Fortnum & Mason

You know how you get to talking when you make a cuppa and pay absolutely no attention to what you’re drinking, but it’s gone in about three good glugs? Yeah. What I can tell you about my first run with Royal Blend is that if it had any sharp edges to it, milk toned them down nicely to make a strong, smooth, wake-up cup. I’ll be more mindful next cup!

Ashmanra shared enough of this for me to have it three ways: super high-octane overleafed unleaded, a baby mild second steep, and one properly tended cuppa.

Either way, I was a little surprised to see such small leaves from a classy F & M selection. Not quite PG Tips CTC size, but close. Which resulted in plain old British breakfast tea without much subtlety—just like me and just like I like it. Very smooth, not much bite, very drinkable straight up without additives—although I added a dried orange slice to the baby mild steep and it was delicious.

Fortnum & Mason Advent Day 18 (sachets)

I am liking this much more this year than last year. I intended to sweeten and ice this and save it for supper but I was so thirsty I could resist going ahead and drinking some. It is really fruity and refreshing. I am glad there is a tin of it waiting somewhere in the tins Advent.

Of course there is hibiscus, but I like hibiscus as long as there is sugar. The cinnamon is warming and adds depth. The beverage has really pretty, festive color.

ADVENT SIPDOWN 14!

Iced, of course. Although they call this plum (maybe), apple (maybe tart apple?) and cinnamon, I pretty much sip this and get jamaica, so really this is almost pure hibiscus flavor to me. As an iced drink, it is a nice accompaniment for meals or pleasant to sip on its own, as long as I sweeten it.

FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 24

Ashman and I drank this last night. It steeps up a gorgeous Christmas red in the cup. Truly beautiful. Ashman does not like tart tea so I added sugar to his, but it was not enough. He drank one small cup and said no thanks to any more.

I decided it would be best to ice this and sweeten like any other sweet tea, and since it was so festive looking, I had it with lunch today. To my surprise, it was extremely familiar tasting as a sweet iced tea. Took me a sec but I realized it tasted almost exactly like jamaica, which should not be surprising at all. This is how I will use up the rest.

I would not purchase the refill for this next year unless they promise a different tea assortment. But the wooden box is gorgeous and it will be fun to decide what I will put in it next year!

Having read about the other advent calendar experiences, the only one I would consider purchasing is the one from 52 teas.

Sipdown! (34 | 79)

Hibiscus-y fruit tisanes (and really, fruit tisanes in general) aren’t really my jam, and this is just the holiday version of that, with cinnamon and clove. It’s not bad though, as tart tisanes go. Lots of hibiscus and tart apple, I’m not sure I get any plum… There’s a nice level of spice, and actually I get a little numbing sensation on my tongue from the cloves, and maybe the ginger too. It’s fine, not something I would ever order though.

Sort of working on getting through the rest of my 2021 advent teas from Fortnum, not doing great at it these past few days though. To be fair, I have a lot of different sipdown goals/initiatives going right now so something is bound to get missed. I’ll definitely try to do better at advent leftovers though, since I’m just shy of halfway done with them and I really want to finish them off before this advent season!

Fortnum & Mason Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 24

Ooh, well it’s nice to see something different from this advent for the last day, even if I’m not the biggest fan of fruit tisanes. It smells nice in the tin at least.

Actually, I quite like it. It is slightly generic for this time of year, a mulled cider sort of thing with hibiscus. But I do think I’m tasting a bit of the plum, which adds a little something extra. Otherwise it’s apple, plenty of hibiscus, cinnamon, and I think some clove. Pleasantly festive for Christmas Eve movie watching!

Sipdown! (34 | 250)

Another swap sample down! I must say, I’m highly impressed by the amount of tea in these sachets. It’s actually enough for at least a 12-ounce mug, if not a 16-ounce. Good job, Fortnum!

Anyway, this tea is nice even if it’s not my favorite flavor combination. The lavender is very apparent, and since I don’t love lavender, it’s a lot for me. But it does have a nice creaminess and nectarous honey flavor to it as well, and the whole combination is just very smooth and cozy.

So not something I would order, but can definitely recommend it for lavender and bergamot lovers! A very nice, multilayered cuppa.

Sipdown! (51 | 96)

This one was not my favorite.

But I’m not a lavender fan, and it’s an Earl Grey with lavender so… Pretty much expected. It’s not an overwhelming amount of lavender, but it’s enough to take it to a somewhat soapy place for me. I didn’t notice the liquorice root, and I actually like the slight hint of honey flavor.

Oh well, it was interesting to try. And I’m happy it’s empty! :P I think someone who enjoys lavender and bergamot would really enjoy this one, so I am going to recommend it.

