Twinings- Jasmine Earl Grey

Floral tea number 2 today- Jasmine Earl Grey.

I have already reviewed a jasmine green tea, but jasmine in black tea is a very different thing so if you don't like one, don't assume that you won't like the other. The floral range is great because it allows you to have something a bit different without taking you to far away from what you already know.

The floral scent of jasmine is still there, however it is not a heady scent like with a jasmine green tea, more subtle and delicate.  The ingredients tell me that the jasmine flavour comes from the addition of jasmine green tea to the black tea and bergamot base. This makes it a little unusual as it is therefore a blend of green and black tea.

Once again I am guilty of not reading the instructions first, making the tea on autopilot and adding milk. Twinings suggests that it is best served without milk, but you can add a touch of milk if you like. I like.

The jasmine provides a top note to the Earl Grey. Like the blossom Earl Grey, it is a subtle flavour. But it is definitely there. Another elegant tea for afternoons in the garden.

Twinings- Blossom Earl Grey

The Twinings florals range is one of my favourites. There are five in total- Blossom Earl Grey, Lavender Earl Grey, Jasmine Earl Grey, and Mulled Spice.

The packaging for these teas is gorgeous- elegant women on a dark background, wearing outfits that co-ordinate with the tea (by which I mean with the flower flavouring, not a tea brown colour!). I own all five caddys, and they are constantly in use.

Today, I had the Blossom Earl Grey. As an Earl Grey, it has bergamot added. On top of that it has orange blossom.

This isn't a strong flavoured tea, it is subtle, gentle and delicate. It's sweet, but not too sweet. The flavours balance well, nothing overpowers and the overall effect is lovely. Perfect for a warm spring afternoon in the garden, with the sun shining down on the blossom on the trees.

The first time I bought this tea, it was a limited edition. However, I've just visited the Twinings website and  it tells me that due to popular demand this tea is now permanently available. Huzzah! If you haven't tried it yet, it's well worth it.

Pumphrey's- Sencha Wild Cherry

An experience nicer than going to the supermarket is visiting a loose leaf tea dealer, who weighs out your selection for you. My local dealer is currently Pumphrey's, in the Grainger Market in Newcastle.

Picture from the Pumphrey's website

Wanting to expand my horizons, I brought Sencha Wild cherry. I wanted to try a green tea, but went with a flavoured blend as I had tried pure green in the past and found it a bit bitter.
Despite the name of "Wild Cherry", the main flavourings are cranberries and rose petals. The marketing picture is true to life, there is a number of juicy dried cranberries in the blend, although they do tend to rise to the top of the tin so you have to mix it up first.

I put one tea spoon in my new Bitossi tea glass that I brought from the Twinings website. I have been admiring them for a while, so decided to splash out. In the future I hope to find some flowering teas as they would look fabulous in this.

 Water was added, between 80 and 90 degrees. If you use boiling water, it scalds the leaves. Not good. Infusion time is about 2 minutes, you really shouldn't overbrew a green tea.

You can see the leaves are a good size, and a lovely fresh shade of green. The tea brews to a pale greeny gold. The scent is not strong but there is a hint of sweetness to it. 

The tea still has the slightly bitter edge that comes with green teas, but the cranberry and rose makes it more palatable. It's not a strong fruity flavour, but enough to know that it's there, and so that neither flavour is overpowering. They balance out nicely.

I felt rather virtuous drinking this, as green tea is known for it's health properties. It was quite refreshing, and I would drink it again. I don't think it will replace black tea in my affections, but it is good to have alternatives.

Pumphrey's Sencha Wild Cherry info here

Storm tea- First Flush Darjeeling

A different brand of tea today. Last year I spotted a brand called "storm" in my local TKMaxx, so I thought I would give  it a go. Unfortunately I have not seen this tea since.

Pictures from the storm website

Storm is a company based in the North East, specialising in organic loose leaf teas.

This darjeeling consists of Finest Tippy Golden Flowering Orange Pekoe, which means that the quality is excellent- this is the middle grade of darjeeling loose leaf. The leaves are almost green in colour rather than  the dark brown usually associated with black teas. When brewed, the tea is pale golden in colour.

