Retro Toast

This is a very nice Redbush with a nice enough vanilla flavour. Thankfully this flavouring isn’t overpowering or overly artificial tasting. Doesn’t quite knock the Lord Nelson Vanilla Redbush from it’s top spot but it’s a very comfortable runner up.

A nice all round tea that is perfect if you wan’t to relax with a hot drink and avoid the caffeine buzz

Now having had plain Chamomile and not really enjoying it, it did come as a bit of a shock to find myself standing in the queue to buy this.

But I’m kind of glad I did. The addition of the honey and vanilla definitely make this tea more of a drinkable proposition.

Can’t see myself seeking this out but it can be good if I’m out of Redbush and caffeine isn’t appropriate or viable.

This tea is a great one, if not for the good flavour and solid price then prehaps for its super eco-friendly packaging. Got a box of 160 bags as I have developed quite a taste for it of late and the ‘foil’ that holds 40 tea bags together had bio-degradable or something stamped across it. This lead to much head scratching till on the side of the box, clear as day it says that it isn’t in fact foil but wood pulp.

Good old Twinnings saving the planet one cuppa at a time

Well my mind nearly exploded when I heard they make a Redbush green tea. It seemed impossible not to mention against the visible colour spectrum.

However this weird creation of a tea is really drinkable. Has a mild green tea taste, like most jasmine green teas are but without the jasmine. Yet it still has a rebush taste to it. Its odd in the way that you can tell a peice of music or a painting is by a certain artist even if it isn’t their normal style.

Lacks the bitterness that green tea acquires if you leave it too long. Which have the habit of doing.

A tea I bought for the sheer oddity of it and I’m glad I did. A real good tea.

Really nice Redbush. Probably the nicest bagged one I’ve found. Nice flavour that is quite full bodied and strong for a redbush but doesn’t go bitter. Even if you walk off and forget about it.

Nice straight, with milk, with lemon, with caramel, with apple juice. In fact their isn’t much that this tea won’t go with. Even tried it with coconut once, it was surprisingly nice.

A definite staple of my tea cupboard.

No notes yet.

Well I have recently found that I quite like mint teas and since I’m also a fan of spices I made an assumption that the two together in some sort of tea format must be a winner.

Well it seems my palate and gut were wrong on this one. The really weird looking teabag that this mix of who knows what comes in was the first shock (it was like a webbing that turned to a solid sheet when wet hanging from dental floss). The second was the taste, which was just about drinkable, nowhere near as nice as straight mint tea. The third shock of the day was the fact that I now have a whole box left.

Lacking in the spice department as well but that may just be me. Was expecting something akin to the tea I had ages ago. Was a weird box of tea that had Asian style tigers, spices and a castle on the box. I know that that is a very poor description but trust me it exists and it was tasty.

The situations the pursuit of tea leaves me in.

Well I’m quite fond of Yorkshire Tea (probs one of the best ‘general’ tea bags) even though, and cover the ears of the young children, I live in a hard water area. Now please steepsterites hold your gasps, I feel that contrary to popular belief that tea, including Yorkshire Tea, can be brewed in a hard water area.

But enough of the water debate, down to the tasting. A nice tea with a solid malty backnote and since I’m also a fan of assam this was a pleasant suprise as it is seemingly not there or at least toned down in the regular Yorkshire Tea. I haven’t noticed the caffeine kick that people have mentioned with both varieties but maybe thats just me. Although high strength coffees often make me sleepy (I think its odd too) and this does have a calming effect. Don’t know whether thats the power of the tea or the caffeine messing with me.

I bought this tea because for some odd reason my local Morrisons was selling a box of 80 YG teabags for less than a box of 50 regular YT bags. It wasn’t on any promotion it was just cheaper. So I thought that less for more beats more for less and took the box before they could realise their mistake.

A definite winner for me, one of the best ‘general’ tea bags and a whole heap better than PG tips.

Well I will start by saying that I am not a big fruit, flower and herbal tea drinker. So this may be my inexperience with these teas showing or my palate hasn’t adapted to appreciate this tea, but, it was really not nice. I hate to use words like vile as that would be me forcing my opinion a bit.

This tea wasn’t for me, smelled quite nice out of the box, a bit like jelly or sweets. But like all the fruit/herbal/flower teas I have had, the smell was great but the flavour didn’t deliver. Weak and a tad bitter it was akin to watered down fruits of the forest squash. I brewed it for 2 and half minutes which is right between the recommended time for it but ended up trying to steep for longer to try and increase the flavours. The flavours did get stronger but so did the bitterness so it was a marred success.

I’m sure the echinacea with its flouted medicinal benefits was probably good for me, but I don’t think its worth drinking this to get it.

Maybe a nice iced tea or made into jelly,sorbet or some other cold tea based offering but fails to impress me as a warm beverage.

A good ‘standard’ tea bag that is widely available and a lot better than Tetley or PG Tips.

Nice, strong, can’t taste the Yorkshire much but maybe I’m not looking right :)

I’m a big Earl Grey fan, my normal everyday tea is a mix of 3/4 black tea with a 1/4 Earl Grey and its magic every time.

Twinings seemed to have cracked it with this blend as the bergamot isn’t overpowering nor is it lost amongst the tea itself.

Really a top blend and my preferred premium Earl Grey.

I have heard so much about the amazing effects and soothing qualities of Camomile so I thought I would give it a go.

Well the flavour was really watery and it reminded me of how you dilute down squash for toddlers. Not really anything there except a slightly bitter and herbal flavour. As my mum would put it, its a ‘lawnmower tea’.

Decided that that may have been a fluke or bad bag so tried again but with honey this time to sweeten it a bit. I reasoned that the flavour may use the sweetness to bring itself out. The honey made it slightly more drinkable.

