Bird & Blend is a UK boutique flavored tea vendor. Back in 2013, I found out about this company from Steepster and got some teas. Well, they expanded and made even more creative tea flavors, especially in matcha! For years I have wanted to order Bird & Blend, but it is expensive to ship internationally, best for a huge order. I finally caved in to try a bunch of stuff, including their 2022 Bird & Blend Matcha Advent calendar.
The 2022 Bird & Blend Matcha Tea Advent Calendar was $64 for 24 x 5g matchas – all different flavors. It is quite a deal as you can sample their whole lineup, as well as limited edition or exclusive matchas.
Yes, I am writing about an Advent Calendar in February. Advent calendars are a headache as a tea writer. I am encouraged to use them before December to get the word out, but I personally lose all the magic of advent. Not to mention, saddled with 24 teas to review. That said, take this review of Bird & Blend’s Matcha Advent Calendar as an example of what they can do with their flavors and creativity. Some of these matchas are part of their regular line up to purchase, others are seasonal or calendar exclusive. I drank these each day and jotted down my thoughts.
Before I jump in, a shoutout to Bird & Blend customer service. My calendar arrived damaged but they went above and beyond to replace my order.
How I made all 24 Bird & Blend Matcha
2.5g of matcha powder unless otherwise stated.
Hot ~ 175ml water using 175F water temperature.
Iced ~ 175ml water and ice.
Hot Latte – 200ml almond milk, microwaved warm, then matcha added.
Iced Latte – 200ml almond milk with ice.
Additions
Sweeteners – Light Agave, Sugar-Free Vanilla syrup, or monk fruit sweetener.
Protein Powder – 30g of Optiumn Nutrition Vanilla
2022 Bird & Blend Matcha Advent Calendar
Day 1 – Nordic Berry Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, Berry flavor, and nettle.
Prepared – Hot, sweetened with agave.
The matcha powder has a grassy fruity cranberry scent.
Taste-wise, Nordic Berry tastes like cranberry, currants, and lingonberry, with a medicinal pine note that I’m guessing is from the nettle. It reminds me of going to IKEA in the winter. I prefer my flavored matchas with milk, but this did great with just water and a hit of sweetener as the flavors came through. Nordic Berry would be excellent iced.
I like the medicinal twist to this matcha – it adds a lot more interest and sets it apart from other flavored matchas – though it might not be for some.
Day 2 – Cocoa Matcha
Ingredients – Cocoa Powder and Matcha.
Prepared – Hot Latte and vanilla syrup.
I used 3.5g today to get the best flavor.
The powder is brown, likely due to the raw cocoa powder than matcha going bad.
Without sweetener, Cocoa Matcha has a light chocolate bitter flavor, almost leaning dark chocolate, but not enough chocolate to get there. The background has some matcha grassy undertones, but the main flavor is milk chocolate. Best with sweetener to round out the bitter notes. Overall, a lightly flavored, hot milk chocolate with a matcha energy kick.
Day 3 – Pumpkin Pie Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, Maca, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Allspice – so it is from the ample spices.
Prepared – Hot latte with Protein Powder, no sweetener needed.
Pumpkin Pie Matcha is also brown, but from all the spices in the blend. The spice amount is high, it’s clearly pumpkin pie spices, especially with the ginger and nutmeg. I can’t quite taste the matcha though, it is hiding back there. I do like this blend vs other pumpkin pie matchas I’ve tried due to actual spice used instead of flavoring granules. I have Bird & Blend’s Sticky pumpkin chai and the matcha is much more concentrated.
The bottom of the cup is grainy from the spices. I had this again later and found this worked the best with protein making the blend thicker, which hid the grainy texture.
Day 4 – Toffee Apple Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, lucuma, rooibos, apple (dehydrated) flavoring, cinnamon, nutmeg.
Prepared – Hot Latte, protein powder.
