Gold Blend Tea Bags

So yesterday I worked until 11:00 and instead of waiting to catch the bus at 11:30 and getting home after midnight, one of my supervisors very nicely offered to drive me home. I kind of felt like a charity case, but it saved me like an hour of time so I humbly accepted. And God – I’m so glad none of my coworkers are on Steepster, because damn. The supervisor who drove me home? He is fine. He’s European (but I can’t for the life of me remember what country he immigrated from – I think maybe Bulgaria?), so he’s got a really sexy accent. And, he’s sarcastic and witty and is very, very artistic. It just all comes together to be…

Well to be damn. He is literally “damn”.

So he drove me home last night and like the whole time I was mentally thinking stupid stuff like “Don’t do something awkward” and “Shit you’re in his car” and “This is so sweet of him”. Stupid, stupid really God awful cutesy shit. But really, it was no big deal. And he’s SO VERY out of my league anyway, in addition to him being my superior at work. But that’s not the point; the point is more…

He is a CRAZY driver. Now, my belief is sort of that since I can’t drive myself I don’t really have a right to criticize the way other people drive – but he like sped the entire way home, and because we’re in fucking Saskatchewan and there’s snow and ice and shit everywhere we were sliding around the road. I felt kinda unsafe, not gonna lie. He’s maybe kinda fucking crazy? Just a little. And, I think he noticed that I noticed he’s a crazy driver ‘cause just before we got to my house he said something along the lines of “Yeah, I used to race a lot”. What the fuck!? We’re in fucking Snow Central, Saskatchablah Canada! And it’s nearly midnight! Not the time for ‘racing’…

And that’s the other story I kind of wanted to share…

As for the tea…

This sample comes from MissB. I, admittedly, wasn’t really looking forward to this one but during the brief time I was in Steepster chat this morning we were talking about bagged teas and something (I’m sorry – I don’t remember who) mentioned this one by name as a really decent bagged tea, so I definitely had to try it sooner, rather than later, to understand what the fuss is about.

Dry it didn’t smell very monumental at all, but steeped up there was something very rich and comforting about it. Maybe it was the faint baking bread aroma; but it reminded me of home and my Grandma’s house? As corny as that sounds.

Taste wise, it was very brisk and bold without any astringency or bitterness and it had a lovely baked bread flavour with just a touch of malt to it. I don’t know why; I just really, really liked it! I only have one my bag left, but I got the impression that with just a splash of milk this would be very, very good – a smooth, comforting breakfast blend. So, I think I’m going to finish it that way.

But again, thanks MissB – this was delightfully surprising, and really good for a teabag.

*mistakenly logged over in another section. Oops! Now it has been moved…

Review:
Thanks for the sample MissB!
Not a bad black tea. But then again, not a memorable one either. Definitely needed some milk and sugar to boost things up. Next time, I’ll let it steep longer (I went with 3.5m this time)
Overall, its a basic breakfast black. A little bit of everything. Very balanced.
It went very well with the book I’m reading. I did like this cup!

Another one from MIssB this is for sure a milk tea! lol without it, it’s quite strong, but i’ve had it a couple times now with either milk or honey and lemon and its quite nice for a bagged, no fuss tea :)

If you get tea at a shop or restaurant in Ireland, this is most likely what you’ll be offered. It also lines the shelves in plentiful supply at every grocer, Spar, or Dunnes. So of course, I’ve had plenty a cup now in almost a month in Ireland.

Do I love it? No. Yet I get why it’s so popular here. It’s a solid, robust tea. It stands up to oversteeping impeccably, and it’s definitely tea, as opposed to coffee (that foreigners drink). As an Irishman informed me before I came here from Canada: our tea is strong and dark, you must have it with milk or it will rot your stomach.

Good call. And so, I enjoy at least a pot of this daily, pretending I’m a local until I open my mouth, and enjoy the conversation that invariably ensues over every cup.

It’s not my favourite bagged milk&sugar tea, but it’s pretty much around no.3 (after Taylors Irish Breakfast and Yorkshire tea). It’s mostly because it’s more on the bitter side of things, without actually being bitter. It just tastes a bit more strong or something, so I only have it when I’m in a mood for that. But it’s lovely and it reminds me of Ireland, because I was staying in an Irish cottage with my fella one time and we bought a big box of Barry’s tea and just drank that the whole week. The first time I had this tea again after Ireland I just got a woooosh of Ireland memories come back to me – very Balzac. Unfortunately, that has since gone away, but a lovely tea nonetheless.

Solid tea. Seems to be more brisk than your traditional english tea (PG/twinings/yorkshire). I’m glad i bought a box of 80. This will be a good workhorse tea.

This is my “go to” tea when on travel. Great wake-up tea, strong with a wee bit of milk. I am not a fan of tea bags, but perfect when traveling. This is not always easy to find as loose tea.

My favorite tea! Barry’s Gold Blend Tea bags are very strong, easily 2 cups from one tea bag; possibly more if you boil for awhile.
I microwave or boil because I like a very strong tea; and I prefer it with half and half or cream, and various non-sugar sweeteners.
I have not tasted Barry’s Breakfast Tea or their stronger version.

This is the tea that turned me on to Tea! I received a free box at an event and started drinking it on my days off. My kids started to ask for it and then I had to find it in a local store. Lucky for me there are plenty of stores that carry this tea. I have moved on to loose leaf teas, however there is nothing like a great cuppa Barry’s to get me going in the morning.

Definitely biased about this tea. To me, this is the tea that introduced me to tea. Even though I intellectually know that it is not as “good” as some teas, I still love it so much! I steep the heck out of it and then put in plenty of milk and sugar. Years of having it before dance competitions has conditioned me to want it whenever I am going into a stressful situation.