There are a lot of minty candy-cane inspired teas out there this time of year, so I was excited to try a more focused, herbal take on mint tea, with Jack Frost from Bluebird Tea.
This herbal blend is mainly spearmint and eucalyptus with a hint of sweeter flavors like coconut and vanilla. That hint of sweetness makes all the difference– pure spearmint tea has a bit too much icy bite, feeling more like medicine than a calm cup of tea. Jack Frost was smooth and cool without being too fierce or leaving me frozen.
It might sound odd to drink a mint tea at a hot temperature, but I’ve found it very calming both in my mind and in my cookie-crowded stomach. Mint is supposedly good for your digestion, so it’s been a nice blend to have on hand with all the rich eating of the holidays. If nothing else, the crisp, minty feeling on my tongue helps me feel refreshed during the bustle of the winter season. Since Jack Frost is an herbal blend, it’s naturally decaf and perfect for that before-bed brew.
The first time I brewed this tea, I was a bit baffled to see blue-green glitter in my mug. Had my holiday crafting spilled over into my tea? It turns out that the extra sparkle is from the snowflake sprinkles in the dry leaf. Once heated, the sprinkles melt and add a little shimmer and a little sweetness to the lush, green spearmint.
Jack Frost is a great blend for when you want to clear your mind and have the power and focus of fresh, clean, winter snow.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea
Description:
The mischevious Jack Frost is a crisp, cool cuppa. With icy spearmint, frosty coconut + snowflake sprinkles, Jack Frost will sure nip your nose + toes!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pig Sprinkles. . . Need we say more?? Miss Figgy from Tea and Tins
This tea gets top points for the cuteness factor. Pink pig sprinkles? Check. Delightfully punny name? Check. Delicious, unexpected, cookie-tasting tea? Check. This tea made me smile without even opening the bag, and I just had to break out my adorable sky blue teapot to brew up this blend.
Even in the dry leaf, you can smell the fig flavor, immediately reminding me of Fig Newton cookies. Cookies and tea are an age-old couple, and cookie-inspired tea flavors are understandably popular. Most of those tend to be shortbread, or cinnamon, or gingerbread, so a fig-cookie tea is a nice take on an under-used flavor.
This tea brews up as fragrant and sweet as it smells, the fig taste holds its own against the hearty black tea base. Drinking this tea warm helps feed the baked-good charm of the flavors, like sweet cinnamon raisin bread or raisins in brown sugar oatmeal cookies. Figs, dates, and raisins are all naturally sweet and starchy, so this tea has a dessert-feel even without sweetener or milk. I’m not always a fan of overly-sugary teas, but the natural, fruit-sweetness of the fig in this blend really captivated me. This blend was an unexpected favorite, and I will be bookmarking it for future orders.
Assuming the namesake of this tea– Miss Piggy– you should definitely brew this blend in your most stylish cup, and drink this tea with a load of confidence and sass, enjoying every drop of sweet indulgence. Hmph!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Flavored Black Tea
Where to Buy: Tea & Tins
Description:
Loose leaf black tea, nicknamed Miss Figgy! Ingredients: black tea, fig taste with dried figs and pink pig sprinkles.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Hot Mama from Tea and Tins- Take a Look, Sprinkles!!
I’ve never been called one “Hot Mama” before but I felt like one while sipping on Hot Mama by Tea & Tins. Okay…maybe that was a stretch but it made for a good review opening, right?
There have been teas I have sipped on that provide that childhood memory of fireballs and Hot Mama from Tea & Tins is very reminiscent of those days and memories. It might not be exactly that hot but it could be put in the same conversation, I suppose.
Even tho I didn’t find any cinnamon hearts in the loose leaf mixture that I infused I didn’t feel slighted. The cinnamon flavor and spices were just fine and dandy the way they were. I also enjoyed the orange peel chunks in this flavored black tea.
Hot Mama by Tea & Tins is perfect for a fall or winter day or a night by the fire.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Flavored Black Tea
Where to Buy: Tea and Tins
Description
Loose leaf black tea, super hot and spicy! For cinnamon lovers!
Ingredients: black tea, cinnamon, spices, peppercorns and cinnamon hearts
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Miss Figgy from Tea and Tins
So, I have to say this first: the piggy sprinkles are DEATH-DEFYINGLY cute! (I think that’s a thing?) Also, I appreciate the fact that this is an extra-punny tea: not only is the name a pun, but the tea itself is both figgy AND filled with sugar-based figgy piglets. (Yes, the sprinkles do absorb fig flavor over time. I checked.)
Although you can smell the sweet flavor of figs through the packet, it gets even better while steeping. After steeping, the tea is a nice hazy cedarish amber color. The overall taste is a bit less figgy than I expected from the smell, though the flavor does build up towards the end of each sip. This tea is sweet enough to not need sugar, although it’s good with sugar too! And it’s quite smooth, with no more than a teeny hint of astringency.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type:
Where to Buy: Teas and Tins
Description
Loose leaf black tea, nicknamed Miss figgy!
Ingredients: black tea, fig taste with dried figs and pink pig sprinkles.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Miss Figgy Black from The East Indies Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The East Indies Tea Company
Tea Description:
Fig taste with dried figs and pink pig sprinkles.
Learn more about this on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
Despite being pretty much over my ‘sprinkles in tea’ phase, this tea drew me in with the combination of pig sprinkles in the blend and the fun, whimsical name and the promise of fig flavour. In my humble opinion, there aren’t nearly enough fig blends and any chance I have to try a new one is one I’m going to take!
However, when I cracked open my sealed 2 oz. package of this blend I was hit with something I hadn’t been prepared for; the strong, piercing aroma of lavender! The lack of comprehensive ingredients lists on East Indie’s website it definitely a valid criticism; while a super generic blurb has worked out in my favor in the past in this case I feel like I was failed – I cannot stand lavender, and had I known this blend had so much of it I’m sure I would’ve been persuaded against this tea despite wanting to try ‘all the fig’.
Regardless, I cold brewed myself up a mason jar worth of tea because you never really know how a tea is going to taste for sure until you try it, so despite major reservations there was still a chance this could be alright. Sadly, I just couldn’t get over that concentrated lavender flavour. It was floral in a soapy, artificial way that made me feel like I’d licked all of the counters and shelves in a Bath & Body Works store. Any fig that was in this blend, and I know there was because I could see the dried out pieces in the leaf along with the adorable pig sprinkles, was completely masked. I was not impressed.
My overall opinion is that personally I found this blend as irksome as the puppet it’s playfully named for – and if you’re looking for fig look elsewhere. However, if you’re a fan of lavender and want to try a strong lavender blend over a black base you’re in luck.
