Taylors of Harrogate

Delicious. Very pleasantly surprised. Warm and very slightly spicy towards the end of the mug, a very “tamed” smokiness, excellent.

Favorite bagged English tea. Done.

I’ve been wanting to try this for a while and finally picked up a box from Cost Plus. I tried it this morning with breakfast, and was pleasantly surprised. It’s a nice, robust blend that has a smooth finish. I’m a diehard Earl Grey gal, but this is a close second.

I think it might be time for a nap already but I’ve been up since 4 am!

I remembered I had this decaf Earl Grey in my cupboard and I was thinking it couldn’t possibly be as bad as I remember it to be. I don’t like a lot of bergamot so it’s kind of a mystery as to why I bought this and as I’m sitting here I’m not even sure I want to finish the cup. To me it just seems bitter and soapy. If anyone in the US wants the remaining teabags please let me know and I’ll be happy to send them to you! Otherwise this is destined for the compost… life is too short to be drinking teas I don’t even like.

Hmm. this was an impulse buy for sure, seeing as how I don’t really like Earl grey much. I was at the Bi-Rite supermarket after dinner and thought this would make a nice evening tea when I got sick of tisanes. There have been a few bergamot blends I have liked over the years but I don’t think this will be one of them.

Unfortunately decaf blck teas are kind of low on flavor in general and this is pretty weak. the bergamot is strong but also very overpowering, bitter and drying in the mouth. It was much improved after adding about 1/2 tsp of coconut sugar and some soymilk.

After reading the other tasting note on here I will try steeping mine for only 1 minute next time and see how that improves things. Oh well, at least I didn’t spend a lot of money on it.

This is a fantastic hard core builders brew! You have this in your tatty old mug with the tea stains you can`t get out, pull up your drawers and get the day going! Love it!

this is a very nice orange pekoe. they had the bag version in my grocery store. i don’t know what’s gotten into the buyer at my local grocery store. we have a lot of tea varieties of late. this one is tasty & flavourful when stepped at 4 minutes but don’t go overboard. 4m30seconds & it becomes a wee bit bitter. it loves milk & sugar. this is the tea that you offer to a friend in need of a shoulder & a good cry.

TTBA!! (For those who are new to Steepster, that stands for Traveling Tea Box A).
There’s an envelope with 2 bags of this. I had one as my pre-breakfast tea. I probably should have made it my breakfast tea, it’s nicely bold & malty. Not sure if I’ll drink the other bag, as it’s a little on the bitter end as well. I might leave that one for one of my other black tea loving friends to sample.
Anyways, for a bagged tea it does pack a punch, which I find rare, but probably not something I’d stock.
NEXT?

Added 4 hours later: Had errands to run & knew I’d be stopping off for 2nd breakfast at a little hole in the wall I like, so I brought the 2nd bag, which as was pretty nice with the meal.

Had this from a hotel room I’d stayed in a year and a half ago, so I figured it was about time I drank it. It was my first cup of the day, which is usually not conducive to a clear-headed tasting & review (even the “gently pull tab to release string” gave me problems). Brewed up it had a tangy astringency that was still present after 1 teaspoon of sugar was added. I drank it with my morning toast and didn’t add milk until I was almost at the bottom of the cup.

In sum: I drank this and thought it was decent but wasn’t paying enough attention to really say anything about it.

(Part 2 of my Ritz-Carlton Story. For Part 1, see English Breakfast by Taylors of Harrogate)

I had a lot of time to kill, so I really took my time to savor that breakfast, dipping my asparagus in the hollandaise. The food was quite tasty, although the steak could have been a little more rare, but it was tender, none the less.

For dessert, I had a pot of this Earl Grey with stevia added. It is nothing remarkable, but at the moment it felt like a sweet after breakfast treat, and satisfied the desire for something sweet to contrast with the savory meal I had eaten.

Today is day 16 of my sipdown extravaganza, with only 5 more sipdowns to go to reach my goal of 100 sipdowns, but I spent the day at the Ritz Carlton, away from my tea collection. I had to set up pretty early from the Bridal show, with a couple of hours to kill, so like last year, I treated myself to breakfast. Sadly, this year the food was disappointing, & the service was even worse. This is the tea they serve, & it was ok. Not a bad cup, but no real character to it. I drank 2 pots. It took 10 minutes for the first pot to arrive at my table, & I have no idea how long it had been steeped. It took even longer to get the 2nd pot.

(Back tracking a little)

On Sunday I had breakfast at the Ritz-Carlton.
It’s not a place I would normally eat, but I had to set up early for a Bridal Show there, & was going to have plenty to kill between setup & the actual start of the show, so I figured, why not treat myself, LOL.

They have a breakfast bar, but the majority of the offerings are loaded with gluten, sugar, & dairy products, so I went with the steak & eggs with a side of Hollandaise (yeah, I know it was loaded with butter, & I have suffered for it, but it was SO worth it!). It came with potatoes, which were cooked with onions & bell peppers. It also came with asparagus, but it only turned out to be 2 spears, so I ordered a side of those too. I like a lot of veggies with my protein! So the breakfast was yummy!

