Bluebird Tea Co. Advent Calendar — Day 2 — Strawberry Lemonade tea bag



I feel like summer has suddenly returned — it's Strawberry Lemonade tea.




Ingredients: Hibiscus, rosehip, apple, lemon, orange, strawberry, elderberry, sunflower petals

They describe it thus:

Amazing iced or hot, any time of year, all ages, girl, boy, dog . . . This versatile little number is a big hit all-round. With real strawberry bits and zesty lemon peel, it's easy to see why. Get a pitcher on the go will you, love?

So, you might remember that I bought some of this tea back in the summer but lost it so I never got to try it. I still haven’t managed to find it so I’ve no idea where it went — I’m guessing the fairies stole it — so I was rather pleased to see this tea bag as one of the advent calendar gifts.

The tea bag itself had a strong smell of strawberry so I was expecting that to be the dominant flavour, but I can be a bit funny about strawberry-flavoured products so I wasn’t sure it would be to my taste.

Once again, I left it way longer than the suggested 4 minute brewing time as it didn’t seem to be doing much once I put the boiling water on it. This intensified the flavour and on first taste I really wasn’t at all sure I liked this tea, particularly as it had an odd sort of taste that I wasn’t expecting – I was expecting strawberry and lemon but neither of these came through. Once I looked at the ingredients I realised it was the elderberry I could taste.

Of course, once I added a spoonful of demerara all the flavours came flooding out but with elderberry still being the most dominant for me. However, I’m not sure demerara was the right sweetener choice for this particular tea as it really needed something lighter with less flavour of its own. Certainly the next time I have it I shall try something different to see what difference it makes.


By the time I’d finished the whole mug I had decided that this one is a winner although I’d probably be more likely to drink it in the summer rather than winter, and I think it would be good chilled — something to look forward to.


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