Morning Kick - Bluebird Tea Co.

In the dim and distant 1980s and 90s, anything that wasn’t ‘normal’ Indian tea was considered ‘herbal’ and was, therefore, generally only available from health food shops (or in Chinese restaurants in the case of Jasmine tea) – unlike today, when every style and flavour of tea fills up both the supermarket shelves and specialist online tea sites – oh, how far we’ve come. I used to regularly frequent Holland and Barrett as one of the only health food stores I had access to, to buy such exciting fare as those provided by the brands Heath and Heather and Yogi.

One of my favourite blends was lemon and ginger (which I seem to recall was also one of Twinings first attempts at branching out into more interesting flavours) which was perfect for keeping me going in that post-lunch slump and was good for when I was bunged up with a cold or hayfever, had a sore throat or just generally felt a bit rough. Obviously, this was the start of my love of ginger-flavoured teas although I never realised it at the time.

Also many years ago, I worked with someone who swore that having a mug of hot water with a slice of lemon in it was the perfect way to start the day (I think my mother may have suggested it at some point too). I tried it for a few days but could never really see the attraction as it tasted rather insipid, but now it seems I may have been wrong.

Having discovered the wonderful Bluebird Tea Company earlier this year, I quickly availed myself of a range of ‘trial’ sizes of various of their teas including one called Morning Kick.*

Ingredients Yerba mate, lemongrass, lemon verbena, ginger, lemon peel, calendula

They describe it thus:

‘Wake up to sunshine on your face all year round with this energy boosting citrus tea blend. It's said Mate gives you a boost equal to caffeine but without the crash later on. Light and Refreshing, with a kick of ginger, it's a supercharged take on the classic lemon ginger.’

It sounds exactly like a mixture of the lemon and ginger teas I used to be so fond of with an extra boost of lemon á la the hot water and lemon – and guess what, it really is.

Bluebird recommends brewing this tea for four minutes or more and I would say this is a minimum requirement if you actually want to taste anything, although both times I’ve tried it the longer steeping time has brought out the heat of the ginger which can be somewhat overpowering if you’re not a fan (I am). It smells lovely and citrusy and has a refreshing kick to it that really does wake you up.

I discovered that Yerba Mate is a natural stimulant, and this is really what makes the difference with this tea and stops it from being just another lemon and ginger. As someone who is really not a morning person, I can tell you it worked wonders for me on a day when I was feeling particularly sluggish and lethargic. In fact, I was astonished at how awake and revitalised I felt within a few minutes of drinking just one mug (although to be fair it is a very large mug).

Better still, it made me feel slightly virtuous as I was able to drink it without sugar, and it is also still drinkable when cold (an important requirement for me as I’m always forgetting my tea).

It’s not the sort of tea I would want to drink all day, and as someone who suffers from insomnia on a regular basis (hence the need to try it in the first place) I don’t think I would drink it at all in the late afternoon/evening unless I particularly needed to stay awake and alert for some reason, but it could definitely come into play during that afternoon slump just after lunch when I just want to have a snooze as it might give me the boost I need to get over it.

To be honest, this has been something of a revelation to me as I have never been a coffee drinker and, therefore, have never really had experience of the caffeine boost that everyone talks about (tea, even strong black tea, has never really given me that).        

Overall, I really enjoyed this tea and have decided to make it part of my regular morning/early afternoon routine just as it appears that many happy customers, who have reviewed on the website, have done too.

*If I’m strictly honest, I originally received a single teabag of Morning Kick as an extra ‘freebie’ when I received my first order from Bluebird as they always include a few extra bits to try and it intrigued me enough to go on to buy the trial size pack – I also got some rather nice lemon biscuits, so thanks for that, Bluebird.