Fortnum & Mason

Fortnum & Mason Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 5

Finally! I’ve been looking forward to this one since ashmanra mentioned it’s her favorite of the breakfast blends in the advent! The leaf looks much bigger as well, where some of the other blends have had more broken leaf in order to steep up faster and stronger.

This another Ceylon and Assam blend. I steeped for a full 3 minutes due to the larger leaf, and there is nary a hint of bitterness here, and only a very slight astringency. It’s quite a mellow tea, despite the fairly dark color I’m not getting a ton of flavor from it. I’m a bit at a loss of how to describe it really… There’s a slight peachy note to it almost? Not tart though, very sweet and almost a bit creamy. A bit of malt, though not as much as I would expect. I suppose the main note I’m getting is wood, but it’s very soft.

Not sure how I feel about this yet, will have to give it another try soon!

Today’s jam is Raspberry-Rose Spread. We all know by now that I’m not a rose fan, but I still really enjoyed this one because the rose is just a subtle accent to the raspberry. Raspberry & rose is a classic French pairing, and for good reason! ❤

This was one of several individually wrapped tea bags that Sil thoughtfully included as bonuses in her “swap” package (she never told me what she would like in return!). I don’t usually gravitate toward black tea blends for whatever reason, so I’m glad others see fit to send me samples of them! This one is apparently a blend of Ceylon and Assam. Mine is a traditional paper tea bag, so obviously the leaves are extremely broken. Dry scent is mildly fruity.

This is actually quite good for such small leaf pieces! Fannings, really. It’s not bitter or astringent, which surprised me a lot. It does have a bit of that “generic” tannic quality to it, but it’s softened by some lovely soft stonefruit, specifically peach, notes. There’s also a tiny bit of breadiness to it. Overall, pretty good, especially for a tea bag.

Bought this after becoming addicted to Twining’s Lady Grey (with milk!). For whatever reason, I hate Twining’s Lady Grey without milk, but LOVE it with. It’s the opposite for F&M’s Countess Grey. I strongly prefer it without milk.

Annnyyywayyy. Super orange-y. Very bright and juicy. The black tea base is of good, but unremarkable quality.

I’m a bit shocked by the other reviews of this tea. I grabbed a tin of it (smallest I could get), had a cup, and passed along the rest to Sil for sharing. Perhaps it’s a different blend every year? Dunno. Regardless, this is amazing hot, but cooled it’s extremely drying and astringent, a bit surprisingly so. Hot however… oh wowie. Spiced like a plum or orange with cloves in it, rich and full bodied, it’s quite lovely. Not as creamy as the Twinings Christmas Caddy Tea though, so I think that one’s my favorite at this point.

My go-to morning tea. This stuff’s aroma and taste could seriously raise the dead, goes straight into the synapses and provides a needed, very decent caffeine kick.

Favourite Assam, no doubt. When I first tried it, it was like finding the answer to a question I hadn’t even asked myself, because as much as I’ve always loved Assam, I never thought it could get as good as this. I mean, it was already crazy good, but this is exceedingly crazy good!

Not sure if it’s because Assam is the tea variety I’ve reached to most frequently since I started this journey, but I’m not sure I’d describe this as ‘bold’. It sure is the strongest black tea I’ve tasted (not getting into smoked varieties), but this is what I’ve come to expect of morning time teas: appropriate caffeine amount and intense, comforting taste.

I brew it with boiling water for the whole 5 minutes recommended on the tin and add a splash of evaporated milk, then stir. If I’m feeling in need of some cajoling out of going back to bed, I drop a couple lumps of rock brown sugar into the cup before I pour the water and leave sugar, tea and milk be, à la East Frisian. I’m that weak-willed.

T&C TTB Round 2

When not oversteeped, this is quite a nice blend. More malt than I expected but still a light malt. Nice fruity notes and molasses. Oversteep and it turns into why I don’t do Ceylons very often – bitter, bitter, bitter. But done right it’s a good cup.

