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christmas

Fruit Tea Recipes

Christmas Non-Alcoholic Mulled Wine Tea Cocktail Recipe

28th November 2017
Christmas Non-Alcoholic Mulled Wine Tea Cocktail Recipe

This year I decided I would like to make a tea based mulled wine recipe that has all the flavour of traditional mulled wine but with no alcohol, using tea instead of the wine.

This recipe uses Whittard of Chelsea Mulled Wine tea as the base, it was the best I tried and really replaces the wine flavour without losing the traditional mulled wine vibe!

Ingredients

Christmas Non-Alcoholic Mulled Wine Tea Cocktail Recipe Ingredients
850ml of water
2 teaspoons of Whittard of Chelsea Mulled Wine tea
2 slices of dried orange
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 teaspoon dried pimento
12 cloves
1 teaspoon cardamom pods
1 teaspoon of dried ginger
3 teaspoons of chopped dried cranberries
3 tablespoons of sugar

 

Method

Christmas Non-Alcoholic Mulled Wine Tea Cocktail Recipe Method
Measure 850ml of boiled water and use a looseleaf tea infuser to steep the Whittard of Chelsea mulled wine tea in the water for 3 to 4 minutes or longer if you’d prefer a stronger flavour but remember a lot of the flavour comes from the dried ingredients.

Pour the prepared tea into a saucepan and add the dried ingredients and the sugar and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes with the saucepan covered to ensure you don’t boil any of the liquid off.

Check the strength, leaving to simmer for longer if required.

Once the tea is the desired strength use a sieve to strain the liquid, making sure that the mulled wine is free of the dried ingredients. Pour the mulled wine in to festive teaware and enjoy warm!

Merry Christmas! 

Bye for now! xXx

Fruit Tea Iced Tea Matcha Recipes

Christmas Matcha Mojito Non-Alcoholic Tea Cocktail

25th November 2017
Christmas Matcha Mojito Non-Alcoholic Tea Cocktail

This is my recipe for an amazing non-alcoholic matcha mojito tea cocktail that is perfect if you want an exciting cocktail with a little kick for this festive season, without alcohol.

The key ingredient is the Bloom Mojito matcha which gives an amazing flavour to the cocktail alongside the matcha vibes. You could probably use unflavoured matcha but the mojito matcha really does bring a special something to this cocktail and is one of the best flavoured matchas I’ve tried (see my matcha comparison post).

Ingredients

Half a chopped lime
6 mint leaves
3 teaspoons of sugar
Crushed ice
1 gram of Bloom Mojito matcha sieved and whisked in water
Soda water

Method

Cut the lime into segments and crush with mint leaves and sugar. Add crushed ice on top to stop the mint from floating to the top when you drink. Sieve and whisk the mojito matcha in a little water and add over the ice, top with soda water.

Black Tea Fruit Tea Tea Reviews

Bluebird Tea Co. Christmas Review

1st December 2016

When it comes to Christmas I love the little things, like the weather changing, people’s excitement building, Starbucks limited edition treats and new bath goodies at Lush but most of all I look forward to the Bluebird Christmas exclusives!

This year sees the return of Christmas Cake & Snowball, which also has a much appreciated vegan option this year!

The new products in this year’s Christmas bundle are Mulled Cider, Sugar Plum & some Bluebird crackers which I’m insanely excited about. Review time!

pouches

Sugar Plum

Sugar plum is a sugary sweet berry filled infusion with a nice warming hint of cinnamon. The blackcurrant in this blend really comes through, along with the hibiscus. The cinnamon is definitely there in precisely the right quantity, it’s warming and festive, without it being overpowering.

It’s a beautiful coloured blend once prepared, that’s perfect to show off in glass teaware on the big day. The sweet cinnamon scent really travels and is sure to add a festive aroma to any gathering! 😀

 

stars

Left to right: Snowball, Sugar Plum, Mulled Cider

Mulled Cider

This is a less sweet tea that I find super refreshing, it gives off an almost peppery scent with cinnamon notes but the apple & lemon peel create a drier more savoury vibe. Mulled Cider is perfect for cold Christmas evenings when you’ve devoured all the chocolate in sight but still want a little extra treat to snuggle up with.

I generally steep my tea multiple times during long work days and by the end it’s often been a bit steeped to death but I found this tea is actually really enjoyable as quite a weak infusion, hot or cold.

