Custom blending tea can either turn out amazing or not so much. I’ve used a few different custom blending tea companies but this was the first time I used BlendBee to create my own unique designs.
For Christmas I received a little extra spending money so I decided I would put those dollars to good use. I emailed Jamah at BlendBee and asked her a few tips and tricks on how to properly blend a tea and viola! Orange Cranberry Yum was born. (Yes, I named the tea too. I’m not so clever when it comes to naming tea it seems)
With being a part of the SororiTea Sisters, I’ve been given the amazing privilege of trying to many different flavored teas, but the one flavor that I don’t seem to get a chance to try often is a really solid orange tea. A lot of times, orange teas are cinnamon spiced and I have to be in the right mood to enjoy one of those teas. For this custom tea of mine, I wanted more of an orange cranberry dessert flavor. This tea was inspired by the Fiber One Orange Cranberry Scone bars that I’ve fallen in love with.
To create your own tea with Blend Bee all you need to do is check mark what you want. Check mark the base you want, inclusions, spices, extracts and a few other options to develop your own tea blend. I wanted this tea to be a buttery rich tea, so I went with a green tea base, more specifically I picked Young Hyson Green Tea.
To give the tea the orange and cranberry flavor, I picked Cranberry, Custard & Orange Extract. For some of the inclusions, I went with some herbals to give the tea a healthy aspect, named the tea, and that was it. Jamah emailed me a few other questions, because she is the mixing expert) and gave her advice on a few different ways to finish the tea off and we were all set.
For 10 cups or 1 oz of this tea, it is $9.95. From previous BlendBee blends I’ve had, I know that I will be able to get at least 20 cups out of this pouch. BlendBee’s teas are perfect for infusing a few different times.
So today, happily, this tea with the other teas I custom blended, arrived at my door. Orange Cranberry Yum (I know, such a terrible name) was the first one I had to try. So I brewed up my tea with water prepped for green tea and allowed the tea to steep for about 4 minutes. The water slowly turned to a gorgeous pink-lilac color (from some of the inclusions).
While this tea was steeping, a delicious creamy orange flavor was drifting in the air. I mean I’m talking creamsicle flavor. I couldn’t have been happier and was hoping the flavors would translate into a similiar flavor.
And those flavors absolutely did! This tea is a lovely lush silky orange delight with a hint of a tartness here and there. The overall feel is just this smooth flavor that makes you squeal. I honestly can’t say I’ve had a tastier creamy orange tea before. The flavors are so light and airy. But not so light and airy they don’t deliver a good flavor. The flavor is spot on.
I’m currently on my second infusion of this tea and the flavor is still there. I’m thinking I may even be able to get a third steeping. Delicious, quality, and flavors that are spot on.
I couldn’t be happier with this tea and am so excited to see what other flavors I can come up with. The custard flavor is what I love the most out of these tea and the flavor that is bringing the rest of them together to make this more of a dessert tea.
So the moral of the story. . .if you are craving a tea flavor that you can’t find anywhere. . .check out BlendBee’s custom option. Can’t wait to check out my other teas I made!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: BlendBee
Description
The Blending Station allows you to create custom tea blends. Choose from all natural teas (ie. black, green, or herbal teas), spices, herbs, flowers and flavors that suit your fancy.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sir Rhuberry Oolongbottom from BlendBee
My family made a lot of strawberry rhubarb pies in the summertime, and each time I was tasked with washing and chopping the rhubarb from our garden. I was warned that the leaves were poisonous, and only the stems were okay to go in the pie. That dietary fact always made the bowl of chopped rhubarb and eggs and sugar all bubbling together seem like some questionable witches brew. But the resulting pie was always worth the danger, especially with all the pink strawberries in the mix.
Sir Rhuberry Oolongbottom from Blend Bee works to recreate this strawberry rhubarb combination. The dry leaf smells strong and sweet, a bit like artificial strawberry candy. A good dose of hibiscus ensures that this tea brews up bright pink, and brings a blast of tart, fruity flavors. Beneath all the sweet and sour, there is a gentle green, vegetal note, perhaps from the rhubarb or the oolong, and it adds a nice freshness to the tea.
Depending on your love of strawberries, you might really enjoy this tea for the berry sweetness. For me, the strawberry flavoring is very forward, so I would to argue for more rhubarb next time. Though, to be fair, I’m not sure that I would want a full-on rhubarb-only tea. Rhubarb is achingly sour on its own, and needs strawberries and sugar to truly be palatable. There’s a reason rhubarb and strawberries are so often paired together and this tea is true to that classic strawberry rhubarb pie flavor.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Blend Bee
Description:
Juicy and refreshing, this blend has just a hint of sweetness and is rounded out with bold red fruit flavors. You will long for Sir Rhuberry Oolongbottom.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Here’s to the New Year! Let’s Toast From BlendBee. . . . .
Happy New Year one and all! I hope the New Year has treated all of our dear readers well. What better way to start the New Year than with a tea that is completely out of my comfort zone. I thought this could be the year that I really try and expand my tea horizons with ginger.
Ginger and I have a love hate relationship. Until recently, I absolutely couldn’t handle anything with ginger in it. But I’ve found that I’ve started to really enjoy ginger and even ate candied ginger. . .and loved it. I’m wondering if my taste buds are starting to change. . .
