Twinings

I was really sick last week and I drank this tea throughout the week to help with my sinus cold.

This was a great earl grey tea. I drank it last night around 7pm while finishing my homework and charging through some studying for finals.

This is one of my favorite teas to drink with brown sugar and milk. It is strong and bright while maintaining a smooth, robust flavor. I brewed this around 10 am this morning while I read a book and relaxed by my window. It was a great start to my day without the crash I get with coffee.

This tea had an interesting flavor to it! The flavor reminds me of cough drops in some way, it is not the sweetest flavor in it’s natural state but I still enjoyed it. I looked up the benefits of this tea was very happy to see how healthy it is. So although it may not be a favorite I do admire it and will come back to drinking it every now and then. It was really cool to learn that this tea is a member of the Fabaceae plant family in South Africa.

I used to love this tea! Now it just tastes artificial. I’m a little disappointed, but I may flavor it with some Pumpkin Spice creamer next time. I always drink chai tea with milk. So good.

A nice flavourful black tea with apple flavouring. It happens to be a nice dried apple flavour rather than the dreaded green apple, red delicious apple skins, or candy flavours I taste in many other apple teas. I’m not usually big on apple flavours, but this one is mellow and warming. No spices, either, (most apple teas run the risk of having cinnamon shoved in front of it) so just a nice black tea and dried fruit.

This one’s for the people who don’t like a cup of frigid Old Man Winter. Light and smooth but does get a little musty. Not my cup but still drinkable.

Life has been busy with work & travel for the fast few weeks, but I’m finally able to get back to relaxing with my tea…
I have vague memories of drinking this tea a long time ago & finding it light, delicate and fragrant – a lovely morning cuppa.
Then I tried a teabag that was lurking in my tea caddy from travels unknown, & … dark liquor, very little fragrance. Boy was I disappointed!
Realising the tea’s age was probably a factor, I decided I should give it another try.
How fortuitous that my lovely T2 gift with purchase blue china cup & saucer just arrived. I have tried one cup of my favourite Tamborine Tea Russian Caravan in it, but it was just wrong for that teacup. Equally, I couldn’t imagine a robust English or Irish Breakfast in it. I still drink these out of china, not stoneware, but from a mug, not a teacup.
I needed something fragrant & delicate, but my relationship with Earl Grey is still a little rocky (due to overexposure by an Earl Grey fanatic flatmate), so luckily I remembered I had bought a 100g tin of Twinings Darjeeling loose leaf tea. Perfect!
I noticed the difference between this & my usual black teas as soon as I opened the tin – there were lighter specks combined with the usual black CTC, & the aroma was more delicate, with faint whiffs of caramel & grass.
I brewed for 3 mins (recommended 2-5) & the brew was lovely & fragrant, with an attractive amber liquor. I know NEVER to do this to a first flush Darjeeling, but I added a dash of milk to the cup as I still struggle with drinking black teas without it.
The result – a much more delicate cuppa than my usual strong & often smoky blacks. The taste is subtle, with a little sweet grassiness & some very light malty caramel, but as the weather is rapidly warming here, a lighter taste is a good choice except at breakfast.
I had a second cup brewed for 5 mins & was surprised that despite being obviously stronger, there wasn’t a lot of bitterness there. However I don’t think it change the balance of flavours much so I’d go for the shorter brew time as a preference.
All-in-all there is something about drinking the right tea using a beautiful china cup & saucer that just lifts the whole experience. So, unless I find something even better, this is my morning tea cuppa combination.
Now, if I can overcome my Earl Grey phobia, I can have an afternoon cuppa in my teacup too!

NOTE – I have read some Steepster reviews since writing mine & I can’t say I experienced some of the negatives, like lots of fine dust in the bottom of the cup etc…

Not the best, but still recommending this tea for those who enjoy the tase of Chai. There’s a good amount of caffeine and the tea itself doesn’t taste bad. My only major issue with this tea, is that is tasted rather artificial and the tea was almost too sweet without any added sweeteners (a good indication of artificial flavoring). With that being said, this is an acceptable Chai if there’s no other option…. but, I don’t believe I’ll be purchasing this specific Chai tea again.

I don’t taste any smoke like others have tasted. I get a typical smooth malty but slightly brisk black tea flavour. I had this with a touch of vanilla soy milk and that may have drowned out subtle notes.

This my favourite tea, i can’t go back to normal tea flavour. I have been drinking this tea for nearly 10years. Only Woolworths in Australia stock it, i wish more supermarkets would have it.I think it is really soothing and satisfying in taste.

I don’t love assertive bergamot, so I’m not a big straight-up Earl Grey fan, but I use this to make my version of a “London Fog”: double strength tea leaves in half mug of boiling water, steeped for 4-5 min; heat and froth milk and add to fill mug; add 1/4 tsp good vanilla, and sugar or sweetener to taste. Mix, sip, and swoon. Such a gorgeous treat!

hmmm this tea should have been wonderful with a name like French vanilla but it was nothing like I expected it to be I conjured up vanilla icing and well I was let down lol my bad and well I at least wanted a hint of vanilla flavor but I didn’t taste any ,it is an alright spicy tea just not one I will be purchasing I bought the advent calendar and this was in it, so glad I got that so I can try all of their teas

348/365

I love a good vanilla mint blend, so I had to revisit this one before completing my challenge. I tried it in its previous incarnation, when it was one of the Sensations range – that was a long time ago! I kept seeing it in the supermarket, and it was calling to me, so I gave in and bought a box for old time’s sake.