Bluebird’s Mulled Cider & Sugar plum are both caffeine free making them perfect to drink on those late night Christmas Netflix sessions, while remaining able to sleep.

cracker-close

Christmas Crackers

These really are too cute! I love the silver foil effect against the brown and the rectangular shape is far more interesting than more traditional cylindrical crackers.

Each cracker contains an individually wrapped Bluebird tea bag, party hat and tea related joke. I decided I’d unwrap one of these without the ‘snap’ and have a look inside for the purpose of the review, then put it back together and save them for Christmas day, no one will ever know! Just like presents under a Christmas tree 😉

 

Final Thoughts

One of the things I admire most about Bluebird is their ability to capture the essence of an event or completely non-tea food in their blends. Mulled Cider & Sugar Plum really are Christmas through and through, with snowball as a chocolate-coconut treat and Christmas Cake completing their Christmas line up.

If you’d like to read a more in depth review of Snowball, Christmas Cake or many of the other Bluebird Tea Co. Christmas teas you can find most of them covered in last years hamper review.

Take a look at Bluebird’s Christmas range to find the perfect treats for the holiday season, you won’t be disappointed.

Thanks for taking the time to read my review.

Happy Christmas to everyone over at Bluebird HQ and to my readers! 🙂 xXx

Top 20's

Top 20 Gifts for Tea Lovers

18th November 2016

Whenever I have a birthday coming up and someone wants to know what to get me I always just say “anything tea related is cool please”. Then it occurred to me that my friends and family that aren’t in to tea still don’t really know what tea related gift to go for.

So I decided to write a gift post, listing the top 20 gifts at various prices that are perfect for tea lovers.

Ready to find that perfect gift?

£10 or Less

pug-infuserPug Tea Infuser – £5.99

 

vahdam-tea-sticks

Darjeeling Tea Sticks from Vahdam Teas – £9.95

 

glass-teapot-warmerBredemeijer Glass Tea Warmer – £9.95

 

teacups

Bedazzle Chatenier Matte Black and Gold or Silver Teaglass – £10

 

tea-timerTwo Time Tea Timer – £10.00

 

 

£10 – £25

dk-tea-bookDK Tea Book – £13.48

tea-discovery-boxWhittard of Chelsea Tea Discovery Collection – £20

 

miu-colourMIU COLOR Tea Infusing Bottle – £20.99My Full Review

white-tea-blending-kit-overheadWhite & Green Tea Blending Kit – £25.00

 

 

full

Adagio IngenuiTEA – £18-£26 available in regular or XL –  My Full Review

 

 

 

£25 – £50

tea-lady-for-one
Tea for One Japanese Kokeshi Tea Pot and Tea Cup Set – £29.60

 

tea-set-japaneseUfengke Japanese Tea Service Set – £32.44

 

 

t2-big-chillT2 Tea Big Chill – £38

 

tea-soul-set

TEA SOUL Porcelain Portable White Tea Set with Bamboo Tray – £48.67

 

 

maoci-chawan-set

MAOCI Chawan Matcha Gift Set – £49.20

 

£50 or More

matchaeologist-new-packaging

 

Matchæologist Matcha Brewing Kit – £50.00  My Review

travel-set-pink

ZENS Tall Chinese Travel Tea Set – £54.99

bosch-kettle

Bosch Multi-Temperature Kettle – £56.45  My Review

 

dragon-teapot

 

MAOCI Cast Iron Dragon Teapot, available in 3 colours – £56.50


and one last one: Weimar ‘World Voyage’ Hand Made Teaset – £750 (we can all dream, right? :p )

weimer

 

So that brings me to the end of my Gift Guide for Tea Lovers. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it and have found a gift for that special someone 🙂

Bye for Now! xXx

 

P.s let me know what gift you’re buying the tea lover in your life in the comments below!

Join my newsletter for more tea fun

 

Black Tea Reviews Rooibos Tea Reviews Tea Storage Teaphernalia

Bluebird Tea Co. Christmas Hamper Review, The Best Gift Ever!

11th December 2015

A while back I went to the post office to collect a parcel and was given a box with Bluebird Tea Co. stamped all over it. I wasn’t expecting anything from them so I was instantly intrigued and massively excited! I opened the box and inside I found an incredible Christmas hamper full of tea! I was absolutely blown away, I’m sure anyone who receives one of these hampers will be equally blown away but it was definitely an OMFG moment! :p

The hamper included a selection of Bluebird’s finest Christmas gifts, which included 2 boxes of tea, a canvas Bluebird Tea Co. tote bag, an extending silver tea infuser, a tea bauble (so lovely!), a mulled wine cocktail kit and a Bluebird Tea Co. mug. The sweetest part is they even personalised the mug with my name, my first mug with my name on it! I’ll go through the tea in a bit more detail below but I’ll say up front, these teas are phenomenal!!

