English Tea Store

Mmmm! I can’t believe the monks were allowed to drink this, it’s sinfully delicious!

It’s a bit creamy from the vanilla, and definitely fruity, I really like it!

Though I have to google “grenadine” because surely this wasn’t made with that syrup that they used to put in my Shirley Temples when I was 8. No way were the monks allowed to drink that stuff.

This is something I will have to buy! All you who hate monks blend, feel free to send it my way! :)

Happy Saturday to me! Thank you Sil, for another winner!

(about 95 degrees for 3-4 min)

My morning cup. This is an ok Ceylon, but it was too light for my first cup of the day. This is more of an afternoon tea.

The tea has a very slight floral taste as well as a note of hay. It was a bit dry on the back of the throat. I was reminded of late summer when everything has been baked by the sun for weeks on end. Dry and crisp but also a little hazy around the edges.

This tea was from the teabox, and while I liked it it’s not a tea I see myself buying. It was nice to try though.

This smells delicious dry. Not really caramel though. The flavour is toffee like, without being overly sweet. Will have to try this as a cold brew.

Thanks to Lazey for this.

Sipdown!

This is going into my swap out box. I was fairly sure that i wouldn’t enjoy this as it’s both earl grey AND lavender but i’m open to trying new things :) It has a really nice start to the tea..but then the lavender comes out of nowhere and ruins it. I am REALLY not a fan of lavender.

However, if you are a fan of lavender or early grey…you might really enjoy this tea.

Tea?yay! First cup since Sunday and it’s soooooooo goooood!

mmm sipdown! I really like this one. May have to think about picking it up periodically when i want to change things up a little :)

Soooo close to a sipdown on this one, but not quite! inspired by the recent talk of black pearls and yunnans, i pulled this one out this morning to see if it was as delicious as i rememeber. Turns out i actually like this one a little better than i originally did, not that i ever thought it was bad. It’s got a smoothness to it that i really like, while maintaining that black malty delicious goodness. YAY!

mmm having a cup of this courtesy of my dear friend in Florida. I am enjoying this one quite a bit this morning. Hoping for a few sipdowns today but we’ll see how things go. May just dig into my reserve club teas today sicne i’m on my own to putter around the house :)

Sipdown! Trying this cold brewed today and letting the last remainder of this go to a better home. Mostly just want to let others try this as well in case they fall in love with it. I think i prefer this iced as the jasmine and lichee seem better balanced than when it was hot.

Another sample sent by my friend in florida. :) Love her to death for passing off a few teas to me, since most of them are not teas i would normally purchase for myself. This way i’m getting to step outside my comfort zone and try things that she enjoys.

I’ve enjoyed the one lychee tea that i’ve tried so i figured even with the jasmine this one had a decent chance of being something i’d enjoy at least a bit. I was right, though i could certainly do without the jasmine. I’ve got at least a few more cups of this left, so i’ll be trying this as a cold brew for sure. I want to see if that brings out more of the lichee or lets the jasmine take the dominant position.

As a hot brew, this is mostly lichee with a splash of jasmine that comes out more through each sip.

SIPDOWN! oh yeah…need 160 more of those… lol

Yesterday’s adventures were a rousing success and lots of fun but now my cupboard is over 310 teas…so uh i need to get my drink on especially since there are a couple of swaps on their way as well. FML. hahah talk about first world problems.

Really enjoyed this one, though i DO prefer the majesties version.

mmmm not too shabby a blend though i think i still prefer the majesteas version. Still haven’t bothered with a side by side comparison yet. someday soon though as this one is almost all done. almost. not quite. darn it!

