Waitrose

This one came to me from a work colleague, who wasn’t sure about the “old lady/mothballs” flavour. To me, it smells like turkish delight…

This is a bagged supermarket tea, although it’s a silky pyramid get-up containing pretty sizeable green tea leaves and a decent smattering of dried rose petal fragments. I gave the bag 2.5 minutes in water cooled to around 175 degrees.

To taste, it’s pretty strongly floral – more strongly than I typically enjoy (and yes, I did the scrunchy face). It had a pleasant turkish delight undertone, but the level of flavouring could stand to be taken down a notch or two and it would still be good. Better, in fact, because it wouldn’t be so hopelessly overpowering. The jasmine is strong, the rose stronger, and there’s also a degree of initial bitterness that really makes this one a no-no for me.

If I were to try this one again, I’d give it a very short brew time, maybe around the minute mark. I think that’s the only thing that’d recuse this one for me.

I only opened this tea this week, as I was eager for a nice cup of Earl Grey, and I thought this loose tea would make a nice pot. Well, I must say the first observation was really positive : the tea is indeed very fragrant…as is indicated on the box, I now notice. But the fragrance doesn´t translate in a tasty cup, which is a shame. As a matter of fact, the tea when served in a mug could be any easy going cup of tea, and not necessarily you will taste it´s an Earl Grey either. What a disappointment!

It’s a mild infusion tea with chamomile dominating the whole taste. A certain zesty touch was detected which I assume comes from the lemon and orange peel. If you don’t prefer a strong taste of chamomile then this tea might be for you.

Nothing quite like a cup of Lapsang, though mine came in a different packaging, I suspect it is simply the same series but repackaged. A full and bold flavour of dry, smoked meats and charwood, served from my clay teapot. Lovely stuff.

This is probably my favourite every day cuppa, but I am having trouble finding a Waitrose that stocks it. Does anyone know whether it has been discontinued?

A highly aromatic tea that has an autumnal aroma, tastes slightly fruity and is quite sweet. A hint of smokiness.

Brewed in a 2-cup pot with a dash of soymilk in each cup.

I brewed this tea a lot more impatiently today than the last time, and the result was very well balanced. Nice flavor to it, even with ice added.

I maybe brewed this a bit strong, because it’s a little more tannic than I would expect given the descriptions I’ve read. Still, it’s a nice, fully flavored basic black tea

Makes me think of autumn; damp leaves underfoot, bare-limbed trees, wood fires exhaling smoky sweet breath…

not bad att allll

Perfect for a wet & windy morning. Well, any morning actually..

I could smell the maltiness as I poured it. This is definitely growing on me.

Wakey, wakey, rise and shine!

Nice and strong. Needed it after getting home late from the gig last night

Experimenting with a stronger brew, and it’s much more effective. It feels wrong to drink an Assam in the evening, but a man’s gotta do… Maybe I’m hoping for an Ovaltine maltiness before bedtime

Bought this after the success of the lapsang souchong. This is not as good. It’s not large leaf for a start, but the main thing is that the taste is a bit flat. Not enough malt for my liking. So, drinkable, but not exciting…

Like a good cigar after a meal. Probably.

To follow the bacon sandwich with worcester sauce. Mmmmmm.

I had always shied away from lapsang before, but really enjoyed a Smoky Russian Caravan I had bought over the web. I happened to be in Waitrose and spotted this. Large leaf tea, cheap (£1.20/packet), why not give it a try? I’m really impressed. It does smell (and taste) of bonfires, but there’s a sweetness there too. Lovely, and it makes me want to try a more expensive one at some point to see if I can taste the difference!