Black Tea with Apple

I realized today that I have these three Fortnum & Mason flavored teas that are getting a bit old. Thankfully, they are in pretty airtight tins and away from sun, so they still taste fine. I can tell that the flavors are getting weaker, though, so I’m going to make a more conscious effort to work on sipping them down. On that note, I had a cup of the apple black tea today. It seemed very fall appropriate. Like I said, the tea was weaker than I remembered, but still smooth and delicious with a nice balance between the apple flavor and black tea base. I might try cold brewing this one and seeing how it turns out.

Fortnum & Mason Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 10

YAY! Finally, a flavored tea! \o/

I was so excited that I steeped this up in a pretty pink teapot and drank it from a proper cup and saucer. Fancy tea time this morning!

I agree with ashmanra that the flavoring is very subtle here. The base is smooth, earthy, a touch woody. Definitely a Chinese black tea of some sort. Very mellow for the morning, but would be perfect for an afternoon treat. I do taste some apple, a touch of tart Granny Smith in the background adding a refreshing crisp quality. But if I wasn’t already aware of the flavoring, I might guess that it was a natural note of the tea, as it’s very subdued. It almost reminds me of the cucumber-like flavor that I find in some silver needle teas. Quite a refreshing tea! Would probably be lovely cold brewed.

On to the jam. Today it was Peach-Mint Spread, and I really enjoyed it! The peach was sweet and juicy, and the mint was present but gentle enough to not bring it to a medicinal place. Just a touch of minty freshness that was a lovely accent to the sweet peach. Too bad it’s not one of their permanent flavors, I would definitely order more!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CXUOG4muFJn/

FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 9

I was so excited to see that my first fruit tea is apple! I loved Little Women from Harney and Sons which is an apple flavored green tea and imagined this to be the black tea version.

I was a little surprised that the dry leaf doesn’t smell like apple. I was more surprised that the steeped tea didn’t taste like apple.

The leaf pieces are bigger in this blend than yesterday’s Ceylon and the Chinese black tea base is really good. Is something wrong with me? I can not detect apple! If anything, I would call this a hint of pear if I really closed my eyes and thought hard about pears while drinking it.

Maybe it needs a stir? Maybe I am not good at tasting things. Maybe English apples have little flavor. Maybe they put the wrong tea in my tin.

It’s good tea, I just never would have pegged it for apple.

Picked up a box of fruit flavored black tea bags from Fortnum & Mason whilst in England. When steeping there is a strong apple smell (almost like an green apple jolly rancher). It’s well balanced and straight forward. It’s very much black tea, and it’s very much apple!

While it’s a nice tea, I would probably only drink this tea if offered to me or if it comes in another sampler.