TWG Tea Company

Another that just doesn’t work for me. I’m getting cough medicine and grass. Definitely NOT something you would want in a tea. Thank you MissB for the chance to try it but this is one I will be avoiding in the future.

another from missB this one has pineapple in it…and as result, was a much tastier option for me versus paris singapore but still just wasn’t cutting it for me. LIkely the result of the “green” of the tea. I’m fairly particular about my green teas…most are not up my alley. Still though, for people who like green teas, this is a nice one.

Final Count yesterday: 69

Trying to catch up on ym tea drinking so that i can get my new teas in to my cupboard. I had this one a few days ago – it’s another from missB. Sadly, cherry for me either works or it doesn’t and this falls in to the “doesn’t” category. I’m ok though…more tea for everyone else to have! haha

Grabbed a 100g bag of this from Harrods in London just because of the smell. It made me think of Victoria, BC in the spring when the city is pink with cherry blossoms. This tea smells like that: fresh, sweet cherry, and a touch floral. Drinking it isn’t as amazing sadly… There’s a sight bitter and dry aspect to the tea that tells me the base green isn’t great. I knew I shouldn’t go for a green, but the smell… Oh God the smell!

As I don’t have a variable kettle while traveling, I used boiling water cooled 17 minutes, and steeped for two minutes. Had to add a touch of sweetener to make the cherry flavor pop even a little bit.

Also, no ingredients listed, but was told in store (and they triple checked) that it’s only a cherry flavor used.

This is an absolutely AMAZING chai, if you like cinnamon and other really strong spices. It’s never bitter, it’s always a strong brew. TWG makes really high quality teas and I would highly recommend this Chai.

A refreshing minty tea that is heavy on the spearmint with just a hint of creamy vanilla. I found a canister on sale at Dean & Deluca for 50% off, which is a bargain for the quality of the product. I probably wouldn’t have purchased it at full retail price ($30 USD) but at $15 for three ounces of lovely tea, I’m very satisfied.

So in accordance with a suggestion that was made to me a few months back when I asked about TWG Teas, I decided that instead of asking for opinions on the company, I’d stick my neck out and try their tea myself.

I went for a breakfast tea within the price range of below 7 USD / 50g. There were four: London Breakfast, Mediterranean Breakfast, Royal Breakfast, and… forgot the last one. Anyway, the Mediterranean had whole leaves, beautiful things. However, and this might be my tea noob nose, but I couldn’t tell the difference between it and the other three. This one stood out, in a very good way. The smell was… very sweet. In retrospect, it might remind me of Heart of the Old Tree, but a lot mellower.

When I asked about that, the clerk said it was a blend – Chocolate, apparently – and that it was popular with the ladies because of that. While I really liked the look of the whole leaf Mediterranean breakfast, the intoxicating scent of this broken leaf blend won the day.

I bought a pack – the tea parlour felt like I stepped back in time. They used a balancing scale with cylindrical metal weights to measure it. When I commented offhandedly about the use of such “ancient” equipment, my dad told me that these weights are actually more accurate than digital scales or something. I dunno. He’s a doctor. Maybe he knows. I asked about filters because it was broken up and I was worried they’d get past the spoon I use to filter my whole leaf teas. Offered to sell me a reusable cotton one for ~5 bucks, but I decided against it. Figured I’d use a kitchen strainer.

In any case, I steeped it up. Used the Chinese eyeballing method (because dedicated tea thermometers are probably expensive) and set it to “fish eye-sized”. Set my tea timer to 2:30, but between walking from the kitchen counter to the PC and typing in the URL on my browser, I’m betting it took another 30 seconds.

Quarter teaspoon of tea.

Poured myself two cups (one with milk, one pure).

Pure: It has that marvellous scent, still strong. Sort of… roasted, now that I think about it. Roasted chocolate, then? Zero astringency. Rolling it around my tongue, very smooth. Again, zero astringency. I might even call it… dare I say, flat? Did I do something wrong? Still, it’s rather interesting. The lack of astringency is very interesting, if strange…

Ah, no, there it is. Just a mild, barely noticeable drying, only with the cup almost empty.

