87 Tasting Notes
Ok, so I’ve given this tea a mildly good score, as it was certainly had a drinkable flavour and I’m going to finish the pack I have (because I can’t stand throwing away tea or creating waste) but it’s not special. If someone came to me asking to recommend a tea blend that contained fennel and orange, I’d probably help them research and find a new tea rather than recommend this one.
It lacks… something.
The fennel and anise are subtle and balanced but they’re not outstanding. The orange is barely detectable too. It’s a nice flavour that you can drink easily. Like drinking a glass of water, to be honest. So, why spend money on it?
I can definitely say that this herbal tea calmed me, but other than that there’s really nothing to report. I wrote up a longer review, like usual, but by the end I was struggling to think of anything to say. I researched a little into how this tea is used as part of the medical Ayurveda traditions, but that’s not why I purchased the tea, I just thought it sounded like a great flavour combination and the price was low enough that I thought “what the hell, just go for it.”
The main reason for the positive tea score is the quality of ingredients, misleading aroma (it really does smell quite delicious), the calming effects and drink-ability. It’s just missing something to make it stand out.
Of course, it’s just my opinion. I’m hoping someone else will come along and find this tea delightful.
Full review: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/ayurveda-pura-orange-fennel-bliss-tea-review/
Flavors: Anise, Fennel, Spices
Preparation
An additional tasting note for this tea. This time I baked it into an Earl Grey cake yesterday evening.
It’s actually my second time baking with this exact EG blend. The first time was years ago when I made an EG and white chocolate brioche loaf – it tasted delicious, but only of white chocolate. The EG just vanished while it was baking. I’m going to try this brioche recipe again with Assam/milk chocolate as soon as my tea order arrives.
I was more confident this time as I found an EG cake recipe that actually had the tea bag contents mixed into the cake mix, plus an EG syrup that had an amazing bergamot and vanilla aroma. But no, still no hint of EG flavour in the cake. Very disappointing – I was looking forward to having a slice of cake with my evening tea.
I’m not changing the tea rating, but I need to leave a note to remind myself in the future: if you want to bake with tea, don’t use Twinings EG, pick something more robust.
I think I picked this tea up from a friend a few years ago, not reading the ingredients list until I got to adding it into my tea cupboard. If I’d seen the heavy anise-flavoured ingredients I wouldn’t have touched it.
But here we are, it’s still in date and I need to clear down my huge box of single-serving tea bags to make room for more worthy loose leaf blends.
I was surprised at how subtle the flavours were – I brewed for half the recommended time in an attempt to calm the anise, but I don’t think that was really necessary now I’ve read other tasting notes for this tea.
It’s not too strong, the anise flavour from the aniseed and fennel is hugged by the cardamom to add some warmth. There’s also a damp grass/woody herb aroma/flavour. It provoked a very specific memory for me, from summer mornings in my garden. I describe it a bit better in my full blog review.
Despite not being a fan of anise, I’d still recommend this tea. It’s quite nice and I’d drink it again… but I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it. Full review with comprehensive notes and a few pictures of this tea in my favourite vintage tea cup: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/pukka-detox-tea-review/
Flavors: Anise, Fennel, Herbaceous, Sweet, Warm Grass, Wet Wood
Preparation
I had detox tea just once. It was from Slovak compamy and only “detox” was that I was going to pee every 30 minutes.
I don’t think this tea is really for detoxing in the medical sense, it’s just a marketing gimmick so they can sell more. I didn’t notice any difference at all after I finished my cup. At least it didn’t make me pee haha :)
Certainly it is a marketing. For detox we have liver, right? Apparently Pukka have got better blend when it comes to convenience I guess.
Real Talk.
Brewed this tea with low expectations so was pleasantly surprised at the result. Sure, the green tea is nothing special, but the lemon is good. It’s very drinkable, you don’t have to think too hard about the flavour or take time to savour it to pull out the flavour notes. A good, light tea when you want something quick. For a tea bag, it pretty good quality. Better than most green teas I’ve had from similar tea bag brands like Twinings.
It has a lemony bitterness, warm grassy green tea body, and slightly sweet aftertaste. There’s no sharpness or tartness that I can detect, which makes me think it’s at least partially artificial lemon flavouring.
I’ll happily finish the box of tea bags, but won’t be buying again. There are better lemon green teas out there, but this tea certainly isn’t bad. In one word, it’s a “nice” tea.
