Whittard of Chelsea

A friend just got back from a trip to England, and she brought me back some lovely tea. I got a sample pack of 3 tins with 25g each of Whittards English Breakfast, Assam, and this (Original Blend), A box of peppermint tea bags (a much sweeter peppermint than what I usually get, but lovely all the same), and a novel little set of tea bags with holders in the shape of characturized Royal Family (I believe containing basic black tea, I’m assuming so because I don’t see anything on the package, and I have yet to open it).

Having been “friend zoned” by a longtime love and then informed that another special person in my life is getting married (which came up very soon after she’d professed her love to me), all in the span of less than 12 hours, I’m feeling pretty broken hearted. So I figured I’d try one of my new teas in hopes of picking up the pieces.

As it’s a CTC style loose tea, I only used 1tsp of leaf in my 12ish oz cup, rather than the 1.5tsp I tend to use when it’s a whole leaf tea. I have a Breville multi-temp kettle, and tend to use the slightly cooler “french press” setting for my black teas, rather than rolling boiled water. I find the slightly lower temp brings out more of the sweetness of the leaf, and minimizes the astringency. That, and I can drink it sooner! haha

This really hits the spot. It’s bold, but still light enough to drink straight, the way I like it. The kenyan tea gives it a good robustness, but the Assam smooths it out and the Ceylon brings it all together with a light sweetness.
I did a short steep (about 1m30sec) the first time, worried I might make it too bitter, so I was able to get a second steep of equal length out of the leaf. I got a teeny bit of bitterness so added a pinch of palm sugar, and ohmygoodness, that hit the spot!

This is definitely what the doctor ordered on this drizzly, cold, blah day!

This was the first pot of the day. It was just kind of picked at random. But it was very enjoyable :)

Thank you Ellyn! I think this is the tea I received in the swap. Well today has been very interesting and long. This tea is nice. The bergamot is actually quite light. This is a very light tasting tea. I’m getting some floral notes. I enjoyed this! Thank you.

Thank you Ellyn! I love me some Moroccan Mint. I ordered some from Whispering Pines and the label said to steep it in 212 degree water for 30 seconds. I thought it was a bit odd and didn’t think it would turn out good but for some reason I find it more flavorful and bold rather than steeping it like a normal green. I pretty much chugged this down after a HUGE meal. I had a tummy ache :[ But it’s gone now :D
Thank you again :]

Packaging: The tea was shipped to me in a wonderfully designed box for each individual blends I received. Inside each box was a bag full of tea leaves, much like the image above. It’s not resealable, but we did have air tight tins handy so it wasn’t a problem for us.

Smell: Before I say anything about what I think of the tea I would like to say that my cat seems to love the smell. I spilt a little on the floor and she wouldn’t stop smelling it. When I smelt it I didn’t blame her it smells DELIGHTFUL! It does seem like I have lit a candle because the fragrance has filled the room and it is quite lovely. Definitely a great blend to fill the air with a safe, fire-less “candle” ;)

First Sip Thought: “Wow….CINN-A-MON!”

Taste: To carry on with the previous category, you can taste the orange and rooibos quite well but I would say the most predominant taste is the cinnamon itself. Which to my boyfriend, is excellent because he knows what rooibos taste like and if he’s looking for a rooibos fusion he doesn’t want the predominant flavor to be rooibos. If he wanst that flavor he will just steep a plain rooibos. I would actually describe this tea as phenomenal. It is quite good and I highly recommend it. I do prefer tea that you do not have to add milk or sugar and this tea is quite good by itself (obviously with hot water). I am struggling to explain the unique taste of this tea but it certainly is unlike any other so I have nothing really to compare it too so I would just suggest that you try it yourself to find out. I think this blend would also be amazing to try iced! I’ll be sure to stock up on this blend when the weather warms up. When you try it out, make it fun and get creative with the endless possibilities.

www.theteacupoflife.blogspot.ca

A really nice Assam. Fruity and lightly sweet – creamy mouthfeel.

2nd cup today. At my parents’ house so nothing better to drink

Better than your average teabag, this is a decent tea that brews very strong and so goes particularly well with milk.

