When I originally was looking for tea blends, Bluebird Tea Co. was a brand that came up very frequently. So, when they had a sale, I was on it! Since I live in Canada, the shipping is quite costly, but I’m glad I followed through.
I bought a handful of teas so, I will be splitting the teas into separate blog posts. Today’s blends what I would consider ‘morning teas’ – teas I would personally like to drink when waking up! There is an oolong, pu’erh, and a mate blend.
Rise and shine! Let’s go!
Peppermint Cream
Description: “Award-winning, velvety milk Oolong tea, smooth cocoa + sweet peppermint.”
Review: With a name like ‘peppermint cream’, and a description stating that the blend was ‘velvety’ and ‘smooth’, I was expecting something amazing. I was not let down by the dry blend, which had a lovely rich minty aroma. I found it pleasant since sometimes, I find peppermint overbearing and that it can smell like toothpaste.
I recently had another oolong and cocoa shell combo, and I still love how the dark green contrasts against the warm brown shells. After steeping, the blend was much more earthy, with some mild peppermint. When I was looking at the leaves, most of them had unfurled.
I was happy that the liquor still had a lovely peppermint aroma with some mild grassiness. It is no surprise that there was a strong peppermint flavour, which turned sweet and earthy. I detected a hint of chocolate, and the peppermint flavour lingered slightly.
The golden yellow liquid had a mild cooling sensation and felt refreshing. I actually found the tea still really nice when it was cold. I think that this would be nice as an iced tea as well (4/5 rating).
- Type: Oolong tea
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Quangzhou milk oolong, peppermint, cocoa shells
- Other: Great Taste 2013 Award
- Company: Bluebird Tea Co.
Coffee Pu’erh
Description: “Full bodied, aged Pu’erh tea with notes of vanilla and coffee.”
Review: I admit, I do enjoy my coffee, so, whenever I see coffee and tea combined, I’m always game to try it! There was a very earthy aroma, with hints of coffee from the dry blend. The blend was composed of twisted ash-brown leaves and a sprinkling of full coffee beans. The wet blend was much more reminiscent of a classic pu-erh – an earthy, rich, and personally, comforting smell.
The dark brown liquor had an earthy aroma, but I couldn’t smell the coffee beans anymore. I found that it tasted earthy, sweet, and roasted, and it left the mouth a bit dry.
I personally was hoping for a stronger coffee taste, since I mostly only tasted the pu-erh. I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing, just not what I was hoping for. I wonder if brewing it for a bit longer may have helped, but I think that may have made for a more bitter brew (3/5 rating).
- Type: Pu-erh, black tea
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Chinese Pu’erh tea, Columbian coffee beans, Ceylon black tea, vanilla
- Company: Bluebird Tea Co.
Morning Kick
Description: “Get a healthy kick start every morning with our zesty yerba mate tea. An energy boosting tea with lemon and ginger.”
Review: While I am admitting things, I also hate waking up. So, if there is something that can help me jump start, count me in!
When I first smelled the blend, I was surprised by how strong the lemongrass was. Many of the blends that promote themselves as sleeping aids normally have lemongrass. Therefore, I think I’ve started to associate the two. The wet blend also carried the same aroma.
Since it is the second ingredient, the lemongrass was the most dominant aroma (I actually was able to still get a whiff of it after sipping on it for a few hours). I did also taste some lingering ginger. I find lemon and citrus tasting and smelling teas comforting and I had to remind myself not to drink it all, or I’d became wired!
I enjoyed the taste of this one! It had a very nice clean citrus and lemongrass taste. If you enjoy those flavours and want a ‘morning kick,’ this might be a tea to consider (3.5/5 rating).
- Type: Mate tea
- Origin: Unknown
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Mate, lemongrass, lemon verbena, ginger, lemon peel, calendula
- Other: Great Taste 2013 Award
- Company: Bluebird Tea Co.
Final Thoughts
I have to say, I am pretty happy with Bluebird Tea Co.. I can see why they are highly praised. All the teas were enjoyable. The only one I wish tasted slightly different was Coffee Pu’erh because I wanted a stronger coffee taste. Next time is some black tea blends that sound yummy! Can’t wait!
