Ankara Apple is a fruity spiced green tea from Bluebird Tea Co, an online tea seller from the UK.
Bluebird Tea Co tea attracted a wild amigurumi bird/penguin.. thing!
I saw Kitty Loves Tea review some teas from Bluebird Tea Co and I was all like “Man, I want to try these guys! They got really cool teas!” But, at the time they weren’t doing international shipping. After a number of us on Steepster saying “Hey, we want your teas!”, Bluebird Tea Co opened up international shipping. I ordered that same day (maybe within a few hours?) and snagged this Ankara Apple tea and another. This is the first time I’ve ordered a tea from the UK too!
Ankara Apple called out to me as I’ve had turkish apple tea before and it was SOOOO FREAKING GOOD! Let’s give this tea a try!
DRY LEAF: Smells like delicious apples and an interesting mix of spices. Kind of reminds me of an apple pie smells off the thanksgiving table – the apple smell with the strong spices of sage from the stuffing and cloves from the ham. MMmm, so good!
The dry leaf is beautiful green tea leaves, mixed with big lumps of apple, earthy spice lumps and a sprinkling of red pomegranate flowers!
STEEPED: I followed the steeping instructions on the package – 3 minute steep with 80 C / 175F water. (pssst Bluebird Tea co’s steeping instructions!) Smells like spiced apple cider!
Hey, my gravity steeper is for tea, not bird butt warming!
Lovely gold cup of tea!
What does bluebird/penguin amigurumi think of this tea?
Smells yummy!
TASTE: Ankara Apple has this snuggly apple cider love going on, but not as sweet. Lots of spice – the sage is dominate, with the cinnamon and cloves waving in the background. The green tea is on the savory side which works very well with the spices. Ankara Apple finishes off with a sweet juicy natural apple flavor. No bitterness or tart in this blend.
How about some sweetener? I added some german rock sugar which made the apple pop! This tea now moves closer to an hot apple cider – very good!
COMMENTS: Ankara Apple is a spice lovers dream – lots of interest going on with the clove, sage and cinnamon with juicy apple in the mix. I prefer this tea with sugar to make the apple pop. I love the addition of sage in this tea – it really sets it apart from other apple spice teas!
This tea would be a killer one to serve to a group in a glass tea pot with some lovely slices of fresh apple and cinnamon sticks.
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