Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

This was a Christmas gift from Superanna, but I just got it a couple of weeks ago because we had Covid at Christmas.

I decided to give myself a break from trying to frantically sip down all the advent tea and try something new. I am glad I looked at reviews first, because the smell of this was…scary. Well, definitely very weird.

As it steeped, I was thinking, “I thought there was supposed to be glitter. There’s no glitter.” Then I poured it and WOW. I don’t know if I have ever seen glitter quite like this in a tea, although I may have had one glitter tea long ago. It swirled and twirled and twinkled. I made a video and sent it to Superanna specifying that there was no filter. She asked why is it twinkling? It was so impressive that each member of the household got treated to a visit from the twinkling teacup.

The steeped tea no longer smells scary. It tastes like a pretty nice mix of berry and mint flavors. It is definitely not bright green by any stretch of the imagination. Trust me, I have seen this tea under several different types of light as it traveled around the house visiting Ashman, daughter, and finally the table where I drank it after filming it. This is almost black. No green anywhere.

It was a fun and pretty tea, and a nice little novelty. Tastewise, it is fine and enjoyable, but not absolutely knock your socks off. Easy to drink, though! I wonder if it is as pretty as an iced sweet tea? Hmmmmm….

I like this one, although I initially found the smell off-putting (black currants + mint)! I ended up adding milk to my last cup, and not only did it work but it tasted better than the pot of Santa’s Secret that my parents were drinking (PGGB has more heft and dimensions). So weird (in the best possible way).

I know it’s a gimmick, but I also appreciate the glitter here.

Sipdown! (40 | 314)

This is an interesting one.

I really dislike the smell of it when it’s steeping, it’s like the biggest wet rag ever ha ha… Luckily, that doesn’t carry over to the taste. I actually quite like the combination of the syrupy blackcurrant and cool peppermint together, it’s sort of a dark forest fruits and evergreen vibe.

The color is weird and was quite inconsistent for me. They claim it “brews bright green” but mine was usually some variation of very dark brown with some swampy green-blue going on. I’m not a fan of glittery teas, but I really liked how this one was well-restrained, and the cup looked glittery but I couldn’t see the glitter at all in the dry leaf, and it didn’t make a mess of everything it touched.

Sadly this last cup is mostly just a peppermint black tea, I’m not getting the currant at all. But still, will consider adding this one if I happen to be making a B&B order in the future.

I’m game. Sparkly tea will always get my attention…black is still a weird colour for tea though! Though this is less offputting to me than the brighton rock one, maybe because of the black tea giving it more of a warm tone. I like the smell a lot, mint and blackcurrant is weirdly nostalgic. The brew itself is…mediocre. I don’t dislike it, but it just does not have that wow-factor for me. but it shimmers!

I’m still not 100% sure if I enjoy this blend or not. I mean, I really like the jammy but still a little bright and tart black currant notes. In fact, the reason I picked this one out to drink was because I was craving this specific black currant flavour so much – and while the cooling peppermint is a little strangely juxtaposed against the black currant it’s not unpleasant and the fact it’s a bit weird actually appeals to me because it keeps me super engaged while drinking the cup.

I think the thing that throws me off is something that feels sourceless, and it’s this kind of aggressively “flat tasting” undertone/finish that detracts from the freaky weird dance of mint and currant. It’s a shame.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgP-NpROgXL/ (The sixth pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2n7EKUXbps

I love the dark blue, almost black color that this brews up. I didn’t know how I felt about this flavor combination, but it tastes better than I’d imagined. The berry flavor is mild, and the mint fits well with it. However, the mint is the overwhelming flavor, which doesn’t really seem right for a tea of this name. You’d expect the flavor to be a lot crazier. It’s mainly mint, and I’d sooner choose many other mint blends over this one. Thanks to amandastory516 for sending this!

Haha, whoa.

The leaf is detritus. The liquid is stagnant swampwater. The flavor is the smell of the musty edges of a swamp complete with the tastes of tangy black currant and crisp mint that can grow in such moist locations.

If this tea didn’t have the novelty reference to The Guide, I don’t know what my gut reaction would’ve been but this is freaking brilliant. Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster transports me back to my swamp work ten years ago.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge January 2nd: National Science Fiction Day Tea #1

additional notes: Drinking this one as part of the funsy day sipdown challenge. For one of my favorite geek things: Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy! This is still a stunningly odd tea, both in flavors and appearance and it really WORKS for Hitchhiker’s Guide. I thought I’d love to hate this blend, but it’s really growing on me. I’m glad I took a gamble on it. I think I’ll raise the rating from a 78.

Okay, lazy person here again.
I took 1 teaspoon and – grandpa.

Dry leaf smells strongly peppermint with little (but noticable) blackcurrant. When brewed, it turns blue-green colour. Yep, again they have added blue pea.

The brew was very minty in aroma, but blackcurrant tartness was certainly there. When sipped, it was refreshing and fruity. Berry fruity. I had even one whole black currant berry there, so I crushed it with spoon and that was value adding! It was really fruity with minty freshness.

I thought about adding a tea spoon of sugar, but I did not. The berry added exactly what was needed there I think. Some fresh fruit taste.

In conclusion, it was bit weird – but rather surprising. I expected some combination which I could not drink, but in fact, it is very tasty. Nice refreshing drink for summer.