This tea smells very fruity, but it doesn’t taste like what you would expect from the smell. I almost can’t taste the fruit, but it’s still a good black tea.

At the tail-end of a day of back-to-back meetings, I made a cup of this tea for me, two of my regular office tea pals, and the security guard in the entrance to our building. It’s cold outside, and some of them are sniffling with the cold, and so the cup was very gratefully received. When you make yourself a cup, take some time to look around and see if anyone else won’t appreciate a comforting beverage, especially at this time of year. You may make someone’s day…

Managed to have a cup of this at work yesterday, before all hell broke loose. Can’t really talk about it, but let’s just say that I had a very interesting 4 hours, and that instead of leaving work early, I left at 20:30, in pouring rain and freezing cold, with nothing but the memory of this tea to sustain me.
A good, smooth, always-nice-to-have-around tea, that is completely dependable.

This tea smells of dried fruit when dry, and is smooth and sweet and silky when brewed – but with a slight astringency that makes it not entirely docile. A good afternoon tea, that can easily be brewed and rebrewed.

A new batch – this is notedly less astringent, and this smooth and rather light bodied tea is becoming an office favourite for an afternoon pick-me-up. A well-mannered, slightly shy tea, that is immediately likeable.
Takes milk admirably, but take care to brew it much stronger, and it tends to brew on the lighter side of Indian black teas.

Had a lovely cup of this to end my day. Smooth and comfortingly simple

Smooth creamy tea, quite astringent but still wonderfully tasty. Astringency disappears when taken with milk. Good solid tea

Glad someone before me already came right out to say this is a dud. I tried it in tea-bag & loose form. Both were extremely vile & pukey. There’s NO ROSE to me. Even as a fruit tea, it doesn’t q work. Would give this minus ratings if I could.

This is a good, gentle Darjeeling, which is a kind introduction into the world of Darjes, if you are new to it. A colleague picked up this tin at work and said, “I love this tea’s smell, let’s make some”, so I dutifully brewed up a batch. This is no morning brew, as it brews light (as all Darjeelings do), and it actually doesn’t have the famous, desirable “muscatel” notes, but rather more citrusy, and with an ethereal note to it. It lacks the amazing body that Ronnefeldt’s Darjeeling Earl Grey has, but it still is a very good, bright tea.

This tea is not part of Whittards usual range: they were selling a few pouches of it in the summer of 2011 and I happened to pop one into my already bursting basket on the way out :)
This Darjeeling is delicate, and brews to a very light yellowish-green colour with a delightful gentle citrusy smell. The tea is smooth, with a slight astringency and a wonderful (yet not overpowering) citrus flavour. I love to drink it in the evening after supper or as a refresher in the summer. Wonderful tea if you can get your hands on it.

Something is funky with Steepster’s cupboard. It doesn’t show the number of reviews properly.
Anyway, had this yesterday, as a breakfast brew. I’m running really low on this, and it’s no longer stocked by Whittards, so I’m taking my time with it. I’m trying to view beloved out of stock teas as I do out of stock fountain pen inks – another one will come along, perhaps even better or more interesting than the one that’s gone.
A strong, bold, bass-y tea, it thrums it way down very smoothly, especially with milk.

I was really tired this afternoon at work, so I brewed a strong cup of this, and since I had milk at hand, added a “spot of milk” in it too. Great tea, although my Marriage Frerres French Breakfast takes milk better. Not many brews left in this caddy, I’m afraid. Will sorely miss it.

Running rather low on this tea, which is dismaying, because Whittard’s have stopped making it (or so it seems). A big bold tea that was a welcome mid-morning pick-me-up today, especially since I’ve been coming down with something today. So vitamin C, tea, chicken soup and throat lozenges have been the order of the day.

Had a strong cup of this with milk, to wake me up after being up late at work and waking up way to early. A classic “builder’s brew” kind of tea.

First morning cuppa. Brilliant way to start the day

Drinking a cup while at an annoying seminar at work. Comforting. A very smooth cup, dark reddish brown with a golden yellow halo.