Twinings

Very artificial tasting but that’s not to say that I don’t like it.
I don’t get any apple at all, literally none. It’s all blueberry.
The taste really comes off like a piece of berry flavoured bubblegum or a piece of candy (think Jolly Rancher) but more tart than sweet.
I really do like these cold infuse teas and love watching them steep in the cup, I’m mesmerised! Haha
They’re a nice alternative when you want a fast cold brew.

Smells like red jello and vitamins, tastes sweet-tart. This one’s too sharp for me. The pomegranate flavor is pretty spot on, though. I like Twinings Holiday Berry better. It has more of a darker red fruits flavor. I also seem to be in the minority for not liking this tea.

This came from a Twinings herbal sampler box that somebody left on the counter next to the water dispenser. It’s newer but called Bedtime Blend. Did Twinings switcheroo the names again?

I don’t know that I could tell the difference between this and Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime.

Dreadfully watery and flat.

This is a good mass-market introduction to smoked tea. It’s got some rather artificial smoke notes in the beginning, and a woodsy intermediate that goes to a dry tannic finish. Nothing too complicated or nuanced here. It’s the training wheels on your smoked tea bicycle.

Smoked teas in general are rather divisive. I am a fan but my partner says they smell of barbecue sauce. It is rather off-putting to some, which I definitely understand. For me, this was the gateway tea to more sophisticated smoked blends. I have heard Twinings reformulated this blend in the orange box into something awful in a new black box. I won’t bother trying the new blend since I have some upleasant Palais de Thes to get through and thus have enough upcoming tea tragedies.

Tastes like strawberry jello liquid with a little something extra. Not too sour. Strong aroma. I’m not particularly fond of these kind of hibiscus-based strawberry jello liquid teas but for those that like this “red fruit” flavor profile, I do recommend. Hehe.

This is a powerful Darjeeling that can also be used as an industrial degreaser or paint stripper.

Well, OK, not really. But the cup I brewed…well, it kind of feels like a punishment because it’s so bitter and astringent, but has very little actual tea flavour. It just tastes like regret and disappointment with an odd whiff of petrol at the end.

I suspect this tea is much better with milk and sugar to cut the bitterness and astringency. But I’m just going to pour this down the drain and hope it unclogs my kitchen sink. Still, it is a classic tea from a venerable brand, so I shall defer to centuries of tea drinkers who seem to love this and say it’s not a bad tea, it’s just not for me.

I had a single tea bag in my herbal box and today afternoon I wasn’t looking for any plain teas, instead some fruity blend would be nice I thought.

Took this one, saying on front side: “blackcurrant, rosemary, honey & hibiscus”. That sounds good. Ingredients on the other side: “nettle, hibiscus (24%), apple pieces, natural raspberry flavoruing with other natural flavoruings, rosemary (5%), beetroot, natural honey and blackcurrant flavourings with other natural flavourings (3%) thiamin, natural flavouring.”

Ehh, is this anything but flavouring?
Dry bag was soo medicinal with raspberry whiff. Steeped for 3 minutes gives me impression of artificial raspbererry; but when sipped, it’s just plain, and weak raspberry flavoured tea with herbal finish. Luckily it’s not tart, but it was very, very flat tasting.

Homemade Advent Calendar from Arby: Day 4

A green tea blend came out of the box on my random pull this morning, and although I fully intended to drink it, suddenly it was 6:30 p.m. and too late for anything caffeinated. Soooo I chose this one instead.

I’m a sucker for all things creamy peppermint, and butter mints are very nostalgic for me, so this tea is always going to be welcome in my household! I’ve had this one a few times before and it definitely hits the spot. A very calming and pleasant nighttime treat.

Somehow this manages to taste like a canned pumpkin with the most unappealing spice blend. Issa no from me.

Nice, light jasmine green. Not a lot of fragrance but decent.

Twinings! How could you do this to an oolong? This is absolutely THE WORST oolong I have ever tasted. Overwhelming flavors of dirt.

Really disappointing. A chalky, earthy flavor that I really don’t like. I think this tea will be thrown away. : (

Solid, good Earl Grey. Nothing fancy but very dependable. I am always happy to see these at hotels that have a selection of tea bag teas.