Full review with pictures: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/ahmad-tea-lemon-vitality-review/
Flavors: Freshly Cut Grass, Green, Lemon Zest
Preparation
A little ashamed to say this is currently the only Assam tea I’ve tried. It’s rich, malty and strong, in a good way, as I’ve read an Assam should be. Reminded me of a malted milk biscuit (cookie).
I brewed for just over a minute… although I think I should have brewed less. I couldn’t finish the cup without adding a dash of milk to mask the bitterness. Even without another Assam to compare this to, I imagine the bitterness is not so much a flavour of the tea but a result of over-steeping the tea bag.
Definitely going to try more Assams in the future! Any recommendations?
Full review with pictures: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/twinings-assam-tea-review/
Flavors: Bitter, Malt, Milk
Preparation
Since you’re in the UK, I would recommend What-Cha, based in London. He has a good selection of loose leaf Assam should you want to venture down that route.
Thank you Derk, I’ll check that out :)
Certainly! What-cha is perfect, I can suggest Mancotta Assam (review should be here), maybe few others I had too.
Thanks guys, I’m going to order a selection of teas from What-Cha to try next month after their holiday shopping delay :)
Recommendations? All of them :) (It’s a favorite of mine, obviously.) Upton Tea Imports has some very good quality Assam options.
Grace Rare Tea! Their Assam is pretty good. It is called Pure Assam Irish Breakfast.
Decided to give this tea another go, I do have 3 more bulbs to get through and I can’t bear the thought of throwing tea away.
First steep was the same as before; disappointing. No rose flavour or aroma at all. The marigold has a nice warming flavour but it overpowers everything. I can get 3 small cups from my teapot, so by the third cup it was very bitter too from the green tea.
Instead of throwing it away, I decided to refill the teapot for a second infusion. It’s milder this time and quite calming. The marigold is still the dominant flavour but it’s somehow starting to become creamy. Distinctive nutty notes are coming through too. More palatable but no flavour from the green tea leaves.
It’s going back in the cupboard. Maybe I’ll try again in the summer. Might even try it iced, although I’m not sure how that will work with a blooming tea or if it will suit the warmth of the marigold.
When there’s a ton of work to get through, you need a ton of caffeine. That’s the main reason I picked Zest’s earl grey to review today. Mondays always need a pick-me-up.
I got carried away while the kettle was brewing so the water was approx. 90C or a bit less by the time the tea sachet hit the cup – a happy accident. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me before it seems so obvious. Brewing this tea at a slightly lower temperature stops some of the bitterness from the tea extract they add to get the caffeine in there. Brew it like a green tea and it’s actually a lot better tasting… although still more bitter than any other earl grey I’ve ever drank. I might try rinsing it next time to see if that has a similar effect.
I noticed fresh orange zest aroma with the classic bergamot flavour notes. Not too overpowering. The tea base is flowery orange pekoe, which has a nice body. I’m tired of trying new earl grey blends that use darjeeling. It’s too light for my tastes and the bergamot just overpowers it and ruins the tea flavour. Zest got the body right in this blend though, it’s almost like drinking an English Breakfast tea with bergamot oils added.
As always, full review with pics is up on my blog, if you want to read a bit more about my experience with this tea https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/zest-tea-earl-grey-review/
Flavors: Bergamot, Bitter, Orange Zest
Preparation
Yup, I started brewing black tea in tea bags for shorter time as well than they usually suggest. I can not imagine brewing some tea in small cup (ca. 200 ml) for 5 or more minutes as they sometimes suggest.
Exactly :) Even with a 500ml+ mug I almost never brew black tea for more than 3 minutes or it’s too strong and undrinkable. I don’t understand why tea companies make the brew time suggestions so crazily long
Right? I have never understood that either. Three minutes is usually my sweet spot too, and I tend to drop it even further if it is a CTC tea and not whole leaf.
The last of my Christmas tea was drank today. I’d been saving this last bag of ETS Ginger Bread Man for a special occasion, but I caved and had it this afternoon. I love how light it is, both in colour and flavour. I brewed for 4 whole minutes, which is a long time by my standards, to get a fiery orange brown brew.
