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Many moons ago, TeaSource had this AMAZING tea called Golden Mao Feng that was the best black tea I’ve ever had in my life! Since then, I keep trying every tea they put out with “golden” in the name, trying to recapture that magic. While this one isn’t the holy grail, it is a smooth, sweet, easy-to-drink black tea with delicious notes of brown sugar and sweet potato. Also re-steeps beautifully! Sad to be finishing it off today.

I love a good tropical green tea, but this one was a bit of a disappointment. It’s not bad by any means. The green tea base is nice long, unbroken leaves that brew up smooth and sweet. But the flavor is just generic “fruit” without anything distinctively tropical. I’ll finish my two ounces, but this isn’t one I’m likely to re-purchase.

My sampler was packed with coconut flakes, so I’m surprised I’m not getting more coconut flavor from this blend. The primary flavors are lime and blueberry, with just a hint of tropical pineapple and coconut. The base tea has a seaweed taste that (to me) doesn’t go especially well with the fruit flavorings, but it does match the name!

I’m not generally a fan of rose-flavored tea, so I was happy to find that the raspberry and vanilla flavors dominate this blend. The base tea is also present, bringing a maltiness and depth to the flavor that keeps it from being too thin. Overall, quite a pleasant dessert tea!

The name is lovely…but that’s the only thing this blend has going for it, in my opinion. I’ve never really understood coffee-flavored tea blends. I drink tea because it tastes better than coffee, so why would I want it to taste like coffee? And blending it with rooibos seems like an especially strange choice. I don’t like the flavor of rooibos to begin with and the addition of actual coffee beans to this blend means it’s an “herbal” tea that’s probably more caffeinated than black tea! I’ve never had Irish coffee, so I’m not really sure if the flavor is correct or not. To me, it smells like coffee and tastes like coffee and I am just not a fan. Hopefully I can find a coffee-loving friend to pass this on to!

This is one of my favorite holiday teas from Bird & Blend! As the name implies, the blend smells just like a Ferrero Rocher truffle…and this time the flavor lives up to the aroma. It’s smooth and just sweet enough with distinctive notes of dark chocolate and hazelnut. I enjoy it plain, but adding milk really takes it over the top.

This tea was the one in the Christmas gift set I was most excited about, as I love anything coconut! And this one delivers flavor-wise with strong notes of chocolate and coconut with a hint of creamy sweetness from the marshmallows. I do wish the base tea were a bit more present, as the flavor seems a bit on the thin side. It definitely needs a touch of milk to bring out its full potential. Not the best blend of this type I’ve ever had, but still quite good!

This was the other herbal blend in the Bird & Blend Christmas gift set. While the Gingerbread Chai was a knockout, this one was just so-so. The good news is, the hibiscus didn’t overwhelm the blend as it does in so many fruity herbal teas! The bad news is, this doesn’t really taste like cider. The mulling spices are clearly present: I taste cinnamon, clover, and a hint of ginger, but just a vague fruity background without anything that distinctly says “apple”.

This was the best-smelling tea in the Christmas gift set…mouthwatering caramel and gingerbread that instantly makes me hungry! In comparison to the heady aroma, the flavor is a bit thin. I do get notes of caramel and gingerbread, but it’s a pale imitation of that delicious aroma. A splash of milk adds a little more depth, but I’m still left wanting more.

A sweet friend sent me Bird & Blend’s Christmas gift set and by exercising remarkable self-control, I managed to save it for a special treat on my vacation last week. This one was worth the wait! I’ll have to do a side-by-side comparison at some point, but this blend may have topped Market Spice’s Gingerbread Rooibos as my very favorite gingerbread tea. The balance of spices is just the right combination of sweet and spicy and with a splash of milk, a mug of this feels just as indulgent as eating a gingerbread cookie. I’m already almost through my 1oz sample and will definitely be re-purchasing!