I had this english breakfast as well. I went through 2 pots of it. I like my EB plain. And it is. It’s a very basic tea blend, no bright notes, no real depth. Just black tea. It is a little malty. I was a little disappointed to be quite honest, I mean, I was at the Ritz!

Just riding back from historic Naples Florida where my mother and I had lunch at Brambles English Tea Room, while Rowan and grandpa went to the park. The owners were Brits and our waitress Jasmine had a lovely accent from I’m not sure where. It was Victorian in decor, pink floral wallpaper and floral china tea cups and small pots. They served almost exclusively Taylor’s of Harrogate (a brand I had heard mentioned the opening weekend of our Teavana store by a busy body tea anglophile customer who just wanted to name drop an talk about who was drinking what) with the exception of a few house blends. My mom had their take on a Royal Wedding Tea with strawberries, kiwi and mango with a salmon salad I had this Lapsang Souchong with my Cornish Pasty which were a fine paring. The tea was medium on the smoke, slightly sweet and quite smooth. It was a bag but whatever. I asked what kind of oolong and she just tried to explain what an oolong was to me but in doing so described it as green and mild so that answered my question. I picked up an over the cup strainer to replace my one that was blackening, this one has a stainless steel mesh body and its own drip base so that’s fabulous. I also picked the husband up some Japanese Cherry Tea just because and treated my mom to some Royal Wedding Tea for at home. I accidentally tipped 20% on the subtotal (three items from the gift shop on top of the meal) tipping the final total to $81, oh well hopefully Jasmine enjoy, she taught is how to pronounce pasty. Lovely afternoon.

Despite our heat being set to 74 I’m chilled and can’t seem to get warm. I’m hoping a nice cup of this tea (thanks to Serenity!) will do the trick. I’ve heard good things about Yorkshire tea and this is my first experience with it. Wow, is it strong! Even after adding milk and sweetener it is still a little bitter, and I didn’t even let it steep for the full time. Nice, strong malty flavor. I think this tea may be just what I needed tonight!

-Large standard teabag with a string.
-Teabag smells sweet and malty. Tea liquor aroma is of strong black tea.
-Tea liquor is a thick very dark brown color.
-Strong robust flavor with a slightly bitter finish. Malty and bitter aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Strong malty flavor and finish. Takes milk and sugar very well.

Thanks to kimlovestea for this one! (BTW can anyone let me know how to “tag” someone when I’m thanking them? You know, when their usename is bolded?)

Oh yum. I love me some breakfast tea. And this one is no exception. Really good, especially for a bagged tea.

Thanks again kimlovestea!

A while back I saw this tea on a discussion, and was curious. While I do prefer flavored teas, particular tisanes (Yes I know, they are technically not ‘tea.’) I want to broaden my horizons more. And plus wanted to find a morning tea that has plenty of caffeine.
1st smell: Strongly astringent
1st taste: I knew by the smell that I would not be able to taste it without a bunch of sweetener. I decided to use honey as my sweetener. I put in 3 very full spoonfulls of honey into the cup, stirred it and took a sip.

Bleh! No matter how much honey I put in, it did not improve the taste. I did look up the reviews for the tea before making it, (Which generally I don’t do.) and saw many people mention that steeping it for more then 2 or 3 minutes would be a mistake. So I steeped for 1 minute and 25 seconds. Still very astringent.
If I can convince myself to try another cup…(Debatable…depends on how masochistic I am feeling I guess.)I will try for 30 seconds. I still might see if I can give it away or swap it. I would rather it go to someone who enjoys it.

I’ve been drinking this and I’m enjoying it. It can be the first cup in the morning. I put in a splash of milk and pinch of sugar and I’m good to go!

I puchased this unopened vintage tea from a gentleman in England. I approached this one carefully. I really did not know if it was even safe to drink. The tea was either a CTC or has been reduced to almost a powder over the years. When I poured the boiling water on it became darker than coffee within seconds. I let it steep for maybe 30 seconds. I thought maybe a rinse might be in order. The aroma is ancient yet sweet with a touch of wood and cinnamon and the flavor is too. The liquor is electric. It has this energy in my mouth that is wild. The second cup, steeped for a minute is much mellower. This tea has warmed me greatly and I am feeling a slight euphoria. This was different. This was wild….

The picture I enclosed is blurry. The tin has a scenes of older year China which is quite beautiful but I find it odd that they put it on an Indian-Ceylon tea….

desperate for strong tea in the morning, i’m now drinking afternoon darjeeling. call it an act of rebellion. i find it almost as strong as my beloved Twinings Irish Breakfast. i found it as bag tea in my local grocery store. first thing in the morning, i am not competent enough to handle tea leaves. this tea is good with a long steeping, at least five minutes, a sugar cube & a wee dollup of milk.