The aroma is seriously inviting. It’s spiced and apple-y, while the ginger makes my nose tingle. The flavour has very little ginger in it, but that’s ok. It tastes a lot like the spiced apple juice we drink at Christmas, but more complex. The Ceylon tea in this blend is light with a medium body. It compliments the apple flavour and stands up well behind the complex spices without competing to be the dominant flavour.
Is it just me or are ETS teas always perfectly balanced?
Although I really enjoy the flavour of this tea (I wish this wasn’t my last tea sachet), I’m torn. On one hand, it is delicious and perfectly balanced. On the other, there’s barely a hint of ginger and it tastes nothing like a real ginger bread man. A great tea, just completely mislabelled and slightly disappointing when you’re in the mood for a very gingery tea.
I had some fun taking pictures of this brew for my tea blog, featuring a cheeky ginger bread man https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/english-tea-shop-ginger-bread-man-review/
Flavors: Apple, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Fireplace, Ginger, Spices, Sweet
Preparation
It’s late and I’ve been staring at this laptop screen all day, so this cup of chamomile is very welcome!
The dry flowers have a really beautiful fresh hay aroma that’s doused in a natural sweet honey high note. I’m kind of sad that the hay aroma didn’t stay after I brewed a cup. I was also a little worried at first, because it was a vibrant lemon yellow colour at the start of a brew. My experience with chamomile teas in the past has always been a dull but light gold colour. I double checked the label but there’s definitely no artificial colours added. After 2 minutes it was back to the gold colour I love.
The taste pales in comparison to the aroma, but still I had no trouble slurping it down. So good, so sweet.
Chamomile puts me to sleep fairly quickly, and it’s too dark to take pictures right now, so I’ll update this tasting note with a link to my full blog article tomorrow sometime. Goodnight!
https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/whittard-chamomile-tea-review/
Flavors: Floral, Hay, Honey, Musty, Sweet
Preparation
This was probably one of the first teas I ever drank, I remember heading to London’s Chinatown with my parents to pick up a box when I was just a kid. Good memories.
I brewed it in a teapot, as we always have. Just 1 heaped teaspoon and enough water to fill the pot. At 3 minutes, it was a very aromatic light gold colour. No hint of bitterness and a gentle grassiness from the green tea.
At 5 minutes, it was a fair bit darker and had a noticeable body. I could also detect bitter notes starting to overpower the jasmine.
At 9 minutes the leaves were completely unfurled, the liqueur a rich amber colour and it was incredibly drying and noticeably bitter. Still drinkable, but only with food.
Sunflower jasmine tea is still one of my top picks for a palate cleansing tea.
The aroma has more jasmine than the flavour, and I also found the green tea leaves to have a woodsy/smoky smell when dry.
I wrote an article about my experience with this tea here (with lots of pictures of the tea in action), if you’re interested! https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/sunflower-jasmine-tea-review/
Flavors: Bitter, Drying, Jasmine, Wood
Preparation
Loved your review photos. This tea can actually be found inexpensively in humble little corners of Southwest Missouri!
:D thank you! That’s lucky for you then :) travelling into central London for a small box of this tea is not a cheap journey. Worth it though, in my opinion.
Do you think it might be better iced than hot? I’ve sometimes found that fruit flavors do better when cold-brewed.
Sounds like a great idea. If it was you, how would you cold brew it? I don’t have any experience cold brewing herbal teas, so I’m not sure about water/tea ratios and timing
The wrappers are so pretty! I can not imagine a fennel with fruits though.
I’m not sure how I’d feel about fennel cold brewed, but then again, I’ve never tried it. When I’m cold brewing tea, I use the same amount of leaf as I’d use brewing it hot (water is water). I don’t use teabags very often since I like being able to measure/weigh my leaf, but I find with bagged grocery store teas, I tend to prefer “two bags to a cup” as my standard for most herbals (most bagged herbals I’ve tried have tasted so weak otherwise, I think it’s because they grind them to a pulp), so if I was going to cold brew one, I’d use the same ratio. I tend to make my iced teas a quart at a time (4 cups) so then I’d be using 8 teabags. (Looseleaf is a different matter, it isn’t crushed to a pulp and is rather chunky and heavy so I usually use 4 heaping teaspoons, then add 1-2 extra depending on the size/bulk of the herbal I’m dealing with, like if it’s a heavy fruit blend. If it’s mostly leaf/herbs usually the four heaping teaspoons does me good for the cold brew. I quite like minty herbals and hibiscus/rosehip fruit herbals as cold brews!)