Twinings of London

This is my go-to tea when I need caffeine, like this morning as we’re out of coffee at home. It’s reasonably priced but not cheap quality, and no matter how long I brew it, it doesn’t get a bitter or stringent flavor (which is good, because I drink my tea black). It ain’t coffee, but it’s damn good tea.

So like many reviewers of this tea, I’m drinking it only because I’m sick and can’t be bothered to go to the store to get real ginger. It’s not bad really for a bagged tea. I added a slice of lemon and lots of honey, so my assessment of the taste will be off, but there’s a nice little ginger kick. And I can just leave the bag in my mug and add water as needed, which is perfect because I really can’t deal with much more than that right now.

For a bagged tea this one’s pretty good – no bitterness, nice and smooth, quite flavorful. It’s especially delicious when drinking while eating something “cinnamony.” I really need to try more loose leaf breakfast teas.

I’ve only ever had this in the bagged form, but I can say it is miles better than Lipton.

This is a solid morning tea, not too strong but enough to get me out of the fog. I had it with milk and honey this morning. The honey gave it a strange after taste, but overall it was pleasant.

I was craving a hearty tea with milk and sugar- comfort foods, you know- and decided on this one. Nice and full bodied, malty, smooth. The milk rounds it all out, and the sugar brings up the tea flavors, brightening the cup a bit. Just what I needed on a Monday morning.

Black tea with milk is probably the tea I drink the most. Black tea is perfect for every occasion and it’s a basic tea, that isn’t too fancy but still has a nice tradition to it. The good thing about black tea is that most of the black teas you can buy are really cheap but still taste great. Black tea is also one of the few teas where I think it’s ok if it’s bagged. In the UK almost every brand of black tea in the supermarket is acceptable, however outside of the UK it’s hard to find UK brands. Other brands are ok as well but if one prefers a UK brand then this is the gold standard that is found most often in supermarkets around the world.

For me 4 minutes is the perfect steep time with boiling water and a generous amount of milk that brings out great toffee flavours that make this tea one of my favourites.

Your basic, simple breakfast tea. Dry mouthfeel, full-bodied tea taste. Definitely the slight malty taste of an Assam is there, though my palate isn’t picking up anything too strongly other than the taste of tea. I love this one, I really do, but it’s rather one-dimensional compared to some other black teas I’ve tried.

This is a fairly nice tea. I drank it way too much (several times a day) and got over it, but it’s good. It’s pretty strong on the ginger, I feel, and then the next note is really lemongrass (rather than lemon). Needs more lemon, but otherwise, I think it’s good. I drank it sweetened or else it just tasted really wrong.

This is a great way to calm yourself down at night before tucking in. It soothes the mind and relaxes the body. Good flavor, not too much lemongrass.

For a mass produced tea, I like the aroma and flavor. It steeps very quickly.

A flavorful strong morning tea. It’s smooth going down but the aftertaste has a bite to it. This may sound a little ridiculous but it tastes bold and strong. This tea wakes you up.

This isn’t very exciting, but is relaxing to drink. It has a smooth, slightly malty flavor with a tangy lemon finish. There’s a little bit of a metallic aftertaste when you drink it plain, but it’s quite good with honey.

I know this is not a very respectable tea, it isn’t even a real tea at all, but after months of turning my nose up at this box I realized over the weekend that it was exactly what I needed. Again. I am also almost out of it and am going to have to go pick up more. I apparently keep this in stock just in case.

When I don’t feel well I become a spectacularly bad homemaker. This means that sometimes I run out of fresh ginger, or lemon, or gasp BOTH!! In these situations I have found a bag or two of this can stand in. I can add it to chamomile and honey, or mate, and it is the perfect base for a flu/sore throat/scurvy/black death/general ick recovery potion. Over the weekend one of these and a spoon of honey got the S.O. to actually enjoy a mate, and ask for more! It’s just a good basic lemony-gingery tool to have in the arsenal.

By itself though it is not much. I always add honey or, well, something. By itself it tastes too much like the soapy side of lemongrass. Oh, and it is VERY forgiving of steep time and temp.

This is the tea I drank last week-end for breakfast in a hotel. I had already had it before in the same conditions but did not remember what I had thought or not paid enough attention. This time I did.
The taste was ok, stronger on the bergamot than on the tea side, which is to be expected considering the fact there are not tea leaves in the bag but only small pieces, that leaks black powder at the bottom of the teapot.
For a widely available throughout supermarkets at a reasonable price, I found it reasonably pleasant. Not a tea I would buy, but one I would really prefer to a classic yellow lipton for instance !

I have a special story with this tea.

Few years ago I had the habit to drink Earl grey every morning at work.I liked tea especially because I was not a great coffee drinker.
I was buying any type of Earl Grey in tea bags and often very cheap ones (I was drinking a lot of cups !)

One day I had a cup of one of this cheap Earl Grey and just behind a cup of Twinning’s Earl Grey…it was a revelation ! The difference of taste was so evident.
I understood I had to taste and explore other teas and I began from this date to increase my interest for teas and began to use almost exclusively loose leaf tea.

Even if I know Twinning’s Earl grey is made of “dust in bags”, I should thank twinning for the electroshock. However it is a “regular” tea, classic, made to be appreciated by many publics.

This is a very comfortable tea and it is quite nice.

I continue drinking it some morning at the office when I am stuck with an empty tea tin and by the way need to buy tea at the local supermarket.

My favorite bagged tea at the moment. It’s so robust and flavorful, perfect for the cold morning or dreary day. Pick it up if you want a quick tea on a lazy day.

For a bagged tea, this isn’t half bad. Presumably, it’s easier to get things “right” when it’s a straight-up tea, unflavoured and not a blend. This is your run of the mill rooibos: pleasant enough, but certainly nothing to write home about. I love rooibos in all its woodsy glory (maybe I was Elven in a previous life—my ears seem point enough for it), and I wanted something simple and caffeine-free, so I’m happy. (I’d have been happier had I not burnt my tongue, but hey, that’s not the tea’s fault. Clumsy Smurf, me.)

Tea amount: 2 bags
Water amount: 16oz./~475mL
Additives: ~1tbsp Demerara sugar

I like my breakfast tea to be strong, this one unfortunately is quite mild. The aroma is great, however.

Well, I haven’t been here in a while! Breakfasttime with toast. My kettle’s packed away in the basement. :(

This has been my basic go-to tea for a while now. Making it in this dratted hot pot in my new house, which doesn’t have a stove… Temperature is a complete guess, as I’ve figured out a method to keep it from getting too hot and steeping too long/getting bitter, but it’s not a precise method.

Sometimes I get up at 4:30 AM to feed the cats, and I’m just not in the mood to go through my stash to find a foofy tea. That’s when I reach for my tin of looseleaf Twinings English Breakfast. It’s just a nice, inoffensive black tea that I enjoy with Splenda. English Breakfast has always been a favorite of mine and I don’t have experience with any of the more expensive brands, but Twinings has always satisfied me.