea is super pretty. There are chunks of orange rind and little twirly things (I seriously have no idea about the twirly things) that make it really gorgeous to look at, which I’ve found to be a common theme in bluebird teas!

I’ve tried this tea many different ways (plain, with sugar, with honey, with sugar and milk, with honey and milk and as a latte, as well as in a protein shake) and the flavour is kinda similar across the board, which unfortunately means I didn’t like any of them. It tastes like I remembered the alcohol to taste, only hot. Definitely orangey, with a dark chocolate note playing around in the background somewhere, but the orange doesn’t really taste fruity, I’m sorry if that doesn’t really make sense, but I was expecting a sort of warming, tangy marmalade sort of orange, but instead it tastes artificial, which I sad ‘cause there are definitely chunks of real orange in it! Also when brewed, the tea is kind of a browny-pinky colour, which I found odd. Not sure what to say about that, so I’ll just leave it there…

Not for me, I’m sorry Bluebird, but I’m sure there are some people out there who would enjoy this.

Sipdown 198/397 – I’m in the 200s!!

I’ve really been into the chilli teas lately. Maybe it’s because I’ve discovered that my mam actively likes them, to the extent that she will admit it instead of just saying ‘that one’s okay’. First it was Mayan Chocolate Chai, and now this. I think I’m getting to her! This has always been a favourite of mine, and it still is. Back onto my wishlist, and I’ll be getting a tin with my next Bird and Blend order. I upended the contents of the pouch into my infuser, and it seems like all the chilli flakes had settled at the bottom because this cup is HOT! The chilli is overpowering the fruity flavours, though the lime is coming out more as my cup cools. Still tasty, but I’ll have to remember to mix the tea next time!

Edit: This one is super tasty paired with some of the freeze dried strawberries I had earlier. It brings back the jamminess I was missing.

Sweet Lord of all that is holy this smells terrible during steeping! I know I’ve noted the scent before but really it’s never been this bad. Somewhere between vomit and wet dog (I’m so sorry). I was wary because this is three years old now – it was part of my very first order of tea back in the days when Bluebird Tea Co.‘s owners hand-wrote the label on each pouch before shipping them, and one of the oldest in my entire cupboard – and I thought it had gone horribly bad, but after the steeping it really doesn’t smell all that awful. It’s definitely not enticing, but passable and way less vomity dog. I was super relieved when I tentatively tasted it to find that even after three whole years in my cupboard this tea is still absolutely delicious! The chilli kick is still making itself known, and the fruity jamminess is lovely and really brought out by just shy of a teaspoon of sugar. Out of all the fruits I’d say the passionfruit is most prominent, but really they blend together very nicely to give the ‘jammy’ feel. The lime and lemongrass (and presumably hibiscus) give a nice tart tang at the end of the sip and I’m pleased to find that I love this as much now as I ever did.

I had this tea again today for a wake-up drink before I went to uni (early start), and as I was in a hurry to get ready, I kind of forgot about this while I was doing my makeup and ended up WAY oversteeping it. The fruity flavours kinda got lost in the oversteep, but it was still a nice cup of spicy green tea. I ended up having to leave most of it (sad face) and had it iced (well, cold) when I got back and it was equally delicious! The fruit is a little more noticeable when cold.

My bluebird order came in today!! My first ever order from them and this is my first ever cup.
I’m not quite finished my first cup of this yet, but I think I can already say that it is my favourite green tea I have ever tried. I noticed that my cupboard was sorely lacking in green teas as I tend to favour blacks, so I included a couple in my order to diversify a bit, and I am so glad I did! This tea is delicious.

In the bag, I was a little disappointed as the smell wasn’t as nice and jammy as I had expected. The fruit smells definitely came through, but it was actually a little overpowering and not really that jammy. Don’t let the initial smell put you off, though – when brewed it smells lovely. Very fruity, with the lemongrass undertones coming through, too.

On my first sip, the chilli blew me away. Wow. I did not expect such a massive chilli kick! At the end of the sip the fruity flavours really come out, and it really does taste jammy. The chilli leaves a pleasant reminder at the back of your throat, and oddly, I found it to be stronger in some mouthfuls than in others?

Very fruity and jammy, with a pleasant spicy kick that does not disappoint. The green tea base adds a nice delicate grassy flavour which really helps to push the other flavours to the fore. My only disappointment with this tea is that, on second steeping, the fruity flavours all but disappear and it becomes a very delicate cup of lemongrass tea with a hint of spice on the finish.

Overall, a great tea, which I have a feeling I will need to re-order very soon.

This is a fantastically soothing cup of tea, very rich in a velvet cherry taste. Easy to drink and full of subtle fruity notes.

From Kitty´s european travelling tea box, this smelled just heavenly. It smelled fruity, vaguely like cola, and oh so delicious. Checking the blend, I braced myself for hibiscus, and well yes it is is hibiscus. but it did smell to heavenly that even not being an hibiscus lover, well, let´s try this and maybe expand my horizons.

In reality this is not a hibiscus fruit tea for me. It is very hibiscus (even if most of the tea in the strainer seems to be dried apple, lovely lovely dried apple which I am actually eating) and a bit too acid for my taste and there is kinda dusty flavour I can not really identify but might be associated to one of the other dried fruits.

When I nail the steeping parameters, I really really like this tea. It’s all sweet, jammy raspberries smothered in vanilla cream. There’s a suggestion of rich butter cake in the aftertaste even, with a rich and buttery flavor that lingers.

The freshness captured in the raspberries totally makes me think of warmer weather.

