Taylors of Harrogate

Well I was going to brew something else, but the man wanted to have a cup of tea with me and he said “none of that fancy stuff. I just want that orange pekoe or whatever it’s called. You, know, REAL tea?” Since he rarely wants to take tea with me, I try to oblige his requests. ;). So I brewed a pot of this and he really enjoyed it. I was surprised when he said he wanted to drink it black (I didn’t know he took his tea straight – I guess you learn something new each day!) He sniffed it first and then took a sip and said “mmm good” and said at the end that it was a good cup of tea. So there you go! I, of course enjoyed mine too. All in all, it was really nice – tea is meant to be shared :)

Saturday morning drinky to wakey. Brewed strong enough to knock your teeth out.

Backlogged from last night:
Late night comfort drink with lots of honey and milk to ease the soul and warm my heart.

Monday morning…wakey wakey ;)

A small mug of this before lunch. Adding milk and a good dollop of honey makes this tea such a soothing treat, every single time.

Super stressed with buckets of tears requires a jug of this tea and a pound of honey. Pile on the milk and chug it back. Old reliable. Haven’t been tea drinking the last couple of days – shocking, right? Ah well, thank you Yorkshire for being there for me.
I also placed a big tea order today, so I’m looking forward to receiving some new things to try.

I bought a box of this on a whim from a nifty British shop, and happy that I did. I’ve got the bagged, tagless version. This is my standby tea, when I just need something quick, easy, simple, and above all comforting. I use a basic black tea when I make my own version of Cambric tea – loads of milk, a pound of honey, and a dash (or more) of tea. A sure-fire fix for upset tummy. Plus, I don’t feel as badly pitching a cheaper tea bag that I’ve only basically dunked for colour purposes in my cup. I sometimes brew it longer, if I want a kick – it depends on what I’m trying to cure: tummy ache: dunked for 30 seconds or less, basically for a very mild taste, and a bit of colour; heart ache/stress: brewed a bit longer, around a minute; and finally hangover: brew that bag out for what it’s worth, throw in the honey and toss it back. ;) *N.B. These are only recommended brew times based on my scale of need, and even that scale changes based on my whims, which is frighteningly frequent ;)

So, it’s 3am, I can’t sleep, and it was definitely time for a tea & honey. A big one. And at this point, I don’t even care about using a caffeine free tea, like my go-to Rooibos. I just want a warm cuppa-hug, on a rainy night, when I’m lonely and anxious. So, I reached for a bag of Yorkshire Gold. I brewed it for about a minute – I really like the colour of this tea. I added two massive spoonfuls of my favourite honey, and admired how the honey really makes the tea turn a rich, reddish gold colour. Yum. Added a whole pile of milk (just skim, but it always goes creamier in the presence of all that honey and in this tea) and the result is a creamy beige that just looks divine and smells even better. I hold my extra large mug in my hand and just breathe in the goodness.

I used to just use Red Rose for this purpose, or Tetley (this is what my mum drinks when she visits, so I keep the Red Rose on hand in the house) but this tea has surpassed them both on my happy scale. I’m nearly finished this box, and I am definitely going to pick up another one.

I concur, if you let this steep too long, it can grow bitter. But it’s a very refreshing, delicate flavor, otherwise. I prefer it straight. Very nice afternoon or evening. I even have it later at night, and it doesn’t keep me up.

This is a perfect tea for morning, when I haven’t yet woken up, or relaxing any time. I love the delicate flavor, and it’s perfect with just a tiny bit of sugar, honey, stevia, or my favorite, French Vanilla Coffeemate creamer. One of my favorite teas. :)

My first Ceylon in my quest to learn more about black tea. I actually have the bagged variety.

Opened the box and a rush of fragrant, quintessential “this be TEA!” scent rushed at me. I immediately decided to brew it by the book, i.e., as close to the instructions on the box as possible. Which were: steep 4-5 min. in freshly boiled water, add milk or lemon. Pretty basic. Although I did use a large mug, so I also used two bags rather than one.

The sweet tea scent disippated after steeping, which made me sad. Perhaps I smothered it with too much milk. Next time I’ll try it plain. I may even purchase a lemon or two for my tea trials.

Cooled it a few minutes before drinking. This was my second mug of breakfast tea, so I wasn’t in a hurry.

This is sweet and gentle in my mouth. No astringency or bitterness. I could see keeping a pot handy throughout the morning and perhaps into the afternoon. Will have to see how the caffeine affects me after this cup.

I also have a sample bag of Harney’s to try so that will be next. But I would certainly buy this again. I believe I prefer it to T&H’s Pure Assam, but later in the weekend maybe I’ll try those two (Ceylon vs. Assam) head-to-head.

