Twinings

Tastes like artificial fruit flavoring and…pencils? Extremely astringent even though I brewed it for less than three minutes. I’m going to make something else now…

308/365

This is the last of the Cold Infuse flavours I bought to try, and my least favourite of the four. They’re right in suggesting that watermelon is the primary flavour, because it absolutely is. It’s a little too candy-like to really be refreshing, though; there’s a cloying sweetness that’s just too much, especially after you’ve taken a few successive sips. Mint is the secondary flavour, and I don’t much care for it as a flavour in general, so I’m fairly ambivalent about it here. It’s okay, and works with the watermelon (it actually helps to regulate the sweetness a little, so in some ways I wish it were stronger), but it doesn’t freshen things up enough or really bring the other flavours to life. I was hoping for lots of strawberry, but unfortunately, I didn’t get it. It’s fleeting at best, and mostly I can’t really taste it. The watermelon really dominates. I’m glad I tried this one last, because if I’d gone for this one first I probably wouldn’t have bought any more and some of the flavours are really spectacular. I suppose there’s a black sheep in every family!

Ehh, tart and not drinkable unless you love hibiscus or add a lot of sugar. The raspberry and strawberry flavours are very obvious and real-tasting, however the hibiscus ruins it. While it is one of the better tasting fruity herbals (distinct strawberry and raspberry flavours rather than generic berry or artificial flavours) it still isn’t for me.

301/365

I lay the blame for this one firmly at the feet of Arby, whose tasting note for this one meant that I immediately had to seek out a box – fortunately, it was pretty easy to come by. This is a chamomile-based sleep/bedtime blend, but is slightly unusual in that it also features spiced apple, vanilla, and passionflower.

I really like it. It’s sweeter than such blends usually are, and not as obnoxiously herbal. The apple is nicely prominent, and It’s almost juicy, in the way of apple juice (the kind that’s not from concentrate.) The vanilla adds a softening creaminess, which is always welcome, and the chamomile is pleasantly buttery which works well with the creaminess as well as the apple. The spicing is fairly mild, but there in the background. Taken as a whole, I’m reminded quite a bit of the spiced apple juice I made last autumn with another Twinings blend – Spicy Chai.

I haven’t really tried enough of this to comment on its sleep-inducing properties, but I will say that I slept really well last night, which is unusual for me. Long may it continue!

296/365

Another of the Twinings Cold Infuse blends. This one isn’t quite as unique as the other two were, but it’s very juicy! It reminds me a lot of Ribena, but I’m guessing it’s a bit healthier. There’s lots of apple, which is a big plus in my book. It’s just in the right side of candy-like; sweet, but still distinctively apple-y. It’s definitely green apple, too – there’s a nice sharpness to it that contrasts well with the sweetness.

The blackcurrant is second in terms of prominence. It adds a slightly sharp tartness that works well with the apple. The whole thing is rounded out nicely by the blueberry, which is really very subtle, but there in the background if you’re looking for it. It adds an edge sweetness and works really well with the other two flavours. It’s super fruity, super juicy, and just all round nice. Glad to have tried this one.

Yesterday, after riding the new Alien Swirling Saucer in Hollywood Studios, my husband and I ventured over to Epcot for a little of the Food and Wine Festival. Seeing as we’re passholders with plans to spend a longer time there in a few weeks, we just popped into a few shops around the World Showcase to look for anything they might have gotten in since we were last there in May. (We don’t do summer in Disney. Too hot. Too busy.) Twinings added some little drawers across from the register that you pull out to find some loose leaves under a plexiglass with holes in it for smelling some new teas. They only have 4 available to smell. As soon as I got a whiff of this, I was sold. It smells heavenly if rose. I want to wear it. I want to bathe in it. For now, I shall drink it! The aroma is so lovely and strong of rose, if you aren’t a fan of the fragrant flower, then this isn’t one for you. It tastes more of rose than black tea, and I find it absolutely amazing. The quality of tea is also new from Twinings. The tea comes in little pyramid bags filled with nice sized leaves. Looks like a much pricier tea. Apparently, it was a limited edition flavor in the UK, and now it is only sold in the Twinings shop in Epcot. Just one of the many unique Twinings finds I’ve purchased at Epcot. Highly recommend to rose fans!

If you want a light mint tea, without much other flavor then this is the one for you, Its not bad just not much mint kick to it I prefer.

290/365

Only one thing to say about this: awesome!

It’s very candy pineapple up front, much like those dried crystallised pieces you can buy in health shops. As it strengthens, the coconut becomes the (slightly) more dominant flavour, although not in a way that’s soapy or overpowering. If anything, it’s very clean and fresh tasting, and deliciously tropical. This one would have been perfect on those hot days we had recently, and I’m a little sad that I only discovered these in the last few days.

