Twinings

I woke up with a really terrible headache this morning so I thought a big dose of caffeine would be in order. I brewed this tea up double strength for about 10 minutes and then added a big of cane sugar and milk. This is really starting to help wrangle my throbbing head into submission. Super strong Irish Breakfast rocks!!

Finishing up the last bag of Irish Breakfast today. Luckily it is really easy to come by if I find myself wanting more.

I like my Irish Breakfast to be strong. You may be wondering, how do you know when it is strong enough? My answer is: You know it is strong enough when the first sip almost knocks you to the ground by almost painfully assaulting your tastebuds with malty goodness. Then and only then is it strong enough.

For some reason, I’ve only wanted my bagged teas today. Usually I mix it up with loose leaf at some point, oh well. I guess today is the day of bagged, this is my last cup of caffeinated tea and most of my decaf is bagged as well.

As for this tea, I’m moving through my box of 20 bags at an alarming rate. It is possibly my favorite tea lately and for this reason, I’m moving the rating up a couple of points.

Starting my day with this once again – a good, solid, caffeine-riddled black tea to wake me up.

This tea sure can take a lot of abuse in regards to steeping time and come out tasting great. I’m also getting quite a hit of caffeine! On to more tea…

This is a great quality and smooth tasting tea for a bagged tea. It also has a nice caffeine kick which I really needed today.

I’m enjoying a nice hot cup of this with milk and sugar. I’ve actually been drinking this most mornings and some evenings because I just really like this. It would probably be better if I had the loose leaf version, but the bags are pretty awesome.

This is probably one of the first teas that I really enjoyed and I still enjoy it today. It has been a long time since I had a straight Irish Breakfast and I think it is better than I remember. I think Irish Breakfast is just one of those teas that really needs milk and sweetener. Without additives, it is an alright black tea – but nothing special. But with the addition of milk and sugar, the malty, slightly fruity goodness comes alive. This is just a great tea all around – probably the best bagged tea I’ve had. I would be interested in adding a loose leaf Irish Breakfast to my cupboard sometime in the near future, but as for now, I’m quite pleased with this bagged version.

I didn’t like this tea, astringent and thin for a black.

Wonderful, full malt flavor with rich body. I take this cuppa without additives. In a teabag style I give it a 74. Yes loose leaf makes a difference.

I very much enjoy this tea, smooth as silk with no astringency. Fine cuppa straight up or with a little sweetener.

TTB Tea #16:

I’m not a black tea person- especially bagged… but I know black tea is part of the tea culture in the UK and since this is named for one of the royal family, why not? I’m a sucker for novelty teas.

The liquor is a dull brown color… CRAP! forgot to weigh this. Sigh… Oh well… Slightly sweet smooth flavor. Quite pleasing for even the not black lover like myself. Paired nicely w/ lunch- chicken parmesean. Not sure I’d drink it not paired w/ some sort of food though.

I didn’t have time to make My Morning Mate this morning (again!) so I went with what I had at my desk, which was this. Which I enjoy, but usually in the afternoons…it doesn’t really do the trick for me to have this as my morning cup, but it was all I had at my desk today.

This is my “desk tea” aka “work tea”, sadly though I am becomming a tad bored with it. It’s still yummy and a great bagged tea, but I just need a change. For my change I really want a pu-erh that is bagged and still good… so I will be stopping by Whole Foods after work and hoping they have Numi’s pu-erh blends there and if so I’ll be getting 2 different boxes…I know for sure the chocolate pu-erh one. Now, lets just keep our fingers crossed that they have them in stock!

Yummmmm a nice afternoon tea! :-)

This is a very pleasent bagged tea for me and it is not like most “Earl Grey” teas. This tea is much more lighter in taste and has a nice floral note to accompany the bergamot and other citrusy notes. I add a bit of sugar to mine and it really makes the flavors pop! Also, you can steep this tea and forget about it and still come back to a great cup of tea. It is my go to at work tea!

always love Earl Grey!!!

Got this tea for a teacher appreciation gift this week. The smell in the tea bag is citrus. Brewed it for 2 minutes. I can taste the bergamont, but it is not overpowering. Light, basic black tea that did not require milk and sugar. I am pleasantly surprised:)

We went to Bob Evans for brunch, and as usual, I ordered the tea basket. I was intrigued when I saw this for the first time in the front, so I tried some. Smelling the bag, I already sighed with delight. There was a rich combination of tea and fruit just in the smell, and after the first sip, I was in heaven. The flavor was very full and satisfying and needed no sweetening. I’ll definitely get some to use as a dessert tea!
Second steep was much weaker, though, probably because it was bagged.

One of my favourite teas, tastes fresh and has many delicate notes.

I used to dislike chai, but I got used to it (even started craving it!) from this specific indian restaurant in Berkeley, CA. After moving I went on a hunt for that perfect chai blend, and this tea is the closest I got. Nowadays I’ve actually switched to making my own chai (very easy with a few basic spices, tons of recipe variations online) using some loose-leaf assam tea, but this is a decent bagged chai that I like to have at work. Its great with milk, and I tend to avoid adding sweeteners but its good with a bit of sugar too. My favorite part is that it is still pretty good without any additives either, so very convenient for away-from-home.

great with honey

Travels well. I don’t like it quite as much as the Twinings IBT, but it is solid and good with a shot of milk or 1/2 and 1/2.