Second cup is darker, came from the lower half of the pot. Put in some milk, maybe a tsp. Comes off as very caramel-ish now… almost like drinking evaporated milk. It’s funny to say this, but apparently the tea was overpowered by the milk?

I’m guessing it’s probably because I have a habit of stingily using less than half a teaspoon of tea for a whole 350ml teapot.

Still, I think I’ll have it without milk, unless I start using full doses.

Overall a little flat, but I think that’s because I use much less tea than recommended, and steep for less time. Give it a try anyway.

This is really lovely, as TWG always is. I like to consider this tea a ‘green tea’ version of the usual black chai masala. It’s spicy and yet tempered with a sophisticated sense of restraint that makes the blend smooth and not as punchy; I think its name is very apt. Great to wake up to if you don’t like teas that kick you between the teeth.

Sip down! How long have I had this tea?! Since the husband went to Korea years ago? It’s still holding up well. Breakfast tea types seem to do that. Less added flavors to go bad? I used to add a spoon of sugar to every cup of tea years ago, but have tapered off of that significantly to the point where I usually skip sugar altogether. I tried with this tea, but it’s so much more tasty with it. It’s a good hearty well rounded cup and one that I would like to restock sometime, if I can find it.

Edit: THIS IS MY 800TH TASTING NOTE!!!! Level unlocked! :D

I’m on my third morning in a row with this tea! I’m either really bored with the expansive options in m cupboard, or this tea is really good. I’m having it with a slightly sweetened soy creamer and it isn’t quite as magical today. I think the sugar really brings this cup up a notch. I have been craving hearty malty breakfast teas lately and can’t seem to remember what my favorites of the past have been. I guess that is one of the downsides of not rating teas. I would consider ordering more of this, but Vansing Distribution Company which has taken over for The Urban Tea Merchant doesn’t have this or London Breakfast in stock. There is only one other tea that I want more of that they have in stock which makes it hard to justify the $9 shipping. Oh the troubles of a tea lover!

Oh god the first sips are bitter! Almost coffee like and with a similar deep color. The bitterness lessens as I sip on, but it never gets to a tastes good level. Cream and sugar to the rescue? OMG, yeeeeeeeeeesss! Cream and sugar changes the game. The bitterness is knocked out. The tea is rich enough that cream and sugar doesn’t take over and the strong taste of tea comes through. With the sweetness of the sugar there is a honey like note that I get that transforms to a tea flavor. This cup is quite enjoyable now! I’m still sometimes surprised by how adding cream or sugar or adjusting brewing techniques can significantly transform some teas! I’ll have to remember this tea when I want a hearty breakfast tea.

I can’t find any mention of this tea online! My husband went to Korea and visited one of the Seoul TWG shops for me. I had asked him to pick up London Breakfast, but all they had left was a tiny amount at the bottom of the tin (and I’m learning it’s not anywhere near as lovely when it isn’t fresh) so the ladies sold him this as a similar substitute. This tastes nothing like LB, but it is a nice breakfast tea with cream and sugar. I tried it plain and I found it unpalatable, but with the additions it is nice. I don’t know what the cost was, but I’m sure I have had breakfast teas that were as lovely if not more, for a lower cost, that were easier to get. I’ll likely go through this slowly and not reorder unless I have some sort of epiphany with this tea.

I’m so glad the semester is over! I now have time again to write about the tea I have been chugging to get me through the day!

Lots of honey scent in the dry tea and once steeped. Not much flavor in the sip, which has a bitter tinge to it. The honey taste comes back on the aftertaste, but it’s more like a scent than a strong flavor. I’m having it without additions right now, but when I add cream it does change it a bit. The cream adds more of a base to the high notes in the flavor and makes the honey taste more tangible instead of all being on the nose.

