Better Beverages- Mini Tuo Cha

I was rearranging my tea cupboard today when I found two of these right at the back. "These" are Tuo Cha, or compressed tea.

The company I got them from is Better Beverage in Edinburgh. This is an unusual shop for this day and age as their website does not sell anything. I have not purchased from them in a while as they shut around noon on a Saturday. The shop is small, just a man behind a counter, but the man who runs the shop is very knowledgeable and friendly and makes excellent  recommendations for tea. I haven't been for about a year so I have finished my favourite blend from them is Arctic Fire.

The tuo cha is a little bullet of compressed tea. One of the nice things about this form of tea is that you don't need to think about how much to put in the pot.

For the first infusion I go for 2 minutes. The leaves need time to unfurl and release their flavour. On the second infusion however, you only need to infuse for the time it takes to put milk in your mug. The too cha  are good for 3 or 4 infusions.
The golden coloured liquid produced has a strong smell and taste, earthy and ever so slightly smokey. This isn't a subtle tea, and shouldn't be paired with delicate foods. But that's ok, because biscuits are not delicate foods.

Canton Tea Co- Yunnan Gold Pearls

I first came across Canton Tea Co. when reading Laura's blog. She has a wide range of tea companies that she has reviewed teas from, and I like clicking through the links to their website (and spending an imaginary million pounds)

What drew me to Canton Tea was actually the fact that they had some very reasonably priced flowering tea in their end of season sale. I decided that I may as well make the most out of the postage, and started browsing through the rest of their sale lines. They are a little more expensive than what I normally buy, but as you delve into the tea world what you discover is that the more you pay the better the tea.

This is one of the "taster packs" that I chose. It contained 7 pearls of tea, they are about a centimeter in size and you have to ignore the fact that they look like large rabbit droppings. The brewing instructions provided are easy to follow- 1 or 2 pearls, water at ninety five degrees, 250ml of water and 2-3 minutes.

I left 2 pearls for 2 minutes. When poured out, the tea was a lovely gold colour, without any little bits of tea dust. I checked the infuser to find that the unfurled leaves are surprisingly large, and nicely coloured in coppers and caramels as well as browns. I would have taken a picture, only it would have looked like wet leaves. Sometimes the camera takes away part of the magic. So here is a picture of the liquid instead.

My tasting notes told me to expect plum and caramel. I hadn't really thought to try and find plum in tea before, but now I understand as there is definitely something a little plumy about this taste. It's certainly fruity. And as for the caramel? It's there, in the aroma as soon as you pick up the mug, and in the sweet taste. It's a smooth tea, and I really enjoyed it- which is praise coming from someone who normally only slurps milky tea.

The second infusion of the leaves was just as nice- while using a standard teabag a second time is not something I would do out of choice, when a tea is of a good quality it is a perfectly acceptable thing to do.

I have enjoyed this tea a lot and look forward to choosing my next sample to try- there is 10 left...

More information on Yunnan Gold Pearls here

Twinings: The Queen's Daimond Jubilee Blend

I keep forgetting to review this tea- it is my "go to" blend at the moment, I've been drinking it every mornings as my breakfast cuppa, but I'm always in a rush to go to work so my mind is always elsewhere.

This blend is based on the Golden Jubilee blend, and I hope the Queen makes it to another jubilee so this tea can be reissued. A bit of research on wikipedia suggests that could be her Blue Sapphire (65th), or Platinum (70th). Blue Sapphire Tea- now there's a nice sounding name.

The tea itself is a blend of assam and yunnan, rich and malty with smooth and mellow. The leaves themselves are fairly large, with some lovely golden colours in among the dark brown- apparently that means there is a high tip content (i.e. its good quality tea). Twinings describes it as perfect and they are justified in doing so. It's robust and a real wake-me-up. Saying that, it's good at any time of day. It's quite malty, there is a tiny bit of astringency but nothing offensive to your taste buds. It's also quite a sweet blend, which I quite like in a tea.It's one you can use at all times, particularly in those occasions when you really need a cuppa to get you back on track.

I enjoy this blend a lot, and will be sad when I reach the end of it.

Fortnum and Mason- Cranberry Fruit Flavour Tea

Today I am going all posh with some Fortnum and Mason tea. I picked this one up in their post Christmas sale, and yes part of my motivation was owning a Fortnum and Mason Caddy. And it's pink!

