PG Tips

I finally got a box of this last evening. So though I typically like to brew a pot of loose leaf tea on weekend mornings, and I just got several other fun teas from Tealuxe, I was excited to start the day with this one.

So now begins the experimentation to determine how I like this brewed. I started with a 3 minute steep and I’m having it plain. The flavor is exactly what I want out of a breakfast style tea, but stronger than I expected. I’m probably going to experiment with a shorter steep next time. I will definitely be experimenting with the milk/sweetener as well.

Yay for tea related projects!

Two cups this morning first thing. Take my daughter to preschool for her first full day then come home to enjoy one of my last lazy mornings before I start work tomorrow. Third cup with a buttery english muffin and some Bible reading. All good things.

So, I’ve stopped just logging my teas if I don’t have anything new to add to because then my log would get a bit out of hand. So don’t think I’m not drinking my tea, I’m just being lazy about posting it.

Anyways, this is getting special notice as I’m on vacation up in N, and forgot to bring this one with me. No worries I’ve got my Jakee Muntz, Valentines, chocolate chai, and some Candy Cane Lane to accompany me. But I missed my PG tips (for the whole day we were separated) so when my dad went to the tiny little market in backwater NH, I asked him to poke around to see if this happened to be there.

And it was! much to my surprise and delight. Some days I can’t even find it in the big chain market and I usually have to look in the international aisle. So, this little mountain town general store had a couple boxes, and now I know what I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving.
I had a nice mug with a bit of milk and settled in front of the fire with my family (and orgo book).

A good, go-to basic British style tea. Reliable taste – you know what you’re getting: how much to add to the pot, how much and how hot the water needs to be, how long to brew it, and how to doctor it up – every time.
Takes biscuits (the cookie style digestives, not the southern style for gravy delivery) beautifully.

We had an English pub open up right down the street from us less than a month ago. I stopped by there this evening after dropping the husband off at the airport. We’ve been there twice before and I have been pleased to see that their hot tea offering is PG Tips (noted on the menu by name) and offered in a teapot, not just a cup.

Yeah…it’s like the English version of Lipton but better, and by better I mean stronger. :) It also seems to be more forgiving of water temperatures that are likely far too cool to steep a lot of teas satisfactorily. The first two times it was a pyramid bag. Tonight it was a bag like Celestial Seasonings – flat, square, meshy/papery. I wonder if they had run out or something, because it wasn’t as hefty as before either. Or maybe it was a flat bagged version of PG Tips rather than the pyramids.

At any rate, while nothing I want to keep around, it’s a very passable restaurant tea. :) I do wish I could find PG Tips Strong in a store around here to try out…

Tonight I steeped this for a shorter time than last time and I realized it’s not as bad as I thought, it is a tiny bit better than other grocery store blacks but still, not by much. It’s still boring and flat and leaves me wanting more. But the good news is that I got an early allowance tonight and placed an order with Teavivre for 3.5 ounces each of their bailin gongfu black and tie guan yin, I’m very excited. I wish Teavivre had an earl grey tea, for some reason I’m REALLY craving bergamot lately which is strange for me. I’m almost tempted to go buy a box of Twinings earl grey (that’s how much I’m craving bergamot). But that’s enough rambling for now…

Dumbest idea ever to make a 3-cup mug of this at 1:15 in the morning, but we’ve been up late unexpectedly chatting with a pal about movie directors and video games and whatever else and I don’t know, I always crave bold stuff during those late night conversations. Rereading Harney copy about the divide between more refined, modern day sweet and delicate Chinese tea preference and that old school Indian brisk black tea world reminded me how no matter how far I come along with tea exposure, my heart’s with those legacy teas due to nostalgia.

Probably be mad at myself tomorrow morning when I don’t sleep tonight, but right now I’m enjoying the heck out of this with lots of milk and way more sugar than I normally take.

I hit a wall with my other english breakfast tea (Mr. St. James repackaged as the London Transport Museum), jumping through dangerous internet hoops of fire to find the origin of this recent morning bagged favorite. In a slight panic mode to find a worthy kick-start replacement, I purchased PG Tips. I figured if this is one of the top breakfast teas in England, then the blend might be very similar as I have all but given up hope of finding this tea. It’s the pyramid PG tips bag. At first when I poured the boiled water over the bag the water was very light. I thought, “Uh oh” I might have to double up. Then a minute later the water transformed into a beautiful deep dark coppery color signaling the robust flavor I had been searching for. The mix is indeed similar, with a little bit more weight on the assam (at least to me, does anyone know of the traditional blend has equal parts Ceylon, Kenyan, and Assam leaves for the formula?). I decided to stop at 3 minutes of steeping fearing the bitter would set in, and might double dare myself to try 4 minutes next time. Caffeine kick on one bag at 3min. is impressive – even with milk and sugar. The flavor shines right through. Although bagged tea is a rough 2nd choice to loose leaf, I am beginning to see that with a “Great” quality bagged tea, I can still get a pretty decent flavor, I just need to make sure I don’t drown the tea bag in too much water.

I ran out of my Extra Strong Black Tea by Marks & Spencer, and since importing it is ridiculously expensive — I’m switching over to PG Tips (available much more easily in the US, and can be purchased at World Market to add to my explorer points).

I’ve been having my A&D’s assam with milk for my afternoon tea, but since I’m travelling for the next few weeks I decided it was easier and just as tasty to snag a box of PG Tips. <3

PG Tips. Again. Seriously. We buy it in boxes that are bigger than my head. Where does it all go? Where has the last year gone? In between the 65+ hour workweeks, the trip across country for my grandfather’s funeral, the new job, the trip across country for my brother’s wedding, there is a steady rhythm of caffeine jolts that keeps everything moving.

That’s PG Tips: not fancy, not delicate, but reliable: quick to steep, able to stand up to an omelet (even an omelet covered in tomatillo salsa) consistently delivering needed energy.

Let’s hear it for the “best supporting actress”, the janitor, the viola player, and PG Tips: all those who make life better from the background.