Bird & Blend Tea Co.

This tea is supposed to taste like scones with clotted cream and jam. I taste a lot of cream from this, but it’s a little fake. I still like it, but there are other creamy black teas that I prefer. The second time I had this, I noticed that it really does taste like store bought strawberry jam as well! It’s fun!

When I made my big B&B order, I guess I bought almost every tea I hadn’t tried before, even if it didn’t sound like it would be my sort of thing. The fruity tea on the green base is perfectly nice, but I’m not really on board with the hit of spicy pepper after that. I just don’t prefer that in my green tea.

I taste a hint of spice along with the breakfast blend. This is a really interesting twist! The spice is such a small little touch, so it’s intriguing, but not at all overwhelming. The bag describes the flavor profile as “mischievous” which seems right to me! It’s even spicier in the resteep!

Cold brewed in lemonade! This method of preparation seemed the obvious choice, and has worked well for other B&B fruit blends, so I figured why not and I wasn’t disappointed. There’s loads of candy cherry flavour to be found here; think cherry drops in liquid form. I’m curious to see how well it works hot, so I’ll give that a try at some point. Otherwise kinda sad this is a limited edition blend as it’d be really nice to have on hand for pitchers of iced tea in the summer…

Free sample from my order! This is well-rounded and nice! It could have a tiny bit more body, but I’m pretty pleased!

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 24

Well, I totally fell off the advent reviewing train while out of town for the holidays… ah well! I’m finally getting around to trying Day 24 from the B&B advent, which is this top-secret surprise new blend.

It’s… fine. I get what they’re going for with the Granny Smith apple inspiration, but — unsurprisingly — they use hibiscus to add that trademark Granny Smith tartness. So of course it’s just very hib-forward. I do get the apple inspiration, but I can’t tell if that’s because apple pieces are the top ingredient or because the power of suggestion is working its magic on me!

I dunno; this seems like an odd choice for the final blend in the advent, as it’s not terribly festive. I get the sense B&B wanted to unveil this new blend in an exciting way, but it seems a bit shoehorned in.

B&B recommends cold-brewing, so I may do that with the second teabag.

Currently sipping on a mug of this chai! It’s a little stronger than I was initially going for, which has resulted in a more bitey and astringent mouthfeel. However, it’s not bitter at all. In fact, it’s quite sweet with distinct notes of both the wildflower honey that makes it a “sticky chai” and a pretty bold and lingering licorice-y taste of anise and fennel. There are other spices too, like the aromatic cardamom and coriander which are both pretty strong too. It’s not bad at all, and kind of comforting on this snowier sort of day. It’s also nice to be sipping on a chai that isn’t super cinnamon forward. Not the type of tea I would regularly gravitate towards, but I am enjoying it.

Iced Latte!

This isn’t great, but I think that’s largely because I made it using the water bottle method with the vanilla protein milk that I don’t like. It’s not the brand I usually use, and I find this one sickeningly sweet in the finish. I won’t be going back to it once I’ve used it all up…

I can taste the cocoa and a bit of earthy heat from the turmeric, and I feel like if the cloying milk wasn’t tainting the profile this could be good. It seems like the bones are here for a pleasant spiced hot chocolate. Interestingly the aftertaste is really distinct to me once that sweetness passes. It’s like chocolate peanut butter. I feel like the nuttiness is coming from the maca in the blend? It wouldn’t be the first time maca has come off as quite peanutty tasting to me, though it’s interesting that I ONLY taste it in the aftertaste…

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer – Day 25

Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating today! I hope you are having a fun, drama-free day full of tasty treats and great gifts.

Gotta agree with Kelmishka on this one – I don’t understand how this peach-ginger blend is supposed to be gingersnap-y. It’s pleasant! I just feel like it’s more suited to a summer cold brew than a winter cookie vibe. Very candy-like peach with just a hint of ginger at the end.

I’m so glad I did the advent calendar exchange this year! AJRimmer included a lot of fun, interesting, thoughtful blends. Thank you AJ!

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer – Day 23

Can’t remember the last time I had panettone, but it’s basically fruitcake, right? This blend definitely leads with orange and cranberry flavors. There’s no actual cranberry in here so I assume that’s the schisandra berries making themselves known – I don’t know what schisandra berries actually taste like. What really impresses me here though is the rich bready, cakey note that comes in at the end of the sip and lingers long after. I’d love to see that flavor combined with vanilla, maple, and cinnamon…

Latte! This is deliciously yummy, capturing both the flavour of chocolate cake AND the rich, creamy ganache inside a yule log. Cocoa is the main ingredient, however, so it’s not difficult to see how they got there. There is also maca in addition to the matcha. I enjoyed this one a lot, but probably best to be aware that it’s not a so much a “matcha” in the usual sense.

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer – Day 21

Mmm, another comfy cozy dessert-y tea. AJ made a note that she thought a tea reminiscent of hot chocolate would be perfect for the season, and I agree. Especially with oat milk. Just wish I had some mini marshmallows to throw in! I’ve seen the notes about the 52teas hot cocoa/marshmallow blend and am looking forward to trying that one. At this point, I’m saving the 52teas advent to brighten up January. Which means it won’t be a surprise, but on the other hand it’s like I’m getting a preview of what to get excited about!