Small confession- my camera is pretty ancient and the tin is really shiny so I can't get a decent picture. I have therefore stolen one from the Fortnum and Mason website. Mine is the same shade of pink, but plainer. I presume the version I have was at a reduced price because they were changing their packaging design.

The blurb on the back describes this as "Tangy tartness tempered by tea". I know for many people, cranberry tea would bring to mind a fruit infusion, but this is actually "real tea" (i.e. black tea) and cranberry.
The tea leaves are (for loose leaf) relatively small. In terms of cranberry, the pieces are not whole dried fruit but little cubes made from cranberry and juice. If you have ever had fruit flakes, the texture of the pieces is like those (I picked out a piece to try).
Brewed up, the tea has a sweet  and fruity aroma. There was no recommendation on the caddy as to whether or not milk is the done thing, so I put some in anyway as that is how I prefer black tea anyway. The flavour is nice and rounded, fruity but not too sweet. Compared to the wild cherry sencha I own (which has cranberry pieces in it) is a lot sweeter. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this tea, whenever I have had cranberry juice I have found it a little too tart but this is just right.

Black tea with Cranberry on the Fortnum and Mason website

Musings on tea

Today I read an interesting article on the BBC website about French tea culture- read the article here. One of the points it made was that British companies tend to go for cost, whereas the French are more interested in quality. However, I am coming across lots of quality British tea dealers and some superb blends. The public seems to be developing a taste for a better variety and quality of tea- most supermarket shelves now seem to have a very wide range stocked, yes there is "cheap" teabags, but silk pyramids and loose leaf feature. Many people seem to be more interested in a good cup of tea, and while it might not yet be something they have at home, some of my friends do talk about going for afternoon tea and having loose leaf blends. Maybe tea will get a more French style reverential treatment here too (although I am not too sure about the glass and hot milk).

Twinings- Rose Garden

I am at my parents for the Easter holidays, and as a consequence my tea diet has consisted of entirely too much supermarket own brand tea bags. I don't want to sound like too much of a tea snob, but I do like a little more variety of taste. So this morning, I was very pleased when I discovered where I had stashed a few Twinings envelopes. I selected for my breakfast tea Rose Garden.

Rose Garden is from the same range as Blossom Earl Grey and Jasmine Earl Grey. It was also originally a limited edition, but customer feedback has led to it becoming a permanent addition to the range.

As soon as you pour on the water, you know that this is a rose tea. It's a strong smell, like a proper old English rose garden, or (dare I say it) pot pourri. I know the strong smell can put some people off as they think the tea will taste like perfume, but I would liken it more to turkish delight (rose of course, not lemon or mint) in taste than to toiletries!

The tea is smooth and well rounded, there is no tanin or astringency to it. You know that you are drinking something rose flavoured, but it manages not to be overpowering. It left me feeling all warm and summery, despite the fact that it's a bit grey and miserable out.

I am a big Twinings fan, and the florals range is a really good illustration of why I like the brand so much- lovely flavours, affordable and available in supermarkets, and they have listened to the customer feedback and acted on it.

Pukka- elegant english breakfast

This is another tea that I picked up from the Tesco clearance shelf. Now, it doesn't go out of date until September 2016, so either the packaging has changed or it isn't selling well.

The blurb on the box made this tea sound very promising- organic, ethically sourced tea. Hand picked whole leaves from Vietnam, in  individual sachets. And it's fair trade.

On opening the box, I did not really get a smell of tea. The tea bags are individually wrapped, so that might explain why. The kettle was boiled and a mug of tea made.

This isn't a strong tea, and doesn't need too much milk. Because the tea wasn't very strong, I decided to dissect a teabag.

Well, for a whole leaf tea the leaves are rather small. Or perhaps I have been spoiled by the good quality teas I have already had.

For my second mug, I infused for 5 minutes not 3, in the hope that it would give me a stronger brew. It was a little stronger, a little more flavoursome this time. It's an adequate tea, no unpleasant astringent tanin flavours, but for me this lacked depth and body.It does describe itself as elegant, and I think on balance that is a good description. Pukka haven't delivered depth and body, but it is a light, drinkable, inoffensive brew.

