Twinings

Not the best, but still recommending this tea for those who enjoy the tase of Chai. There’s a good amount of caffeine and the tea itself doesn’t taste bad. My only major issue with this tea, is that is tasted rather artificial and the tea was almost too sweet without any added sweeteners (a good indication of artificial flavoring). With that being said, this is an acceptable Chai if there’s no other option…. but, I don’t believe I’ll be purchasing this specific Chai tea again.

This my favourite tea, i can’t go back to normal tea flavour. I have been drinking this tea for nearly 10years. Only Woolworths in Australia stock it, i wish more supermarkets would have it.I think it is really soothing and satisfying in taste.

I don’t love assertive bergamot, so I’m not a big straight-up Earl Grey fan, but I use this to make my version of a “London Fog”: double strength tea leaves in half mug of boiling water, steeped for 4-5 min; heat and froth milk and add to fill mug; add 1/4 tsp good vanilla, and sugar or sweetener to taste. Mix, sip, and swoon. Such a gorgeous treat!

hmmm this tea should have been wonderful with a name like French vanilla but it was nothing like I expected it to be I conjured up vanilla icing and well I was let down lol my bad and well I at least wanted a hint of vanilla flavor but I didn’t taste any ,it is an alright spicy tea just not one I will be purchasing I bought the advent calendar and this was in it, so glad I got that so I can try all of their teas

348/365

I love a good vanilla mint blend, so I had to revisit this one before completing my challenge. I tried it in its previous incarnation, when it was one of the Sensations range – that was a long time ago! I kept seeing it in the supermarket, and it was calling to me, so I gave in and bought a box for old time’s sake.

It’s simple, but delicious! There’s lots of peppermint, as you might expect, and it’s cooling and refreshing in the way only peppermint can be, considering it’s actually hot. The vanilla adds a creamy sweetness, very reminiscent of toffee at times. The flavour is spot-on murray mint, which I think is the intention.

I’d say this is easily one of my favourite herbal/caffeine-free blends. I’d forgotten how much I liked this one, but I think in future I’m going to try and keep it around. It’s well balanced perfection. Considering it’s a bagged supermarket tea, it would be hard to give it higher praise!

This is my partner’s favourite bedtime drink and has been a staple in our house for some time. It’s readily available from our local supermarket and I’ve lost count of how many boxes we’ve gotten through. I hadn’t drank it myself for a while, so last night I made a pot of it for us to share.

I have to say, this is hands down one of my favourite bedtime teas, too. While I do love a good herbal to take to bed with me, this one is set apart from the others due to the spices in it. The combination of the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom with the chamomile and apple is just amazing. Even when I’m drinking something different to my partner, I can still smell the spiced apple drifting from his mug. The vanilla in this is also stunning.

I’m glad I revisited this last night. I was reminded of how much I love it and of what a great blend it is.

Oh, and for the record… both my partner and I slept straight through until my alarm went off. A job well done!

346/365

Considering it’s a bagged supermarket tea, it does actually taste of cherry. I know I shouldn’t sound so surprised, but there it is. It’s quite nice initially, but there’s a distinct resemblance to cherry tunes or cough syrup by the end of the sip. Unfortunately, it’s a resemblance that only increases! I think it might be the liquorice – which is pretty subtle – but which adds a hit of sweetness the blend as a whole doesn’t really need.

The cinnamon is more muted than I expected, and mostly appears at the beginning of the sip. I thought it would be the other way around, for some reason. There’s no hibi in this one, which is unusual for Twinings, but to be applauded. It doesn’t need it, after all. There is some roeship, but it actually works reasonably well to temper some of the initial sweetness, so I can’t gripe about that. It’s not ultimately equal to it, but it has a good go.

I quite like this one. It’s not perfect, but that’s okay. It’s a little on the sweet side, but it does taste of cherry and cinnamon (bonus!), and it’s a nice warming, fruity cup on a cold afternoon. I’ll have no problems finishing my box.

The aroma is powerful delightful, you don’t have to steep long to get the full taste. I would recommend this to anyone.

Completing my trio of Russian Caravan staples (until I find new ones!), this is the least smoky of the three. The underlying flavours are malty & smooth, so all in all a very pleasant cuppa.
Lack of strong smoky notes can be a positive, as it is less likely to overpower food eaten with it, it’s better in warm weather & you can have more than one cup without feeling like there’s an old bonfire site in your mouth.
However, I LOVE the smokier Russian Caravans, so I have rated the Tamborine Tea & T2 versions higher.
Despite that, this is a very good all-day tea, where stronger smoky teas perhaps should be restricted to earlier in the day.
I’ve read reviews where they say the loose leaf version is better than tea bags… I can feel another purchase coming on…

I may be a OCD about doing things in the “right” order, & it might be alphabetically last of the five flavours, but it’s not coincidental that I tried this one last… I’m NOT a big fan of watermelon. So I didn’t really expect to like this one & on first taste I thought I wouldn’t. Overpowering watermelon was all I could taste. But brewed a lot longer than the recommended 3-5 minute minimum, suddenly there’s strawberry & subtle mint in the mix.
Still never going to be my favourite, but very pleasant & refreshing. A good alternative to the other four flavours.

