Twinings of London

This has always been my go-to tea. Now that I’ve tried the loose-leaf Earl Grey Creme from Teavana, though, I don’t know if this will be the same for me. However, I think this will always be a staple in my cupboard, for the days when I just can’t be bothered to put out any effort. ;) Tastes really good with just a touch of Splenda and a splash of milk/cream.

This is my go-to tea for whenever I can’t decide what i’m in the mood for. I always take it with me when travelling, because there is nothing worse than bad hotel tea to wake you up in the morning! I like it best brewed slightly weak with a good bit of sugar, and a couple drops of lemon.

This is a pretty good backup to PG Tips. The loose leaf is better than the bags of course, but harder to get in Canada. The tea in the bags is often dust quality tea so you really have to be careful when brewing it not to over steep.

I find Twinings is often overpriced since it’s an import here, but it’s far better than any of the bland supermarket Orange Pekoe/ Ceylon teas that are the alternative in Canada.

And as always with black tea make sure your water is actually boiling when you pour it on for the best flavour!

Before steeping, the initial smell of the tea concerns me. There seems to be a lack of bergamot….ingredients say “bergamot flavoring” rather than bergamot oil. There is a definite citrus scent, though I am not sure how that will taste in combination with the bergamot.

The tea was a very dark color when brewed and had a strong citrus, almost lemon, smell. I may have let it steep too long, after reading other reviews I was afraid that it would taste weak if only steeped for 2 minutes. It really didn’t taste like a typical Earl Grey which is a problem for me. I think I would enjoy this tea with added milk and sweetener, but I do not enjoy it plain. Unfortunately, I could not distinguish the bergamot.

Trying this for the first time…..I’m enjoying my morning cup but it’s probably not something I would go out and buy over and over again. I prefer Morning Thunder or PG Tips for bagged tea in the morning. I added milk (as I do with nearly all black teas) and it overpowered the taste of the tea. My water was just “hot” and not freshly boiled though, so that may have something to do with it.

Edit: For my second cup, I steeped the tea with the milk rather than splashing it in once I was ready to drink it. BIG DIFFERENCE! Tasty.

I prefer my Earl Grey to be light on the bergamont and so find this to be completely acceptable.

Today, I sweetened my cup with tupelo honey which brings out lovely citrus notes.

I’ll admit, although I’m pretty sure I’ve had this in the past, it’s probably only ever been with lots of milk and honey, and never without.

At any rate, yuck. I’m reminded of Sinister’s tealog concerning it, and Captain Picard (I am a Trekkie myself, although I did tend towards Voyager—I was a fan of the Doctor), and specifically the quote “watery slurry” which is Twining’s Earl Grey.

I didn’t make it particularly hot—I need to replace my kettle, I really do—but before that, the bags smelt deliciously of Earl Grey. Sniffing the wet bag, and the tea, all I could smell was overpowering bergamot. When I sipped it, that’s really all I could taste. Water and strong bergamot. Now, bergamot is bitter, like grapefruit, but the bitter that I tasted seemed more like the kind you get when you go to take the zest of something and cut too deep into the pith.

I don’t know, just my thought.

The tea taste was watery and way in the background. I tried to add some honey, and it helped somewhat—the tea is slightly more noticeable, but overall still very… I don’t want to say yuck again, because it wasn’t horrible.

However, it did give me a thought. Earl Grey scented cologne. Anyone? Interesting, eh? I remember seeing a how-to for green tea perfume somewhere. I’m sure it could be adapted. It’d give me something to do with the rest of the teabags. Although I’ll try drinking this again when I can get the water hotter.

Today I drink this tea in the afternoon without anything adding in it. For this tea, I prefer the one with milk.

Another tea that I absolutely adore. I like this one with sugar and milk, and I think that Twinings makes the best Earl Grey around.

One of my favorites by Twinings. Sweetened with either white or raw sugar, and a bit of milk. I love how light it tastes.

Thought I’d try this English Breakfast tea by Twinings this morning. Personally I wasn’t impressed.

The tea is dark and has a very strong wooden aroma, which carries over into the flavor. As others who have reviewed the tea have stated: a long steep time and a bit of milk can take this tea to the next level.

Good tea, just not great.

Just finished my second cup of this brewed loose….its pleasantly good,not fancy or exotic but good english tea time tea.Puts lipton loose to shame. I could drink this anytime of day,its not a kick in the pants like twinings irish breakfast, but just a simple decent english cup of tea.This will be a staple in my cupboard from now on.