The green tea base is very subtle, although probably the cold brewing helps with that. It could also be that there’s just not that much green tea in each sachet, although there looks to be plenty of something green, but it’s so finely shredded, it’s hard to tell what it’s supposed to be.

Love it, though!

Coldbrewed. One teabag, 450mL cold water, 15 minutes

hmm this is too acidic for my liking. I do find the English do black current exceptionally well, but the hibiscus is overpowering the fruit. I can taste lots of blueberry and current flavour, however I think I would taste more subtitles if the hibiscus was toned down and replaced by dried apple or something else with some sweetness. Next time, I’ll have this with sweetener and hope it brings out the blueberry.

289/365

I found these in Sainsbury’s the other day. I’ll admit that while I’ve not been actively looking in the tea aisle, I’ve walked down it often enough and I don’t remember ever seeing these. That makes me think they’re a fairly recent release, and yet the timing seems a bit odd. If I’d known about these, I would have been all over them during the hot weather we had recently. They seem like the perfect thing. Anyway, today was warm still, so I took the opportunity to try them anyway. Maybe we’ll have an indian summer, and they’ll come in to their own then? Part of me hopes not, since I absolutely love autumn.

To provide a bit of context, these are silky pyramid-style affairs, specifically intended for rapid cold brewing. I can testify to that – I added 1 bag to the recommended 500ml water for my walk to work this morning, and it was ready to drink within 20 minutes or so. Possibly sooner, except the bottle was in my bag and I wasn’t really paying attention. I opened it when I got off the bus, and it was perfect at that point. The packaging states that these are heat treated to be “safe” for this method of brewing, and in all honesty that’s something I’ve never really thought about before. I’ve cold brewed teas in the fridge for years, and figured they were fine because the temperature is controlled. I suppose you could add these bags to water that wasn’t very cold, and then walk around with it, and that might be a problem, but it’s not one I’ve ever considered.

In terms of the flavour, I was really impressed. I went in to it with mild trepidation, given that it’s a bagged offering from a big commercial brand, and one that specifically states that it contains hibiscus. I needn’t have worried, though, because it turns out it’s exactly what it claims to be. The initial sip is very lemony, in the way of freshly grated lemon zest, which is then followed by an epic candy-rose flavour. It’s sweet, but not overpoweringly so, and not too floral. As someone who isn’t big on floral teas, I can say that with confidence. It’s not subtle, but it reminds me very much of turkish delight in that it’s a scent almost as much as a flavour. A really immersive experience, if you can say that about a tea. Added to the fact that it was really quick and easy to prepare, it’s very much a winner with me! I’d quite like to try it in lemonade or sparkling water, just to see what the carbonation does for the "lemonade"aspect, but I liked it so much, I went looking for other flavours straight after work. They could very well be my new obsession…

This is a newer blend from Twinings that I enjoyed so much I intend to buy a box.

The clove and cardamom are fabulous. The chamomile gives a sweet, dry hay taste. The apple is like dried apple chips (not green apple candy or fake apple flavour), and that works nicely with the vanilla bean and cinnamon. The clove is incredible, though. Vanilla and fragrant clove is a stellar combination. It was so good I had to resteep it a few times just because I kept drinking the entire cup. For a bagged herbal, this exceeded my expectations.

(Backlog tea from last week)

I picked up an assortment of teas at the original Twinings shop in London and have been trying to review them all before I forget what they tasted like. This was coldbrewed 5 minutes. It made a great cup of iced tea because I really like ginger/lemon combinations. The ginger was spicewy (just the way I like it!) but the green tea kept things balanced. The green base was not high quality, I think it is just a generic bagged green. With the great spices to help cover the green tea flavour, this was an enjoyable blend to drink.

This is a very tasty blend that tastes quite herbal with the citrus, ginger, and echinacea. The cinnamon isn’t as strong as I expected it to be. The hibiscus was barely noticeable

This tea has a beautiful colour. It has a sweet smell, like a fruit tree’s leaf (a cherry tree, I thought) and also smells like fermentation. The tea itself is very present in that smell. It reminds me of one of my primary school friend’s garden – she had a giant cherry tree in the middle of her garden, where we used to play in the summer. I’m very fond of these memories.
The tea has a very floral taste, almost herbaceous. It tastes like a footpath that leads into a forest going up a mountain. It almost reminds me of sap.
It also opens up in its flavors as it cools down, which means that drinking it slowly is really interesting.
Oh, and the loose leaves are beautiful.