Fruit Salad

B&B Advent 2021 Day 17 (caffeine-free)

This comes across as a basic hibiscus tea that appears to be mellowed out by the other ingredients, I’m thinking apple, but none of which I can readily identify.

The first time I had this, it was pretty tart. The second time I made it, I did a shorter steep, which definitely improved things. It doesn’t taste like any particular fruit – just general red fruitiness, but a little thinner than other teas. That’s not a bad thing in this tea, as it helps it stay a little lighter. I think the lemongrass is a good addition. I’ll probably make it into big pitchers to keep in the fridge since it’s not too special. I like to do a cold resteep of the leaves, and honestly, that second steep is tastier and more complex than the first!

Sipdown (622)!

Finishing off this VariaTEA share as a cold brew, which I sipped on primarily outside underneath our big crap apple tree, until I started to feel sleepy and the sunlight began to hurt my big, dumb troll eyes. It’s my last day of my vacation, and I’ve basically spent all of it in my basement – which is fine because it’s been SUPER relaxing, but I am starting to miss the outdoors a little bit…

This is pretty good – better than the last two tisanes I’ve had from Bird & Blend (Strawberry Lemonade and the plain Lemonade). Like the other two I’ve recently had, I do feel like it’s a bit heavy handed on the lemongrass in the blend. However, this doesn’t taste solely of lemongrass so I suppose I can forgive it: instead it’s a primarily mellow and sweet generic fruit flavour with stand out orange and apple notes and a bit of hibiscus familiarity. I thought, originally, this was meant to replicate actual fruit salad but reading the company description just now I see it’s more based on an Fruit Salad candy? I’ve never had the candy though (not sure if it’s just a UK thing) so I can’t directly compare the two – but if the candy is just sort of generally sweet without a super specific fruit note to it then I can see this probably being a good likeness. I wish I could, personally, taste more of the raspberry and pineapple though.

I drank this iced/cold brewed the other day at work and though I don’t remember it enough to be specific I will say I remember it tasting like so many other tart fruit teas.

Gotta drink at least a few samples each weekend :) I found this one to be relatively pleasant but nothing special and certainly nothing different. Not sure what they were going for with “fruit salad” but if they were hoping for a sort of generic fruity like melange of nothing in particular….mission accomplished!

208/365

I picked up some more of this with my last Bird & Blend order, because my recollection of it was more than a little hazy. Turns out there’s a reason for that! This time, I cold-brewed in lemonade – not with any particular motive, but just because I want to cold brew all the things in lemonade these days. I drank a glass, then went back and read my previous tasting note, and everything became clear.

Last time, I wanted more sweetness. I thought it resembled an actual fruit salad more than they chewy sweet it’s supposed to represent, largely because it wasn’t sugary or candy-like enough to really capture that kind of vibe. Cold brewing in lemonade was an unintentionally excellent decision, then, because it surely adds the sugar! Sadly, I’m still not really feeling this one. It’s still too generic, and it’s still not particularly candy-like. Better than it was in water, but I’m still getting fruit fruit salad, rather than candy fruit salad. The lemonade didn’t work it’s magic as completely as it did with Strawberry Lemonade, for example, which is a shame.

I still like this one – it’s a great generically fruity summer blend, with nice strawberry, raspberry and orange flavours, and just the tiniest hint of pineapple. It’s just not the candy overload I expected or wanted, and there’s a slightly drying sourness to the end of the sip that’s also disappointing. Too much hibiscus or rosehip, maybe? Don’t know.

It’s nice enough, but not one I need to keep around.

This was one of the first teas I tried in my order, as I realized that the spring collection would soon be gone. As suspected. I was not a fan of this blend hot, but it’s lovely over ice. The dry leaf smells like a candy shop – sort of like Starburst and gummi bears combined. I’m not a Brit and I’ve never had a chance to try these fruit salad chews, but to me the tea tastes like raspberry and pineapple gummi bears (Haribo) in one bite. That’s the only way I can describe it. I will be stocking up on this one. I think it’ll be very refreshing in the summer.

Fruit Salad provides an explosion of flavours that navigate their way through the taste buds, to provide a combination of sweet and sour. The most poignant of these are hibiscus, lemongrass and raspberry with a slight crisp apple and pineapple finish. Whilst this is a tasty hot brew, I felt this tea really lives to be cold. Adding Ice to fruit blends usually makes for an excellent pairing and Fruit Salad is no exception. When cooled this becomes sooo fruity almost like a fruit punch. I can easily imagine this blend being sipped in the high heat of summer for refreshing hydration. For a naughty twist add a sneaky shot of alcohol and a sprig of mint and your good to go with a fruity cocktail! Bliss!

More at; http://tastethetea.co.uk/2016/03/01/bluebirdspringcollection/