Marks & Spencer Tea

Sipdown! 234/365!

Mixed the last of this with a resteep of iHeartTeas’ raspberry/apricot for a jug of iced tea. Husband sadly remarked that it wasn’t as good. Which is true, because this tea is honestly pretty terrible. Hopefully he still drinks it! Next up for him is probably Lupicia’s Paradise Green, which smells like it will be even better than the raspberry/apricot, at least for sweetened iced tea.

Made this into iced tea. Unfortunately, though I was careful to brew at a lower temperature, it was quite astringent. I tried diluting, and sweetened it, but the astringency persisted. We did drink it, but it wasn’t the best, and overshadowed any nice raspberry flavour that might have been there. I’ll try a shorter infusion next time, but I’m not sure if it will help.

Sipdown! 173/365!

And just like that, this entire box of 20 teabags is gone. Poof. Won’t miss this; nothing special about it.

Secondhand tea from a friend who was moving away, and the latest iced tea candidate. I used 8 teabags for a pitcher of iced tea, which seems to be about the right amount, and this made a very typical hibiscus-heavy iced tea. No elderflower to speak of. A little woody-tasting (I wonder if it’s the licorice root?), but alright when sweetened. Leaving most of it to my husband to drink, though.

Somehow I managed to go through a whole box of these teabags without adding them to my cupboard or spreadsheet. At least I’m pretty sure it’s these teabags. The box in the picture looks similar if memory serves me (I threw out the box a while back and kept the teabags elsewhere), and the description both on here and the M&S website lists cocoa nibs as an ingredient, but the label on my teabags said ‘Rooibos, Vanilla and Cocoa Nibs’ rather than just ‘Rooibos and Vanilla’. I also thought I had reviewed this tea before, so there’s something weird going on somewhere here. Never mind. I actually really like this tea! It’s soothing, malty, chocolatey and reminds me of a chocolate digestive biscuit. It’s dark and rich, with the kind of depth I rarely experience in rooibos blends, and even more rarely in chocolate teas. It’s delicious plain, pops with sugar, and mellows out beautifully with milk. It’s genuinely a really lovely night time tea option that I would seriously consider picking up again, if I can ever figure out which tea it is, exactly.

Sipdown, I guess, even though it was never logged on here. It still counts, right? 144/396.

Great balance in aroma, with aniseed, fennel and liquorice subtle permeate each other, a a bit of dried apple lies in the background.
The taste is distinctly sweet both liquorice and aniseed, bu fennel is also strong. Too bad the dried apples are barely noticeable.

Nice warming infusion.

I need to agree with some other opinions written about this tea : these are excellent tea bags (in my opinion most probably the best quality and taste you can get from a teabag available nationally in a major store)… and when I finished the first box I bought (without writing about it in steepster), I bought another one. As someone else said : the Kenyan tea is quite strong, and in UK this implies mostly that people add milk…I like my tea black, but indeed, better steep it a short time if you want to avoid it getting too strong (I don´t really think it gets too bitter, it gets “deeper” if that makes any sense). It´s quite funny : when I bought the tea, the cashier at M&S told me that he had lived in Kenya and that he really believed that one of the better teas (and coffee) came from there, but that in general they are underrated. The strength of the tea is rated as 2, and I agree again with a comment I read on steepster that some teas rated 2 actually seemed smoother than some rated 3 (the same applies for M&S´s single estate Rwandan Rukeri teabags). I compare both with coffee (as I like it : strong and full-bodied).

Definitely one of the better bagged teas I’ve drunk recently. The label says " strength : no.2 medium" and I say “hurray”, as it has a definite taste, which might convince some people to add milk. I particularly like its finish, deep and full (confirmed by its fragrance), and not at all the bitterness one often finds with stronger bagged teas. A perfect alternative for coffee if you are on your own.

I bought these teabags a short while ago and they flew!!! Not that the tea is that exceptional, but it’s an easy drinking black tea, not too strong, and can stand it when steep time is not ideal (read : too long). So, as far as I am concerned, a decent cuppa made with a teabag.

That´s it…not too fond of the lemony taste, so I gave the box to a friend who could appreciate it more.

When I saw the name “Empress Grey” I was quite curious as I hadn’t seen Grey in this title before. I love Earl grey and I can appreciate Lady Grey teas, but this Empress Grey is more like a blend between a very aromatic Earl Grey and a lemon tea, and I’m not such a fan. Too much lemon for my taste.

I’d rather huff this than drink it. The tea base was weak and disappointing BUUUUT the aroma is AMAZING. I finished my cup of tea at 11am, and by 8pm my room STILL smelled strongly of bergamot.

This is kinda unexpectedly good for the price (comes in a box containing 50 bags).
Fills the whole room with its cheery citrus-y smell. Supposedly an Earl Grey lite, I found it to be rather interesting. It’s sort of different from the Lady Grey. Lighter on the tea, but stronger on the bergamot+citrus flavours. Brews into amber liquor. Really fragrant for an afternoon’s break.

My go to breakfast blend. Nothing comforts a Brit like M&S and this is their finest tea in my opinion.

I’m very surprised at the poor reviews. Have M&S changed the recipe? The bergamot aroma is very strong and nice, and you can definitely taste it in the tea, though more delicately than with other Earl Greys. It is admittedly a bit bitter but I like it that way. Fits my tastes very well.