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“Additional notes: This was a hibiscus blend done well when I first drank it five years ago. (I gave it an 85 rating! Wow!) This blend I’m drinking right now is only from last year, so it can’t...” Read full tasting note
“Thank you to KittyLovesTea for this sample! Used 2 tsp for 12 oz. and steeped it about 10 minutes. Brews up a bright red, and smells mostly of cinnamon. I get mostly cinnamon orange hibiscus, which...” Read full tasting note
“My second Bluebird Tea Co Christmas blend. It smells like citrus gummy sweets rather than mulled wine, it’s not spicy or especially orange enough to be mulled wine. It is still a pleasant enough...” Read full tasting note
“I thought I was over this morning’s “I feel sick and dizzy” blip, but apparently I’m not. I actually felt so bad earlier than I tipped out my tea (52 Teas Rainbow Sherbet! The loss!) after just a...” Read full tasting note
A steaming mug of mulled wine on a frosty winter’s eve is just about our favourite part of the chilly Christmas season. Brew up a Bird & Blend Mulled Wine and delicious scents of clove, cinnamon and orange will waft you right into a winter wonderland! You can also add to red wine on the stove for the real deal.
Ingredients: Hibiscus, Cinnamon, Apple Pieces, Cloves, Orange Blossom, Rosehip, Orange Peel, Natural Flavouring.
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Additional notes: This was a hibiscus blend done well when I first drank it five years ago. (I gave it an 85 rating! Wow!) This blend I’m drinking right now is only from last year, so it can’t be too much aging happening. I should have tried steeping it exactly the same as that note mentioned, because I’m not as in love with it now as I was. Sure, it will obviously be a different blend five years later, but this cup was mostly just tangy. It’s weird though because I actually remember the cup from five years ago being VERY deep red but the hibiscus wasn’t overwhelming. It actually could have been close to a ‘mulled wine’ profile. This time around, the cup is just a light pink but the taste is just sour. I’m guessing it’s a matter of the blend just being different now. Now the rating would probably be able a 64 (but I don’t like changing ratings lower).
Thank you to KittyLovesTea for this sample!
Used 2 tsp for 12 oz. and steeped it about 10 minutes. Brews up a bright red, and smells mostly of cinnamon. I get mostly cinnamon orange hibiscus, which would be lovely if I loved hibiscus. I’m cool with it, I just find it overused in many teas. I like it more with some Truvia, which brings out the sweetness of the cinnamon more.
My second Bluebird Tea Co Christmas blend. It smells like citrus gummy sweets rather than mulled wine, it’s not spicy or especially orange enough to be mulled wine. It is still a pleasant enough scent but just not mulled wine.
The tea is dark hibiscus red and smells like orange and cinnamon, much more like mulled wine than it’s raw state.
It tastes sweet but with waxy orange and sour hibiscus notes. The cinnamon is coming through in the after taste but I still don’t think it’s spicy enough to be mulled wine. Needs more clove and less hibiscus, maybe some nutmeg. It just tastes like a hibiscus heavy orange tea with a touch of cinnamon. Great if you like those sorts of teas but I hate hibiscus.
Another disappointing Christmas tea from Bluebird. I have one more to try and hopefully it will be better.
I thought I was over this morning’s “I feel sick and dizzy” blip, but apparently I’m not. I actually felt so bad earlier than I tipped out my tea (52 Teas Rainbow Sherbet! The loss!) after just a couple of sips because I was convinced it was making me feel worse. I’ve just been drinking water up until now, but I thought I’d risk a fruit tisane because work without tea is not a place I really want to be. As soon as I stand up I feel all wonky and off balance, though, so something’s clearly up. Maybe if I sit down and drink my tea quietly, I’ll feel better soon? I hope so. If not, I’ll have to try and get myself home, which could be interesting.
Anyway, the tea. This sample pouch of Mulled Wine is from last year – I don’t think I bought any this Christmas, though I planned to originally. It’s a pretty good representation, with flavours of red fruit, clove, cinnamon, and a hint of citrus. No wine, obviously, but mulling spices for sure. It’s still cold outside, so it’s fairly season-appropriate. It’s warming, comforting, and not too sweet, so I’m finding it palatable even though I feel all wrong at the moment. A good decision.
This was my tea last night. I am not allowed alcohol for medical reasons, so I thought this might be an acceptable replacement. I did not stay up to midnight either.
This tea was part of my Bird & Blend tea advent calendar. I simply couldn’t keep up with the calendars, so I will have plenty of new teas to try the rest of this winter. This one brewed up a dark pink color, almost red. A little spicy. Way too much hibiscus for my taste. My brother LOVES zing-y teas with hhibiscus, but to me it is just sour. I’m glad I got to try it, but this will not be a re-order for me.