Twinings- Jasmine Earl Grey

Floral tea number 2 today- Jasmine Earl Grey.

I have already reviewed a jasmine green tea, but jasmine in black tea is a very different thing so if you don't like one, don't assume that you won't like the other. The floral range is great because it allows you to have something a bit different without taking you to far away from what you already know.

The floral scent of jasmine is still there, however it is not a heady scent like with a jasmine green tea, more subtle and delicate.  The ingredients tell me that the jasmine flavour comes from the addition of jasmine green tea to the black tea and bergamot base. This makes it a little unusual as it is therefore a blend of green and black tea.

Once again I am guilty of not reading the instructions first, making the tea on autopilot and adding milk. Twinings suggests that it is best served without milk, but you can add a touch of milk if you like. I like.

The jasmine provides a top note to the Earl Grey. Like the blossom Earl Grey, it is a subtle flavour. But it is definitely there. Another elegant tea for afternoons in the garden.

Twinings- Blossom Earl Grey

The Twinings florals range is one of my favourites. There are five in total- Blossom Earl Grey, Lavender Earl Grey, Jasmine Earl Grey, and Mulled Spice.

The packaging for these teas is gorgeous- elegant women on a dark background, wearing outfits that co-ordinate with the tea (by which I mean with the flower flavouring, not a tea brown colour!). I own all five caddys, and they are constantly in use.

Today, I had the Blossom Earl Grey. As an Earl Grey, it has bergamot added. On top of that it has orange blossom.

This isn't a strong flavoured tea, it is subtle, gentle and delicate. It's sweet, but not too sweet. The flavours balance well, nothing overpowers and the overall effect is lovely. Perfect for a warm spring afternoon in the garden, with the sun shining down on the blossom on the trees.

The first time I bought this tea, it was a limited edition. However, I've just visited the Twinings website and  it tells me that due to popular demand this tea is now permanently available. Huzzah! If you haven't tried it yet, it's well worth it.

Pumphrey's- Sencha Wild Cherry

An experience nicer than going to the supermarket is visiting a loose leaf tea dealer, who weighs out your selection for you. My local dealer is currently Pumphrey's, in the Grainger Market in Newcastle.

Picture from the Pumphrey's website

Wanting to expand my horizons, I brought Sencha Wild cherry. I wanted to try a green tea, but went with a flavoured blend as I had tried pure green in the past and found it a bit bitter.
Despite the name of "Wild Cherry", the main flavourings are cranberries and rose petals. The marketing picture is true to life, there is a number of juicy dried cranberries in the blend, although they do tend to rise to the top of the tin so you have to mix it up first.

I put one tea spoon in my new Bitossi tea glass that I brought from the Twinings website. I have been admiring them for a while, so decided to splash out. In the future I hope to find some flowering teas as they would look fabulous in this.

 Water was added, between 80 and 90 degrees. If you use boiling water, it scalds the leaves. Not good. Infusion time is about 2 minutes, you really shouldn't overbrew a green tea.

You can see the leaves are a good size, and a lovely fresh shade of green. The tea brews to a pale greeny gold. The scent is not strong but there is a hint of sweetness to it. 

The tea still has the slightly bitter edge that comes with green teas, but the cranberry and rose makes it more palatable. It's not a strong fruity flavour, but enough to know that it's there, and so that neither flavour is overpowering. They balance out nicely.

I felt rather virtuous drinking this, as green tea is known for it's health properties. It was quite refreshing, and I would drink it again. I don't think it will replace black tea in my affections, but it is good to have alternatives.

Pumphrey's Sencha Wild Cherry info here

Storm tea- First Flush Darjeeling

A different brand of tea today. Last year I spotted a brand called "storm" in my local TKMaxx, so I thought I would give  it a go. Unfortunately I have not seen this tea since.

Pictures from the storm website

Storm is a company based in the North East, specialising in organic loose leaf teas.

This darjeeling consists of Finest Tippy Golden Flowering Orange Pekoe, which means that the quality is excellent- this is the middle grade of darjeeling loose leaf. The leaves are almost green in colour rather than  the dark brown usually associated with black teas. When brewed, the tea is pale golden in colour.