Have you ever had a honey flavored candy? This tea tastes like a faint floral version of that. The aroma is lovely and a little stronger than the taste. I’m having it with a little cream and sugar which I think I prefer over having it plain. I’m not really tasting the black base at all. I don’t know that this will become a favorite, but I’m sure I will enjoy what I have. Big thanks to my hubby for picking this up for me in Korea! (He’ll never read this, but it’s out there anyway)

This is the second Chai I splurged on. I prefer this one to the Black Chai right now. It’s like a combination of Davids Tea Pure Chai and TAZO chai lattes. What would take it to the next level is if it had more spice to it. I find the chai I’ve tried so far by TWG have been slightly unbalanced. They have been spiced, but not spicey. I like a little bite in my chai. I’m not sure how to accomplish this in the tea but, it is a good candidate. One thing I need to do is brew these teas for less time. I will evaluate it next time I have it.

I had this tea upon visiting Urban Tea Merchant. I’d never had a milk oolong before, but I’ve seen enough tasting notes on various other bands to see that there is something special about it.

I only had the first steeping, but it was smooth. So smooth! I got the creamy taste as well. It goes down easily and isn’t overly powerful or fragrant. When you smell the dried version, it smells of kind of a sweet and sour milk, not buttermilk necessarily, but maybe something you might smell while enjoying bubble tea? Maybe condensed milk?

I enjoyed it and it’s going on my wishlist. If anyone has any brands of milk tea they would recommend please let me know.

The quest for Black Chai tea continues.

Bought this along with two other TWG teas yesterday when I was downtown. I steeped this too long and it was bitter and astringent. The ginger really comes through though. This is definitely a tea that is better with milk and sugar to enhance the spices that are in the blend. Right now it’s not on their website because it’s a new tea so I can’t even get the info on it. I will give a better review of this tea when I steep it properly.

At first sniff it smells like ginger, with spices in the background. I am not getting that sweet, spicy smell that I usually like in a chai. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t buy this based on smell when I was in the store. They made me a sample of it and I didn’t mind the taste of it (it was served straight, so not my usual preference for black tea.)

It has promise!

I can pick out ginger in this overleafed cup, but it has an alkaline flavor to it that is throwing me off. Yeah, I’m not into this one.

Tried cold steeping this tea… no good! First sip was a little alkaline with a ginseng tang to it. As I sip a little more, the ginger comes out, a bitterness arrives on the back of the sip and the ginseng hangs on in there. It smells great, like there might be cinnamon in there, but it doesn’t translate to the taste. Now the back of the sip is all bitter and ginseng and I’m done! No more cold steeping Istanbul!

Steeped at 175 for 3 minutes and poured over ice!
I’m liking this cup! The ginger is there, but is mellow. I still don’t get the juicy orchards, but the tea in the background is really well balanced. There is something a little more in the immediate after sip, but I can’t put it into words. I think I’m going to become well acquainted with this tea as the weather heats up!

After reading the description, I’m not sure why I chose this tea. I do like ginger. Maybe it was the combo of different types of teas? Maybe I’ll never know what I was thinking. I ended up steeping it at a low temp for a short period to avoid bitterness from the green and white tea, but not all of the leaves uncurled.

The ginger is odd here! Usually I find ginger to be a very bright high flavor, but it has a lot of depth to it here. My brain first thinks smokey and then I realize there is no smoke flavor. Adding sugar makes the ginger a little more crisp, but doesn’t do anything other than that. Cream really doesn’t add to it either. I get a hint of a hearty black tea that I didn’t taste before. It isn’t a bad tea, it just isn’t meeting my ever rising bar of expectations. I might try it cold steeped before I totally give up on it.

Overall, Istanbul is kind of boring. I think I might spend my weekends elsewhere.

I was likely attracted to this tea for the description of mint and berries. I’ve had a couple cups of this hot without exciting results and decided to try cold brewed. I get a lot of green tang, a little fruit flavor behind that and not much else. I’m not feeling it.

I just realized this is my first tea of 2017. I’d better step up my tea game because this is no way to start off a new year!