Christmas Cake

Oh God, why does this smell like pickles today? Why? I don’t even have pickles in the house!
Its, well, I can’t say I’m loving this. Or possibly even liking it. It tastes like a spicy….pickle? Come on, whats with that? Argh!
Eeeeh, this is a first from my cupboard….

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Steepsterites! I hope your day is full of warm spice, comfort sweets, and citrus zing like this particular tea, regardless of whether you celebrate or not!

Sometimes you feel yourself sinking into the earth and no amount of effort can free you.
That is just how it is in life. Nothing can be done to change it. Alas. Sorry for my absence.

I had this within the last 2 months. Apologies if my memory of it is not the sharpest. I know that I really enjoyed it. I know it had a beautiful creamy flavour. It really brought Christmas to my mind and I was sorrowed to only have one cup worth of this delight. Someday I will be able to order this and more from Bluebird, but it will not be anytime soon. If you have access to it though I definitely recommend it for you.

FUN FACT: My mother, bless her radiant heart, makes the very best Christmas cake in the whole world.

(Yeah, I know, everybody thinks their mum makes the best Christmas cake, but by Gosh, I mean it.)

It’s warm with spice, dotted heavily with dried fruits and citrus peel, and topped not with heavy icing, but thin slices of almond. A festival of textures and flavours sitting together in perfect harmony.

Just like this tea, in that respect. I was expecting something really quite full-on with cloves and evergreen (there’s spruce needles among the leaves, how cool is that!) but it’s really quite balanced: an undercurrent of dried fruit is elevated with warm clove and softly buzzing cinnamon, enveloped in soft, cakelike notes of caramel and almond. What a jolly comforting brew for a drizzly evening. I’m so glad to have the chance to try it. Thanks, Bluebirds!

Wow. This tea is pretty fantastic. It tastes like a holiday spice cake that isn’t overwhelming with the spice. You can definitely taste all the different ingredients and they mingle so very well together. I’m drinking this iced now since I didn’t hear my Brevile beep for me to get my next cuppa. Can’t wait to try this one hot. I’m not a huge fan of spiced teas but this one . I could drink any day.

A special tea for my birthday today!

I was a little nervous to be trying this tea only because it has spruce needles in it and it smells like Christmas potpourri… definitely something you wouldn’t want to drink. I love the little snowflake sprinkles, though. They add such a nice touch! Once the tea has steeped, it smells sweeter, softer and mostly like orange peel.

Sipping… I first taste a very sweet almond flavor that reminds me of.. surprise… cake! The finish is where the orange peel comes out. It’s not an orange flavor, but really the bitter orange peel. I don’t taste much of the spruce needles, but perhaps they are lending something to the cup that I am not aware of.

I’m very glad to have tried this tea and it will be a nice companion this December. It’s certainly a very festive blend! I don’t know if I love it enough to repurchase, but I’ll enjoy it this year.

Yay, I got my portion of the Bluebird group order! Thanks again to QueenOfTarts for organizing the whole thing. I ended up with ten different teas, which sounds like a lot, but the sizes range from 10 to 35 grams so it’s actually not a ton of tea. I’m feeling very pleased with my purchases for the price I paid! All of my lovely new teas are now safe and secure in various small tins that I had sitting empty.

I couldn’t decide which tea I was most excited for, but I ended up choosing this one (partially because of the cute snowflake sprinkles!). I must say, you can tell that all of these teas are blended in-house, mostly because of the range of ingredients included. For instance, this one has large pieces of dried orange peel and cloves, which are more expected, but then it also has a smattering of pine needles! Dry scent is a sweet combination of almond extract, orange, and clove.

Ooh the steeped tea smells fantastic – very sweet and cakey. And it tastes delicious, too! Definitely very cakey with strong almond flavor, a light kiss of orange, and a nice warming undertone of clove. I didn’t even realize there’s stevia in this tea, as you can’t taste it really. There’s a very slight sweet aftertaste if you sit there and think about it, similar to a very mild licorice root. I love it! Very happy to have picked up 35 grams.