Behind The Brew: Bluebird Tea Co. Christmas Blends

I had heard so much about the Bluebird Tea Co. so I finally placed an order with them earlier on this year. I've actually had Behind The Brew posts drafted for a while and hadn't had chance to put them up, so this is actually my third order. I wanted to get this post up in time for Christmas as I've been testing out some of their festive blends for the last couple of weeks. I did do an unboxing and first impressions of a couple of the teas in this vlog, but after a bit of time to try them out, I'm back with my final thoughts.

I purchased the Adagio Teas IngenuiTEA (now called the Brewdini Gravity Steeper) in the summer (which I also demo'd in that vlog - it's incredible!) and it has been an absolute game-changer in producing crystal clear tea that doesn't leave any stray leaves in the final infusion, as well as being a doddle to clean too. Before that, I limited myself to teabags but this year I had so many more options for my festive brew! Bluebird Tea Co have so many wonderful varieties, as well as a great selection of Christmas gifts, so I was spoilt for choice. I ended up picking up four festive teas in the 20g sample size, which is a great affordable option that still gives up to 10 cups. I chose two black teas: Snowball and Christmas Cake, as well as Mulled Cider and Jack Frost.

The tea that I was most anticipating was Snowball, especially after Zoella raved about it one year. It is their most well known festive tea, and even won a Great Taste 2016 award. Snowball is inspired by gooey chocolate covered marshmallow Snowball cakes, and contains a blend of Ceylon black tea, coconut, chocolate, marshmallows and red cornflowers. I have to say, I was rather disappointed by this blend. Despite it smelling wonderful, I expected more flavour, rather it tasting more like a sweet black tea (which is not to my taste as I haven't taken sugar in my tea in about 15 years). It is advised that with all Bluebird Tea Co one teaspoon of tea is to be used, however I found with a lot of these festive teas that you needed an extra spoonful of tea leaves to get a more rounded flavour. I also find that the coconut comes out a lot more if you double the brewing time, although that does make the tea a little bitter. Not my favourite as I just didn't think it lived up to the hype. | Rating: 2.5/5





Another tea that prompted me to make the order was Jack Frost. Mint tea is something that I drink on a nightly basis, as it makes the perfect caffeine-free choice for the evening. This time it is a herbal infusion, blending icy spearmint, crisp coconut and frosty snowflake sprinkles. My dad buys dried spearmint to infuse into a tea as it's not something that is widely sold, so I was intrigued to see how Jack Frost compared. I did expect it to be a lot mintier, having been described as 'Icy', and I really craved something as minty as the sadly discontinued London Tea Company Winter Wondermint. Unfortunately I wasn't able to taste the coconut either, and Jack Frost was very reminiscent of the Twinings Garden Mint tea, which isn't a favourite. It is nice enough, but not special enough to warrant a repurchase. | Rating 3/5

The final two take a more positive turn, and so I come onto another black tea blend, Christmas Cake. This one smells absolutely incredible, having the aromas of a rich fruit cake, laced with sweet icing and marzipan. Again, it has Ceylon black tea, as well as vanilla and almond pieces, cinnamon, cloves, orange peel, spruce needles and candy snowflakes. Again, I felt like this one needed two teaspoons of tea to get the full flavour, and the sweet spice really does impart itself on the black tea, and I do enjoy it. As I mentioned previously, the black tea blends aren't my favourite, and I would love to see Bluebird sell something similar to Christmas Cake in a rooibos blend, I think that really would be the icing on the (Christmas) cake! | Rating 3.5/5

Mulled Cider was the only fruit blend in this selection and I think that is what made me enjoy it the most. It contains apple pieces, rosehip, hibiscus and lemon peel, and combines them with traditional aromatic winter spices: ginger and clove. The result is the perfect balance of sweet and spice, being comforting and warm. You can even use the tea as a base for your own mulled cider or add a splash of rum for a hot toddy. It's funny that this is my favourite tea out of the selection, as I don't actually enjoy traditional ciders. As much as I enjoy Mulled Cider, this one again needs two teaspoons of tea to get the full flavour, so as my favourite it means this one will go down even faster. Better stock up! | Rating: 4/5

Bluebird really kindly sends out samples of tea bags with every order, and this time I received Earl Grey Creme, one that I had been interested in trying as Earl Grey is my daily brew of choice. Earl Grey Creme blends Ceylon black tea with aromatic bergamot oil and a smooth vanilla flavour. I don't usually brew my Earl Grey teas for very long at all, and this time I followed the 4 minute recommendation, with a result that tasted bitter and overbrewed. Unfortunately I only had one tea bag, so I wasn't able to give Earl Grey Creme a fair test. However the earl grey base was fragrant and the vanilla gave a smooth, slightly sweet flavour, similar to Earl Grey shortbread, or having a cake with your cup of tea. I would like to try another sample of it in the future (and brew it for less time!), although it is not something I would purchase in full size just yet. | Rating: 3/5

It was a bit of a mixed bag of opinions on the Bluebird Tea Co. Christmas blends, as I really enjoyed Mulled Cider, and I liked Christmas Cake although I generally prefer fruit/rooibos teas, and I was rather underwhelmed by Snowball and Jack Frost. Since ordering from them in the summer, it certainly has been a tale of discovering what I like with Bluebird. Most of the teas that I have disliked have been down to my personal taste, and there have only been a few that have truly under performed in my eyes. However I think it is brilliant that they do their sample packets, as it really gives you the opportunity to try different blends and discover what is to your tastes without wasting too much money. Hang on for my next Bluebird Tea Co. Behind The Brew posts, as there have been some teas which I have thoroughly enjoyed and would truly recommend!

Have you tried anything from the Bluebird Tea Co?