Hot Mama Jama

I love spicy things & I seem to be drawn to spicy & fruity teas.
this one may possibly be even better than Mango Diablo.
the scent of the tea is very familiar, however I still cannot place what it is.
you kind of get smacked in the mouth with the spice & followed directly with sweet citrus, fruitiness.
mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm so delish

ETA: had this iced over the weekend, while still really good it looses almost all the spicy kick.

Just rediscovered TV Tropes. And the sun. It’s a wonderful sunny day in the lower mainland- a perfect day to study for finals inside.

I was worried about this one since it mentioned hibiscus. That particular ingredient tends to overwhelm certain teas for me and, while I don’t dislike tart hibby I do get bored of it quickly. It doesn’t take center stage here, thankfully. It shares the spotlight with the pepper zing, lime, and other fruity notes, much like a well prepared spicy sweet and sour soup manages to balance itself out and keep things afloat.

It’s fruity, floral, spicy, and sour… pretty much everything except bitter and salty. The cup is a fresh, clean-tasting tea, without the mouth-drying puckering that’s usually associated with some of the more citric ingredients included here. A big thanks to Bluebird Tea co. for sending this my way!

thank you so much bluebirdteaco.com for the samples! The samples come in little velum-like pouches, sewn shut, with the bluebird logo. I’m not sure how long the tea would stay fresh, since, you know, the thread holes don’t make the package air tight (or smell contamination tight), but the little packages sure are adorable. I guess you’re supposed to drink them fast anyway!

Another wonderful sample from the nice folks at Bluebird Tea Co.

This is a pretty good one. This has the fruit/spice ratio just about right. The fruit tastes authentic and just an overall cup of deliciousness. I had it hot, I can imagine this being absolutely wonderful iced on a hot day.

Now I downed this cup pretty fast, so I don’t remember all the nuisances in this, just that I immensely enjoyed it and need to order more in the near future.

BACKLOG! So I’m going with my terrible notes on my computer here.

Another sample from Bluebird Tea Co. I really gotta get to drinking my last one!

I did a cold steep on this, because I was running around down in the Tri-State area (Iowa/Wisconsin/Illinois; you can cross two state lines in the matter of 20 minutes!) and attending my sister’s graduation in Platteville, so the set and forget method was far more ideal here!

This makes a really nice fruity cold brew. The fruit flavor isn’t specific, but it makes its own unique fruity flavor that is actually pretty tasty! There’s also a really nice hit of lime in here. Unfortunately the cold brew seemed to wash out a lot of the pepper zing and I it wasn’t anything more than a mere suggestion that you noticed only when you were looking for it. Even so, this made a fan-freakin-tastic iced tea and I’m tossing her onto my shopping list for my next purchase from them

Cor, what a spicy one. Tastes mostly limey but with a big chilli kick. Bit of a weak fruit tea for the most part. Perhaps needed longer to bring out the actual tea flavour. Although there wasn’t actually much in the way of tea in the bag, mostly other bits.

I’ll give it another go but I’m not that impressed right now

TTB 6: I didn’t read the ingredients before trying this one and it made for an interesting experience. As I was drinking, I kept noticing a bit of a burning sensation in my throat. I thought maybe I was getting a cold or the tea was too hot, but even as it cooled, the burning persisted. Finally i realized that this must be a spicy tea! I’ve tried a few teas that were intended to be spicy, but I think this is the first one that I’ve actually noticed having an effect. The tea flavor itself was tart fruitiness. I think the real draw for this one is definitely the spice!

Sipdown!! (196)

Thank you Nattie for the opportunity to try this tea. For a green tea, it is incredibly smooth. It is also a very light tea with a subtle fruity flavor. The chili is merely a very, very slight burn at the back of the throat right at the end of the sip. I find myself wanting MORE. More if everything. I want more passionfruit and lime flavor so they are noticeable and distinct and I want more of a chili kick. As this tea is now, I find it pleasant but not something all that memorable. C’est la vie.

Sipdown! This is the first green tea I have ever cold brewed, and I’m pleased with the result. I figured this one would be a good choice to start with, as it has more lemongrass than green tea. I was worried about the green tea becoming bitter after 10-12 hours in the fridge, but it hasn’t at all. I guess that’s something to do with the cold water?

The flavour of this one is pretty different when cold brewed. I can taste the lime far, far more. It actually overtakes the lemongrass as the primary flavour. Then comes the chilli, which adds a really nice kick of heat and spice. It’s such a summery tea, and so different from the usual run of the mill tropical tea. It definitely shines more when it’s cold brewed, and I’m glad I decided to give it a go. It makes me wish I’d given MojiTEA a try cold brewed — I think I’ll have to buy some more now!

I have monday off next week, so I’m gathering together some one cup remainders and I’m going to try and get my count back under 300 over the three day weekend. A couple of cold-brew sipdowns in the meantime will help, too!

Thanks Nattie for the sample!

I liked the spiciness of this, but a few sips had too much chili in it and caused me to cough a little. The zing is nice and warming, but a little too much for me.