Let’s Toast is a brilliant blend of yerba mate, ginger, orange extract, orange peel, holy tulsi trinity, and rose hips. This drink has it all and I couldn’t wait to try it.
Brewed up with freshly boiled water and allowed to steep for the recommend time on the package, this tea smelled like an herbal treat in a cup. There were definite citrus notes coming through.
And those some citrus notes came through in the very first sip. This tea is rich and deeply flavored with notes of citrus with a toasted texture and a hint of a spicy twist (from the ginger). A wonderful morning brew that gives you that kick you need to get going without the traditional tea flavors. What really makes this tea special is that herbal flavor you get towards the end of each sip providing you with warmth that stretches to your toes. This tea begs you to brew it up, wrap your hands around the mug, and just drink until those warm and cozy feelings kick in.
I’m sure you’ve already figured this out but I adored this tea. Just adored it and have found myself reaching for it so much that I’m almost out of it. I really love the change of pace this tea offers, plus with the ginger in it, this tea fuels my newly acquired love for all things ginger. Highly recommend this one if you are looking for something new to try for this new year. This one may even become a stable in my tea stash.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Yerba Mate Blend
Where to Buy: BlendBee
Description
This is a delicately toasted Yerba Mate is perfectly balanced with the Holy Tulsi Trinity (Holy Basil: Krishna, Rama & Vana), a powerfully beneficial and exotic mix. This blend has the depth of a black tea, yet it is very light and easy to drink. An intoxicating scent of orange with the subtle spice of freshly dried ginger root. It is a favorite at the Tea Hive!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Just Peachy from BlendBee. . . .
Every summer, my aunt shows up at my mom’s house with pallets upon pallets of fresh peaches “from Georgia”. (Mind you, we live in the upper Midwest.) At first, I just thought she meant that she was getting peaches from the grocery store that claimed to be Georgia peaches but no, these were real, bonafide, no-middlemen, straight-from-the-state peaches. Where she gets them, I have no idea– but I like to imagine it’s a sneaky, clandestine peach deal that goes down under the table, away from the prying eye she of Big Grocery. Either way, wherever they come from, they are hands-down the best peaches I eat every year. Fresh, juicy, mouth-wateringly sweet– these are the real deal.
And maybe it’s this peach experience that I have that informs every peach flavor I critique.
This tea, in the bag, smells herbal but juicy, a hint of that bright and fresh stone fruit flavor I’ve come to love. While the juicy peachy-ness doesn’t necessarily translate quite as mouthwateringly to the brewed cup, this tea’s interesting combination of honeybush, green tea and peach/cinnamon flavors makes it a delight to drink, hitting the perfect mark somewhere between sweet and herbaceous. Teas like this have become my favorite dessert after a heavy meal– mellow enough to settle my stomach while still hitting those sweet and treat-like notes. And though it’s not a perfect doppleganger for my favorite summer treat, it is indeed the perfect reminder in this bleak and snowy winter that in a few more months, fresh fruit will be on the way. . .
From Georgia. In the back of a truck. Straight to my aunt’s house. Mmm.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea Blend
Where to Buy: BlendBee
Description
Honeybush and green tea infused with fresh peach is absolutely divine hot or iced. Sip and savor the delicate peach flavor with spices like ginger and peach. This blend will brighten any day!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
UNITEA from BlendBee. . . A World United In One Cup
BlendBee was a company I discovered this year and every blend just blows me away. The kindness, compassion, amazing quality, freshness of the teas and flavors makes BlendBee a company that really sticks out to me. This is one of those companies that once you discovered them, you just can’t get enough.
UNITEA came in last month’s subscription box from BlendBee. This blend is a mixture of Darjeeling, Honeybush, Yerba Mate, China Green Tea and English Breakfast. The description goes like this:
From South America to South Africa, India to China, with a touch of the Enlglish. Let’s all unite with one exquisite cup of tea. Spread love, joy and harmony. Cheers friends!
And Cheers friends is exactly right!
Right off the bat while this tea is steeping you get that familiar English Breakfast aroma wafting through the air. A smell that I haven’t encountered for some time and its definitely giving me love, joy, and harmony.
The flavors mingle together nicely to provide a wonderful cuppa this morning for sure. The notes that really stand out are the Darjeeling and English Breakfast ones. I can pick up the Honeybush as well but I’m not really getting the green tea or yerba mate. But that’s ok. I know they are working silently in the background to complete this gorgeous flavor that is really helping my morning along.
Such a wonderfully robust strong tea that really makes you want to drink it all morning long while checking off projects around the house or even at work. At least that’s what I’m doing now. This tea has a lot going on but everything really works well and jives.
This tea by itself is outstanding but I wanted something a bit more (after I had about 4 cups of it) , so I added in a bit of ginger and peppermint and wow, this tea has taken on a life of its own. Such a well balanced and thought out tea and now it looks like a tea that would be a great one to experiment your blending your own tea blends with.
I’m so happy this one showed up last month. Now I’m wondering what would happen if you threw in a touch of marshmallow root and some orange peel. . . . this could be something fantastic in the making. . .(hint hint BlendBee!!)
If you are looking for that last minute present for that tea drinker on your list, check out BlendBee. I know they will enjoy their blends as much as I do!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: BlendBee
Description
From South America to South Africa, India to China and a touch of the English. Let’s all unite with one exquisite cup of tea. This unique blend is crafted with the worlds best teas for you to truly savor. Spread love, share joy and harmony. Cheers friends!