T2
Edit CompanyPopular Teas from T2
See All 369 TeasRecent Tasting Notes
A strong flavour profile predominated by vanilla makes this tea a suitable addition to the breakfast repertoire – for anyone in need of a perk up in the morning :)
Flavors: Chocolate, Vanilla
Preparation
I just… I just can’t go to London without coming home with tea. It’s literally impossible. Especially as they’ve opened a T2 on Regent Street and it was directly en route to Broadcasting House, where I was attending a radio taping.
(November 16th, Radio 2, The Peterford Golf Club is very funny and you might well hear me laughing in the audience. High fives to Mister Farnaby for going out there and making funnies!)
But I digress. Sampled this one in-store, as it’s part of the caramel range they’ve got going (I already brought home a box of Caramel Brownie I have yet to open, but is SO GOOD) and I actually liked it more than I was expecting, as I’ve always had a bit of a meh relationship with genmaicha. That bit of caramel sweetness is a delightful counterpoint to the toasty, dry flavour of the tea. It was nice.
I still didn’t buy it, mind – but I did manage to blow like £24 on stuff. Whoops.
This was recommended to me by the staff in T2 as an alternative to a breakfast tea. For a breakfast tea, my preference is to drink it strong, with a little milk, and I tend to drink crushed/small leaf tea to get the strength. Although I like smokey teas, I tend to avoid having them with milk because they aren’t strong enough in my opinion.
This has a slightly larger leaf, but it strikes a good balance and is quite good with milk. It’s a little smokey because of the keemun in it, and I guess the assam gives it the strength to be a breakfast tea.
I wouldn’t have it all the time, but it makes a nice change and I’d say I’m a fan overall.
Last week I celebrated my third anniversary of moving to Tasmania. I celebrated by going to a whisky and sherry tasting event and getting heinously drunk. Oops.
The next morning my friends dragged me out to brunch despite my desperately hungover state, and for the first time ever when hungover, I craved sugary, milky black tea. I’ve never wanted tea when hungover before but that morning it was all I wanted (… and lots of bacon). I got it and it did not disappoint. It was so delicious and just what I wanted and needed.
Since then I’ve been on a bit of a sugary, milky black tea bender (not as badly as the night that caused the following day’s craving, a little more drawn out) and this is the beast that’s been in my cupboard and seeing me through this phase. Good job. Hits the spot. What a treat.
This is one that my delightful spouse tried in the T2 shop on Regent Street and actually liked! So we, like, couldn’t not get a box of it. That’s just so unusual.
I’m giving it a test run as a warm brew this morning, having sampled it iced in-store, and it’s still lovely. It’s got a good punchy fruit flavour without being obnoxiously tart, which I’m not always in the mood for. It’s absolutely not the season to be brewing up a big pitcher of this cold, but I probably will anyway.
One of my favourite flavoured teas is a Black Tea with Peach and Ginger, so I was pleased to try this out. The leaves smell strongly of peach, and this taste carries into the flavour of the tea well. Peaches are incredibly smooth and take out a lot of the bite that you would usually get in a sencha. You can still taste the grassiness, but not as strongly, and it is not at all bitter (as long as it’s not brewed too long). It’s a nice twist on sencha, certainly worth a try if you like new flavours. It doesn’t quite match up to that Black tea with peach and ginger, but it’s perhaps a summery alternative.
Preparation
TERRIBLE NEWS: I’ve had a sore throat for the last 3 days, and had to leave work early on Thursday. I must be coming down with the man flu my husband’s just getting over, so won’t be able to make reliable assessments on tea for a few days. Everything kind of tastes like I-feel-like-I’m-going-to-throw-up.
But this is still a good tea, and having it warm is nice even though I’d normally cold brew it. I ain’t got time for that. Mmm, strawberries.
We initially bought this one for my husband, who only likes standard Tea and fruity things you can serve on ice, but as it’s edging further and further away from iced-drink season, I feel justified in serving this hot and liberally sweetened.
Is it weird that I rather like hot fruit teas? I have a friend who drinks hot Vimto, so at least I’m drinking something that, under most circumstances, is meant to be consumed warm. This one’s really nice: I think the bit of creaminess – and there is a bit of it – around the very pretty taste of strawberry takes the edge off of any hibiscus-tart that would otherwise threaten to dominate. This is good.
I noticed last time I visited the Westgate in London that T2 now has an outpost there, which has robbed me of my only excuse to go to Shoreditch and pretend I’m cool.
(Which is probably for the best, because I am not cool enough to be in Shoreditch.)
Sad Sip Down!
My friend Robyn from Winnipeg came to stay the weekend (she also stayed Monday night on her way to Minneapolis, but returned on Friday for the entire weekend). We had a couple of different teas, but this one was our wake up breakfast tea. We both agreed it was marvelous. Hearty but smooth, with just enough bite to help us get moving this morning. Not that we did, of course. Move, that is. We lazed around most of the morning, drinking tea, eating raspberries, and perusing our devices for updates from Facebook friends. It was a great morning made even better byu a pot of this tea.