Maybe its an acquired taste but this really isn’t the tea for me.

Now this is a brand that I unfortunately I don’t like, which is a rarity with tea.

Now I’m not the biggest fan of tea bag teas but this is a lot worse than others. Its a bit too general, if that makes sense, there is nothing to make this tea different. Its just a homogeneous cup of ‘brown’.

I now it has a big fan-base so I won’t pile abuse on it but I will just say that I won’t buy it again.

I think the best thing about this tea are the adverts. Monkey*in Johnny Vegas’ husky voice*!!!!

Found these on offer, which is sadly the way I find most my teas, and now I have a whole bag of them left over.

Not my cuppa tea. Its reasonably strong but that’s is about all it has going for it. The flavour can only be described as brown. Nothing to make me go ‘OO’ in this tea bag.

Since I know so many people like this brand I won’t slate it awfully as I may get tea related hate mail or worse. Anyway this is not really what I was expecting or wanted when I saw the bags going cheap.

Oh well, not too much of a dent in my wallet and maybe I can palm them off onto a mate that likes it a bit more than me.

A tea that I was pleasantly surprised by. The first thought as I opened the box was, toothpaste. I knew it was wrong to think it and if there are any Moroccans out there sorry but it really smelt like toothpaste. Although I’m sure Moroccans would buy their tea in teabag form or purely because it was going cheap at the supermarket.

However as I made the tea and I began to steep I could detect something both it taste and smell that was deeper than the Colgate scent. It was the herby green smell of fresh mint. Thankfully this more authentic mint taste overrode the mouthwash flavour which made for a very nice drink. Had two sugars in it as I think its supposed to be sweet and the sweetness did help the flavour of the tea, which was a first.

Not my usual cuppa and I don’t think it will be but nice all the same. Prehaps would be better on a hot summers day. Maybe with a hookah pipe and some old guys playing backgammon. But now I’m getting ahead of myself

Found this tea on offer at my local TFC (Turkish Food Centre) so had to pick it up. I have never really thought about the Turks as being big tea drinkers but I then realised I don’t really know that much about Turkey.

Anyway to the tea. Its a very light and pale tea that would seem to better suit the warm climate of Turkey more so than the sporadic sunshine here in the UK. However I do really like this tea its a nice refreshing alternative to my usual black or green teas.

The first time I tried it (and the times till about half way down the bag) I just made it as if it were regular black tea. Although I stumbled upon this gem as I was trying to research this seemingly elusive tea, instructions on how to do it the ‘right’ way.

‘How to make Turkish Tea?
Measure a dessert spoon of Turkish Tea per person per tea cup
Add enough water to the large kettle based on how many cups you plan to serve
1) To make the Turkish black tea like the Turks do you will need a teamaker with two kettles of different sizes. Fill the large kettle with water and place it on the stove.
2) Add the black Turkish tea on the small kettle and place in over the large one. Please note that there is no water in the small kettle at this time.
3) Bring the water to a boil. Add a portion of the boiling water (1/3rd) to the small kettle at this time.
4) Lower the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes for the tea to cook to the right consistency
5) Using Turkish Tea cups, serve the tea by pouring about 1/3rd from the top kettle and filling the rest with hot water. This ratio totally depends on your taste and can be adjusted. Use sugar to taste.’

Both ways tasted fine and there wasn’t a whole lot of difference between them.

Will be stocking up on this in the future.

I’m not sure if this range is defunct from Liptons as I have had the teabags for ages.

A really interesting one this. It’s got that sought after jasmine flavour that I do love and find really refreshing but I think Liptons have gone too far (or went too far if the range has stopped). After the intial sip its a bit like drinking essence of pot pourri. A soapy, highly perfumed tea. Maybe its because I wasn’t expecting it to be that strong, maybe it got stronger with age but it just seemed a bit excessive.

Not an unpleasant tea, I doubt such a thing exists, but its not going to be a firm favourite of mine. I have a few more bags left and I will drink them at some point, but I will really have to be in the mood.

A good ‘wake up’ tea, a lighter tea than I normally drink but its perfect to clear away the cobwebs. I don’t think I have tasted the maltyness mentioned but then I have never really looked for it.

Quite a, and I hate to use this term, meaty tea, it’s a substantial tea that won’t disappoint and its often one of few English teas readily supplied when you go abroad. Not that I’m saying I won’t sample the local teas as well its just that most hotel through it in for free, and I’m not one to turn down free tea.

A very respectable redbush tea, even more so when you consider it comes from a teabag. The caramel flavour is a nice touch and blends well with the naturally caramel and sweet notes of the redbush.

First noticed it as I walked round my local Lidl and got the tea drinkers urge to give it a go. Glad I did. Now pick up a box every time I go. My staple redbush teabag. Not as nice as loose but as good as I can find, plus it won’t break the bank.

A tasty tweak to redbush.

A lower end Redbush in my opinion. Its an ok tea but lacks the refreshing flavour of better Redbush teas. However it is nice to see that Redbush has got the attention it deserves and maybe with some work Tetley can crack it.

One for someone looking to try Redbush without leaving their comfort zone.

A shade brighter and shade better than regular Tetley’s

Red Label loose leaf is my everyday tea although I normally use it in a 3/4 to a 1/4 earl grey mix. Works great every time.

Nice flavour and nice colour plus can’t complain about the price.

This is a ‘standard’ tea, I’m sure there are a lot of different leaves contained in it but its an average brew. Short brewing time, short drinking time and cuppa if your short of time.

As for taste well its nothing to rave about but I wouldn’t turn it down if someone was making. I’m sure we’ve all had Tetleys’ at some point, a reliable go-to tea. For me though has to be piping hot with milk.