Lime + Cola Guayusa

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #120 overall / Tea #36 for March

Monday 3/29/21 — Bird and Blend Lime Cola Guayusa. This is an old sample pack enough to make a cold brew pitcher. I was trying to pawn this off to my boyfriend and he drank most of the pitcher but the last of it I actually poured down the drain because he wasn’t feeling it anymore.

#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown #sipdownchallenge

This is Not Good. I really need to try it cold brewed next time because hot it’s like licking a barnyard floor. As the cup cools the lime and cola start to peek through, but it’s definitely a challenge to drink hot. Note to self: COLD STEEP THE REST OF THIS!!

I had this blend over ice this morning and definitely prefer it iced over hot. It tastes like flat Coca-Cola with lime, only not sickeningly sweet. I’m still toying with the idea of making this as a teapop. If I happen upon a sparkling water that I actually enjoy drinking I’ll give it a go. Until then I’ll be enjoying this over ice or chilled.

Today’s cold brew. I used my usual method for preparing this one – 2 tbsp of leaf in two litres of water, into the fridge for around 10 hours overnight. The resulting brew is a very pale peach colour, and I have to say that my expectations were fairly low.

Again, I was wrong to doubt. There’s no doubt that this tea is better cold brewed than it is hot – the cola flavour is still very, very mild, but it’s there. It’s a flavour that seems far better suited to cold brewing IMO, so I’m happier with that. Interestingly, the lime seems to have diminished significantly, which is sad. It’s lost the little punch it did have (and that wasn’t much start with).

Although I’m not overwhelmed by the flavour of this one, it is a pleasantly light, refreshing blend. It’s nice to have a cola flavour without all the sugar and carbonation. My only real complaint about this one is that there’s still something gritty about it that’s catching the back of my throat, and I filtered it through muslin as well. Strange.

I’m pleased that this one is better cold brewed, but it’s not one I’d repuchase. I’ve had cola teas I’ve preferred, and the grittiness is hard to get past. I’m not a huge fan.

My favourite energising tea with slight sweet hints and a good bit of zing, my current first tea of the morning as it wakes me up.

Drinking with my brother part 1

I’m guessing that my brother chose this tea because of the name, but I was excited because I have been wanting to drink it. The smell is very odd and it matches its taste. I’m unsure how to describe this tea… the best I can do is saying that it taste like a cola that sat outside for about 45 minutes. While it will still be okay, it isn’t the best. That is how this tea is, good but lacks something.

This is the last tea from the Bluebird group order a couple of months ago. I guess I’ve just never felt in the mood for a lime cola tea, but today is the day! I’ve only had one guayusa tea before, and I didn’t really get a good sense of the base because it had lavender in it… So this should be interesting! The dry leaf is quite beautiful. It has a lovely “herbal” appearance – all pieces of leaves, flower buds, etc. And everything is a lovely muted shade of green/yellow. Dry scent is lime with a bit of cola underneath.

The steeped tea smells a little bit lime-ish, and there’s a certain effervescent aroma and sweetness that suggest cola. Hm! It definitely tastes herbal, and a bit earthy in a good way. I can taste the lime and cola, but they’re both quite mild and they meld together nicely. I’m really enjoying the gentle and sweet herbal flavor of the guayusa/linden, and the lime is a lovely touch. Pretty yummy!

Additional notes:  I had to snag a pouch of this old favorite during the sale!  I’m surprised they still had this available, as I think they discontinued it a while ago.  Though I haven’t had a new harvest in a while, I can tell this is vastly different from what I remember.  In the harvest from a few years ago, I could taste more guayusa and definitely more cola flavor. I wouldn’t even guess this had any cola flavor.  Now it’s very tart lime and very one noted.  Ah well, glad to have fresh guayusa anyway.

This is a queued tasting note.

Hot cup of this Sunday morning; needed the caffeine but still wanted a gentle start to the day. This was a great compromise. I still find it interesting that it’s a pairing of linden leaves and guayusa ‘cause guayusa is supposed to be invigorating and is caffeine rich and then I’ve always been told that linden is good for insomnia, so that seems a bit conflicting?

Mostly this was just the flavour of the linden leaf with some light earth tones. Not a whole lot of lime; kind of just felt a tiny bit like someone has just really lightly squeezed a few drops of lime over the cup of tea? As for the cola, it was also light but not quite as light as I found the lime to be. Meh; made for a relatively decent cup of tea overall. Soothing, at the very leaf. I wish the flavour was a bit bolder but that’s been a constant criticism for me with this blend so at this point I’m just working on accepting that.

Backlog:

I’ve tried a few teas from them since I first tried this tea, but this was the first from Bluebird that I tried. I was quite pleased with this blend.

I don’t know that I actually tasted “Lime Cola” here, maybe I’m a bit spoiled by the cola teas that 52Teas creates because Frank manages to nail the cola complete with an effervescence that is astounding.

That said, this is really tasty. I like the coffee-esque notes from the guayusa and I like the way the lime perks up that flavor. As the cup cools, I start to pick up on hints of a cola-esque note. When it’s hot, no cola … there is some cola to this when it cools, and this tisane is definitely better iced.

I enjoyed it quite a bit even though I didn’t get as much cola as I would have liked. Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/08/19/lime-cola-guayusa-from-bluebird-tea-co/