Marks & Spencer Tea

I was actually hoping this would be a weaker version of M&S’ extra strong teabags because my system can’t take it. However this was pretty similar to their Gold blend, actually. It’s smooth, but just not my cup of tea (har..har… okay I’m sorry). I’ve had a friend tell me she liked it, but I personally prefer their extra strong teabags for the malty taste. I do wish they’d sell these in smaller packs, I had to give most of it away because I couldn’t possibly finish 80 bags.

Impressing Flavour…

Got these as a present from my mother when she visited the Philippines last year.
Just your average peppermint tea :)

I’ve just got one last thing to do for Philosophy and then it’s off to bed!
((but seriously though. Where’s the mint option…))

Terrible day today. Another early day tomorrow.
Ugh I just need to relax and this is as close to perfect as it can get.

I was unsure about this tea because I am not a big fan of ginger or ginseng. I heard that the ingredients were good for you if you felt under the weather, so I decided to try it after a coughing fit and a runny nose. I had it warm and steeped it for the minimum time stated on the box and added a bit of honey. It was sooooooo good! I was pleasantly surprised. The ginger and ginseng were not too overpowering and it overall blended well together. :)

I have never tasted Rooibos tea on its own before. So I had no idea what to expect when I made a bottle of this tea. Needless to say I was worried when I first opened the bag. Mostly because it smelled weird and artificial. When brewed, the smell didn’t go away, though it did mellow down a little. Taste wise, not my cup of tea.

Several months ago I bought a 240-bag pack of this one and finished it within 5 or 6 months.That’s quite an experience for someone like me who always search stores for some new tea. The tea is truly extra stong and flavorful——so everytime I use more water,the taste gets even brighter and better.

There were times when I didn’t want my tea to be feminine (with pink or any lovely colors?) or childish （/sweet-teeth)——meaning I was not in the mood for gourmet/flowery/fruity flavored thing, when I just wanted to have the traditional kinds ,this one comforted me with its plain yet rich flavor,which reminds me of some nature of our family members,not so attractive at first glance ,then you just keep going back to them,eager for their embraces .(Forgive my strange expressions please :3

Well,go back to the tea,I think it’s nice to keep it in your cupboard all the time,your can use it as the perfect tea base for any beverage——the combination of 3 kinds of black tea is brilliant ，giving the tea malty ,smooth&clear ,raw yet bright and rounded characteristics

We bought a pack of this on our trip to England. It is ok but just as happy with Twinings English Breakfast which is more easily available in Canada.

This isn’t a tea for the faint of heart. Boot strong with steel toes. A good daub of half-and-half loosened the laces a little. Seek it out when you need your eyes pried open.

Strong and bitter if you aren’t careful—but just what one needs on a rainy November Tuesday to work up the gumption to take a step outside. (Not feeling very gumptious yet. Maybe I need another cup.)

Until I get the body clock re-set to match the time clock, it’s going to take full-strength unleaded, morning and late afternoon, to keep me functional. This one does it well. Didn’t bother with milk to dilute, just the straight strong stuff. Getting a little bit of a raisiny, figgy, date-y flavor along with the whap-you-in-the-face this morning.

I may have over-leafed, but No. 2 medium seemed darker and stronger than Marks and Spencer No. 3 srength I tried yesterday. Dark and strong builders’ tea character.

In a previous note, ashmanra said that “at six minutes, this stuff will stage a coup and there will be an international incident.” I saved my leaves from this morning and will see if a second steep encourages diplomacy.

Downton Abbey hangover ;) I’m a go-to-bed-with-the-chickens chickie and stayed up for the whole thing, then couldn’t quit grinning for another hour. Zzzzzzzz.

And thus, the need for something with some significant muscle this morning. I have now sampled Marks & Spencer’s No. 2 and No. 3 and am curious about their numbering system; No. 2 seems to me to be the stouter of the pair.
Both are great, dark, stern, buck-up morning teas.

Shoulda added milk. Was pleasantly light and sharpish when it was first-steep fresh; as it mellowed it put on a significant amount of those unnecessary lumpy bodybuilder muscles.

But I’m not complaining! It’ll keep my eyes wide open; much needed this morning.

This is the James Bond of Breakfast Teas. Elegant. Understated. But don’t let down your guard; if you turn your back, it’ll nail you in the solar plexus with an iron fist!

If you’re a PG Tips fan, you know that a strong cuppa is smooth and dark from the tip of the tongue to the final swallow. This one is a little sneakier: light, bright, light, BAM! (The dark builders’ tea kick is at the end.)

No matter how it is delivered, a kick and a punch is welcome today. Many pages of content to hammer out, and I’m sure my editors would appreciate it if they were coherent!

Gotta thank ashmanra again for feeding the addiction!

I have a friend who I have known for about fifteen years, but we don’t see each other often. She had two children when we met – a boy and a girl – and went on to have four more little girls. They live a storybook life in a storybook house. She decorates beautifully, the children love old Roy Rogers movies, she homeschools, and they use Spode every day. The oldest daughter sews the most amazing dresses and makes precious felted animals and dolls for her etsy shop.

I wondered if all those little girls might not get tired of being with ALL those little girls all the time! I suggested that my friend choose one of the four young ones to send over for a grown up tea time with me. She picked her middle daughter, ten years old, to be the first to come over. I made S’Mores sandwiches and I had asked her in advance what kind of tea she liked. She said she liked English Breakfast and Earl Grey.

