Newby Teas of London

2023 Ode To Tea – Part II – E

Finished off the last teabag I had of this!  Again, the satchet teabag was already broken within the sealed package, so I had to dump the leaves into an infuser.  The bergamot was still good enough.  The richness of the black tea was still good enough.  But…. nothing spectacular for me.
2023 sipdowns: 61

From Tiffany:) !  Thanks very much.  Opening the pouch with this one, a bit of the tea kind of fell out as the sachet was somehow already completely broken along the seams.  So I dumped the leaves (that didn’t dump on the floor) from the sachet into the brew basket.  The leaves are quite small and there is a huge amount of Earl Grey essence wafting from the leaves, leaning towards more of a grapefruit citrus.  The flavor isn’t bad!  The smaller leaves mean a brisk cup and there is a ton of bergamot that translates over to the flavor.  It isn’t the bergamot I would PREFER, but it isn’t one I’m disagreeable with.  I overbrewed the second steep a bit but it wasn’t too bitter.  A good brisk kick on a cold brisk day.
Steep #1 // 26 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 2 minutes after boiling // 5 minute steep

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #56 overall / Tea #23 for February
#drinkwhatyouown January slot 23/25

Tuesday 2/16 — One of my earliest Sipsby boxes (I started sipsby fall 2017, so from late 2017/early 2018) I got 4 sachets of this. I’m not a black tea or earl grey gal so this got put in my large box of sipsby teas. As I’m trying to be more mindful and sipdown my 342049432904830943 overall collection of teas this was pulled out for a black tea option. Steeped 2 teabags as loose tea in my DT favorite tumbler before work and been sipping on it all shift long (2 pm-10 pm).

#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown #sipdownchallenge

Another tea from friend, who said me toss or keep.

How I can toss a Newby tea? I never should check company websites. They have wonderful teabags as well. This one is from tea bag too. But in old, golden design. Now it is even nicer I think.

The tea brews wonderful clear bronze – copper colour. Aroma is strong and floral. But the taste is so great. Floral, but as well some muscatel. Quite dry, but that is not annoying. I could not believe it is so full of flavour considering it was only tea bag and not even a pyramid one. Not even whole leaf in the bag, it was quite broken. Delicious!

I got this as a sample with purchase at the NYC Coffee and Tea Festival. I had never heard of Newby Teas before but apparently they’ve been around since 2000. They had a beautiful display (shameless plug for my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/BR1nIKxjbCK/?taken-by=try.all.the.tea). I ended up buying the jasmine green but picked up a sample of this.

This blend comes in a pyramid sachet. Dry and steeped, it smells like orange hard candy. The flavor of the brew isn’t far off from the scent, but the woodsiness of the rooibos balances out the sweetness of the candy-like orange. As it cools, the rooibos flavor fades and the orange flavor becomes almost like an icee. With a splash of milk, I bet this would taste like a creamsicle. Alas, I drank it all up before I could experiment.

My desi neighbor went to India early this month and came back with a box of Newby Masala Chai (and some very Indian-style tomato pickle) for our family. …I guess we always give them tea as gifts (specifically Tazo Organic Chai), so he’s reciprocating.

The 50g box has individual foil-wrapped tea bags. Really, they’re lovely — gold and shiny with a really cute elephant/shield motif. The tea, however, is pretty weak for a desi spice tea. Even leaving the bag in for the duration of drinking doesn’t make it strong enough — neither the assam base nor the spices (cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, clove, ginger, anise) have much taste.

So perhaps I’d suggest this for folks who aren’t used to spices, but it will be way too light for desi palates. It’s ok, just not satisfying.

SIPDOWN! also… go me for getting to under 200 teas today. Did i mention i’m going to ignore the fact that i have orders on the way as well as teas not logged in my cupboard living with kittenna and raritea? :) Because what’s in my house at the moment in time? well that’s less than 200…so NYAH! Now to try and keep it going so that i stay under 200 when i get my tea from the two of them :)

This tea? Not so much a fan. it’s kind of like brown water with a murky filmy layer on top. eeesh. Thanks to kittenna for the sample though :)

My second pot of tea tonight with my husband whilst watching 300 (again…my husband loves that film).