Darjeeling is likened to the muscatel grape, and you can taste a grape flavour, like the skin rather than the flesh. It is a slightly astringent taste, but not unlikeable. I tend to add a splash of milk which helps remove the astringency. It is a nice refreshing drink and makes a good afternoon tea- it's very fresh and flowery.

Storm Darjeeling info here

Twinings Sweet Summer Fruits Black Tea

After yesterdays disappointment, I'm back to my favourite brand.

Twining's have really great customer service and this is a tea that I won in one of their competitions.

This is a black tea with "juicy fruit flavours"- from Elderberry Strawberry, Vanilla, Orange, Marigold and Rose.

Picture from the Twinings website

I am entering unfamiliar territory as this is a tea that is best drunken black, and I usually like a good splash of milk in my mug.

When brewed, the tea is a coppery brown colour. In yesterday's Earl Grey,a redy tone was a little odd, but somehow tonight it seems right. The smell is nice and fruity and sweet, with a good strawberry scent. I followed the instructions, and skipped adding milk. The result was better than expected-the sweet berry flavour made an interesting addition and overall I found it to be quite refreshing.

The tea is packaged in individual ennvelopes, sometimes this can seem a bit wasteful, but I do like the fact that you can slip an one or two in your bag for when they are needed. I will be taking some into work to have there.

Twinings is very good at coming up with unusual and unexpected blends, they are very good at striking just the right balance and this is another prime example. Two mug fulls have been consumed this evening, and I am sure I will brew up again tomorrow.

Taylors of Harrogate Earl Grey Tea

When it comes to buying tea, I tend to have brand preference (you can probably work out what it is). This week however, I spotted some teas on the clearance shelf at the supermarket. As a bargain lover, I thought it would be a good opportunity to try a new brand.

The first tea I picked up was Taylors of Harrogate Earl Grey Tea, in it's sleek black box. This tea is getting reviewed first, as I was talking to a fellow blogger and Earl Grey lover (Laura- http://lovetealoveblogging.blogspot.co.uk/) and she mentioned that she would be interested to know my thoughts.

Picture from the Taylors of Harrogate website

An ingredients check reveals that I am drinking black tea with "natural bergamot flavouring with other natural flavourings (5%)". The tea bags are standard rectangles, nothing special to look at and to be honest there wasn't much aroma from the box.

Mug no. 1 had been mashing ready for drinking. However the phone rang at this point and it ended up sitting in the mug for just over the five minute mark. The resultant brew was an unappealing orangey colour, and when I sipped at it I could not taste the bergamot, just the bitter tannin.  The kind of flavour you get when you squeeze the tea bag (for me, it's a pet hate). This would not do. Kettle back on for mug number 2.

This time a strict 3 minutes is observed and... the weird orange colour is still there. I still can't smell the bergamot. There's a hint of it in the taste but it's kind of like someone has made a massive vat of builders and put in 1 Earl Grey tea bag and 9 regular ones.

My verdict is- this isn't the Earl Grey for me. It's a robust tea that will go down well in the office, where it's all about the quick caffeine fix and no-one has time to drink more than a third of a cup anyway. If I take it out of the box, no-one will realise it's Earl Grey and I won't be accused of bringing in more posh tea.

As an Earl Grey, this is disappointing. I am not feeling any bergamot vibes and I have had to reboil to make a cup of real Earl Grey (i.e Twinings). Taylors of Harrogate cannot be accused of having produced a tea with an artificial soapy flavour, but neither have they produced a tea with a proper Earl Grey flavour. I'll stick with Twinings for my fix of the Earl.

Twinings Silky Pyramids: Liquorice Allsorts Earl Grey

For the past 18 months, this has been one of my favourite teas. The Twining's silky pyramid range is a bridge between tea bags and loose leaf tea; the loose leaf tea is enclosed in a delicate mesh pyramid, giving it plenty of room to move about. These are good quality teas, available in supermarkets.
Liquorice Allsort Earl Grey is a blend of whole leaf bergamot scented Earl Grey, with coconut and liquorice flavourings. The result is amazing, if you love the sweets then you will love this tea.

Image from the Twinings website

It's a tea with plenty of depth and body, able to hold it's own when partnered with foods- it goes nicely with a fried breakfast. However it's equally nice on it's own, and manages not to be overpowering. I find it makes a great pick me up.

This is a tea that I always have in my cupboard- other teas come and go but this is an essential.