I picked this one as our first tea to cut through the sweetness of the sandwiches. She added milk and sugar, I took mine plain. They call this their number three level “strong” tea but I found it milder than their number two strength. I steeped it at 203F for three minutes and it felt just right for me. This is loose leaf but definitely not whole leaf – more like particles, which is why I keep the steep short.

My oldest daughter had just sent a message from Ireland to ask if I needed for her to pick up some more M&S tea, but I told her they have brought so much I can’t finish it all before it gets stale. She also told me that she purchased an assortment of teas from Covent Garden and Whittard when she was in London, but I can only have part of it now as the rest is for Christmas. I do, however, have a key to her apartment…

First, it was a great pleasure to see K S on Facebook this morning! Are we Facebook friends? Nope. But Teavivre posted a link to his review of a puerh tea they sent him to try!

Second, tunes&tea, I was planning to start posting what I was listening to now and then and I forgot! So I was listening to The Wind and the Wheat by Phil Keaggy but now I don’t remember what tea I was drinking, but I know I had popcorn so does that count? LOL!

This morning, I am enjoying a nice cuppa, and this is a really authentic cuppa. Daughter’s BF sent a box from Ireland. He was desperately trying to find loose leaf tea and it is sad that it is a hard thing to find in a place that we think of so strongly connected with tea! He said when he comes to America next month for a visit, he is going to get lots of loose leaf tea.

This tea has a rich, complex aroma. There is a light astringency. With food, like the strong cheese we are eating right now, I like it plain. If I were only drinking tea, I think I would want a little milk and perhaps a little sugar. This tea will definitely open your eyes as soon as you give it a good sniff. There is malt, there is raisin, there is TEA! The liquor is rich red brown.

This is a CTC tea so I only give it 2 1/2 minutes in the boiling water. Someone with more chest hair might want to give it a little longer.

I finally tried this as a hot breakfast tea this morning. I did add milk and sugar as I usually do with a black tea in the morning, with the exception of a few really lovely black teas.

This is better than grocery store tea, makes really good – no, make that great – iced tea, and while it isn’t an artisanal tea it is very, very reasonably priced….if you are in Ireland, that is. This is working nicely for breakfast at the beach, though at home I prefer my Harney English Breakfast which is 100% Keemun, or a nice pot of Queen Catherine, but I am definitely looking forward to making pitcher after pitcher of richly flavored, bracing iced tea with this – something I really don’t like as well with the other two. As a Southern style sweet tea, this was magnificent, reminding me a bit of Frank’s base last year for his iced teas. (ohpleaseohpleaseohplease bring back mango black!).

Very enjoyable!

I am glad I didn’t see the No. 3 Strong part until after I drank this because I would have been afraid of it! I did not find it too strong at all but rather very tasty. My daughter bought this in Northern Ireland and saved it for my Mother’s Day bag of goodies. It is a blend of tea from Kenya and India and oh boy did they ever blend this just right.

Since I was going to drink part of it cold and freeze the rest as a Zoku pop, I sweetened it but did not add milk. As a hot tea, it could easily handle milk but I think it is smooth enough that it would also be good with no additions. I plan to try it hot, with and without additions, very soon. As iced tea today this was YUM YUM EXCELLENT!

I don’t understand why this wasn’t already in my cupboard! Ah well, I have added it now.
Having recently gone through my stash to pull out the teas that most desperately need to be finished, I got this out since it is often overlooked.

I used it to make almost two gallons of sweet tea. Five tablespoons, steeped twice, about one and a half cups of sugar (this is the South, friends, and that is HALF the amount of sugar my mother used to use for ONE gallon), ice and water added to bring up to nearly the top of my large glass dispenser in the fridge.

And…it is decent as iced tea. One thing I have found is that ALL iced tea tastes better after hours and hours of melding flavors and sugar. A day or more makes it even tastier, pretty much no matter which tea I use.

I have to say, Southern Boy Iced Teas is a big favorite in this house. It is worth it, so if you like iced tea, buy it and steep it twice and combine for a full gallon of utter summer deliciousness.

Would I recommend this tea? Meh. I guess. I won’t miss it when it is gone, but it is a decent cuppa in the traditional morning cuppa kind of way. It’s just that I don’t take milk or sugar so I like something that stands alone better than this one does.

Hmmm, I’m glad the bag didn’t say loose LEAF tea because that would violate the truth in advertising standard. This is loose….stuff. Not quite as large as CTC but bigger than dust, I guess. When I see tea bits that are this size, it scares me. I want to lower the infusing basket into the water with one of those grabber thingies while wearing a hazmat suit. I am a tea wimp.

The directions say to steep for 4 to 6 minutes or to desired taste. HA! At six minutes, this stuff will stage a coup and there will be an international incident. I went with 2 1/2.

And it really could have gone a little longer. I tried to like it plain, but it hurt me. This was a bit bitter without being flavorful. The color was reddish. I added milk and sugar to redeem the cup, and I suppose it did. This is now a pretty typical breakfast tea with a malty Assam flavor. I do feel more like I am drinking coffee. I don’t drink coffee, by the way. And the color looks like a Hershey bar with that reddish tinge some chocolate bars have.

For Breakfast blend lovers, malty lovers, and Assam lovers, this isn’t terrible. I will drink it, especially when I don’t really want to pay attention to my tea. Ooo, I bet it will be good as really sweet Southern style iced tea! Grateful to oldest daughter for picking it for me when she was in N. Ireland.

I am surprised. I can definitely finish the pot, and I will try steeping a little longer next time and resign myself to adding milk and sugar to this one every time.