What the heck is this tea? It’s a weirdie tea. Anyway, it was the cheapest tea during the Bird&Blend sale and really, I’m usually going for any teas on sale that I haven’t tried yet (or favorites that aren’t always in stock – like Spiced Pumpkin Pie). I remember a couple years ago when B&B had a 150gram pouch of Christmas Cake and a couple other teas on sale for around $3!! Now THAT is a sale.
On to the tea: Dry leafed, this one is quite the mystery and has a very unique scent to it. A little bit like licorice but with an odd creamy scent. I’d say the resulting flavor was the same: hints of licorice and something oddly creamy with a hint of tartness (from the rosehips, I’d imagine). I think it needed a bit more to the flavor than licorice and cream but it certainly isn’t a tea I already have around. They say this is a blue tea. It certainly is, probably with the help of these big purple flowers in the blend. The first cup had hints of red, but if I held the cup to the light, the color was a purple/blue. I didn’t even have to add lemon, as the description mentions. After reading the description, I can tell there is aniseed here but this is the second tea I’m having today that should taste like black currant and just doesn’t. hmm. I would advise, if the steeps are done right, the second cup almost tastes exactly the same, but even more blue/purple. So this is not a tea to miss with a second steep! (Usually I’m second guessing herbal teas and how much flavor a second steep would have.) I didn’t want to “burn” the flavor on the first steep, but went full hot boil on the second steep to get as much out of it as I could. This isn’t the best blend from B&B but it is intriguing on all levels, so that’s something. This is not a tea I’d say was a cupboard essential, but it’s unique and I sure loved buying it on sale.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 16 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep
Flavors: Anise, Cream, Licorice