Picked up a box of the bagged for 2.50 at Big Lots…thought I would give it a whirl. It’s nice malty, sturdy, everything you would expect from a Scottish breakfast. I think they’re tea bags are very cool because you have to pull the string to expand the string. A little nerdy yes.

I’m trying to learn more about black teas and since I love Scottish Breakfast from Taylors of Harrowgate, I started with their Pure Assam.

This is a good alternate for my usual breakfast/morning cup, but it didn’t strike me as extraordinary in any way. It’s a serviceable, hearty, robust waker-upper. I didn’t detect any bitterness or astringency. I’m not sure I’m experienced enough yet to correctly identify “maltiness.” If that means “having a slight sweetness,” that applies here. I steeped for 4 minutes; the water was not boiling. I added about 1/2 oz. 2% milk to a cup that holds 8-9 oz. total, and no sugar.

Among my favorites. First heard of this variety years ago while reading Centennial by James Michener — fascinated by the description of the mountain man’s first taste of this “smoky, tarry” tea. I probably sampled Twinings the first time. Started sampling Taylors teas a couple of years ago and this one is one I always have around. I take it with milk or half-and-half.

So, second cup (mug) of the morning, more tea, steeped longer. Ahh. This is more like it, and indeed yes, there is some astringency. But I will still be playing the field, even if I suspect it will mostly be between Scottish Breakfast, Yorkshire Gold, and Florence.

I deliberately decided to branch out after finishing my last box of bags, so I am trying the leaf tea version of this for the first time this morning. I may have been a bit niggardly with the amount of tea I used, and I was so curious and impatient that I only steeped it about 3 minutes. I also added my usual generous splash of 2% milk. I tasted it too-hot, just-right, and almost-too-lukewarm and am still not getting the bitterness and astringency others have mentioned.

On the other hand, I was expecting a glorious reunion with my first tea love, all grown up, and, well, hmm. Still very attractive, but not as thrilling as anticipated.

Next time: more tea-to-water ratio, longer steep. We’ll see whether the spark is still there.

Still lovely. Everyone should assume that I’m going to have this every morning at breakfast until the box is empty, and then I’ll just open another box. Will resume the black tea sampling over the weekend.

I love this tea. I use the bagged variety for convenience and add 2 bags to an 8-oz. mug of near-boiling water every morning. I usually take it with a splash of 2% milk but enjoy it with whole milk and a smaller splash of half-and-half occasionally also. No sweetener, ever.

Perhaps the milk smooths out the astringency others have mentioned. I have always found it mellow, a bit flowery (which I also attribute to the African leaves as someone else mentioned) and refreshing.

I discovered it when I was looking for a replacement for Twinings’ Russian Caravan tea, which is no longer sold in the US. Most Russian Caravan blends I have tried have varying degrees of smokiness, like mild Lapsang Souchong, but the old Twinings blend was not like that. However, my sister described Scottish Breakfast as “smoky” so others may detect that as well. I do not.

I love this stuff. No caffeine. Good value for the money. Not part of the age-old Canadian repertoire of teas that are distributed to all of the sellers by one company. Great to add vanilla or chocolate.

Anddd another backlog …
This is the tea sent to me from my UK friend LOVE HER!
So nice to have some GOOD (really good) bagged tea around in those morning crisis moments!
Today I was not even in a crisis I just wanted to have it.
This is of course a great bagged tea!
Malty and yes even some complexity here!
Proper English tea … perfect for those tea parties!

Backlogging from a bit earlier – had this as my drag my rear out of bed too early today tea.
Had an appointment to get my daughter’s car detailed after the “we bought a used car that was infested” fiasco of two weeks ago.
Long story – long sickening story.
Anyway … BAH after only 4 hours sleep all I could do was grab a bagged tea but this one is a good bagged tea to get ya going.

This tea is amazing for a bagged inexpensive tea. One of the best! It has some of the same yet not quite as high of quality of Teavivre’s Bailin Gongfu Black. Granted you are going to get far more complexity and flavor out of Teavivre but just to draw some form of comparison I wanted to mention that I am picking up on some of the same notes.

Very nice! Surprised actually that it was not just a bland black tea. It had depth. Honestly – I gulped it down lol I need to make more and do a better tasting note but yeah I am really happy to have this and a TON of it in my stash! The box she sent me has 160 bags in it! Well 159 now though :)

I just received a GIANT box of these tea bags in the mail from a dear friend from Manchester! She also sent me some Twinings Earl Grey. I can’t wait to try this especially after reading the reviews! I had felt a little bit like backtracking since I just started my loose leaf journey but I am seeing now from reading other people’s tea logs that it is a wonderful bagged tea! They DO exist! :) It will be nice to have some excellent tea bags for those mornings when I am too sleepy to mess with the tea pot – which for me is every morning! :)