Cherry Lips

This is the first of the samples from my second Bluebird order. I love the little packets they come in – so cute! This one actually looks a lot like the Yumchaa Enchanted Forest I’m working my way through at the moment. It’s a sencha, with quite long, flat, folded leaves and a smattering of rose petals. The difference is the addition of cherry blossom, and the fact that this one smells divinely floral and (as you might expect!) strongly of cherry.

Brewed, this smells really marvellous. It’s actually filling my reception area with the scent of cherry blossom! The cherry comes out surprisingly well in the taste as well, although it’s more floral than fruit. Given that this is supposed to be cherry blossom, though, I suppose that’s not too surprising. It’s quite delicate and pleasant, perfect for drinking on a sunny morning. I guess I picked a good day to try this one! There’s a very slight bitterness from the green tea base, although I think that might be my fault for not letting the water cool quite enough. Patience is something I’m still working on when it comes to tea! Ultimately, this is a very pleasant tasting tea. It’s sweet, delicate, and very moreish. I feel slightly disappointed now that I only had a one cup sample. This is definitely a candidate for future orders!

Couldn’t resist ordering some teas during Bird & Blend’s international shipping promotion. Such a good deal, especially since I was wavering on placing an order the last few months anyway…

This was in the Easter sampler box I picked up; I felt kind of “meh” about it when I saw it. It’s not really the sort of flavour profile I would generally go for – especially on a green tea base. I cracked the package though, and it smelled quite intensely rose heavy so I actually felt a little bit more positive about enjoying this one – I do enjoy rose teas! I ended up steeping it iced, since a few other people around the office had kind of perked up when I got my package and this, surprisingly to me, seemed to be the tea everyone most wanted to try.

I’ll be honest – it’s not really my thing but I can 100% see why it would be other people’s thing. I mean, to be totally fair I didn’t hate it and the rose WAS the strongest flavour in the cup, so that gave me an element of the taste to sort of latch on to and enjoy. The cherry is actually VERY mild though, and the softness of it surprised me a lot given that it’s actually the cherry and NOT the rose that B&B decided to name this tea after. Mostly, though, what made it hard for me to get into this one was the strength of the green tea: it was a little bit bitter and very grassy in a strong lawn clipping and oceanic Sencha-y way that turned me off a lot.

I fully expected that, though, and I know that it’s an element that ties more into my own taste preferences and is less a reflection on the blend itself.

This tea arrived with five others from my very first order from Bluebird. The dry leaves have a strong cherry scent and when brewed it tastes just as good as it smells. The green tea base is lovely and not at all bitter and I just can’t get enough of the cherry flavour. The minute my cup was done, I made another!

Despite being a rather old sample, this tea smells of a bit more cherry than my Zen tea option ( having said that, I am not a floral tea hater). Although the base tea seemed slightly broken, it does not taste bitter after being brewed at @ 85 for 1 minute. The base tastes like a fairly robust, fruity green, with a faint spinach note. This works well, to support a rather strong candy/chapStick like flavoured cherry, mixed with a more spicy than bitter rose tone. The robust green, prevents this tea from seeming delicate, in fact there is something rather hardy about it. All the same it is a pleasant cup, that has held up well despite poor storage.

This is a fantastically soothing cup of tea, very rich in a velvet cherry taste. Easy to drink and full of subtle fruity notes.