Adventaggedon Day 9 – Tea 3/6
Wasn’t thrilled to see this one, as it’s very similar in concept to the Spiced Clementine and Mulled Cider that have already been in the B&B calendar and I’m just at a point where I want more exciting/interesting profiles from them.
With that said, I had it on my commute to work and I was actually pretty impressed with the flavour. Very sweet and fruity with lots of strong hibiscus and anise notes, and them the mix of traditional type mulling spices – clove and cinnamon especially. I actually, as I was drinking it, couldn’t help but think that it might be the kind of profile that Mastress Alita would actually really enjoy!
It reminded me a little bit of Sleigh Ride, from DT, which is a tea that I don’t mind but that I can’t drink often because I easily tire of it. I feel similarly here; the mug was nice (and probably better than the other two blends I listed already) but I can already see myself being over it after my third cup or so.
Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIl-_dtAlPw/
I always love the hibi-spice Christmasy teas, though I think the only one I currently have in my stash is the Mulled Wine Magic from T2 that Cameron gifted me a while ago… I should pull that out now that I’m thinking about it!
I’m glad it went to a loving home! ❤
Yeah, I was wondering if Mastress Alita tried this or the Mulled Cider. I bet you would LOVE them.
Home – 11:00 PM
Another mulled hibiscus herbal blend from Bird & Blend.
This one seems heavier on the hibiscus than their Mulled Cider blend. But it’s still not overly sour like some hibiscus fruit teas. I can taste a bit of apple and orange as well. The spicing is light, a combination of cinnamon and clove.
Really I would expect a mulled wine tea to be spicier. But this is fairly tasty as a tart, slightly spiced apple tisane. It’s not something I would actively stock in my cupboard, but I’ll have no trouble finishing the packet. :)
Flavors: Apple, Cinnamon, Clove, Fruity, Hibiscus, Orange, Tart
I need to revisit a good hibiscus tea. For a year when I was younger that’s all I drank, then one day, I just stopped (Like Forest Gump running then just stopped. No explanation.).
haha but that’s because you found better tea.
lol :D
……Are you bullying my baby Hibiscus again?!
lol
I actually had a problem where one of their “cider” type teas in my advent calendar didn’t really have enough hibi to make a proper base, and it was nasty. The pictures on their website showed it looking much redder, but my cup was pale lavender, like I got no hibi in my cup. It was like oily orange water. Until I added about half a gram of my own hibi so the orange had some sort of base to “bond” with, it was just a bad-tasting tea. I wonder if we have reached such levels of hibi-hate now they are not adding enough to the blend to make a good solid base for the flavors…
I love hibi ciders, though I’ve definitely had some bad ones. But that is speaking objectionably as a hibiscus lover that isn’t claiming the cider is bad because of the hibiscus, but because the blend itself was simply bad. And this year B&B released “Mulled Cider” instead of “Mulled Wine”. No idea how different it is, but I will definitely try my sampler teabag soon!
Yeah, maybe people complained too much to B&B about their hibiscus, but I have always thought they use the right amount to balance in their blends. Like this tea could possibly use MORE hibiscus because it already is too tart anyway, even with a pink cup. Like more hibiscus probably wouldn’t have hurt? I have had blends of both Mulled Cider and Mulled Wine from the same year and I can’t really tell the difference, but it’s not like I’m doing a side by side comparison or anything.
*always the right hibiscus meaning blends from years ago
Right, it looks like this one has a lot of citrus in it, which can also be quite sour/tart flavors depending on how those are done, and hibi can add a different balance since it is more like a tangy/tart berry fruit than citrusy in flavor. Different kinds of tart/tangy can balance each other if done right/in the right quantities. And the right kind of spices can take off the edge or add some sweetness (I’ve had one that was pretty weaksauce on the cinnamon, which was a bit meh). I usually see lavender or pale pink colors as a bad sign, personally, and will then add a dash more until I get at least a red color. Doesn’t have to be scarlet like the blood of my enemies, but if it is supposed to be red, at least be red!
I find it quite interesting they released the Mulled Wine and Mulled Cider in the same year, hahaha.
Mulled Wine is a blend they had years before Mulled Cider but they both just happened to be a gift box of five or so sample sized teas I bought on super sale one year… so who knows? haha
I had to do a quick google e-mail search for when I ordered that gift box and it was Christmas 2016 so the blends might be older making the flavor weaker? I thought it was last year. Ack. My poor teas.