Opening and whisking up this matcha smelled like sweet caramel apple cider. Taste wise, it’s got a lot of nutmeg, toffee/caramel flavor, with an apple flavor that hits my mouth strange and lingers. It has some grainyness too, my guessing from the apple pieces and nutmeg, as some sips are more nutmeg. I can taste some grassy matcha, and some deep woodsy from the rooibos, pairing pretty well with the blend.
I recently had another Bird & Blend apple tea and I have the same complaint – the apple flavoring is a bit too synthetic for my liking.
Day 5 – Super Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, acai, flavoring.
Prepared – Hot Latte, and protein powder.
The smell of this matcha is divine, with lots of blueberry.
As a latte, Super Matcha is sweet berries over grassy matcha and a tang of acai. I didn’t need any additional sweetener. The vanilla flavoring makes it like a blueberry muffin. This would be great iced too or with just water – many possibilities! Simple and effective with no complaints. I love blueberries and this was excellent.
Day 6 – Peach Cobbler Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, flavoring.
Prepared – Hot Latte, protein powder, and sweetener.
Peach Cobbler smelled delicious being whisked up! It did need a touch of sweetener as the matcha had a stronger bitter edge. It’s smooth, peachy, with a cookie note that is noticeable at the end of the sip. The extra vanilla I added made it like a cream cookie.
Day 7 – Pina Colada Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, baobab fruit pulp, coconut nectar sugar, lucuma, lemon peel, flavoring.
Prepared – Iced Latte with protein powder.
The flavoring of this is strong and sweet – I needed to add additional milk to make it not way too sweet. The flavor is dried candied pineapple, mystery pear citrus, and all being quite sweet. The pear citrus flavor lingers after drinking. If I made it with coconut milk it would have been closer to a pina colada. It is an interesting tropical-ish fruity matcha, but I wouldn’t call it Pina Colada as there isn’t any coconut or rum flavor.
Day 8 – Raspberry Ripple Matcha
Ingredient – Matcha, flavoring.
Prepared – Iced Latte and protein powder.
Hands down one of my favorite matchas! Prepared as a latte, it tastes just like vanilla ice cream with the raspberry jam swirl. Dangerous matcha as I want to make multiple servings and get jittery from all the caffeine after.
Day 9 – Strawberries and Cream Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, lacuma, flavoring.
Prepared – Iced Latte, with and without sweetener.
I tried this just with milk and no sweetener. The flavor is a jammy strawberry with lots of creamy flavors (not quite vanilla, more like clotted cream). With sweetener, it takes the strawberry flavor even more toward jam. I can taste the matcha pretty clearly – it’s creamy and grassy. This is one that I could drink without sweetener, but milk is a must.
Lacuma adds a bit of citrus mango like flavor, which I think is helping with the strawberry being more unique tasting and not “red” flavor.
Day 10 – Lemon Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, lemon peel powder, lemon granules.
Prepared – Iced, sweetened.
Lemon Matcha is my go-to matcha I keep in my stash, but this is the first time trying Bird & Blend’s. Lemon Matcha is just awesome, refreshing, and flexible. I love to mix it with BCAAs or as preworkout too.
Bird & Blend’s Lemon Matcha has a real lemon taste. It is pithy and tart, a more natural lemon than others I have tried. It is tart to drink without sweetener, but that makes it more authentic in flavor. One of the best Lemon Matchas!
Day 11 – Salted Caramel Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, cocoa powder, flavoring.
Prepared – Hot Latte, sweetened.
This one comes out grey. Salted Caramel Matcha flavor is a dark buttery caramel with a hint of salt. I somewhat taste the cocoa, which adds bit more richness. It is a good salted caramel matcha without being all flavoring. Admittedly, I’ve had better Salted Caramel Matcha, but can’t go wrong with this one.
Day 12 – Mermaid Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, Blue Pea Flower, Carob Powder, Natural Flavouring.
Prepared – Iced Latte, sweetened.
