Twinings of London

one of my favorite ways to start a day…

made a huge cup of it today. and its better to make a little cup of it. its just enough like that – like drinking coffee – less is better… i mean still good its just better to make less and a bit stronger and sweeter…

i made it quite stronger with less milk and a big spoon of sage honey. and… omg this is just perfect :P i’m loving it…

First time in my life drinking tea with milk. Actually not bad and less weird that i have imagined. Goes well with pure black tea. I don’t know if i hit the right combo. Needs more experimenting. But i wont mind doing that ;)

I stole few teabags from dad. Never really liked basic black teas. Figured i should give it a try again after trying so many different teas lately.

Color – dark clear red.
No particular smell but i got a bad cold so that might easily be a false statement.

For start trying it hot without adding sugar, lemon or milk. Never tried tea with milk tho. Kinda curious about that. OK I’ve tried it and doesn’t seam bad but no point in writing about it because i still don’t have my taste back. I can just barely tell how it tastes (not as sour and strong as i remember). Being sick makes it healthy to drink teas but also slightly harder to enjoy them ;)
Give it another try in few days…

This tea is fantastic! I guess I could call this my introduction to black tea since I used to go for only green, although I’ve had black tea sometime before. This tea has a very full-bodied taste, which was not too strong nor too weak. I really couldn’t ask for more when it comes to a good basic cup of black tea. Oh, and I learned that I don’t really like milk in black tea either because it seems to mask some of the tea’s unique flavor and it brings down the temperature a little. Anyways, this cup was enjoyable enough to convert me to a black tea drinker from green!

Add: My initial taste note of this tea was full of praise, but now that I’ve had more experience with black teas, I just don’t think this is strong enough. I can visually see this after I’ve finished the cup and see that it doesn’t leave much of a stain as other strong black teas. It’s still good enough for what you can easily get at the supermarket though.

I actually think even the bagged Earl Grey is quite okay. Or it could be because I had the Tazo version earlier and it made me cringe. But for some reason I like this with not boiling water. Perhaps I just have a really weird tongue.

A good ‘wake up’ tea, a lighter tea than I normally drink but its perfect to clear away the cobwebs. I don’t think I have tasted the maltyness mentioned but then I have never really looked for it.

Quite a, and I hate to use this term, meaty tea, it’s a substantial tea that won’t disappoint and its often one of few English teas readily supplied when you go abroad. Not that I’m saying I won’t sample the local teas as well its just that most hotel through it in for free, and I’m not one to turn down free tea.

Sorry Irish Breakfast, I wish I had you for St. Patty’s, but alas the English are just too tasty. Also the only Breakfast tea I had in my cupboard this morning.

Here, have some Joyce to feel better!

“When I makes tea I makes tea, as old mother Grogan said. And when I makes water I makes water … Begob, ma’am, says Mrs. Cahill, God send you don’t make them in the one pot.”

Happy St. Patrick’s everyone!

Bought the loose leaf tin of this yesterday and not only is the tin super cute (I may now be hooked on cute tea tins!!) but it tastes ten times better than the bagged kind! If there wasn’t conclusive evidence that loose leaf kicks bagged’s ass, I think this is it. Yum!

This is my go-to need-to-wake-up-it’s-morning tea. I find I can have a cup of this (with milk & sugar, I still have to work up to appreciating black teas straight) and be good for the rest of the day. However my caffeine tolerance is super low, so it might not work for all. Delicious. I’m looking forward to trying loose leaf versions of this!

As I said in another post, this is the tea that got me into drinking hot tea. There are better examples of Earl Grey that I have found both in loose and bagged form, but I always keep a box at the office. I consider it a guilty pleasure or a constant friend that will just always be there.

I see why lots of people don’t like this tea. I sent some to my friend, and she immediately texted me “it smells heavenly,” only to text me “I feel like I just drank perfume, yuck.”

I always have mixed feelings about earl grey. I have to be in the mood for it. I don’t like this Twinings tea bag straight, but it’s a very convenient and affordable base for my tea latte. With foamed milk and vanilla syrup (or other sweetener), this becomes a “London fog latte,” which can be very soothing. There are better EGs out there, but I like to have half dozen of these on my cupboard for when I suddenly feel like fixing myself an aromatic tea latte.

