Confession: Iām completely fine with drinking alone…. Tea, of course š But drinking with friends offers some undeniable benefits – laughter and memories made, more importantly a spread of tastebuds that offers better insight than just one picky tongue.*
There are so so many beautiful ingredients in this custom Blueberry Custard from Blendbee, I needed all the help I could get to do it justice! First off, I highly recommend using a clear brewing system (gravity steeper or mason jar) to be able to fully enjoy the making of this majestic Purple infusion. (Fortunately I had just cleaned the hard-earned tea patina off mine with baking soda and vinegar, so it was even more beautiful than my usual cuppa!)
Between the three of us sipping, only one added sugar and it really took away from the innate sweetness of this mix, hmmm better off just trusting the blend maker on this one. Some of us were crazy about this tea, but others found the herbals to be unpalatable. So we looked into what exactly were imbibing…
With Blendbee, you can create your own mix weighing anywhere from 1 oz to Ā½ pound. You start with a choice from 15 tea bases, and here they chose the China Green tea.
Next there are over 90 categorized ingredients to choose from (though itās recommended to stick below 8). Must be a tough decision from all those options! Ā This blender chose 7:
Earthy and pungent category: yarrow flower;
Mild and fruity category: elder berries;
Herbaceous herb category: strawberry leaves;
Mild and nutty category: ashwaganda root;
Mild and herbal category: agrimony herb, and coriander seed;
And one uncategorized, marshmallow root.
Next the website offers additional extracts and flavors (up to 3 per blend). Here the blueberry and custard flavor extracts were used. (It was argued at one point that this put the ingredient count to 9, above the recommended 8, but that person is a stickler for semantics and didnāt like the tea anyway, so read that with a grain of salt).
Some of these herbs strike me as acquired tastes, beyond that, I wouldāve preferred having actual blueberries instead of the extract, though I didnāt see it as an option (yet) and the extract probably consistently offers more flavor in a smaller space.
This organic blend featured so many different flavor profiles, it was aā¦ memorableā¦ experience for well-developed sippers, and newbies alike.
*The best part of sharing with friends is finding a loving home for leaves that arenāt your favorite (yet). Thanks H.R.!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type:Ā Green
Where to Buy: BlendBee
Description:
Create custom teas, with more than a hundred quality and organic ingredients to choose from.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Blueberry Green Kukicha from Frontier Organic. . . . . .
When I smelled this tea, I knew right away I needed to make it into iced tea. I prefer fruitier teas cold for some reason. It smells like blueberries right away, and when you pour hot water over the tea, it really smells like blueberries!
Kukicha tea is also known as twig tea. It’s prepared from the stems and stalks of the tea shrub. That’s exactly what this tea looks like, twigs with some dried blueberries in the mix. Twig tea, or Kukicha tea is a nutritional powerhouse. It has six times more calcium than cow’s milk, and more vitamin C than an orange. Kukicha is highly recommended for those following a macrobiotic diet.
I am really enjoying the fruity, slightly grassy taste of this tea. It’s very refreshing. If you enjoy the grassy taste of green tea, you will love this. And if you find the grassy taste too much, you’ll probably also enjoy this because the blueberry flavor really shines. And if you’re like me and watching your caffeine intake, kukicha does have caffeine, but it’s a very small amount.
I had never heard of Kukicha tea before this, other than a random skit on Portlandia, and to be honest i thought they were making it up. After trying this tea and reading about all of the health benefits, I will be looking for more twig teas. If you like blueberries and green tea, I really recommend trying this delicious tea!!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Ā Green Tea
Where to Buy: Ā Frontier Organic
Description
Enjoy this wonderful Japanese organic karigane (green kukicha stem) tea combined with nutrient-packed flash freeze-dried organic blueberries. Fresh fruity vegetal flavors deliver a powerful boost of antioxidants and very low caffeine content in a satisfying, healthy tea that also happens to help satisfy sweet-tooth cravings.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Blueberry Scone Green Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type:Ā Ā Green
Where to Buy:Ā 52Teas
Tea Description:
Organic ingredients: Ā green tea, freeze-dried blueberries, nutmeg and natural flavorsĀ
Learn more about other green teas here.
Tasterās Review:
Ever have a day where you needed your tea to lift you up? That is my day today. Everything just seems to be blah around here so I wanted something that had a bit of a pep in its step to bring some sunshine into my day. So I grabbed this one.
To start, I just love the base for green teas that 52Teas uses. It is light but still has a nice fullness to it to provide a stellar buttery flavor that I adore. Ā Really great base and then you add on blueberries. ..You have one delicious and refreshing tea that brings a smile to your face.
In the package the tea has similar notes to a baked good or a pastry, due to the nutmeg. Smells heavenly! Brewed up with water prepped from per the package instructions and allowed to brew for about 3 minutes (oversteeped a tad there), I poured this in my to go cup and away I went. I allowed the tea to cool for about 10 minutes and took my first sip.
You are greeted with an amazing bright and vibrant blueberry and green tea flavor that makes you want to keep drinking the tea. Ā I didn’t really get the scone part of the description for this tea blend but I’m ok with it. The taste you get is really lovely. Sure it would have been able to taste more of the nutmeg but what I have here is fabulous. Maybe if I shake up the pouch more, I’ll get more of that nutmeg flavor.
Another wonderful tea from 52Teas! You really can’t go wrong with them!
Blueberry Scone Green Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type:Ā Ā Green
Where to Buy:Ā 52Teas
Tea Description:
Green Tea, Freeze-Dried Blueberries, Nutmeg, and Natural Flavors
This tea is sold out but check out the rest of the green tea selection at 52TeasĀ here.Ā
Tasterās Review:
Looking thru my huge tea stash I have I saw that I still hadn’t tried this particular tea from 52Teas yet. I love 52Teas and have reviewed them for both SororiTea Sisters and my own blog, CuppaGeek. I love the passion and uniqueness I find in the teas they offer.
This particular green tea is no longer available to purchase, but I still wanted to give my thoughts. Ā That is the one problem with 52Teas is that when you find a tea you like, you need to act quickly and pick some of the tea blend up before it sells out. Because once a tea at 52Teas sells out, that is it. Ā There isn’t anymore available unless you get lucky and there is a reblend. Ā And I don’t blame them at all for running the business that way. That is what makes 52Teas so unique. There is a constant flow of new teas being released so you’d have to and some point say good bye to others just to keep the inventory straight.
Blueberry Scone Green Tea is a blend of green tea, blueberries, natural flavors, and nutmeg. The nutmeg part just throws me and that is where the baked good or pastry note I’m assuming will fall into place. I took one whiff of the dry leaf and just sighed. The blueberry and nutmeg aromas mingled together so nicely. Really giving a blueberry baked good feel.
I brewed this tea up with water prepped at about 175F and allowed the tea to steep for about 4 minutes. The instructions did say 5-6, but I wanted to error on the side of caution.
Finally the tea was done and ready to try. I took my first sip and just wow. This tea blend is delicious. The flavors really mix so well together. I will admit that the nutmeg really made me hesitate there for a second because I wasn’t sure how the green tea and the nutmeg worked but the base of this tea is a lovely rich and buttery smoothness with just hints of the nutmeg running thru it. The major tasting note you walk away with is the blueberries. The blueberries in this tea really taste like fresh blueberries that are in a decadent and rich blueberry sauce. There is almost a blueberry jam quality to what I’m picking up. Ā Just wonderful.
This is one blend I hope makes its way to the reblend section soon. I only have a taster pouch and now I wish I had a much larger one! I think what I have left will go to a cold brew pitcher because this tea will be amazing as an iced tea!