Taylors of Harrogate

1 teabag used

Amazing rhubarb and slightly creamy aroma from the infusing tisane. Quite tart with a soft edge. Tartness reminds me of hibiscus but bearable. Banana note.

I love elderflower, and a twitter friend posted this tea. I immediately ordered it on Amazon. It’s really good! The blackberry and elderflower really complement each other without overwhelming the other.

I bought this today at The World Market, probably paid way too much for it too! It’s a decent cuppa, more mellow than Yorkshire red, so don’t expect this to be stronger. Nice malty flavours that don’t have a bitter after taste. Yorkshire Gold is a really good black tea, however, it won’t replace my PG Tips .

THE RUNDOWN
1) I can’t drink this tea straight. I’m still acclimating to assams for their malty bitterness. I added one Splenda and about a tbsp of unsweetened almond milk. I tried brewing today for 6 minutes at boiling to see how it would affect brewing in cup. Great aroma and great color, as always. This is my morning cuppa.
2) First Taste: Wow. What a taste this rich nutty blend has. I call them tea grounds because they’re so tiny (and so caffeinated) but I love how they bloom as they brew. I get nutty, vanilla, caramel, salty, and a bit of earthiness.
3) Second Taste: Fantastic mouthfeel. I get a bit more bitterness this time around. And I can smell some of that saltiness. I’m still getting that earthiness but maybe a bit less.
4) Final Thought: If you like strong rich teas, you really have to try this tea. It’s sort of famous for its strength (someone once told me it’s twice as strong as regular drip coffee) and that makes it the perfect wake-up juice. And best of all – it tastes incredible. I never go without having this in my cupboard.

Pure Assam from Taylor’s of Harrogate is my black tea of choice. It has a strong and bitter flavor reminiscent of nuts or caramel that is robust and energizing. I tend to steep mine at about 5 minutes at 212 F, which produces a dark brown/red liquor. Highly recommended for breakfast or lunch!

A call went out in my SCA Shire for tea/coffee donations for our event this weekend. For convenience, they wanted bagged tea. I had a box of this tea in tea bags, so I made the donation. I think this is a great breakfast tea. And its hearty warmth was much appreciated this morning since it was in the lower twenties this morning, and we’d had an inch of snow. Those who arrived early to set up needed the warm boost..

My friend from Winnipeg crashed at my place last night. She is not a coffee drinker, but luckily I am a hybrid morning caffeine person. That is, I start with a cup of coffee and finish with some tea. I had a tin of this on hand so we brewed up a pot. This is not a fancy tea, but it is hearty enough to be satisfying, and mild enough to escape the dreaded bitterness and/or astringency that some (cheapo) breakfast teas give you. It is bagged tea, and I got the box of 20 bags for less than $3 US, so I call that a win.

I’m off tomorrow to go camping on Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba for the long weekend. I decided to bring this tea with me. It’s not going to be tremendously hot or cold, around 23 or 24 during the day and 16 at night. But it is supposed to rain off and on most of the weekend, so a hot tea will be exactly what I need. This one will be perfect. I haven’t had it in a long while, so I brewed a cup tonight. Strong and malty but not bitter. And the bags will make it even more convenient. So, wish me luck!

I seem to prefer weaker, more mellow teas, so I wasn’t at all sure of this one. One cup changed my mind. It certainly is stronger than some of my other favorite teas, but this one has a good, smooth flavor.

This was part of an assortment gifted to me from friends. Not a bad tea. Not wonderful, like I think I need to go stock up on it. But if I was travelling and this was one of the selections at a hotel breakfast, I would have no trouble choosing it over some other breakfast teas.

This has a nice minty flavor to it. Smooth in the cup.

I made this one like an English person— brewed Western style, milk in first, no sweetener.

It was HEAVENLY. I have never drunk Earl Grey with milk before, but oh my God, I’m never drinking this one without it again! It gave it like this creamy, fruity, tannic, chocolatey, scrumptious dimension that has been previously untapped by me (I almost always take my tea black).

Bumping up the rating.

My sleep got messed up this weekend because I was out until 3:00 in the morning on Thursday night (I should clarify that I have Thursdays and Fridays off, so that’s what I mean by “weekend”) and then only slept until 9:30 Friday morning. I slept well last night, but of course I had to get up and go to work.

I decided not to escalate my potential to tense up at work and opted for some loose-leaf tea this morning instead of coffee.

I’ve had better EG’s than this one, and I’ve had worse. I don’t have a strong opinion about it one way or the other. It’s heavy on the bergamot, but not to the point that it tastes soapy or floral. I think the black tea base is fairly mild, and that’s why the bergamot is the strongest flavor. I like my EG’s to have a bit of astringency from the base, to define the cocoa notes a bit more. The cocoa notes are there, but not very strong.

I can tell that it’s a reasonably high-quality tea and that the essence of bergamot oil is also good quality. It’s just overall not a very special or memorable EG.

Wooo-eee, this one is NOT wanting for bergamot!

Warning: Not for the faint of citrus heart. The base is nice and smooth, and provides a beautiful backdrop for… The bergamot.

Only drink it you really love bergamot. Like, really, really love it.

[Rating the bagged version…] It was okay. I’ve been shoving it around in my tea cupboard. It tastes burnt, or smoky, or whatever you want to call it (and, yes, I tried steeping it for a lot less time, same result), and the bergamot is just not the flavor I’d like it to be. It’s there, mind you, and in force, but it’s more flagrant and floral than a deep delicious bergamot. I might just have a unique idea of the perfect Earl Grey. :)

Windchills of 13 below. Snowing. This calls for a no-nonsense, malty black.

This has become my favorite day to day tea. It smells almost florals, and brews up very clean and strong. I also like it with or without additives, without a bad cup however I make it. I’ve been letting friends try it and each get nearly as hooked, including my coffee loving brother!

Whoa. This is definitely the strongest tea I have ever tried. Robust and reviving, it is a lovely rich red as your pour and brews to a seriously deep burgundy after just a few seconds. The smell of the dry tea leaves is quite intoxicating; it’s almost as enjoyable as final brew.

I love this tea. I picked it up at Whole Foods because I couldn’t find a normal box of either Barry’s Irish Breakfast or Twinings Irish Breakfast anywhere (apparently Twinnings only does Irish Breakfast for the international market. You can buy it in their shop, but it’s a big box and costs 5 quid, and I didn’t really feel like paying it at this point). Anyway, it’s a lovely lovely Irish breakfast. I pretty much drink this every morning now. I also love Taylors Yorkshire Tea (my previous preferred morning tea), so – go Taylors! Plus they’re from Yorkshire and I kind of have a crush on Yorkshire.