Tea and Me

Happy New Year! Gosh, it’s been a long time since I last posted, hasn’t it? Although, actually, it’s been a long time since I last had a cup of tea. You might recall that just before Christmas I went down with the lurgy and was unable to enjoy the last of my Bluebird advent calendar teas as I couldn’t taste a thing and I promised I would review as soon as I recovered. I also promised to try all those Matcha’s once I got my milk frother, which the pesky Post Office were trying their hardest not to deliver. Sadly, the virus was a bad one, as everyone knows, as it seems most people I know were struck with it at some point over the holidays and for several weeks now I’ve drunk nothing but plain tap water as it’s been the only thing I could face drinking (apart from the odd medicinal tot of Glayva). I did try a pot of my beloved Milk Oolong just after Christmas, but as it has a subtle flavour I couldn’t taste anything and so it seemed a bit pointless, and a waste of money, ...

So the final window on the advent calendar has been opened and it’s another tea bag —  the extremely festive-sounding Christmas Cake . Ingredients: Ceylon black tea, vanilla pieces, almond pieces, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, spruce needles, snowflake sprinkles (sugar, rice flour, hardened peanut oil, potato starch, flavour, gum arabic (E414), potassium sorbate (E202), colours (E171)), flavour. They describe it thus: Holding its own for the title of best Christmas tea of all time, this blend tastes like cake, contains real life actual Christmas tree (spruce needles!) and, as if that wasn't enough, it has little candy snowflakes. Still not impressed? Well brew it up and watch it glitter like icicles!  In the same way that I don’t like mince pies and Christmas pudding, I don’t like Christmas cake — not the fruit ones, anyway — I used to like the chocolate topping, the frosting and the marzipan fruit on a Tunis cake but n...

It’s the second to last day of the calendar and we’ve returned to the matcha  —  Gingernut Matcha to be precise. Ingredients: Japanese matcha green tea, ginger, cinnamon, natural flavour granules, chilli They describe it thus: Our limited edition Gingernut biscuit matcha blend is so moreish with milk! Get your matcha kicks with a ginger tingle this Autumn - Winter season!  I have to admit that I was extremely pleased to discover that today’s tea was matcha as it meant I didn’t have to drink and review it straight away. Now, that might sound a bit harsh, but there is a good reason for it. Unfortunately, Father Christmas has visited my house a few days early and left a not-so-nice present for me, one for which the following are required, and as I opened the calendar door I have to admit I was praying for matcha, while all the while wishing I could go back to bed (I couldn't as I have a hairdresser's appointment, and my hair takes many ho...

The third ghost is apparently of Christmas Future  —  Mince Pie. Ingredients: Sri Lankan black tea, cinnamon, almond pieces, orange peel, pomegranate flowers, natural flavouring. They describe it thus: Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without homemade mince pies- surely the staple of the festive season? (and everyone knows puff pastry is the best!). Guilt-free, gently spiced + deliciously sweet, great with or without milk! So curl up in a warm duvet and sip on this inspired blend, before Santa gets his hands on it!  I have to admit that I don’t like mince pies but as this tea bag contains no ingredients I dislike I will be trying it as it sounds far nicer than its namesake. However, as it’s black tea, I can’t drink it in the evening otherwise I won’t get any sleep. I was intending to try it today at work, but unfortunately, I was extremely busy so didn’t get the chance. Therefore, I shall have to return with a review for this tomorrow. ...

It’s apparently a ghost of Christmas Past  - it’s the Mulled Wine tea bag. Ingredients: Hibiscus, rosehip, apple pieces, lemon pieces, orange peel, orange flowers, cloves, cinnamon. They describe it thus: A steaming mug of mulled wine on a frosty winter's eve is just about our favourite part of the chilly Christmas season. Brew up a Bluebird Mulled Wine and delicious scents of clove, cinnamon and orange will waft you right into a winter wonderland! You can also add to red wine on the stove for the real deal. So, today’s tea is classified as a 'ghost of Christmas past', but as luck would have it, this week Bluebird are reviving five of their ghosts, each for one day only.  Today’s 'ghost' is the same Mulled Wine as the advent calendar tea bag and you have until midnight to get it if you want it (and better still there’s still free delivery until then as well). This is a really tasty fruit tea, full-bodied and full of flavour with all those...

It’s an oldie — it’s Honey Bee Beautiful . This tea is extremely popular with Bluebird customers but it contains chamomile, which is not one of my favourite flavours, and as I have already reviewed it previously, I’m directing you to that review instead of trying it again. Instead, I spent the day drinking Christmas tea by Adagio, which I was using to try to put me in the mood for festivities — i.e. putting up the Christmas tree (I also tried overdosing on Christmas movies), in the face of the snow that was coming down outside (my dislike of snow is as legendary as my dislike of coconut and is always guaranteed to put me in a bad mood). I failed miserably on all counts and the Christmas tree will have to wait until another day, but I did enjoy the tea and may or may not have shed a tear or two over the films. Ingredients: Black Tea, Cinnamon Bark, Orange Peels, Natural Spice Flavour, Cardamom, Cloves, Ginger Root, Natural Ginger Flavour And ...

