Bluebird Tea Co: Christmas Cake Tea

Christmas is by far my favourite time of year. Especially since I've become a tea lover. At this time of year there are hundreds of festive blends around.

Today, then, I'm reviewing a extraordinary tea. A tea so gorgeous that after a SINGLE cup, I went back onto the website and immediately ordered more - in the biggest quantity possible.

That tea is by Bluebird Tea Company and the blend is their delightful Christmas Cake. 

The tea is available in both bagged and loose form. It's my preference, if possible, to get blends loose but of course if you prefer the convenience of bagged tea then there is the option to purchased this tea bagged, which in itself is fantastic.

Bluebird Tea are a tea company I've long heard of and have tried several of their tea's, so, last week I found myself browsing and just couldn't resist their limited edition festive blend. I ordered some and instantly I fell hopelessly in love.

This blend is striking in so many ways, but it's the visual impact that you notice first. This tea is just so, so pretty. Firstly, you have the striking dark black Ceylon tea. It's a wonderful, rich tea which I was very impressed with. Dotted within the tea you have pieces of vibrant orange peel, the familiar site of cloves, pieces of flaked almond as well as green spruce needles. But, the prettiest thing ever is the sugar snowflakes. You simply cannot get more festive then seeing snowflakes in tea. It's just so pretty and beyond cute.

I LOVE the idea of Christmas Cake flavoured tea. And the several that I have tried, I've always enjoyed, despite, oddly, the fact that I don't actually like Christmas Cake. But what these tea's have is the essence of cake without the overpowering flavour actual cake can have. As a festive tea, this really works.

I took three very generous, heaped, teaspoons and added them to my empty tea bags. I popped the bag into the water and let the tea infuse for around four minutes. Whilst these tea infuses the aroma is just so yummy that it seemed like the longest four minutes ever!

One of the many things I like about this tea is though it contains cinnamon and cloves it isn't overly spiced. So this is the first Christmas tea this year that I can take without the addition of milk and sugar, so it retains a really nice lightness and is fully flavoured. Yes, there is something comforting about a milky, sugary drink, however, I only have a couple of cups a week like this, so it's nice to be festive whilst being able to drink tea as I normally do - black and unsweetened.

From the very first sip I loved this tea. Even my mum - who couldn't care less about my exotic (or weird, as she call's it) tea collection - said to me 'that must be lovely, I can see it in your face'.

And lovely it is.

Unlike the other festive tea's that I've tried this year, Christmas Cake has a sweetness to it, rather then a highly spiced flavour. So straight away, because of it's difference to what's mainly on the market, it immediately made an impact.  Of course the sweetness mainly comes from the sugar snowflakes, however, the addition of vanilla pieces works alongside it. And it's due to this sweet aspect that I can take this without milk because the sweetness helps balance out the natural robust flavour, which comes from the cloves and cinnamon.

The Ceylon tea that is the base tea in this blend is smooth and is gently flavoursome and I think it's great that Ceylon has been used as opposed to the mighty Assam as Ceylon helps the tea retain it's delicate qualities.

Alongside the sweetness of the vanilla and sugar sprinkles, you get a spicy kick from the cinnamon and cloves. My taste buds normally detect the sweet flavours first so the spices take a short while to come through, then all of a sudden, like an explosion they are there, tip toeing across your tongue, making this tea multi-layered and exciting.

Underneath these flavours, the sweetness and the spiciness, there is a slightly tart tang of orange which comes from the orange peel and the familiar marzipan like taste from the flaked almonds.

Whilst drinking this tea it really is just like a Christmas cake. You know the sort, the type with sticky pieces of fruit and topped in snow white icing.

This tea is just simply awesome. I have really enjoyed the other tea's I've tried from Bluebird. The Strawberry Lemonade, Lemon Sherbert, Jelly and Ice Cream, but this Christmas cake tea really is the best I've tasted. I love how it's so different from the Christmas spice tea's around at the moment.

I cannot say how much I like this tea, and on the strength of just one cup, I've brought 140g's more of this tea say's volume's. Normally, I'd think, I'll buy some more next month. As this is a limited edition I'm aware this won't be around for long, and the mere thought of not having it in my cupboard spurred me on to make a second purchase. It's just glorious.

I would like to state though that there is an allergen alert with this tea. This tea contains almond flakes and hardened peanut oil.

What's exciting about Bluebird is they offer you plenty of ways of buying this tea. It's available in a caddy (with refill options) with loose leaf tea, it's available in sample sized pouches and of course as a bagged tea, too. So you can pick loose or bagged which is great and of course can pick how much of this tea you want! Also, with every order you get a sample of another tea free - fabulous isn't it?

I cannot praise this tea highly enough. If you can't take milk in your tea, this is mild but flavoursome enough to take black. If you don't like the highly spiced traditional Christmas tea's this makes for a refreshing change.

Somehow, this has traditional qualities, whilst being fresh and up to date.

But, be warned, this isn't a tea you'll find easy to serve to guests. It's so lovely you'll just want to keep it all to yourself....