Snowball

Snowball 50g Box of Loose Tea

The first tea I tried was Snowball, a chocolatey marshmallowy black tea treat with a hint of coconut. This tea feels like a dessert, it’s actually really helped having it on hand with the run up to Christmas as I tend to become a bit of a chocolate fiend but this satisfies my sweet tooth! I often find with basically all chocolate tea I’ve previously tried, that the tea isn’t actually chocolatey at all but this is totally different, there’s actual chocolate chips and you sure can taste them! I did actually pick the marshmallows out as I’m vegetarian and my boyfriend is vegan but I’ve been saving them so my mum gets extra when I make a cuppa so her tea is even naughtier!

 

Chai

Gingerbread Chai

Gingerbread Chai is a winner of a Great Taste Award and I can really see why. It’s a rooibos base and tastes phenomenal, my hamper contained tea bags and they go a long way! I have a HUGE Batman mug, I love to come in from the cold and fill it with Gingerbread Chai; Batman mug, Yoda slippers and my dressing gown and I’m all good!:P The Ginger warms the back of your throat and just the right amount of cinnamon is there for a little kick, this is a tea you just have to try. I’ve been trying to build up my collection of caffeine free tea as I do a lot of my tea drinking at night, often in to the early hours of the morning so this tea’s just perfect.

 

 

Tea Bauble

Christmas Cake Tea Bauble

This is something I found so exciting! It’s a plastic see-through bauble filled with teabags. I hung it straight up in my study and while I’m working I reward myself with some Christmas Cake tea every time I finish a chunk of work. Apart from the inventive packaging the tea is beyond words, it really does taste of christmas cake but sweeter with a beautiful marzipan flavour from the almond and a warming orangey fruitiness. It also has little snowflake shaped candy pieces, where else would you find tea this cute?! 😀

 

 

wine and kit Mulled Wine

Mulled Wine Kit

This would make the perfect gift for anyone who likes mulled wine, it’s so nicely presented and easy to make. I’ll be honest, I haven’t actually ever had mulled wine so this was a first for me, a bit of a complication is I don’t/can’t drink alcohol so I found a non-alcoholic red wine to use instead 😊

The bottle contains all the spices and fruit you’ll need for the perfect mulled wine so you just add your red wine, leave for 48 hours and then simmer on the stove, strain and serve to guarantee that Christmas feeling!

I added more wine at the simmering stage to make the spices less intense but the result was fantastic! A beautifully sweet taste followed by a mouth warming hit of festivity!

 

 

Tote Bag Infuser Combo mugs combo

The Extras

Also included in the hamper is a super cute Bluebird canvas tote bag, it couldn’t of come at a better time, with this 5p per bag business beginning! I keep it at the bottom of my manbag ready for my shopping. There’s also a really kool tea infuser, it’s telescopic and compresses to about 1.5cm thick, then it extends in to a full size tea infuser and with a classy chrome finish. Last but not least is a Bluebird Tea Co. mug with a festive bluebird, the lovely guys and gals at Bluebird also added my name to the mug which is so lovely <3

 

Overall this hamper is simply gorgeous, as are all the Bluebird Tea Co. Christmas gifts, they have a lot more to choose from at different price points so there’s something for everyone. I’ll be placing an order soon for some presents for my Boyfs parents and to stock up on more of the Christmas tea while I can, I have a feeling I’ll be drinking Christmas tea well in to the new year! 😉

I really hope you guys enjoyed reading this and I urge you to go and find the perfect Christmas present from Bluebird Tea Co.. One of the gifts I think would be particularly lovely are the tea blending kits, they contain 6 tins of tea ingredients and recipe cards for you to make your own blends, heaven! You can get the exact hamper in this review here, it’s a gift your loved one will never forget! 🙂

I’d like to say a HUUUUGE, MAHOOSIVE  thank you to Bluebird Tea Co. for sending me this incredibly generous gift, I’m so so thankful. I’ll be coming to Brighton in the new year so I’ll be sure to call in and see you guys! 🙂

Merry Christmas to all my readers, friends and fellow bloggers who read this! I’d love to hear about any other amazing tea Christmas gifts you’ve found in the comments below or come find me on Twitter!

Oh one final note, you know you wanna be on my mailing list! 😉