Today we’re back to a traditional tea bag and it’s the always festive Mulled Cider . Ingredients: Apple pieces, ginger, rosehip, hibiscus, cinnamon, cloves, lemon peel, flavour They describe it thus: Aromatic winter spices, cinnamon, cloves + ginger, steeped with apple chunks to create this mellow + comforting hot tea toddy. Brew up a fruit infusion or use to create Mulled Cider, serve steaming with a splash of dark rum and snuggle up on a chilly winter's eve! The first thing is that the bag smells fantastic, all spicy loveliness that makes me think of cold winter nights and crackling fires and settling down to listen to carols by candlelight. It says to brew it for 4+ minutes but I left it for about 10 as I wanted a decent strong flavour. Unfortunately, because this was a bag rather than loose in a teapot the tea had cooled quite considerably by the time I drank it. This wasn’t that much of a problem as it tastes just as good cold – but obviously,...

Hurrah for a strong opener — welcome to  Gingerbread Chai ! Ingredients: rooibos, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, mallow flowers, flavour They describe it thus: We have our Nordic neighbours to thank for the tradition of gingerbread. Every year the town of Bergen, Norway still build a lifesize gingerbread city to celebrate Christmas. What a nightmare for poor old Hansel and Gretel! Let's hope they are keeping a low profile and enjoying a steaming cup of our Gingerbread Chai instead! If you’ve read my other posts you will recall that it was the same friend (she really is amazing —  thanks Quincy) buying me a Gingerbread Chai Christmas bauble last year that got me back into serious tea drinking when I fell so in love with this amazing rooibos blend that 10 teabags just wasn’t enough. Once I had visited the site to buy more I was lost and have spent all year buying their astonishing collection of blends, most of which I have still to review. ...

Unfortunately, for me at least, the weather has turned hot again  😥  and tea drinking hasn't really been at the top of my list of things to do (nope, I still haven't yet tried making iced tea either, but I might have a go this weekend).  W hen I have been drinking tea I've generally been sticking to Oolongs as they're nice and light - Milk and Milk Caramel are still the best.   However, I have managed to sup a few mugs of a rather unusual Oolong made by T2 , who are a nice modern tea company with lots of bright square packaging, called Oolong Chocolate Chai . Ingredients: Oolong tea, cocoa husk, ginger, cinnamon, cardamon seed, cardamon husk, clove, chocolate chips (sugar, cocoa, lecithin: E322  soy* ), black pepper, flavouring *contains soy products They describe it thus: “A chocolaty, cinnamony, gingery, oolong combination laced with pepper. An intriguing sweet, bright and spicy flavour.” I think I was still reeling from th...

Enrol in a School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, think magical thoughts and drink this. Ingredients: black tea, cinnamon bark, natural pumpkin spice flavour, cloves, ginger root, natural vanilla flavour, natural caramel flavour, marigold flowers, cardamom The teas used to create this blend are: pumpkin spice , vanilla and caramel , accented with apple pieces. Pumpkin Potion is one of the blends in the Magic Potions sampler box by Adagio Teas . I absolutely adore the spiciness of pumpkin pie and was delighted when the wizarding world was revealed to drink pumpkin juice in the same way the Muggle world drinks orange juice.  It was the drink I was most excited to try at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and the one I loved the most (sorry frozen Butterbeer, although you were amazing). Sadly, it isn’t available outside the US as it’s not transportable, so I have to make do with tea instead. I have tried both this and Adagio’s Pumpkin Spice tea which is...

Why Brew for 21 days when you have instant polyjuice? Polyjuice Potion is a very complicated potion that allows the drinker to assume the form of someone else. WARNING cannot change into an Animal. Ingredients: black tea, cinnamon bark, ginger root, rooibos tea, cardamom, dried coconut, lemon grass, cloves, orange peels, cocoa nibs, natural coconut flavour, natural chocolate flavour, natural vanilla flavour, natural cinnamon flavour The teas used to create this blend are: thai chai , chocolate chai and rooibos vanilla chai . Polyjuice is one of the blends in the Magic Potions sampler box by Adagio Teas . It smells absolutely amazing, just as you’d expect from something that blends three different types of chai — and you can definitely smell the chocolate (always a favourite with me). It also tastes pretty good, even considering the coconut (which I absolutely detest). I suspect this is because it’s fairly subtle and I can’t taste it and the spiciness mask...