Old Tea Bag Sip Down
Part 5 & 6
Well, this is interesting. My parents had two of these but they both have different packaging. The first looks like the picture attached to this page. Yellow cream color and the second has a maroon box in the middle. The second one certainly beats the first in the dry aroma. The bergamot is very strong.
1: Wet aroma is lacking. Slightly woody with a hint of citrus. Nice liquor color. Rose and dark cherry wood. This must be the older one. It tastes like it’s been sitting for a few years too long. Vapid with a hint of citrus.

2. Wet aroma is kind of woody with a hint of bergamot. A hint darker than its predecessor with the same colors. Olf in flavor with a higher amount of bergamot flavor. A lingering camphor feeling along with a woody note.

So far I have learned that black and herbal teas last longer in tea bags then green does.

Another tea bag from lovely Canadian Postcrossing member. Two bags remaining I guess?

Anyway, I have been doing “a little” family ancestry reseach, ending up with doing it all day with lunch break and tea break at 3 pm. Whoops. Also, this part of my family tree is about “10 steps away” and more, but it is all located in one small village and around, so only one church book is needed. Also, the writing is so nice, so it is super easy.

Ahh, digressed a far away as much as those people are far from me.
It is really hot here today, and there is absolutely no wind. Awful weather so I wanted something refreshing. This sounded very nice and I never had a peppermint with vanilla, so here it comes.

Honestly, for some reason when I was drinking it, it was like a Winter festive season. I never had a candy cane, but I in my mind it was like eating one? What is candy cane flavour actually?

It was refreshing and it was creamy. If vanilla? Not that much sure… but mouthfeel was very nice and it doesn’t made me sweat even more, so plus points.
But still it was somehow flat. Like expecting more longer feeling and overall it was “just fine”.

Sipdown! (37 | 289)

This is the only one of the Twinings Cold Infuse sachets that I actually drank plain, steeped in cold water. Nice combination of sweet candy watermelon with red fruity and tart hibiscus and a touch of mint. I also tried it steeped in lemonade, and that was delicious.

Probably won’t repurchase, just because I think I like Adagio’s Watermelon Cooler better, but this is a nice option for a grocery store tisane.

So I’ve mostly been using these Cold Infuse sachets to add additional flavor to some of my Adagio cold brew pouches, but I figured I should go ahead and try this one plain like I did with the others.

I noticed right away that this has a lot of hibiscus in it, which I was actually pleased about since it might be able to actually offset the undoubtedly large amount of flavoring that will be present. And it really does help, this is definitely my favorite of the three flavors I bought. The hibiscus gives it more of a red fruits flavor, but then I can taste the watermelon as well, and the mint comes in at the end of the sip to give it fun sort of mocktail vibe.

Quite nice really. I’ve been adding this to Watermelon Cooler from Adagio but I would definitely drink it plain as well.

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Finished this flavor off by steeping the sachets in lemonade – the flavoring was just too strong and chemically otherwise.

Makes a nice flavored lemonade though! The strawberry adds sweetness and the lemon adds a bit of dimension with its pithy zestiness. Wouldn’t purchase these again though.

Not a fan of this one either. Very strong on the flavoring, and there isn’t even any hibiscus to balance out the somewhat cloying chemical taste. I do enjoy the taste of the flavoring, a somewhat Jell-O-y strawberry and lemon that sits somewhere between candy and zesty. There’s just too much of it, and it leaves a weird chemical aftertaste in my mouth.

Sort of feels like these are just flavoring and they shouldn’t even bother with the fruit pieces ha ha…

Sipdown! (41 | 293)

Yay, the last one of the Twinings infusions I impulse purchased at the grocery store.

I drank this one in lemonade, because the flavoring here is tasty but incredibly potent, and infused in water it just tasted like chemicals to me. Tasty tropical chemicals mind you, but chemicals nonetheless LOL.

But steeped in lemonade, it makes a deliciously juicy and sweet mango-passion fruit lemonade. Very yummy. I won’t repurchase this though, because I don’t need to be drinking that much lemonade… XD

Found these Twinings Cold Infuse tisanes at my local grocery store, and picked up all three flavors they had to try. This one smells amazing, very juicy passion fruit.

However, I’m not a huge fan of it steeped up. The flavoring is nice enough, very juicy and potent tropical mix of passion fruit and mango. But there’s very little taste to it other than flavoring, which makes it come off extremely artificial. I would like to see a bit more flavor coming from the fruit pieces, or maybe some more hibiscus.

I’ll probably try adding this to some of my other cold brew tisanes to balance out that strong flavoring. Or maybe I’ll infuse it in lemonade instead…