Tea and Me

It’s the second ghost of Christmas Past  —   White Christmas . Ingredients: Chinese white tea, Apple pieces, cranberry,  Hibiscus, Rosehip, orange peel, Cocoa shells, Morello cherries, Rose petals, Flavour. They describe it thus: Apparently everyone is dreaming of a white Christmas… One full of white tea, white chocolate and Morello cherries by any chance? No?! Well, you sure will be once you've tried this brand new limited edition Christmas blend. Packed full of juicy cherries + white chocolate chunks, this tea is sure to be top of your Xmas gift list!  Just as the Mulled Wine was brought back for the day yesterday, so Bluebird have resurrected White Christmas for one day only and made it the advent calendar tea bag of the day. The first thing to say about this tea is that it smells absolutely fantastic, with the most mouth-watering cherry smell that transfers in colour to the mug. This isn’t a particularly strong flavoured tea tho...

It’s Bluebird’s take on a British classic – it's the Great British Cuppa . Ingredients: Indian Assam black tea, Ceylon black tea, Chinese Yunnan tea. They describe it thus: We've been around the world in 80 teas with this one! On a mission to get our nation of tea lovers, THE BEST cuppa. Good news... Mission accomplished! Fantastic with your fry up, perfect with a Paddington (marmalade on toast, obviously!) The Great British Cuppa is right here! It’s normal tea! Well, sort of. This is the closest you’ll get to a ‘normal’ tea bag on the Bluebird site, and it’s actually pretty good. I have to admit that as normal tea goes, I’m a big fan of builders tea (think M&S Extra Strong or Yorkshire Gold left to stew for a bit) and I have to have it with milk and 2 sugars (how very British of me). This tea isn’t that strong, but it’s also not bitter so can stand a longer brewing time to give it a bit more oomph. It is packed full of flavour though an...

Another long and tiring day and it’s another mint tea bag — today’s tea is Nearly Nirvana . Ingredients: Chinese white tea, Chinese green tea, jasmine blossoms, spearmint, orange blossom. They describe it thus: This luxury white tea with heavenly jasmine and spiritual spearmint will surely help you reach nirvana. Don't just take our word for it . . . Japanese monks say tea embodies the four Buddhist principles and the word on the street is that they also use it to help them stay awake during meditation and to quiet their grumbling tummies during fasts! I have to be honest that after yet another long and tiring day the last thing I wanted to find in my advent calendar was another mint tea bag. Although I very much enjoyed the Mojitea yesterday I was really hoping for something a bit more Christmassy and comforting today. Instead, I got spearmint and something that, at the risk of sounding like my nine-year-old nephew, looks a bit like a mug of wee. ...

Today’s tea bag contains a revelation — interested? It’s Mojitea .   . Ingredients: Chinese green tea, peppermint, dried lime pieces, lemongrass, lime leaves They describe it thus: The Mojito, Cuban classic; the tipple of choice for Caribbean island folk, but we do it with tea instead — the top tipple of English island folk! Our version is just as refreshing but without the rum or the calories! To be enjoyed in the sunshine whichever island you may be on! Today is the first review using my Moz the Monster mug, and I'm pleased to report that it is the perfect size for a tea bag. So, I have to admit I wasn’t awfully excited when this tea bag was today’s gift. I have received one previously with an order and it went straight into the cupboard because it never really appealed to me, not even in the summer when it was a million degrees and I could have done with a nice refreshing drink. When I got home this evening, I was cold, b...

Today’s tea — G + Tea — is another from the limited edition cocktail trio and is the third of the teas on the Bluebird Tea Co. ’ s keep poll that I have access to. Ingredients: Chinese sencha green tea, juniper berries, spearmint, angelica root, coriander seeds, lemon peel, almond pieces, liquorice, cardamom, natural flavouring. They describe it thus: “Close your eyes, imagine the first sip of an ice-cold gin & tonic – this is it. Super light + energising, the different flavours hit your taste buds separately. From citrus to spearmint, coriander to cardamom. It’s a brew asking to be cold brewed, tea cocktail if you wish!”  So, I’ll be honest and say straight up that I wasn’t expecting to like this tea. I’ve never really been a fan of gin and I detest tonic and would never choose to drink a G&T of my own accord (unless there really was nothing else to drink — I did once go to a party where it was the only drink on offer, I didn’t stay long) so...

Like the previous review, today's tea is one of the limited-edition teas from Bluebird Tea Co. which is in their poll to decide which ones will become a permanent blend (as will be the next few reviews, no doubt). It is called Bramble Ramble and is one of a trio of teas inspired by cocktails. This one is, apparently, based on a gin cocktail called The Bramble , of which I've never heard, but then I'm not really a cocktail aficionado (not since the dark days of the 1980s, anyway, and gin was never really my tipple of choice). Ingredients: Chinese Chunmee green tea, juniper berries, elderberries, apple pieces, hibiscus, angelica root, coriander seeds, freeze-dried blackberry, liquorice, lime leaves, cardamom, lemon peel, blackberry leaves, blackberries, raspberry pieces, strawberry pieces, flavouring.  They describe it thus: " The Bramble cocktail is a delicious, blackberry based, sweet yet sour gin cocktail, garnished with a slice of l...