Mmmmm I think I need to do a side by side of this one with the version from majesteas that I have. I think? I like their version better but I can’t tell for sure. Received this from my dearest friend in Florida – she sent me a few of her favs to try out. Really glad to try another version of this tea, since its one that I enjoy quite a bit (as long as I drink it hot lol)

A friend sent me this as it’s her favourite blend. While there are jasmine notes in here, they don’t overpower so I can get past them in the tea. I believe I’ve had another version of this in the Christmas tea swap and I think I’m feeling about the same on it. It’s not a bad blend, but there isn’t enough going on for me to really get behind this tea. It’s just kind of there.

Thanks Val for the sample! (This is one of our Steepster Tea Club selections!)

I like this tea – it’s a mix of a lot of things but I immediately think ‘this is fancy’ when I sip it. There are just so many flavours in it that it’s a treat to sip. I’m getting jasmine notes too. This is a great afternoon cup to drink and re-steep!

Thanks for the sample!

I got a sample of this from Sandy’sCuppa.

The dry tea smelled almost identical to Earl Grey. Which, as everyone already knows, I love.

The tea brewed strong and dark, which is what I had expected from the assam base. The tea had a very subtle taste of bergamot, not as strong as I usually prefer. I did not taste any jasmine while drinking the tea, but it definitely is pronounced in the aftertaste. Because I was impatient, I also brewed up a cup of flavoured matcha at the same time as I was drinking this tea. The Buckingham palace tasted better with more pronounced bergamot after I had a sip of the matcha. I think because of the sweetness in the matcha. I did not add any sweetener to the Buckingham palace tea but I think I will try that next time I brew it.

I love that there is assam in the base of this tea. Assam is my most favourite black base. I think it works well with the other flavours in this tea.

I steeped for 3 min, but I think I will do less time for next brew.

Thanks so much for including this one in the traveling teabox, Alphakitty! I’m always ready to try any Earl Greys. There really should be more literary teas. What pairs better than books & tea? This one is interesting to look at with the purple bluish flowers. There is a nice sweet, creamy bergamot flavor. I didn’t think there was much caramel flavor, but maybe it was just this cup. The steep color looked like a deep caramel though. I love this one! It’s a great mix of things.

Another one that Alphakitty included in the traveling tea box! This is one of those chai blends that is more black tea than spices. Surprisingly, this was still spicy, even though there were hardly any spices visible at all. I didn’t find much vanilla flavor at all, which is odd since I just read Alphakitty’s tasting note and she noticed that the most and we even had the same steep time. The black tea was very brisk, since the site said to steep for six minutes and I went for seven or eight. I like brisk though. Not my favorite chai, but pretty good! (Honestly, I love chai, and it was the first tea I had, but I’m not sure I’ve found a favorite yet.)

Very floral. I love how the tea is so layered with flavors. Its Earl Grey, then it’s more English breakfast. I used a French press, steeped for 4 minutes. Will definitely buy more!

Another generous sample from Dinosara, which couldn’t have come at a better time. Crappy day, tasty tea. Tea makes everything better.

I couldn’t tell you too much about the actual tea used here. I’m not sure if it’s just subtle, or if the chocolate flavor cancels out my ability to smell! Reminds me a little of sassafras; when I added sugar it was basically identical to a chocolate-flavored Tootsie pop! (I like that flavor, personally, so it’ll definitely be a good one for when I need a candy fix.)

Sipdown tea #3!
Finished my sample of this. I really liked the flavors in this one.

Thank you Alphakitty! This tea smells wonderful! It has a nice citrusy, berry aroma to it. The flavor is pretty great. It has notes of orange, lemon, strawberry, currant, and a little bit of a floral flavor. The black tea base is present with malty/sweet notes. It almost reminds me of berry lemonade. But better. Because it’s tea :]
Thanks again!!

The ETS was selling 25 count pouches of this tea bagged for pretty cheap so I decided to give it a try. It’s has a sickly sweet smell so I thought I would try drinking it straight thinking it would not need sugar- it is not as sweet as it smells and was a little bitter. But once I added a bit of sugar it was quite sweet and tasted just like maple syrup. I don’t think I would buy this tea again but it’s not bad. I bet kids would love it.