Darjeeling is likened to the muscatel grape, and you can taste a grape flavour, like the skin rather than the flesh. It is a slightly astringent taste, but not unlikeable. I tend to add a splash of milk which helps remove the astringency. It is a nice refreshing drink and makes a good afternoon tea- it's very fresh and flowery.

Storm Darjeeling info here

Twinings Sweet Summer Fruits Black Tea

After yesterdays disappointment, I'm back to my favourite brand.

Twining's have really great customer service and this is a tea that I won in one of their competitions.

This is a black tea with "juicy fruit flavours"- from Elderberry Strawberry, Vanilla, Orange, Marigold and Rose.

Picture from the Twinings website

I am entering unfamiliar territory as this is a tea that is best drunken black, and I usually like a good splash of milk in my mug.

When brewed, the tea is a coppery brown colour. In yesterday's Earl Grey,a redy tone was a little odd, but somehow tonight it seems right. The smell is nice and fruity and sweet, with a good strawberry scent. I followed the instructions, and skipped adding milk. The result was better than expected-the sweet berry flavour made an interesting addition and overall I found it to be quite refreshing.

The tea is packaged in individual ennvelopes, sometimes this can seem a bit wasteful, but I do like the fact that you can slip an one or two in your bag for when they are needed. I will be taking some into work to have there.

Twinings is very good at coming up with unusual and unexpected blends, they are very good at striking just the right balance and this is another prime example. Two mug fulls have been consumed this evening, and I am sure I will brew up again tomorrow.

Taylors of Harrogate Earl Grey Tea

When it comes to buying tea, I tend to have brand preference (you can probably work out what it is). This week however, I spotted some teas on the clearance shelf at the supermarket. As a bargain lover, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try a new brand.

The first tea I picked up was Taylors of Harrogate Earl Grey Tea, in it's sleek black box. This tea is getting reviewed first, as I was talking to a fellow blogger and Earl Grey lover (Laura- http://lovetealoveblogging.blogspot.co.uk/) and she mentioned that she would be interested to know my thoughts.

Picture from the Taylors of Harrogate website

An ingredients check reveals that I am drinking black tea with "natural bergamot flavouring with other natural flavourings (5%)". The tea bags are standard rectangles, nothing special to look at and to be honest there wasn't much aroma from the box.

Mug no. 1 had been mashing ready for drinking. However the phone rang at this point and it ended up sitting in the mug for just over the five minute mark. The resultant brew was an unappealing orangey colour, and when I sipped at it I could not taste the bergamot, just the bitter tannin.  The kind of flavour you get when you squeeze the tea bag (for me, it's a pet hate). This would not do. Kettle back on for mug number 2.

This time a strict 3 minutes is observed and... the weird orange colour is still there. I still can't smell the bergamot. There's a hint of it in the taste but it's kind of like someone has made a massive vat of builders and put in 1 Earl Grey tea bag and 9 regular ones.

My verdict is- this isn't the Earl Grey for me. It's a robust tea that will go down well in the office, where it's all about the quick caffeine fix and no-one has time to drink more than a third of a cup anyway. If I take it out of the box, no-one will realise it's Earl Grey and I won't be accused of bringing in more posh tea.

As an Earl Grey, this is disappointing. I am not feeling any bergamot vibes and I have had to reboil to make a cup of real Earl Grey (i.e Twinings). Taylors of Harrogate cannot be accused of having produced a tea with an artificial soapy flavour, but neither have they produced a tea with a proper Earl Grey flavour. I'll stick with Twinings for my fix of the Earl.

Twinings Silky Pyramids: Liquorice Allsorts Earl Grey

For the past 18 months, this has been one of my favourite teas. The Twining's silky pyramid range is a bridge between tea bags and loose leaf tea; the loose leaf tea is enclosed in a delicate mesh pyramid, giving it plenty of room to move about. These are good quality teas, available in supermarkets.
Liquorice Allsort Earl Grey is a blend of whole leaf bergamot scented Earl Grey, with coconut and liquorice flavourings. The result is amazing, if you love the sweets then you will love this tea.

Image from the Twinings website

It's a tea with plenty of depth and body, able to hold it's own when partnered with foods- it goes nicely with a fried breakfast. However it's equally nice on it's own, and manages not to be overpowering. I find it makes a great pick me up.

This is a tea that I always have in my cupboard- other teas come and go but this is an essential.