Darvilles of Windsor

Hello there! I just returned from my vacation (and tomorrow to work…) and I have some new teas ahead.

First of all, I got finally a tea advent calendar from Devon! — thank you a lot. I wonder why it was arriving so late.

And as it is 1st January, I decided to get through Advent once more. I also received some Curious tea teas from my Swiss friend; looking forward to try them. And I bought myself some teas too, of course!

Anyway, back to the Advent. It seems that all tea bags are with outer wrappers which is great for my collection. I haven’t seen anywhere numbers, so I just picked up one “pouch” and opened it.

This was the first, adn I had to add this one into the database.

Sadly, it is common bagged Darjeeling, quite tannic one even with short steeping time, and not much distinctive at all. Not much delicate at all and overal quite plain.

Not my favourite bagged tea.

Very smooth and drinkable (even over-steeped, oops). Nice amount and flavor of bergamot. It doesn’t have the woody, dirty, cedar flavor I get with some others. I like it very much, even In a tea bag!

Refreshing and caffeine free, excellent when you have to work late but don’t want to stay wired all night.

Strong, full-bodied tea. Although this is good, there isn’t anything outstanding about this tea.

This is a good, strong tea with rich flavors. Personally, I don’t care much for English Breakfast blends unless I need to clean the palate (which is good for mornings, actually). I would definitely recommend this one to English Breakfast fans.

This is a fairly strong tea. My first cup (yesterday) was steeped 5 minutes or so, and second cup (today) was done for 60 seconds.. This really tamed the tea~ even at one minute, it still has that harsh, astringent undertone but not bitterness.

When I had the Sweet & Spicy tea from Good Earth earlier, I got some hot water from the coffee shop to drink it with. They wouldn’t give me it by itself, so I bought this tea and asked for the bag separately, hoping to keep it for later. Unfortunately, the guy opened the little sachet so I couldn’t keep it and had to drink it today.

I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the last time I had this tea, possibly because it was in the little pocket bit of my bag for an hour or two, which I suspect might have had an affect on the weaker flavour. The ginseng was still prominent, but this time around the raspberry wasn’t as strong and the fruity taste was definitely diminished.

Still a good tea, but not as great as I remembered.

I ordered this from Caffé Nero today as I went quite late on, and didn’t want to have something caffeinated. This was a welcome surprise – a bit on the tart side, the raspberries enter the sip first, with the ginseng playing around the background. The flavours meld beautifully together, and I’m not even sure I’ve had ginseng before but it is a flavour that I recognised and reminded me of something that I still can’t place. Nevertheless, this makes for a beautiful cup, and a new favourite flavour which I can add to my list. I LOVE ginseng! Or at least I think I do… This calls for more research.

When I want a STRONG tangy and fruity tea, I reach for this. It is delicious, and has a very strong flavor.

Yeah. That kind of morning. When you wake up and your eyes are so dry and tired you bumble to the kitchen to get a couple of damp tea bags to use as compresses for a while…and you don’t realize there are holes in both of them, and when you flip the bags to put the cool side back on your eyes you get a face full of tea schmutz.

These bags, thankfully, had no holes. This is one of the strongest English Breakfast blends I’m aware of. (Many of you would make jokes about using to peel paint off lawn furniture.) Half to get these bleary eyes open; half to ice down and keep the bleary eyes open.

Just needed a cup of simplicity. Dark, strong, breakfast tea, no fuss. Light touch/short steep is good with these bags. But if you see this brand in the odds-n-ends shelf at a department discount store and wonder about it, it’s OK.

Running late, chilly and rainy, eyes won’t open … what is it that I’m drinking? Oh, yeah—-good utilitarian Darvilles, no milk. This is just Tea, but sometimes that is what you need the most, eh?

Steeped a stout mug this morning to celebrate
a) rain—well, sprinkles but it’s a start
b) the sudden and thoughtful appearance of some half-and-half in the fridge; we don’t keep it in hot weather
c) the sudden and thoughtful appearance of an unexpected writing assignment (thanks, God!)
d) oh, and while I’m celebrating, it’s Barton County Fair week, should any of you care to swing by Lamar, Missouri. Art show, agricultural tent (doesn’t smell like tea!) and the parade’s at 2.
Because of the big event, Mom’s hair place closed for the week and I’m on my way to help with an octogenarian hairstyling party.

It’s so wicked hot I think my taste buds have withered. Thus, the stronger the better, at least for the now. I used (accidentally) two bags in a Tervis tumbler this morning, then when I realized my oops, I cut the steep time down to about a minute and a half, and was still able to throw both bags in a Mason jar to leave all day for iced tea tonight. And it was still viable.

Nothing particularly subtle about the blend, just dark, strong, and handsome. (Did I just say that? Ay-yi-yi.)

Fridge-steeped in the Homebrew jar (do I sound like a hick or what?), this comes out a little more acidic than the hot-steeped version. Lovely red-gold color, but clouded up a bit. I need to remember to try the baking soda pinch trick.

Nothing much new and notable to say about this one, other than we’ve found another one my husband will drink…when he deigns to drink with me, it’s always stiffer stuff, Assams and all. Makes me smile to be able to make two cups in the morning, not just one.

This was also a T.J. Maxx find, and at $4.99 for 50 round sachets, definitely qualifies for a mention in the Cheapster Steepster Noteworthy List.

It was a Very Proper Valentine from my Thoughtful Husband…Two Boxes of Tea Carrying the Royal Warrant. This was the stouter of the two (the other was my newfound love Yorkshire Gold). On the dark side of the color and flavor spectrum, plenty of deep maltiness from the Assam. Quite Appropriate for watching The IT Crowd or the season finale of Downton Abbey.

I love this tea. It’s very smooth and there’s something very satisfying for me in its texture and ph balance.

Darvilles of Windsor Lemon & Ginger tea is awesome! If you like ginger, you will really enjoy its taste. Don’t over steep. I currently have a bit of a cold and find it to be the perfect drink for the throat, with all the health benefits of ginger. I originally purchased it thinking it would be good to have in the house if someone had an upset stomach. However, I ended up having a cup one evening since it was too late to have something with caffiene and realized that I just liked it for anytime! It was a very pleasant surprise.

First had this over 20 years ago – purchased in the UK. The flavor seems very mild to me now. Not bad for the price – I too found this at TJ Maxx/Home Goods in the tea section last fall.