This is a sipdown for me, it’s been a decent morning tea for sure. The tin is so pretty too. I don’t know if I need to buy more of this as I have a lot of teas to get through now, and I have been drinking a lot less tea now that I’m at work trying to look productive. Now that I’ve been at my job for a few days I think it would be ok to bring in some loose leaf tea and maybe some t-sacs. =)

Tea of the morning here. I did a tasting note on this a while back. This morning it is making me happy with its malty and chewy goodness. This is a decent breakfast tea that is helping to perk me up. Definitely one you will want to drink with milk and sugar, imo…

This doesn’t seem to be a very popular tea on Steepster but both the BF and I liked it this morning. It’s a broken leaf assam and it steeps up very dark and strong, which is a good quality for a breakfast tea to have. It’s definitely a bit rough if you try to drink it plain, but if you drink it with milk and sugar it’s pretty good. Tastes of malt, with some apple like notes. It’s got a bit of briskness in the finish. Definitely an eye opening tea that reminds me of an Irish Breakfast.

This is a broken leaf assam and I would say it’s pretty average for the price, I’m sure I’ve had some similar teas from Upton that are much cheaper. The tin is beautiful, however.

http://instagram.com/p/vwMgGqoLWy

A bold take on this classic black tea with powerful citrus notes that contribute to an almost medicinal-like flavour profile – for those who like their Earl Grey strong :)

Right, had two cups of this yesterday – one as a “morning tea”, with milk and sugar, and one in the evening, plain. This extremely expensive Assam does not take milk and sugar well. It is, however, pretty good plain. There is the characteristic malty, slightly woodsy taste of Assam, but without any astringency. It reminds me of Postcard Teas Golden Tips Assam, but Postcard Teas Assam is better – sweeter, maltier, better balanced, and it can stand up to milk.
In a world without Postcard Teas Golden Tips Assam, where this tea costs about half its price (which would put it at Verdant Tea prices – i.e. not cheap at all), I would recommend this tea. At it is, it doesn’t get a recommendation. Invest your money elsewhere.

A proper English black tea. I infused this twice in my teapot I got from the London teapot company. The liquor is a warm amber color and the full-bodied taste has a malty, fresh baked bread quality to it. It’s a rustic tea that is great for cold mornings when you need to wake up and crave an acceptable splash of cream.

Yesterday I received a wonderful box full of high quality European Black teas to enjoy – what a treat! I could not decide where to begin so I randomly picked a bag for my first sample. F&M’s Golden Monkey was the choice and I sipped on it throughout the morning as my Sunday “breakfast” tea. Malted grain sweetness with dark chocolate flavors coming through. A richly bold morning tea. Many thanks to NofarS for sharing this one!

Tried some more of this last night. I remain unimpressed. It would have gotten a higher rating if it weren’t for the ridiculous marketing and the outrageous price. As it is, it is a pretentious blend that could have been better if it would have spent less time preening itself and more time balancing its flavours.
This tea, with a better choice of a darjeeling base, and a better price, is called “Darjeeling Earl Grey” and is sold by a company called Ronnefeldt. Buy it from them.

This is a blend of Darjeeling with Bergamot, fancily named after Prince George’s Christening – for the tourists. It epitomizes all that has gone wrong with F&M’s tea over the last few years. They could have called it “Darjeeling Earl Grey”. They could have called it “Light Earl Grey” or “Special Earl Grey”. They could even have called it “Earl Grey Superb”. That would at least give you an inkling to what’s in the tin. But F&M’s marketing department seems hell-bent on touting their connections with the Royal family, instead of focusing on really good and unique tea. As it is, it’s an Earl Grey Darj, which is a combination that I’ve already tasted from Ronnefeldt. The two go together well, but R does the combination more justice. F&M’s is slightly rougher, with the Earl Grey and the Darjeeling not really married together in harmony.
It’s an 80 from me, because I happen to love the combination, and the caddy is, as usual, pretty great. 5 points off for the price and pretentiousness, and no recommendation – you can get better for less from Ronnefeldt.

It was tea