Twinings

I can’t say I really like this tea. I will admit I’m not the biggest fan of flavored tea, so take this note with a grain of salt I suppose.

I’m a big Earl Grey fan, my normal everyday tea is a mix of 3/4 black tea with a 1/4 Earl Grey and its magic every time.

Twinings seemed to have cracked it with this blend as the bergamot isn’t overpowering nor is it lost amongst the tea itself.

Really a top blend and my preferred premium Earl Grey.

I have heard so much about the amazing effects and soothing qualities of Camomile so I thought I would give it a go.

Well the flavour was really watery and it reminded me of how you dilute down squash for toddlers. Not really anything there except a slightly bitter and herbal flavour. As my mum would put it, its a ‘lawnmower tea’.

Decided that that may have been a fluke or bad bag so tried again but with honey this time to sweeten it a bit. I reasoned that the flavour may use the sweetness to bring itself out. The honey made it slightly more drinkable.

Maybe its an acquired taste but this really isn’t the tea for me.

Ewwww – hibiscus, blechy, blechy!

Anyways I’m having such a good time in Vancouver that I’m actually staying another couple days. Par-ty! XDD

Oh wow…this tea is pretty darn good, even though it’s from a teabag and decaf. I wasn’t even keeping track of how long I steeped it, but I think it steeped pretty long, in boiling water…yet not a bit of bitterness! I added in some milk and Splenda, and the tea is strong enough to handle it. It tastes creamy, orangey, sugary, and flowery. It’s late, and I apologize if this note is just blah. But the tea itself? Good enough that it’s making me feel better since my kitty, who peed all over her own winter coat fur bloomers, backed up into my leg 5 minutes ago and got pee on me. :(

(Side note….should I take her for a haircut? It’s the middle of winter, but my apartment is really warm…)

I don’t really like light black teas, but this wins me over. Even the bag version is still fragrant and good. Of course, I will try the loose tea version soon.

Again, another light tea, but quite enjoyable. Mixed it with some honey and was a perfect mix to quell my irritated throat!

Ok, so I’m trying this tea again with my “early” morning study session. I’m trying to get better at trying the same tea several times in a short period to make comparisons between more accurate.

This time I set out to only steep this tea for 4 minutes, less then I would ordinarily do for a black, but with the aim of avoiding the beastly bitterness of the last cup. However after 4 minutes a little sip told me the brew was very weak (hot water with a hint of tea flavour) with already a distinct bite of bitter in there. So I’ve concluded that the “intense bitterness” I was complaining about in my last tasting note was probably, well, just what properly steeped straight Earl Gray is supposed to taste like (rating will have to be adjusted I think).

I let this cup steep for another two whole minutes or so (need. morning. jolt.) and the bitterness increased a bit, but seemed much more bearable today for some reason. A bit of 1% milk, honey and one sweetner package has a nice morning cuppa for me.

Earl Gray has been officially been brought back into my life.

Preface: I don’t like Earl Gray tea. Mind you I determined this from drinking a friends London Fog latte, finding the taste unpleasant, feeling sick to my stomach, and declaring Earl Gray the worst tea ever which I never wanted to drink again.

But…I happened to be given a tin of this tea and waste not, want not…

The dry tea smells like…tea. Now my nose is so far from being sensitive it’s not even funny, and I thought I could catch an “other” sort of smell which I took to be the bergamot, but mostly this smelt like black tea to me.

Last time I made this for my boyfriend (who is a big Earl Gray drinker) he commented it was a little weak, so this time I put two teaspoons of tea in (my teaspoon is smaller then regulation size) for my somewhat jumbo mug (I really have to figure out how much it holds). Steeped it for 5 minutes on the dot.

The liquid tea again mostly smelt like…tea. Are there like some exercises you can do so your nose can pick up subtle notes of this and that from a tea? I don’t have the knack. But it was a good smell, it made my brain want to drink it. Which stopped after the first sip, which was face-scrunchingly bitter. Second sip was bitter too, as was the third and the slurp. Now I should say I don’t tend to like black teas straight, so this may have just been a normal tasting Earl Gray and my taste buds been spoiled by milk and sugar.

I dumped in a bunch of 1% milk and honey, and then a Equal sweetner packet to finally end up with a cup I was able to drink, though any notes of anything in the original flavour are long gone.

I based my steep time off other tasting notes for this tea, but I think next time I’ll try a shorter steep and see if that helps with the bitterness. Also, I just stirred the tea and realized how much of the leaf somehow made it through my infuser, it’s possible the bits of tea sitting in the cup have been over steeping and contributing to the bitter taste?

At least my tummy feels fine so far…

This I’s a teabag. The teabag smells like black tea. I steeped this for a short time. And the color turned out to be a medium brown. This tea like a black tea that is not overwelmingly strong but not weak either. I think this is very pleasant.