I know this is a breakfast tea but we felt a strong caffeine boost would be perfect for us right now as we have both had such a long day.

I will be adding a drop of milk to my tea but no sweetener. The tea bags were sealed individually in foil packets but upon being opened they looked like any other slightly dusty black tea bag.

Once brewed this tea smells rich and malty with a touch of sweetness. Upon tasting I can note it’s strength is adequate but for me it could have been a little stronger. Despite being on the stronger side there is no bitterness (which may be due to the milk) making is strong yet smooth. The thing that strikes me the most about the tea is the malty taste and smell which is unusual for most bog standard black tea’s…it’s almost like a Yunnan black tea but not malty enough, it makes for an interesting drink. I do love malty Yunnan.

I can feel the caffeine kick already after half a cup which is impressive enough and I have roughly another 2 cups to go. My husband even said it tasted like the special tea I have (he means the Black Dragon Pearls from Teavivre) so I’m glad that I’m not the only one that can taste the malt.

The tea is fresh but around your top average teabag standard so it’s far from being anything special. Still it’s very nice for an every day tea with that slight difference.

Loose
Appearance: curly, rich chocolate brown
Aroma when Dry: Nutty,light sweet, slight floral note
After water is first poured: nutty, hazelnut, walnut notes creaminess
Tea liquor:
At end of first steep:light dusty brown
Staple? Type yes
Preferred time of day: afternoon, evening, as needed medicinally
Taste:
At first: nutty, slight buttery note, astringent
As it cools? notes fade into increasing astringency
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? yes, sour increasing astringency

I think the best way to try a new tea is to just pour a cup as it is, no milk no nothing.. and see what you want to do to it. I had never tried this before today, .. lovely. there is definitely a hint of apricot in there and its very smooth without milk and after adding a touch of sugar.

This tea is a good breakfast tea if you don’t want to add milk. If you like a lot of milk in your tea, then it takes a while for this to develop a deep colour. The flavour is rich and strong but the colour just a little pale.

To me this tea tastes a little like coffee – slightly mocha in its flavour. Its aroma is fantastically chocolately, but as everyone else says, caramel sweetness comes through. It’s a really interesting tea to taste. I like to blend it with assam to make it even richer.

This is a great, rich black tea. I like it without milk, but my partner brews it a little stronger and adds milk (and sugar). The tea holds up whichever way you drink it with fantastic golden tips in the leaf. I’d highly recommend it.

This is a really interesting tea – sweetly citrus, with the strength of rooibos behind it. The orange is a great addition to this blend. I had it at Kensington Palace Orangerie originally, but now its a staple afternoon or evening tea drink given that its caffeine free.

I first tried this tea at the V&A museum in London and really liked its refreshing taste. Unlike other jasmine teas that I’ve tried, it isn’t bitter in anyway – even when I let it brew for over 5 minutes, the taste was still smooth with a sweet, fragrant aroma of jasmine. The leaf itself is beautiful with big jasmine flowers throughout the leaf.

Thanks so much Kristaleyn for this sample!! I like it!
Though I do think the tea has been mislabeled. Caramel Chocolate would be more apt as both flavours are strongly present!
At the beginning of the sip, I taste chocolate syrup which quickly morphs into caramel. I notice alot of caramel on the swallow as well. There is some astringency but I only notice that in the aftertaste long after the sip is done.
The chocolate part, well I am very picky when it comes to my chocolate teas and this one comes off a smidge artificial tasting. but then, that’s just me. I feel the same way about chocolate milk!
Also, I see what Kristaleyn means about a woodsy note. I’ve seen it in caramel type things before… and given that caramel is pretty much burnt sugar, I am guessing that is where it comes from, the “burnt” aspect? That’s just a guess…

Had an eggnog latte of this the other day, because it would be a nice tea to sip down! It was pretty good; I’ve always liked the chocolate flavour here and it worked well in the latte.

