Peach Cobbler — Bluebird Tea Co.

So, I was still trying to recover from the disappointment of discovering that the Rice Pudding + Jam tea from Bluebird Tea Co.’s Spring Collection that I was so looking forward to trying (and was expecting to be my favourite by a country mile as I absolutely adore rice pudding) inexplicably contains coconut (I have no idea why — no self-respecting person would ever put coconut in a rice pudding — and believe me I’ve done extensive polling on this subject) so I can’t even try it.

That left me with three others to try — Peach Cobbler, Raspberry Liquorice Laces and Mint Pistachio. Today I want to talk about the Peach Cobbler, which is a black flavoured tea.

Ingredients: Sri Lankan black tea, freeze-dried peach, pink cornflowers, natural flavouring.

They describe it thus:

Our first black tea + peach pairing and a heavenly one indeed! This blend tastes like a classic cobbler straight from the oven... warm, gooey, sweet with that delightful gold brown crust.

OMG, I absolutely love this tea.

To be honest, when I first received it and opened the packet from the peachy smell that immediately struck me I thought it was going to be just another spin on the peach/apricot teas I’ve tried in the past and already like so much (see Adagio’s Draught of Peace and Kent & Sussex Tea & Coffee Co.’s Apricot tea as examples), so I was expecting to enjoy it.

But the addition of the ‘cobbler’ takes this tea to a whole new level. It really does taste like the peachy dessert — or think of those apricot Danish pastries. It’s like that but with peach — it’s a Danish pastry in a mug!

It’s the sort of tea that can be drunk hot or cold, with or without milk (adding the milk brings out the pastry-ness of the tea) and, for those who can do it, be drunk without the need for extra sugar. However, as you know I’m a sugar fiend, especially in black tea (although I am seriously trying to cut down — no, honestly, I am) and I think adding demerara adds extra sweetness to the peach, making it that much more ooey and gooey like the Danish pastry mentioned previously.

It’s not a strong-tasting blend, but slightly more subtle, with the overall taste being of the creaminess of the pastry with bright bursts of peachiness erupting into your mouth. It really is a most pleasant tea although beware, the tea does become a little bitter if left to stew for too long (Bluebird say 4 minutes+ but personally I wouldn’t go more than a couple of minutes past that).

It has shot straight to the top of both my peach/apricot flavoured and flavoured black tea list and straight into the top three of current favourite teas (and yes, I know I need to update my top ten list badly — I will get round to it eventually, I promise).

Unfortunately, I only got a trial size as part of the Spring Collection set and so I’ve finished it all, and even more unfortunately, it’s a Limited Edition so it won’t be around forever (although it will hopefully return next Spring or be a contestant in their next Tea Election — please Bluebird, I’m begging you!) and I can’t afford to buy any more at the moment (having splurged on some new tea from Adagio on National Tea Day) so my taste buds are going to have to yearn.

I would definitely recommend this tea to anyone who likes peaches, even if you’ve not previously been keen on flavoured teas. From the reviews on the site, it seems to be winning them over just as much as us peach tea lovers.

What’s brewing this week?

There’s not a lot going on after last week’s National Tea Day offers which most of the tea suppliers I tend to use got involved in. Sadly, Camellia’s Tea House didn’t do an online offer as they were concentrating on their new physical tea house which is located opposite the British Museum. I haven’t been yet, but it’s definitely on my list of places to visit at some point, along with the Bluebird Tea Co.’s store at the Angel, Islington.

However, Kent & Sussex Tea & Coffee Co. continue to come up trumps with their weekly offerings. This week they are offering 12% off all purchases and a free gift of their Lapsang Souchong with the code LAPSANG. The offer is valid until midnight tomorrow.