I think vanilla teas are really growing on me. This one was actually pretty good. I thought the blackcurrant would overpower everything, but instead the vanilla was the predominant flavor with just a touch of blackcurrant. I’m not a fan of teas that are too fruity, so this was perfect!

Fairly bleh. I mean…I can SMELL the apples and cinnamon…and I can taste them along with a hint of raisin but there isn’t a tea taste at all…would probably be better iced, I guess. It’s more of a juice.

I haven’t had Gunpowder Green for quite a long time and I have no idea why I have gone so long without it.

A lovely taste and colour.

I don’t dislike green tea, but it’s not my favorite. I can appreciate a good cup when I’m invited or when I receive one as a gift, but I rarely invest myself. However, there are times when I want that clean, distinct grassiness, straight in warm water without no additives.

Today I had something slightly greasy for dinner, and wanted a cup of green tea to cleanse it out. Usually I go for Puerh or Oolong, but I didn’t have any on my cupboard. Instead I tried this complimentary tea bag I just got from my last Twinings order, and it does its job. Steeped for a minute and a half, light and just right for my taste.

Dark, rich… almost coffee-like in its strength. Needs quite a bit of milk! (I’m a wuss.) An excellent morning drink.

My first Irish Breakfast tasting was a Twinings Irish Breakfast tea, and it was delicious. All I needed to add was a touch of sugar or honey, and that was fine enough for me. I find this to be a great way to bounce back from a rough morning.

My cousin gave us a sample of this for Christmas one year, as part of a “let’s get together for tea” gift, and it’s been a winter favorite of mine. I like it as a drink to warm up with after a morning of shoveling snow or being out in the cold. Nice mix of spices, not overly spicy but not weak either. Definitely not a strong black tea, more of a mellow black tea.

I got this tea bag as a complimentary sample from my Twinings order. The orange scent is pretty strong, closer to Popsicle or soda drinks rather than plain orange, like many other orange flavored teas. I’m not a big fan of citrus with black tea (Bergamot being the sole excpetion), and I felt like the orange was too overpowering.

For someone who likes orange flavored teas, this may be okay. I had it hot and straight, but left half a cup to go cold to see how it might potentially taste iced, and it’s definitely a possibility. I stayed away from sugar though, because the tea already smelled very sweet.

I mixed this with the cream tea I bought from adagio. completely eliminates the need for sugar and the aroma is intoxicating. it’s like the essence of yumminess. I didn’t use enough tea to last through multiple infusions though.

It was ok this time, I put in less leaf, but somehow it was more bitter. I’m not sure what happened. Got me the caffeine boost I needed, but next time I think I’m definitely gonna go for the full teaspoon.

Finally used enough to make a nice strong cup. Note to self: used one teaspoon with small blue cup.

1st infusion: I think I’ve discovered the meaning of malty. This was a nice wake up kick. Also, got more tea flavor this time instead of just bergamot. Might be a little too strong for me, but maybe it’ll just be a new stage in tea drinking.

2nd infusion: More drinkable, less of a kick, more soothing. Still a fan of how great this is without sugar and milk. =]

Update: 3rd infusion: More like bergamot scented hot water, but in my opinion, still plenty yummy.

This could be one of those “now that I’ve tasted loose leaf, I’m never going back.” It really is much better than bagged tea. I never thought I would drink a black tea this smooth. The flavor isn’t very strong because I didn’t use much leaf and I put it in a big cup, but it’s still really good.

I say it could be one, because while I like it a lot, 1) I don’t have the budget to buy as many different kinds of loose leaf tea as I have in bagged tea and 2) this tea still isn’t good enough to make me unlazy. I’m glad I bought a tin of loose leaf so that I can enjoy the good stuff when I like and still throw teabags around when I just don’t want to think too much about the particulars of my tea.

Note: This is a review for the bagged version.

It is currently 7:30pm. I have an exam tomorrow, so I made myself a thermos tumbler full of Irish Breakfast with a splash of warm milk to keep me awake. It’s a malty, masculine tea and goes very well with milk, and sugar too, if you feel like it.

Twinings version of Irish Breakfast is, like others noted, on the strong side, somewhat rough; the “drill sergeant” metaphor isn’t far off. I have yet to try this straight, and when I do I will write another tasting note. I am on a search for my favorite Irish Breakfast, and plan on trying several different companies before I order my loose leaf tin. I wouldn’t count this one out.

Note: This is a review for the bagged version.

I really wanted to try this tea because a good friend of mine, who hates bergamot and therefore cannot stand earl grey, said she liked this tea, and described it as a “lighter earl grey.” Light, yes, but definitely different from earl grey. The citrus note stands out more than, say, the lavender-like intensity from earl grey. I sometimes add milk to my earl grey but I think this Lady is best straight, though I will try it with a bit of milk on my next try.

Overall, it was a light tea, and though I prefer Earl Grey, it was a nice change. I saw the loose leaf before and they were quite pretty. I would like to try some, but it is not my favorite tea; I don’t see myself buying a whole tin.