The blue pea flower is quite clumpy, I should have sifted it or made a paste, which gives a more blue colour.
The flavor is quite simple – a yellow cake batter with a hint of chocolate with a subtle berry and grassy matcha. Without milk may have more berry flavor, but I cannot say no to blue milk. A very fun matcha!
Day 13 – Swampthing Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, spirulina, nettle, flavoring, lavender, lime.
Prepared – Iced
This matcha is heavily grassy, fresh herbal with a refreshing hit of lime and subtle lavender flavor. As I drink, the lavender builds some more, but never soapy. The lime is bright and not tart or pithy, so I didn’t add sweetener. It drinks healthy and refreshing.
Swampthing Matcha is strangely growing on me, but in my mind I would LOVE this as a soap. By the end of the glass, I was wanting more. I would buy this again.
Day 14 – Grapefruit matcha
Ingredients – Baobab fruit pulp, beetroot, matcha, flavoring.
Prepared – Iced, with and without sweetener.
Grapefruit Matcha promised to steep up pink and that is certainly pink!
The flavoring is high on this and can be smelled when mixing up. I first tried it without sweetener and it’s like eating a grapefruit – it has a crisp refreshing grapefruit flavor with some tart to it, with a bit of matcha flavor. With some agave, it’s very enjoyable citrus grapefruit. There’s some soft aftertaste of matcha.
At this time, Grapefruit matcha isn’t on their website/main lineup, but I would buy this again as I love citrus matchas.
Day 15 – Honey Bunny Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, lacuma, flavoring.
Prepared – Hot Latte.
The flavoring of Honey Bunny Matcha on the lighter side here as I can taste the crisp matcha grassy flavor. But there is a honey floral citrus note. It strangely reminds me of soap or old lady lotion – that honey scent. It is okay, but it would be a good base for something else, turning it into a smoothie with peanut butter or fruit.
Day 16 – Pure Grade Bird & Blend Matcha
Prepared – Traditional, whisked.
This is a stone ground traditional matcha, that’s about all the info I got.
This is my 2nd go at this matcha – it very much so needs to be made at lower temperatures (175F is too hot! I went with 165F)
Taste wise, it’s strongly vegetal dark blades of cut grass that lean bitter and concentrated. The finish is a bit creamy button mushroom, but it is mainly strong grass, no matter how much water I add. I would guess this is their base for all their matchas, as strong vegetal matches are a great canvas for the flavor to not get totally killed off by added flavors or mixed with milk.
Day 17 – Orange Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, orange peel powder, flavoring.
Prepared – Iced.
Unsweetened, it’s a simple, grassy, navel orange flavored matcha. The orange is a bit pithy and overall leaning bitter compared to the grapefruit and lemon matcha.
I would rate this as okay, the other citrus matchas were better and more interesting.
Day 18 – Monster Maca Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, maca, ginger, flavoring, guarana, ginseng.
Prepared – Iced Latte.
Guarana, Ginseng, and Matcha in the morning are much needed as I had a holiday party the night before.
I was very unsure how to make this one. I swished a bit with some water and it was like red hot candy but in ginger. But I was feeling I needed a warm hug, so I proceeded with a latte.
In milk, Monster Maca Matcha is a strong ginger cake with a nutty sweet flavor. The ginger is strong and spicy, adding that pain of spicy food in my mouth. I love spicy food, so this hit the spot. I enjoyed Monster Maca Matcha greatly, but I can see this matcha being polarizing as it is very strongly flavored ginger and spicy.
Day 19 – Gingernut Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, ginger, cinnamon, flavoring, chili.
Prepared – Hot Latte, sweetened.
This one is actually similar to the last matcha, but with less ginger and more cookie and cake batter flavor. There is a gentle spicy warmth in my mouth after each sip. Very tasty combination, and more approachable compared to Monster Maca Matcha.
Day 20 – Peaches and Cream Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, flavoring.
Prepared – Iced Latte.
