Tea and Me

Today’s tea is the only one of the Bird & Blend July Tea Club teas that I haven’t already reviewed — Birthday Cake . On the accompanying card, they say they’re celebrating their sixth birthday, so this tea is particularly relevant. My apologies in the long delay in posting this, but I was unwell and then have been too busy to get near the blog. Reviews for the August and September tea club teas will be coming shortly, as I really need to get up to date. (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the individual packet) Ingredients: Rooibos (84%), Sri Lankan Black Tea, Sprinkles (Sugar, Potato Starch, Rice Flour, Corn Starch, Vegetable Fat, Spirulina Extract, Colours (E160a Carotenes, E160c Paprika, E100 Turmeric, E163 Anthocyanins, E162 Beetroot), Stabilisers (Maltodextrin), Almond Pieces, Vanilla Pieces, Mallow Flowers, Flavouring.   * Please note that this tea has less than 1% of Ceylon black tea, it's not just a Rooibos blend. They descri...

Today’s tea is White Fuzzy Navel by Adagio . It is one of their currently available seasonal teas (along with Key Lime Herbal tea) and I was sent a sample pack of it with my last order from them.   Ingredients: White Tea, Rooibos Tea, Apple Pieces, Orange Peels, Hibiscus, Natural Peach Flavour, Mango Pieces, Natural Orange Flavour And Marigold Flowers They describe it thus: The Fuzzy Navel, a sweet and lightweight highball of peach schnapps and orange juice, was an iconic beverage of the 1980s club scene. We've decided to throw it back this summer with a beverage for the 80s kids who grew up, and for those of us who only wish we'd experienced what was arguably the most ostentatious decade of the 20th century. Fear not - we aren't here to police the height of your hair or question the elasticity of your spandex. Enjoy an iced glass of White Fuzzy Navel and party on! So, I know you all thought the cold brew bottle I got last week would sit th...

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 ...

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. ...

Today’s tea is the rather wonderful but sadly, at the moment anyway, limited-edition Ginger Beer tea by Bluebird Tea Co. It has moved up my reviewing schedule as it was mentioned in an email I received from them today, which reminded me that I had it and really needed to try it. Ingredients: Rooibos, ginger, lime leaves, lemon peel, calendula petals, natural flavouring. They describe it thus: “This Caribbean classic is here to set your taste buds on fire! Packed with flavour, punch + fruity freshness but with a cooling creamy lime finish. Perfect hot or iced, with a splash of spiced rum and a lime wedge!”   As I’m sure you’re all aware by now I am a huge fan of ginger flavoured teas and this one is no exception. The first thing to say about this tea is that it has a truly wonderful aroma. I made a pot of it and left it to brew while I did something else and when I came back to the room I could smell the ginger and lime before I even got anywhere nea...

Because of the current absurdly hot weather, I’m finding my usual go-to teas a little heavy and spicy and because I’m almost out of the China Milky Oolong  I’m having to ration myself because I can’t bear the idea of running out. I was intending to try the Strawberry Lemonade  fruit infusion from Bluebird Teas , as that sounds exactly what I need and should hopefully taste pretty good cold. Unfortunately, because it knows I want to try it the tea has completely disappeared – and believe me I have looked everywhere – well, obviously not everywhere as it is around somewhere, but I have looked in all the obvious (and some not so obvious) places and I can’t find it anywhere. Instead, I’ve finished off my stock of Rhubarb and Custard  tea (also by Bluebird and just as lovely cold as hot) and gone shopping for some more Summer-sounding teas.  Fortunately, the Bank Holiday has encouraged some tea companies to give discounts or giveaways and I’m all for it ...

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...

Felix Felicis is also known as Liquid Luck. It is a magical potion that makes the drinker lucky for a period of time, depending on how much is taken, during which everything they attempt will be successful. It is meant to be used sparingly, however, as it causes giddiness, recklessness and dangerous overconfidence if taken in excess. Felix is highly toxic in large quantities and is also a banned substance in all organised competitions such as Quidditch, along with all other methods of cheating. It is very difficult to make, disastrous to get wrong, and requires six months to stew before it’s ready to be consumed.  Ingredients: rooibos tea, honeybush tea, natural almond flavour, natural hazelnut flavour, natural caramel flavour The teas used to create this blend are: rooibos almond , rooibos caramel and honeybush hazelnut . Felix Felicis is one of the blends in the Magic Potions sampler box by Adagio Teas and is probably one of my favourites despite all th...

Earlier this week, I and some of my work colleagues went to the Royal Horseguards hotel for afternoon tea as a farewell to one of our number who is moving on to pastures new. This was a new venue for me and I think I can safely say that the event was a success and the afternoon was enjoyed by all. Chicken and mayo, Cucumber and Philadelphia cheese, Honey roast ham and mustard, London smoked salmon and dill creme fraiche, Egg mayo and watercress, Crayfish Marie Rose crouton  As there were a few of us the tea took a rather more freeform approach than I’m generally used to with afternoon tea – some went for the sandwiches first, some dived straight into the cakes, and someone made a cream and jam sandwich with the scones. It was a bit chaotic but fun. There was also some champagne drunk, but most importantly for me, of course, there was the tea. Plain and fruit scones with Cornish clotted cream and preserve The teas on offer are mainly provided by Novus...

So, tea that smells like weeds – I honestly can’t stand the stuff. When I was a teenager and still living at home my mum used to ‘enjoy’ and I use the word loosely drinking things like chamomile tea, a beverage which made me feel ill. It was the smell, mainly. I couldn’t even get as far as tasting it because the horrible smell was so off-putting. Fortunately, years have passed and chamomile is no longer quite as popular as it once was and so I’ve managed to keep away from its terrible ditch water smell, until today.  Today, I decided to try the Bluebird Tea Company’s Honey Bee Beautiful as I was having quite a stressful day at work (and that was before I found out about the General Election) and wanted something soothing. Ingredients: Rooibos, honeybush, chamomile, nettle leaves, cornflowers, calendula petals, flavour They describe it thus: ‘Have you ever considered the work it must take to make a queen bee? Their beauty regime is extensive and their mu...

Let me talk for a minute about rooibos tea. These days, it seems to have always been around and is everyone’s favourite hydrating, non-caffeinated beverage, but I remember when it was first introduced. Eager to find a tea I could drink without milk because of the diet I was on at the time, I latched onto it and forced myself to drink it, even though I honestly couldn’t stand the taste of it. Shortly afterwards a vanilla flavoured version came out, which was marginally better but still only drinkable when I was really desperate. I did find some caramel flavour and some orange flavour tea bags in one of the cheap supermarkets but they weren’t a regular visitor, and while the caramel one was just about bearable, the orange was as bad as all the others. Once I finally decided to own up to the fact that I didn’t like Rooibos my life was much improved and I never once felt the urge to go back to trying it. Until now. The Bluebird Tea Company use a lot of rooibos in their te...