NOTE – I LOVE the sound of the flavour that Steepsters from the UK have reviewed, Coconut, Pineapple & Green Tea. Why do they have that flavour & we Aussies don’t? Conversely, it seems like Brits don’t seem to have the divine Passionfruit, Mango & Blood Orange, or Lemon, Orange & Ginger… Why Twinings, why?

This flavour is just pipped at the post as my favourite cold infusion by the Passionfruit, Mango & Blood Orange.
If you brew the 3-5 mins recommended, the rose is strong & sweet at first, like Turkish Delight. But as I have learned with all these cold infusions, they benefit from more time, to let the secondary flavours come through. In this case the lemon emerges more as you infuse longer, & reduces the fairy-floss sweetness of the rose…
Awesome, & so refreshing!

By far my favourite of these cold infusions & it smells divine too!
The passionfruit is strong at first, but as with all of them, a longer brew time (recommended 3-5 mins – I say at least 10 mins) brings out the secondary flavours – in this case, blood orange, which I love.
The mango is so subtle it is hard to detect… a pity, because that would have added to the richness of the taste, but the drink is still great without it.
This will be my go-to flavour all summer!

I really like lemon and I really like ginger, so this should have been a favourite of the five In’fuse flavours, but this one lacks some sweetness which would take the edge off the sourness of the lemon and the zing of the ginger.
A bit stronger on the orange taste?
Perhaps a little honey?
Or more infusion time?
NOTE – On my second try, I did infuse for longer & I liked it a little more. There was a hint of orange coming through, which I didn’t get the first time.
On the other hand, the ginger was stronger too & left a gingery aftertaste in my mouth, which wasn’t unpleasant, but not as refreshing as the other flavours.
I can imagine it being great if you have a sore throat, especially with some honey added.

In trying to kick my Coke Zero habit, not that I drank a huge amount (1-2 mini cans at work), but sugar substitutes are turning out to be mostly pretty bad for you. So I was looking for a cold drink with no added sugar, but that would give me the refreshment & energy boost I need on a hot day at work.
I was commenting to a workmate about this & coincidentally, she had just bought a pack of this cold water infusion, which Twinings released in five flavours recently. One sniff & I was ready to try it myself, hence…
It tastes strongly of Ribena (blackcurrant) at first, but the longer you infuse it (definitely at least 10 mins), the more the blueberry & apple come out & the better it tastes.
You can reuse a few times too (I have gone up to 4) but if you plan to do that, keep the infusion times to the recommended 3-5 minutes otherwise there’ll be no flavour left by the third infusion…
It tastes great if the water is iced, but if that’s not an option, you can still drink it at room temperature too. How good is that?
Next, the other 4 flavours…

I wanted to love this tea. I tried another rooibos, orange & cinnamon tea & really enjoyed it, but unfortunately it was a sample of a discontinued line.
So when I found a similar offering from trusty old Twinings, I thought, Wooo hooo!
The first smell of the dry bag was WHOOOAAA, cinnamon! There was little else.
Once infused the liquor was a lovely coppery colour & initially the aroma was completely opposite the dry bag smell – a divine strong orange, with occasional whiffs of cinnamon.
The taste was… disappointing. Thin, is how I’d describe it… Yes there was some orange, and a little cinnamon, even a bit of nuttiness from the rooibos, but there was something missing. It didn’t have the well-rounded mouthfeel of the other tea I’d tried.
My conclusion: to paraphrase Mr Darcy from Pride & Prejudice – “Tolerable, but not tasty enough to tempt me”… Another one for the “It’ll do until I find something I like better” list.

My quest continues…

NOTE – This is not the same as the UK (& USA?) Orange & Cinnamon Spice.

Yay! My first tasting note on my new tea adventure!
I had high hopes for this blend – I absolutely love the tart flavour of cranberry (favourite cocktail, a Woo Woo, or Vodka, Cranberry & Cointreau for those of you who don’t know). And pomegranate comes in close, so what’s not to like, right?
The liquor was a deep cherry red, almost like a good shiraz, and the aroma was really rich & well-rounded. The cranberry came through strongly, but there wasn’t much pomegranate there.
Now for the taste – which was a bit of let down…
The strongest flavour was hibiscus (which I don’t mind, but it wasn’t the point of choosing this tea). But just when I was thinking, meh, there was the taste of cranberry on the back of the palate, which lifted the whole mouthfeel to refreshing. I never detected that pomegranate though!
So I’m still searching for the perfect cranberry (& pomegranate) tea, but this is a good option in the meantime.

Good and aromatic. Not too sour. Rich, deep flavour. Medium like on my scale.

I don’t drink this tea as often as I should since it is one of my newfound favorites. The last time I made it, I think I let the tea sit too long. The taste was a bit overwhelming… At least I’ll know for next time.
10/12/2018

My mom gave me a packet of Twinings Jasmine Green Tea tea bags, and I tried it today. It doesn’t have as much as a flowery scent as the tea leaves. The flowery taste is slight, but it doesn’t linger very long. I think I’ll stick with tea leaves
10/05/18