Bird & Blend does very good peach flavoring. Peaches and Cream Matcha is canned sweet peaches on top of a cream flavor. This is pretty similar to the Peach Cobbler. I’d lean I like Peach Cobbler more as there’s more going on, but both are great and similar.
Day 21 – Ice Cream Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, carob, flavoring.
Prepared – Hot Latte, sweetened.
Without sweetener, Ice Cream Matcha tastes very buttery milky grassy matcha. I added some sweetener and it tastes like an ultra vanilla matcha latte – a bit buttery, very creamy. One of the best vanilla matchas I’ve had. I don’t know why I made it hot, it is probably better cold to be more ice creamy.
Day 22 – Banana Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, flavoring
Prepared – Latte, protein, iced
Without sweetener, Banana Matcha is a greenish banana, but with sweetener, it goes a yellow banana taste.
I can be scared of banana flavoring as it tastes like my childhood medicine, but this one is pretty good. I wish it was more exciting, like with chocolate, caramel, or peanut butter, but that is easy for me to add with protein powder or flavored syrups.
Day 23 – Gingerbread Matcha
Ingredients – Ginger, maca, matcha, rooibos.
Prepared – Hot Latte, sweetener
Gingerbread matcha commands sweetener, it was too bitter and bitey without it. The flavor is a warming spice ginger with dark woody notes. I can’t taste the matcha at all here, it’s most rooibos and a ton of sweet ginger.
This matcha has a bit of a grainy texture. I have Bird & Blend’s Gingerbread sticky chai and it’s not as gingery, but the flavor is better.
Day 24 – Spearmint S’cream Matcha
Ingredients – Matcha, nettle, flavoring, peppermint, tulsi.
Prepared – Iced Latte, sweetened.
Without sweetener, Spearmint S’cream Matcha tastes like toothpaste. The main mint is spearmint with a hint of peppermint. Also, a rustic festive flavor from the grassy matcha and nettle adds a pine herbal note. They were certainly going for wintergreen mint candy but the spearmint is too dominant.
Comments
Bird & Blend Matcha flavoring is certainly unique – many of the fruit flavors are done well. Their ginger and spice matchas are potent. Cream flavors are actually cream tasting, not fake vanilla. I like how they throw in other ingredients like nettle, maca, and spices instead of 100% relying on flavoring granules.
As a Tea Advent Calendar – Bird & Blend Matcha Tea Advent Calendar was worth it. I got to try a huge range of teas and their flavors. If you love flavored matcha, this is the perfect calendar to try. The presentation was nice and I love all the little tins. But it was good to try once and I will be just purchasing my favorite matchas.
Owl’s Picks of Bird & Blend Matcha
Most of these are actually in the regular Bird & Blend Matcha line or limited edition/ seasonal. I would 100% order some of these with my next order.
Super Matcha – The Ultimate fruity matcha.
Nordic Matcha – Unique fruity matcha with a herby twist.
Swampthing Matcha – Strange and addictive.
Monster Maca – Red hot spicy ginger. Gingernut Matcha is a close runner up.
Peach Cobbler/Peaches and Cream Matcha – excellent peachy matcha!
Strawberries and Cream – Bird & Blend’s strawberry flavor is so jammy and lovely.
Raspberry Ripple – Just like jam rippled ice cream!
Mermaid Matcha – This one is just straight fun – blue milk!
Ice Cream Matcha – Ultimate creamy matcha that pairs with so many things.
Grapefruit Matcha – The best citrus matcha, though Lemon Matcha is also very good.
The not so good Bird & Blend Matcha
Pina Colada – does not taste like pina colada (I heavily doctored this to drink the rest of my sample)
Toffee Apple – their apple flavoring is too artificial (I threw out the rest)
Pure Grade Matcha – there’s better quality matcha for cheaper.
Spearmint Matcha – Polarizing mint flavor. (Maybe if you like spearmint, but I couldn’t make this work for me)