Anyway, this tea. Very chocolate-y. I didn’t notice an almond/marzipan flavor before looking at the tea description. But now that I’ve seen the description, I do get a hint of marzipan at the end of the sip. That might just be psychosomatic though. Whatever, this is delicious and a very easy drinker. Not getting much astringency from the base – just a bit of dryness at the end.

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer – Day 18

I had to look up what Eton Mess is! Apparently it’s strawberries (and sometimes other berries), whipped cream, and meringue. Which sounds delicious and now I want to try it. I brewed this up hot. It tastes mostly of strawberry and hibiscus, and I wasn’t getting a lot of the “cream” note until I added oat milk. (Yay for not having to worry about plant-based milks curdling.) This is probably not a personal favorite, but it is a very nice and sippable cuppa.

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 19

I didn’t realize, initially, how much was going on in this blend! And I like it. I’m primarily getting chamomile and lavender, with notes of lemon verbena laced throughout. Rose comes through occasionally too.

The hibiscus is thankfully minimal, but I don’t think it needs to be there at all! There are already a lot of bold flavors here, and the hibiscus isn’t doing the blend any real favors.

Overall, this is nice and cozy, and I am indeed feeling dozy… though that has less to do with the tea and more to do with it being bedtime. :)

Latte! This is very much B&B’s Gingerbread Chai translated straight into matcha form, so if you like that one you’ll probably like this – flavour wise at least. The cinnamon and the ginger are the stars here, as you might expect, and there is a pudding-like aspect that is reminiscent of gingerbread. What I’m not so keen on it the combined rooibos powder and matcha base – tbh this barely tastes of matcha at all and the rooibos powder has quite a drying mouthfeel (especially combined with the cinnamon). It’s also quite a gritty mix, because of all the spices. So my complaint is a textural one really; the flavour is good, but the overall execution perhaps a bit lacking.

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 17

I love this flavor profile and was happy to try B&B’s version. Theirs has all the creamy, buttery, vanilla-mint notes you’d expect, but it’s a little sweeter than others thanks to the fenugreek and apple pieces. A nice variation!

Latte! This one has deliciously creamy vanilla and custard flavours (perhaps helped a little by the whole milk I used as a latte base) but is lacking any hint of nutmeg/spice which is kind of central to my impression of eggnog overall. I shall try some different preparation methods over the next few weeks and see what that yields.

This came to me as a sample with a recent B&B order. It’s a woody rooibos with flavours of cocoa, coffee, and (lots of!) cream. I added a splash of milk to tone down the rooibos, and at that point enjoyed my cup fairly well. It definitely smells better than it tastes, though – particularly the dry leaf. While nice enough it’s probably not one I’d repurchase. The creaminess is lovely, but that aside it just doesn’t wow me…

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 16

This is pleasant! It’s maybe more “baked apple lightly dusted with cinnamon and drizzled with honey/agave” than apple strudel, but again, very pleasant. Rooibos makes a nice base and gives a suggestion of sweetness without actual sweetness.

It’s on the weak side, but I could probably use both sachets and up the intensity…

Iced latte! This is so much better cold, which I’ll definitely bear in mind for the future. A splash of vanilla syrup really makes it; now I’m getting the candy cane I imagined.

Bringing the Christmas spirit to my matcha this morning with Candy Cane made into a latte. It’s a touch grassy upfront, but offers a deliciously cooling mintiness at the end of the sip which lingers well into the aftertaste. I will probably try it iced next with a splash of vanilla syrup, just to see if I can eke out a touch more flavour.

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 15

I’m sorry, but… what the heck? The name is Gingersnap Green, but the flavor is “ginger and juicy peach.” Both those inspirations are lovely, but… why are we conflating them? Ugh, weird! Either remove the peach and keep the name, or change the name and keep the peach.

So, yeah, this is definitely ginger and peach. But with hibiscus? For… reasons? I don’t know. It’s very light and juicy thanks to the apple bits, which is nice.

As it cools, the ginger mostly disappears and I’m getting a light, gentle peach on a similarly light green base.

I mean, this is a pleasant peach tea. But it doesn’t remind me of gingersnaps at all, and it doesn’t really feel thematically appropriate for the advent. I don’t get it!

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer – Day 12

Fell a couple days behind on my tasting notes, but I’ve been keeping up with actually drinking the teas. So the next few notes are going to be based on memory and whatever contemporaneous handwritten notes I made.

AJRimmer noted that she loves this one, and I can see why. I think this does need a bit of a sweetener to really bring out the caramel, but after adding some agave this was delicious. I’m not a big fan of bergamot so tend to shy away from Earl Grey blends. The bergamot is relatively light in this one, though. And the base is pretty hearty, which grounds the citrus and sweetness nicely.

2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 12

This is a dangerous one — the flavor profile (lemon and ginger) screams “calming nighttime cuppa” but the yerba mate says otherwise!

The lemongrass is taking center stage here, but in a very pleasant way. A smidge of ginger comes through on the back of the sip, but I’m not sure I can pick out the yerba mate — I rarely drink it and am not super familiar with it!

I could see this being a welcome change for someone who doesn’t want the harshness of coffee or strong tea in the morning but still wants a gentle kick. Not bad!