Bluebird Tea Company: Jelly + Ice Cream

Recently my brother and his lovely girlfriend went to Brighton for the day. In a previous trip they had treated me to some Strawberry Lemonade tea from Bluebird Tea Co. 

To my surprise, when getting back from work saw this little parcel waiting for me. I was really impressed, not only had they remembered there was a tea shop in Brighton, but they had took the time to go in and pick a tea  I'd like, though I think this was probably down to Michelle who is very sweet like that!

Anyway, I'm always grateful for tea samples, donations and surprise gifts. They genuinely make my day. I don't want much in life, I'm happy with tea and records! The excitement at getting a new tea to try can really make my day.

I love Bluebird Tea. They are modern, funky and bring an element of fun to the tea drinking world, but much to my shame I haven't actually explored them like I know I should do.  But I have tried three of their tea's, Lemon Sherbet, Strawberry Lemonade and now, Jelly + Ice Cream and I've liked them all.

I will say from the outset that Jelly + Ice Cream is a rooibos tea. Regular readers know I am not a fan of this tea, it's far too sweet and has a weird sachrine taste, but, much to the skill of the mixologists at Bluebird, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this fun, summer treat of a tea.

Whoever thought up this tea is a genius. Pure and utter genius. It's bursting to the brim with exotic flavours which somehow come together to really resemble the popular childhood party dessert of bright red jelly and a huge dollop of vanilla ice cream. I can only applaud the person who dream this up!

This tea contains rooibos as I've stated. But along side that the list of ingredients is extensive and full of summer. They are: Rooibos, desiccated coconut, freeze-dried strawberries, hibiscus, apple pieces, elderberries, rosehip, vanilla pieces, red cornflowers, pineapple pieces (pineapple, sugar), flavour

The tea is just so pretty to look at as well! As you can see it's a bright, vivid scarlet red colour with the addition of flecks of white coconut pieces. This is a scrummy tea all round!

I filled up a single disposable tea bag with a more than generous amount of the tea and popped it into a glass. As it's a rooibos/fruit tea the infusion time doesn't matter. Quite the opposite to black and green tea, this tea doesn't spoil if over infused, so the longer the better. I lasted four minutes before the smell got to me and had to take my first sip.

I was quite surprised that this didn't brew to a bright red colour but it's pretty enough!

The flavour is to die for. You may ask though, does it actually taste of jelly and ice cream. I can only say a positive and certain YES!

How they achieve this I do not know but the first flavour to come through is the strong, sweet but at the same time slightly tart flavour of the strawberries, followed by a familiar, smooth taste of coconut. The coconut is the stronger of the two flavours but they work together hand in hand to produce a brilliant, strawberry jelly flavour.

Next to come along is the sweet taste of pineapple which I really liked. I didn't detect the apple flavouring or the elderberries, but maybe it's because pineapple, strawberry and coconut are the stronger of the three flavours. Or, at least, the more familiar to me.

But, what really impressed the most about this tea is that, in addition to the really wonderfully balanced fruity flavours that create the jelly aspect of the tea, there is, at the end of the sip, a smooth, and it is smooth, vanilla flavour. The ice cream to the jelly.

I have tried many weird and wonderful tea's, created to be different and to stand out from the normal fruity infusions. But I can honestly say that I've yet to find something so fun, that actually does taste like it's name would suggest, and which instantly cheers you up.

Bluebird Tea have created a fab, fun tea for summer and I can only say a huge well done for not only inventing a fun tea that will bring back many memories of childhood fun but also one that is tasty, refreshing, is bursting with flavour and full of fun.

And never would I of thought I would of enjoyed a rooibos tea quite so much!

Congratulations Bluebird for creating the tea of summer 2016!