Piña Colada (formerly Retro Ted)

Forgotten that I’d rated this already when I grabbed it tonight for a swap with someone else. Decided to have one of the last cups of it, and then to put the rest in the swap box for someone else to try. Have I mentioned how much I love swaps (and how many I have here right now, waiting for me to send them off? A huge bag full, that’s how much).

Anyway. To the tea! Like last time, this smells infinitely better than it tastes. Even just sitting here at my desk I get a wonderfully fragrant, decadent coconut wafting over to my nose, with some subtle fruits in the background. Drinking it however just isn’t the same. I want more flavor dear Retro Ted, and less tartness.

Looks like i’m the first to review tis funny named tea Retro Ted!

Seems like this blend is made up out off many fruit ingredients like coconut, orange, pineapple and alot off lemongrass and hibiscus. The smell of the dry ingredients is very sweet and fruity. So i’m going to brew a cup for 3min with near boiling water.

The color off the brew turns out the be a pink/red like liquor and still smells great! My first few sips are when the tea is a bit to hot, but it tastes very sweet. my taste buds can seperate the hibiscus and lemongrass pretty good but the sweetness really comes from all the other fruits in there.

A very nice cup sweeter then i expected but then again i’m not used off drinking alot off fruit infusions. This is infact why i so appreciate to be able to sample 5 different blends from bluebird company. If the other samples are just as good then this one i’m going to order there for my summer fruit blends!

This tea is fascinating. I think I’m enjoying it? It has a very distinct flavour. The lemongrass adds such a unique flavour when combined with the coconut and pineapple. I’ll have to think more on this one.

Thanks Scheherazade!

I didn’t much care for this one the first time I tried it, but I thought I’d give it another chance last time I placed a Bluebird order. Turns out I still don’t like it. It sounds good in principle – pineapple, lemongrass, coconut – a Hawaiian/tropical fruit tea blend. But no. It also contains rose, and I’m wondering if that’s what’s making it sit wrong with me. I’m not generally a fan of floral teas (although there are a few exceptions…), and I think it’s the rose-coconut-pineapple combination that’s kinda “ugh” to me. Most people seem to quite like this one, but I really, really can’t abide it. At least now I know!

2022 Bird & Blend Advent calendar Day #5

Second tasting for this one and while it smells great, I can’t say I get pina colada from it. There is coconut and a grassy flavor. I kind of expected it to be more sweet and wish I could get more of the pineapple flavor. I will admit as the tea has cooled off, I do like it more and think I should tuck the mug in the fridge for an “iced tea”.

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #82 overall / Tea #49 for February

Sunday 2/28 another older bird and blend tea with cold brew pitcher route…. 1/3rd of tea went to the rug by TV in the living room evening 2/27 as I spilled my full tumbler off coffee table. Nice fruity tea with a sharp note. Would try and make a pitcher with a fresh sample bag in future if the opportunity presents itself.

#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown #sipdownchallenge

Cold-steeped this for 24 hours. The flavor is better but still quite light. I would’ve liked more hibiscus or something to give it a little more OOMPH. Cold-steeping seemed to tone down the lemongrass quite a bit, so at least it was more pleasant and palatable this go around.

Note to self: If you want a piña colada just have the real thing. Piña colada tea is not your jam.

Today is going to be a tea day. With clothes washing to do and a cross stitch that will take an hour or so to finish my day is pretty much free and open. Makes a change.

So Retro Ted will be kick starting my tea day. The blend is made mostly of large pieces and looks heavily herbal and floral. It smells fruity, tropically so, I’m thinking pineapple and coconut. It’s an interesting smell, fruity yes but heavy on the lemongrass too.

The taste is mildly tart and sour to begin with, also strong lemongrass tones with some generic fruit tones amongst it. After taste is creamy and coconut-ty in a mild way. I’m finding the blend of fruit and lemongrass and hibiscus rather strange. It doesn’t blend perfectly but neither is it terrible. Also dry and rather herbal.

Not a fan of this one, may try the rest cold steeped. I wasn’t a fan of the lemongrass and hibiscus blended together, it was too miss-matched for my taste buds and the only redemption was the coconut after taste. I wouldn’t buy this one again but am happy I can at least drink it.

Brewed this up because I wanted something tart and fruity, but it’s not very tart and actually not all that fruity. Mostly it’s a sort of aromatic combination of coconut and lemongrass, though the pineapple is quite juicy in the back of the sip. I don’t think I like this as much as I used to, but I will admit it is one of the only pineapple teas I can stomach. I’ll have to try this cold brewed in the summer, I think I would prefer it that way.

This is a bit odd, not quite what I was expecting, but still I like it.
I was expecting this to be a fruity tisane, but for me it was more like a wellness blend. Does that make sense – there is some taste (lemongrass maybe) that i find in most wellness blends. Whatever that is, that’s what this tastes like.
Anyway, I like it – not very hibiscus – nice coconut and pineapple. I would order more of this.
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I don’t normally talk about my cupboard in my tasting notes, but just for the record I’m down to 250 – was at 358 in the middle of January. Would like to gradually reduce it down to about 150, but for now I’m feeling a lot better about it.