Peppermint Cream

Sipdown! (4 | 220)

I’ve been feeling compelled to go through and finish off some of my Bird & Blend teas lately, because they’re mostly pretty old and even though I love them, I never reach for them. Poor neglected teas!

I actually like this one even more than I remember. That milk oolong base just really adds something, it makes it taste buttery and almost white chocolatey, like peppermint bark. And of course, it adds a rich, silky texture that gives it even more of a decadent feel. This last cuppa is a bit heavy on the herbaceous mint, but I chalk that up to the dust at the bottom of the tin.

Definitely a reorder for me, maybe if B&B has some Strawberry & Nutella Pancakes for their boxing day sale I’ll try to go for the free shipping threshold. We’ll see! I did set aside one serving of this for my DIY advent calendar, because I think it’s perfect for the holiday season! :D

It’s Thursday, and in spite of my having errands to run and possibly meeting a former colleague in the city to stuff around and take photos, I’m currently trapped in the house, because the washing machine is taking bloody AGES and I want to get my sheets out of there as soon as it’s done so they don’t go all wrinkly. I normally wouldn’t be bothered, but as much as he insists it doesn’t matter, I was raised to keep a tidy home when company’s coming over, and my gentleman’s up from Oxford this weekend. I miss him when he’s down south. Why is everything so actually quite near to everything else but annoyingly awkward and expensive to get to in this country?

But I digress. While the hideously inefficient washer/dryer chugs along in the kitchen, I’m filling in futile applications for jobs they’ll never give me at the BBC and sampling a cup of peppermint cream. I was intrigued by the fact that this is an oolong blend, though as far as flavour goes, I’m really mostly getting peppermint. Maybe the oolong is there to provide a bit of texture rather than flavour? Or maybe I need to muck about with brewing times to get more of an oolong-ness out of it. Regardless, it’s still a lovely brew, and good at every temperature (as I did rather take bloody ages to drink the whole thing and it was as cold as my unheated winter apartment by the time I was finished) though interestingly, I think I liked it best when it was just warm. Not hot, not tepid, just warm. That’s the best place for it. And with milk. I like a mint that pairs well with milk. It’s super-cozy and comforting, but less dangerous than hoovering an entire thing of After Eights like I was tempted to do when one of my new headshots was emailed to me yesterday and I had a major wibble at the thought that THAT’S what I look like to other people, I’m fatter than I thought I was, and I hate my face.

(I’ve been assured that the photo in question doesn’t do me justice, but it’s still tempting to spend tonight crying into a giant-ass bowl of macaroni and cheese)

My profile says, ‘No peppermint.’ so obviously it’s time to give peppermint another chance. It’s 2014! The year of tea bravery! Besides, I would really like to learn to enjoy minty teas.

In the bag, this smells very fresh and light; it’s all crisp, cool peppermint. In the cup, the scent seems much thicker, a little dirty – a gritty mint. The earth tone reminds me of gardening; a few years ago they sold me peppermint plants instead of regular mint by mistake and I didn’t notice until they started growing bigger (they were very small from the start) and I had to dig them up and banish them to a less coveted spot. (Don’t look at me like that. Think of the poor orphaned mojitos. Priorities, people!) This is exactly that – garden soil and crushed peppermint leaf.

Steeped, it’s… fair. It’s not the most aggressively evil peppermint I’ve tasted, but it’s not super mild. It doesn’t leave that minty coolness mouthfeel I have such a hard time with, and it’s consistent throughout the sip, taste wise. Unoffensive, fresh, clean and a little earthy.

That much said, I have not been converted – peppermint teas might just not be for me. Overall, I feel mint should be served in very small amounts, preferably inside some form of chocolate casing.

It was good to try, though, and definitely nice to add Bluebird to the list of tea companies I have tried. I’d never heard of them, but will consider placing an order with them after this – their website is great, the packaging pretty, they ship fairly cheaply within Europe, and they blended a peppermint tea I could actually finish a whole cup of. Definitely worth a try.

Thanks, KittyLovesTea for adding this to the box!

[Sample from the second round of the EU Travelling Box, spring 2014.]