I realize that for a lot of people working 9 or 10 hours a day isn’t any big thing. ut it’s killing me. Or actually, I think it’s the evening commitments that are killing me. Monday it’s my local writer’s group critique meeting, Tuesday night it’s my university class, Wednesday night it’s church, and this week, Thursday it’s supper with friends. So I work from 6:30 am until 4:30 or 5:00, and then have to be somewhere an hour or two later. Last night I went to class, sat in the back and started crying. I got up, went home and punch back into work for another hour. I think I’m crazy.
I decided I needed a good breakfast tea this morning. I love this one. It’s robust without being astringent or bitter, and it re-steeps quite well. I got three good cups out of one teaspoon of leaf.
Tonight I’m playing hooky from church. I really enjoy it because Wednesday night is really laid back and I get to hang with friends. But really, I’m in need of some ME time. Tomorrow during our team meeting we’ll find out if the mandatory overtime is going to be extended. Fingers crossed for “no” LOL
i totally understand how you’re feeling. I’ve been doing similar things for about 3 weeks straight now, and this morning i just wanted to come to work in my bathrobe ‘cause it’s comfy and warm and such… lol need some ME time.
Sil Some people have told me they love working 10 hour days. I think they’re nuts! We’ve been on mandatory overtime for 3 weeks too.
teetotaler It is really good. I received sample of it from (I think) beelicious.
Oh geez. Good luck! I don’t think I’d mind 10 hour days as long as I was only working 4 a week. Or even 3.5, since I’m on a 35 hour work week right now.
Breakfast tea!!! Rich, smooth, slightly smoky, and delicious. I gave up on coffee this morning. Since I’ve started taking the aspirin everyday my tummy doesn’t seem to care for coffee in the morning. That’s okay. I have tea. Delicious tea. This tea brews up nice and dark in the cup. I was afraid it might be bitter or astringent, but it wasn’t. There is even a slight sweetness to it at the end of the sip. I see other people detect vanilla. I don’t, but then, with my wonky nose… This is one of the best breakfast teas I’ve had.
Flavors: Smoke, Sweet
Preparation
I always enjoy sencha and this is no exception. There is a fair bit of dust in it, so I always have a bit of leaf in my cup, which isn’t ideal, but I don’t mind too much.
I’ve been experimenting with brewing time and poured out a sample every thirty seconds. The packet advises 1-3 minutes. I find 1 minute too short, with not enough taste and with the water at my house, I can taste the water through it quite strongly. Three minutes is OK, but a bitter taste is starting to compete with the normal grassy sencha flavour. My preference is 2.5 minutes (2 minutes is OK too).
Preparation
An exquisite Darjeeling that was an absolute pleasure to drink, beginning with strong grassy notes laced with cucumber and ending with a pleasant hint of asparagus with multiple steeps – for anyone who loves the more delicate side of tea :)
Flavors: Asparagus, Cucumber, Grass, Muscatel
Preparation
…sigh…I don’t know. I tried this first unsweetened and iced. And it was just so tart. So very citrusy. Overpoweringly so, really. I like citrus and was hoping to find it refreshing, but it was just too much. So, the next time I tried it I added sugar, in an effort to curb that grapefuit flavor that made my whole face pucker. I rarely sweeten my teas (or tisanes), either hot or cold, but this helped. I added three generous teaspoons for the entire liter. Not enough to make it taste really sweet, just to tone down the tartness. I’d like to try to reduce the amount of sugar, but will have to experiment a bit. I now can taste more of a fresh orange flavor with strong grapefruit notes that don’t overwhelm. Not sure if I’d ever try it hot, maybe if I was sick and wanted to add honey to it, but honestly, I’ll just finish this off and probably not get it again. It is bracing, refreshing, and great if you love grapefruit (which I don’t).
Flavors: Biting, Citrus, Grapefruit, Orange, Tart
Preparation
As I understand it, this is the base of a lot of flavoured teas. I’ve had Rose Congou a few times, which isn’t my thing, but I do really enjoy lighter black teas.
I enjoy drinking this tea, but not very interesting. I can see why it’s a base tea rather than being drunk on its own too often. I think next time I’ll go for a Nepali tea, Sikkim Temi or a Keemun or something like that, which have more interesting flavours.
Preparation
I finally got round to drinking this alongside Da Hong Pao (Big Red Robe) tea from Jefferson Tea in Hobart. They are both dark earthy oolongs so I wanted to compare them next to each other. I brewed them both for 4 minutes at 90 degrees (warming the cup first). My cup infusers were full, which weighed 2g on my kitchen scales, if you trust that…
Dan Cong looks darker and smells stronger of those smoky and earthy smells.
There isn’t actually too much in it, although they definitely aren’t the same. Dan Cong immediately tastes stronger and has a lot of earthy flavours. I think Da Hong Pao has a more interesting aftertaste though, a little sweeter, even though both are very savoury teas.
The box of the Dan Cong claims it has whispers of vanilla and honey. I don’t really taste that when it’s hot and on the first brew, but they come through a bit more on the 2nd and 3rd brews.
Both teas will cope with at least 3 brews comfortably. Which is my favourite? I think I’d go for Da Hong Pao if I had to choose, but I’d be happy with either.