I’ve refrained from reviewing this because I was working on tweaking the steeping parameters. But I’ve been able to get a consistently good cup from it for the last several times, so I think I’ve got it! Boiling makes it just a tiny bit bitter and can lead to the base overpowering the jammy raspberry.

It’s actually pretty stunning when I nail it. Lovely jammy, sweet raspberry and vanilla flavors with a wonderful creamy mouthfeel. There’s the tiniest bit of coconut in the aftertaste, but only once the cup begins to cool. While piping hot, it only comes across as silky feeling.

Definitely keep in mind that this is sponge cake, not cake cake though. It’s basically a sweet, convenient delivery system for delicious berries and cream and it that this is definitely a winner.

I had a cup of this last night since I was craving the flavor even though my taste buds are not working well with the cold I have. Seem to be a little better every day, but I’m done with it already!

I happily sipped away on this with the little I could taste… It hit the spot. Warm, sweet, cinnamony (I know, it’s not a word). This one may make my list of things to order at some point… Thanks MissB for the introduction.

I was looking for something caffeine free last night and this jumped out at me. I got this from MissB’s stash sale awhile back :)

Hubby had a cup of this recently and it smelled very good, so I had to try it too.

I have to be in the mood for a fruity tea, but apple is one that I can do almost anytime.

Dry this smells sweetly of apple and spices. There are big chunks of what I assume are apple bits just covered in rooibos… and most of the rooibos in the bottom of the blend so you have to be mindful to get a good mix.

Steeped this is overly sweet smelling, but not sweet to the taste. I added a bit of sugar, as to my normal, but think if I wasn’t a sugar user I might have reached for it to make the sweet smell come together in the flavor as well. I found it to be a nice apple/cinnamon cup, with a touch of pastry if you look for it.

I was able to get a second, weaker, steep on this one.. although I did leave my steeper ball in my mug while I drank it. ;)

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – November 2024 Tea #3 – A tea for which you are especially thankful

I hope all that celebrate are having a great day today.  Always thankful for the Steepster crew! As usual, I am about two months behind on reading tasting notes, so I hope you are all doing well. May have just sampled a little too much of the stuffing I just made.  oops.  This is always one of the teas I am most thankful for, as it is one of my favorites, always a perfect brew and also one of the rarest teas to find, not only because it is usually limited on the time it is sold, but also now due to the international shipping.  Also, it’s a perfect tea for this particular holiday.  So good. 

additional notes: A source tells me it’s National Pumpkin Day, so I will be drinking this one today. Like I need an excuse! I think it’s my very favorite of B&B, out of many favorites.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – September 2023 Tea #7- September 21 – World Gratitude Day

I thought I’d throw this note into the abyss.  I hope the one person in charge of keeping Steepster going is having a swell vacation.  Anyway, I’m grateful for this tea during — from what I have heard — is chai day.  YES chai!  I’m especially grateful to this blend because it is a seasonal, therefore rare blend to get ahold of, especially if us in America don’t want to spend a ton of money just for shipping.  I can never tire of this blend!  Perfection.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – October Tea #9-A pumpkin tea

It’s Halloween!  Time to choose a pumpkin tea for the pumpkin prompt!  Of COURSE it’s this tea.  I think I’m one steep session away from finishing my oldest pouch of this from a group order… it’s aging wonderfully.  This tea never fails, gets old, or steeps badly.  Yum. It’s amazing I brought enough teas with me to magically fill almost 30 prompts with barely any doubling up!

Additional notes: I noticed Bird & Blend randomly blurbed me today in their e-mail about this very blend, so I just had to steep some up on this chilly day. Seemed perfect timing anyway! I probably would have reached for it regardless. :D

Additional notes: I was able to snag a bag of this during the Boxing Day sale. It’s basically the tea that MADE me click the order button. This one is seasonal, so it’s usually tough to nab….especially on sale. But I also love drinking this one all year long… and now it is certainly an autumn essential ANYTHING. However, I am starting to notice that the blends I love more from B&B are seasonal or limited… while some of the blends I actually didn’t like (this is rare for B&B) remain for sale on B&B’s site all year long. hmm. I’m happy to report….. this blend is still the same consistently delicious blend I’ve been sipping all these years. They BETTER not change this blend. The sprinkles are hollow shape pumpkins and bats now instead of solid shapes, if that is the only difference. But flavor is consistent. Every time I have a cup, I still can’t believe how delicious the resulting flavor is. sigh. I just love this blend and I’m so glad it remains the same in all the many “harvests” of the blend I’ve tried. One heaping teaspoon makes for 2.5 delicious steeps.

Additional notes: First cold day? Time to bust out the Spiced Pumpkin Pie! I swear this tea is always better than I remember with one simple teaspoon. I actually got the pre-order e-mail for this today too. ALSO, Bird and Blend has a new caffeine free version that they named ‘Baby Spice’. (There was a contest for the name.) I would imagine for people in the UK that is a reference to the Spice Girls or something. BUT I think I liked my name better. I was having trouble remembering what I suggested at the time but think it was ‘sPIEced Pumpkin’? But whoa, I can never be out of this tea.

Additional notes: Man, this tea is just so perfect. I have no idea how or why it works but it is like magic in a cup. I MAY have ordered from Bluebird recently because a few of their teas were disappearing (for now?) I hope all of the blends are as good as this one but it is probably an impossible task. I’m a Bluebird Pumpkin Pie fan for life (take note: they will have a small amount of this for sale on Boxing Day if you happened to miss it.) Raising the rating from a 96 for being so consistently delicious.