Fortnum & Mason Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 21

I’m finding myself struggling to keep up with my advents and writing notes here at my mom’s house, partially because of being away from home and partially because I haven’t been feeling great last night and today. But I’ve kept it up until now, and it seems silly to fizzle out with only four days left!

I love bergamot, but I don’t love lavender so I had mixed feelings when I saw this tin today. But I think the resulting cuppa is lovely! Medium to strong bergamot, with just a touch of lavender as an accent. I think I taste the honey as well, just a little bit. Thankfully not getting any licorice root, which seems like such a strange addition. Overall, I’m really enjoying this tea.

I also had jam this morning, both the Plum-Pear-Star Anise from yesterday and today’s Cherry-Hibiscus Flower Spread. The first was mostly pear to my tastebuds, with the star anise adding a licorice-y sweetness. Overall it was a bit too sweet for me, though I do love pear. The cherry and hibiscus one was lovely though, like an extra tart cherry preserve with a hint of floral.

Sipdown!

This was slightly overleafed because of the old dilemma – too little left for a decent cuppa but too much in the tin for the amount of tea I had planned to make. So slightly overleafed it is. I have discovered that many of Fortnum’s blends actually benefit from a little overleafing, especially their black tea with apple and black tea with lemon.

So overleafed this one is a huge hit of lavender. I like lavender so that was offputting for me. Very much enjoyed. This makes twenty advent sipdowns and four to go!

Sipdown Prompt – A tea for joyful solitude and meditation

I woke up to dense fog and a forecast of clouds and showers – again. Like gmathis, I run on solar batteries. I decided this morning needed to be especially uplifting, especially since I have had four students reschedule this week and have a busier than usual Tuesday ahead.

I lit a couple of candles, turned on a meditation playlist, and set the table as prettily as I could for tea and toast with fig jam. One candle in front of me to enjoy its light, one across the room to draw my eye outside of myself to the bigger picture. The dryer thump-thumping in the background is actually a soothing rhythm to me.

The tea is a fairly decent Earl Grey with Lavender, not for everyone but I happen to enjoy lavender tea and most florals for that matter. It is hard to get one that is too floral for me. Since Ashman doesn’t enjoy bergamot this little advent tin is all mine to finish. I have enough left for at least one more pot.

It supposedly contains licorice root but I don’t taste it, and today I am not really getting the honey either, but it is good. You can tell it is not just Chinese black like the other blend from them, though. As it cools, it is a little brisk but refreshing the cup fixes that.

I could have done this all day, and I intend to do this again tonight, just with a caffeine free option!

Fortnum & Mason Advent Day 19 (sachets)

I already had this in the tins advent and wouldn’t make a note again save for one thing – it was a different experience.

The lavender really stuck out last time which was fine by me, because I like lavender. This time the flavors were far more balanced, and I noticed that the sachet was really bursting with leaves. I recently discovered that their black tea with apple is for tastier overleafed a bit, and it seems this one might be, too. (Although there was one tea that was tasty – a straight black tea – that had very little leaf in the sachet and still came out well so they must know.)

I will try it with others and see what happens.

Fortnum & Mason Tin Advent Day 6

Last year when I drank this tea it grew on me cup by cup. Today was just a radically different experience with it. I had it at lunch time. I stood by the counter watching the timer count down and noticed that most of the blend had sunk but there was a lot floating on top. I leaned over to check it out and the tea had sunk and a LOT of lavender was floating, plus what appeared to be a dried piece of rind, and the aroma was pure lavender with my nose so near the steeper.

Drinking it with my lunch, I could hardly detect the bergamot. It was lavender black tea all the way to me. I love floral tea and lavender is quite nice in my book. This was a good tea day all in all with the advents.

Fortnum Advent Sipdown #21

I liked this one better these last two times drinking it. I thought Ashman might dislike it since he doesn’t love bergamot, but he drank it happily. He added milk and sugar, I took mine plain.

Yesterday on the after breakfast cup, I felt like the lavender was more prominent than the bergamot, although it wasn’t overwhelmingly floral. Today for the first time, I was able to really detect the licorice root on the last cup, which was definitely cooling and was also taken after breakfast. It is probable that I didn’t notice the licorice root that much before because I was drinking the tea both days with Belgian waffles topped with cooked diced apples seasoned with cinnamon and brown sugar. That much sweetness likely overwhelmed the licorice root, which wasn’t the strongest I have ever had in a tea.

Overall, an enjoyable one from the advent!

FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 21

The first Earl Grey teas went okay, even though I am not a huge fan of bergamot. I like it well enough on a Chinese black tea base, preferably Keemun, which is why the first one went well. I really do like smoky tea so the Smoky Earl Grey was my favorite of the Earl Greys in this collection. The Green Earl Grey was okay. The bergamot wasn’t too strong,

It seems this one has a little more bergamot. I wish they had left out the licorice root, not because I don’t like it but because of the affect on blood pressure. I actually like the taste and mouthfeel of licorice root. But why honey flavor AND licorice root? It is the second ingredient listed on their site at 6% of the blend. But I really am not tasting it, I suppose because the bergamot is so strong.

Overall, it isn’t a bad Earl Grey. It has lavender, which I like. As I said, I can’t taste the licorice root and I really don’t detect the honey, but I had this was a lemon biscotti so maybe all the citrus overwhelmed those flavors.

I think most Earl Grey lovers would like this a lot. It is a gloomy morning with rain on the way and I am breakfasting alone, which I like. But Earl Grey goes best with tea parties, laughter, and a well lit afternoon tea table for me. In that context, I would probably enjoy it more.

Fortnum & Mason Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 22

When I said I needed to try this one again, I didn’t realize it would be so soon! :P

So this time I tried steeping a bit longer, but it still just tastes like anise to me. And I’m still not really tasting the green tea much at all…

I think at this point it’s safe to say I just don’t like this one.

Fortnum & Mason Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 20

So I was interested to try this one, but lost some of my enthusiasm when I opened the tin and all I smelled was licorice root…

And the steeped tea was pretty much the same. I kept to a short steep, so the green tea itself was quite mild, and then there was a sweet anise flavor.

Ashmanra mentioned tasting other spices and things, so I’ll have to give this another try at a later date I guess…

Fortnum Advent Sipdown #19

Sweet from licorice root, rich with coconut, this one was better iced than hot to me. Finished it off as a big carafe of iced tea to go with dinner and to refresh in the afternoons.

I forgot it had licorice root in it when I made the iced tea and I added sugar as normal. Ashman asked if this had been sweetened and I realized my mistake. Yeh, it was super sweet…but good! I made another carafe when we finished that one and put less sugar than usual so it wouldn’t overwhelm.

All that remains are the Earl Grey blends (four types) and the green tea with elderflower. I am likely on my own to sip these down as Ashman doesn’t love floral other than jasmine and is not an EG fan.

FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 23

Ummmm, I had this a few days ago! Another repeat and no change in my opinion of it so far!
Still green and sweet and coconutty and very anise.

FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 20

I had to add this one to the database, and it does not show up on the F&M website, so I am guessing this is exclusive to the advent calendar.

This smells super sweet dry! The leading aroma dry and steeped is anise. Tastewise, I get the spices which (hooray!) does not include clove, the mouthfeel of the licorice root, the thick sweetness of coconut, and a little warmth (very nice) from the pink peppercorns. This has been one of the more complex of the teas in the advent.

Ashman enjoyed it and his first comment was that he smelled a lot of anise. God bless the man at work who brought him lumpia today, because it meant I didn’t have to cook lunch (Ashman has a half day) and also went really great with this tea!

Cameron: do you or your friend who has this advent ever have trouble getting some of the tins out? I have small hands and some days I still struggle to wiggle these tins out of there! They catch on the bottom lip, and if I lift they hit the top lip. Either the tins or the box need a redesign for next year! I vote the tins, so those of us who already have the box can buy the refills!

I remember a store (Macy’s?) many years ago that used to do one incredibly extravagant gift per year for the mega millionaires who had everything. I remember they sold a tabletop mouse ranch one year with sterling silver round up tweezers. As I wrestled with this tin, I thought, “those tweezers could come in handy for wrangling these tins out their slot.”

Sipdown! (75 | 172)

This one wasn’t my favorite, so I’m glad to have finished it off.

It’s sort of an orange spice flavor profile, but with too much clove. It makes my tongue tingle and overpowers the other flavors. There are cacao nibs, but I don’t taste them at all. I do like the sharp, zesty orange note, but there’s just too much clove for me to love this one.

Sipdown! (17 | 17)

One down, 23 more to go…

This one is pleasant enough, as orange spice teas go. Has a nice strong orange flavor accented by cinnamon and clove. I do wish I could actually taste the cacao here, given it’s the second ingredient. Maybe it just gets bullied too much by the orange and spices? That rascally clove does tend to build up as I sip though, and then it overtakes the orange and I enjoy the cuppa much less. Not something I would buy, but pleasant.

I still have another mini tin of this tea to finish, but I figured I would start off with the duplicates and then come back to the second tin later, rather than doing two tins of the same tea in a row. (Although, if I’m honest, I’ll probably set the Christmas Green Tea aside to rehome, as it was the only one I really didn’t enjoy from the advent…) But I’m still counting each tin as a sipdown and there’s nothing you can do to stop me! :P