It’s simple, but delicious! There’s lots of peppermint, as you might expect, and it’s cooling and refreshing in the way only peppermint can be, considering it’s actually hot. The vanilla adds a creamy sweetness, very reminiscent of toffee at times. The flavour is spot-on murray mint, which I think is the intention.

I’d say this is easily one of my favourite herbal/caffeine-free blends. I’d forgotten how much I liked this one, but I think in future I’m going to try and keep it around. It’s well balanced perfection. Considering it’s a bagged supermarket tea, it would be hard to give it higher praise!

This is my partner’s favourite bedtime drink and has been a staple in our house for some time. It’s readily available from our local supermarket and I’ve lost count of how many boxes we’ve gotten through. I hadn’t drank it myself for a while, so last night I made a pot of it for us to share.

I have to say, this is hands down one of my favourite bedtime teas, too. While I do love a good herbal to take to bed with me, this one is set apart from the others due to the spices in it. The combination of the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom with the chamomile and apple is just amazing. Even when I’m drinking something different to my partner, I can still smell the spiced apple drifting from his mug. The vanilla in this is also stunning.

I’m glad I revisited this last night. I was reminded of how much I love it and of what a great blend it is.

Oh, and for the record… both my partner and I slept straight through until my alarm went off. A job well done!

346/365

Considering it’s a bagged supermarket tea, it does actually taste of cherry. I know I shouldn’t sound so surprised, but there it is. It’s quite nice initially, but there’s a distinct resemblance to cherry tunes or cough syrup by the end of the sip. Unfortunately, it’s a resemblance that only increases! I think it might be the liquorice – which is pretty subtle – but which adds a hit of sweetness the blend as a whole doesn’t really need.

The cinnamon is more muted than I expected, and mostly appears at the beginning of the sip. I thought it would be the other way around, for some reason. There’s no hibi in this one, which is unusual for Twinings, but to be applauded. It doesn’t need it, after all. There is some roeship, but it actually works reasonably well to temper some of the initial sweetness, so I can’t gripe about that. It’s not ultimately equal to it, but it has a good go.

I quite like this one. It’s not perfect, but that’s okay. It’s a little on the sweet side, but it does taste of cherry and cinnamon (bonus!), and it’s a nice warming, fruity cup on a cold afternoon. I’ll have no problems finishing my box.

Not terrible but very lacking. It tastes like a watery orange PEZ candy dipped in orange oil with a tiny bit of cinnamon. Where’s the rooibos?

The aroma is powerful delightful, you don’t have to steep long to get the full taste. I would recommend this to anyone.

Completing my trio of Russian Caravan staples (until I find new ones!), this is the least smoky of the three. The underlying flavours are malty & smooth, so all in all a very pleasant cuppa.
Lack of strong smoky notes can be a positive, as it is less likely to overpower food eaten with it, it’s better in warm weather & you can have more than one cup without feeling like there’s an old bonfire site in your mouth.
However, I LOVE the smokier Russian Caravans, so I have rated the Tamborine Tea & T2 versions higher.
Despite that, this is a very good all-day tea, where stronger smoky teas perhaps should be restricted to earlier in the day.
I’ve read reviews where they say the loose leaf version is better than tea bags… I can feel another purchase coming on…

I may be a OCD about doing things in the “right” order, & it might be alphabetically last of the five flavours, but it’s not coincidental that I tried this one last… I’m NOT a big fan of watermelon. So I didn’t really expect to like this one & on first taste I thought I wouldn’t. Overpowering watermelon was all I could taste. But brewed a lot longer than the recommended 3-5 minute minimum, suddenly there’s strawberry & subtle mint in the mix.
Still never going to be my favourite, but very pleasant & refreshing. A good alternative to the other four flavours.

NOTE – I LOVE the sound of the flavour that Steepsters from the UK have reviewed, Coconut, Pineapple & Green Tea. Why do they have that flavour & we Aussies don’t? Conversely, it seems like Brits don’t seem to have the divine Passionfruit, Mango & Blood Orange, or Lemon, Orange & Ginger… Why Twinings, why?

This flavour is just pipped at the post as my favourite cold infusion by the Passionfruit, Mango & Blood Orange.
If you brew the 3-5 mins recommended, the rose is strong & sweet at first, like Turkish Delight. But as I have learned with all these cold infusions, they benefit from more time, to let the secondary flavours come through. In this case the lemon emerges more as you infuse longer, & reduces the fairy-floss sweetness of the rose…
Awesome, & so refreshing!

By far my favourite of these cold infusions & it smells divine too!
The passionfruit is strong at first, but as with all of them, a longer brew time (recommended 3-5 mins – I say at least 10 mins) brings out the secondary flavours – in this case, blood orange, which I love.
The mango is so subtle it is hard to detect… a pity, because that would have added to the richness of the taste, but the drink is still great without it.
This will be my go-to flavour all summer!