Yum. Drank some of this again. Still enjoyable, but reaching boredom with it as I am with practically every other tea I’ve been drinking lately! Tea fatigue.

Backlog.

Drank this twice, yes. I have a fair bit of it to drink up, and it’s reasonably old.

Backlog.

Really don’t mind this one, actually. Not as good as something like Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha, but more interesting than most plain blacks.

I certainly get more of a caramelly flavour from this tea than I do chocolate… which is completely fine with me! I enjoyed a steaming hot cup of it last night while playing a card game out on the deck of my new place… it was pretty awesome.

This tea is from my sister’s cupboard – she’s only a fan of rather flavourful/sweet teas, and this one didn’t fit the bill. She had been given a whole box (100g) of it, so when I visited at Christmas, it came home with me! My first attempt at this tea back on my birthday in January wasn’t bad, but since then I have learned quite a bit about tea and steeping times, etc., so I’m thinking this cup will be better! I also feel like I should note that the box for this tea is covered in greek writing – I don’t know if this is a greek company, but the tea was possibly purchased in Greece :)

The instructions for brewing call for one level teaspoon per 2 cup pot, steeped with boiling water. I was just using a mug, so went with a generous half teaspoon and boiling water.

The dry tea looks like a typical black loose leaf tea, with a couple small caramel-coloured chocolate chips. I made sure to get one into my tea ball, but am skeptical that I’ll have enough for one per cup by the end of this bag! It smells a bit chocolatey, but isn’t particularly aromatic. I tend to find that with flavoured blacks and many straight teas, so am not too concerned. Steeped, the smell is of chocolate and caramel… yum!

Ok – this is definitely better than I remember! I can taste a mild black base, mixed with creamy and vanilla-y flavours with a hint of chocolate. There’s no astringency at all, which is lovely. I am getting a bit of a strange taste at the end of the sip, after the delicious flavours have faded. Can’t really place it though. A part of me wants to say cardboard, but that would be very harsh, as that’s not really it. Maybe… it’s a bit woody?

I think I’d try this one again at 1 tsp/cup just to see if I can strengthen it a bit. It’s not really all that weak, but I would like to give it a shot stronger, and given that there was absolutely no bitterness or astringency, I figure I have a bit of room to play around! Overall a pretty tasty straight chocolate tea! I’m impressed :)

ETA: Second infusion is a bit weak, but still pretty tasty! A bit caramelly sweet and smooth. Worth it, IMO.

I stumbled upon this tea the other day while my fiancee and I were strolling through the local Asian food market. It’s a fun and interesting place to visit.

The fish that you can buy there could be no fresher. They are alive and swimming around in huge tanks. When you select the one that you want, the staff bops it on the head with a mallet, wraps it up, and sends you (and it) on your merry way. I wondered if it would be a huge (and dangerous) shock to the purchaser if the fish were only knocked unconscious, and it woke up and started flopping around your car while you drove it home for dinner. But I digress…

I’m obviously still a newbie in the world of teas. I had no idea what Assam tea was and had to look it up so I would know what I was drinking.

For those as uninformed as I was, Assam is a black tea grown in India that is used for English, Scottish, and Irish Breakfast teas. The leaves are dark green in color and are glossy and fairly wide compared to those of the Chinese tea plant.

As recommended on the package, I brewed this tea at 212 degrees for five minutes. It may be due to my recent cataract surgeries, but this tea seemed to produce a unique brownish orange color.

The aroma of this tea is both nutty and malty. The flavor is bounteous and powerful without bitterness. The taste is very much like the smell, nutty and malty. The aftertaste doesn’t seem to hang around for as long as some of the Chinese morning teas that I frequent, but it is pleasant just the same.

This is an excellent blend and I enjoyed it a lot. I will definitely rotate it with the other members in my collection of morning teas.