I have a bit of a dry scratchy throat and a bit of a dry sniffy nose today. I am hoping it’s from not sleeping well and not from getting sick. I thought some warm tea would be soothing and picked this out at the last minute from the cupboard. It tastes exactly like you might think a lemon and ginger tea would taste. I’m not super fond of it though. I had originally thought I’d like it more than I did. I did steep it for less time and liked it better this way. I believe this one was a gift from mom, who sometimes buys me tea when she buys herself some.

Note: This is a review for the bagged version.

I like Twinings English Breakfast with milk, and sometimes a brown sugar cube as well. But this time I decided to try it straight, and it didn’t disappoint. It’s not a fabulous morning cuppa that will blow your mind, but a reliable and affordable (this is very important because I drink a lot in the morning, esp. with milk) breakfast blend.

Note: This is a review for the bagged version.

This time I had it straight. Just standard English Breakfast, nothing special, but not bad. I added a little bit of warm milk to finish up the latter half because it turned a little bitter, and that rounded it out. If I’m actually having breakfast with this tea, I will drink it straight, but otherwise I will add a bit of milk. Overall, a solid budget tea, like most other Twinings tea. I prefer Irish Breakfast, though.

Note: This is a review for the bagged version.

It’s morning and I needed to wake up, so I made a strong cup and added some milk. Basic English Breakfast, nothing special but so far I like it. A bagged tea I wouldn’t mind. I will have to try it straight sometime.

Last night I stepped on nasty sheet of ice without realizing, fell down, and almost broke my nose. Well, I didn’t break my nose, but I woke up this morning to find out that my right foot is too swollen to fit into my clogs even half way. Every step was painful and getting from the bed to the kitchen was such a chore, and I was limping at the speed of a sea turtle at a dune.

Why am I bothering to write this misery in this steepster-verse full of happiness and joy and kindness and tea? Well, because I did make it to the kitchen, and while making myself an ice pack, I boiled some water so I can make myself a cup of tea to make me feel better. And this Prince of Wales was the one I chose. Usually this is too mild for breakfast, but I was aching and cold, and just wanted mild, soothing tea past my throat.

This tea is like an everyday friend, not overly friendly or gorgeous or welcoming, but calm and elegant, always ready to give a smile when you’re feeling somewhat down. Not a cheer-up tea, but a tea that makes you think that it isn’t all so bad. Oh, and “everyday” includes the price tag. Likely to be a staple on my cupboard.

Let’s see, this is my fourth cup of tea today and second cup of Prince of Wales. And I have to say that for a tea bag, this does the job very well. It’s a mild Chinese black good for cold late mornings or in the afternoons.

Since I am not very adventurous when it comes to Chinese Blacks (I tend to stick to one or two for a long time), this may be a staple on my cupboard for quite a while. When I run out of tea bags, I’ll order some loose leaf.

Second try. I don’t know what went wrong the first time, but this is a solid basic Chinese black good to enjoy anytime of the day, though you would have to like mild tea. For me, that is what I like about this tea.

Sometimes I want to take a break from all those assertive teas I enjoy and relax, without frills or flavors. This is pretty good for a bagged tea in doing that job. One of the staples on my cupboard is an affordable, mild, but drinkable Chinese black, and this is a candidate. I will have to try the loosed leaf version.

I am hesitant to give this tea bag a low rating, and here is why:

I like Chinese Blacks when I want a mild cup of tea straight. I smelled this tea and liked the calm but smoky scent. When I say smoky, I’m not talking about extremes like Lapsang Suchong. For me, the most noticeable characteristic of Chinese Blacks (Keemun, for example) is the slight smoky flavor in the otherwise round cup.

I liked the tea for the first couple sips, but later on there was a strange astringency that I did not expect from this tea. It was not from oversteeping, so I am wondering if I should use more water; I used a bit less than the standard, reading other people’s review that it was too mild. I am not sure what went wrong, but it was an unpleasant experience. However, I try again in a day or two and write another tasting note.