Taylors of Harrogate

It groppled today. The weather guy said so. Little miniature snowy-ice-balls about the size of a baby ladybug. We also had sleet, freezing fog, freezing rain, and snow within a 12-hour period. I expect either oobleck or meatballs by midnight.

Couple the frozen weather extravaganza with being out in it for a while and I’ve got tense muscles in places I forgot I had. So a comforting rocking chair brew is the RX for the evening.

…and this one was a surprise. The front of the box touts vanilla and nutmeg as the headliners, so I was expecting something like eggnog. Then I noticed the fine print…lemon balm and lemongrass are in the mix as well. Together, the additions to a reasonably deeply flavored decaf base make an unusual but tasty nightcap. (But you need to be a nutmeg fan. I am.)

Hallelujah and pass the crumpets! My three-pack finally arrived via Royal Mail. One of them is going straight to a work friend who is retiring. We’re throwing her a tea party. Mismatched cups and saucers, stacked china with pretty teabags, the whole pinky-up routine. (I lament that the beverages will not be fully appreciated, as we are serving them to tea barbarians.)

However, there are two full boxes under my roof and I am rejoicing. Replete with both strength and strawberry goodness, this has turned into my buck-up tea, falling into the same support role as Queen Catherine and Paris for some of you. Perhaps I should have ordered more.

I don’t think I’ve ever snarfed up a 40-bag box of tea so quickly. The tin is looking like a long lonely tunnel with just a couple at the end. (Not to worry, some on order.)

Won’t add to what you already know, except for the fact that it makes a stellar iced tea. The “toast” part of the combo keeps it wonderfully stout (especially fridge-steeped overnight) and the rest, well…that’s my jam.

What? I haven’t written eleventy-seven notes waxing poetic about this, my new favorite go-to for a perk-up and a cheer-up all at the same time? Perhaps it was because I was too busy snarfing it up. Wheat toast with Mom’s strawberry preserves. It just makes my heart happy.

Amazon delivered a surprise today—three boxes—the trifecta of Yorkshire toast-biscuit-bedtime brews! (A little serendipity was much needed after a very glumpy week.)

After a great deal of “which one do I want to try first?” hemming and hawing, this one called my name. One bag to an 8 oz mug, 5 minutes brewed up strong and dark, and it did smell exactly like toast (dial set to 6 on the toaster) spread with my mom’s strawberry jam.

At 5 minutes, the black tea base was actually a little strong, even for my preferences, but the strawberry jam vibe came through beautifully. A little milk toned down the toast and hepped up the jam, which was fine with me.

This is going on my “top ten best strawberry brews” list.

I love this blend, it’s super comfy and cozy for me. It’s roasty and toasty with a touch of strawberry.

I usually brew this hot, and it tastes really good, especially with a little oat milk. Just a really good black tea. But this time, I cold brewed it overnight, three tagless bags in a pitcher. And it’s really different brewed that way! It’s got a strong vegetal note that reminds me of green tea. I can also pick out a malty note, not as strong as when I hot brew it, and some light bread and citrus notes. So, delicious either way! I’m told cold-brewing black tea leads to a lot less caffeine, but I don’t care either way on that either.

Sipdown! (7 | 129)

Hello again, Steepster!

For some reason I’ve been on a tea with oat creamer kick lately, so that’s mostly how I sipped through this one. The sweet creaminess really helped to bring out the biscuit notes in this too!

Not sure I would buy this again, maybe if I saw it for a reasonable price instead of trying to get it online…

Finally got around to trying this one today after loving the Toast & Jam last week.

I definitely don’t love this tea nearly as much. There is a nice buttery, biscuit-y flavor to it, but the black tea is so strong and quite tannic, and the flavoring just isn’t strong enough to stand up to it. I added a touch of oat milk and that helped smooth things out, but I also felt like it dulled the biscuit flavor a bit… I’m also tasting a tiny hint of something fruity, not sure if that’s a natural note of the black tea or something else?

I feel like this tea almost requires milk to be added to make it enjoyable, but maybe that’s just because I’m not a breakfast blend person. Maybe next time I’ll try cutting the steep a bit shorter to see if that helps with the balance of flavoring to tea.

One of those teas you cannot avoid when living in the UK for any extended amount of time. I got it in a food hall. People often seem to rave about this one but I wasn’t terribly impressed, like aye, it’s a decent tea. It kinda reminds me of the teas that get sold as “english blend” back in the Netherlands, but altogether it did not strike me as particularly special. WIll drink again, will not buy for myself.

Okay, so I’ve had this one (and Biscuit Brew, and Bedtime Brew) for a while now, but had never tried any of them. And that kind of tends to happen with newer and/or larger teas in my cupboard, because I’m constantly sipping down which tends to draw my focus more to older and smaller sized teas. But for some reason I decided to try this one today!

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much since it’s a classic-style teabag full of fannings from an inexpensive grocery store company. I don’t tend to like breakfast blend sort of teas as loose leaf, let alone as a teabag.

But this one blew my mind a little bit. The smell of it steeping was scrumptious, and the taste is exactly the same. It completely does taste like toast with raspberry jam. There’s a golden toasted bread note to it, along with sweet jammy raspberry. And then there’s this buttery quality that really makes this tea, IMO. So it’s definitely toast with butter and jam, or perhaps even a thumbprint cookie with raspberry jam.

Now the black tea does have a touch of astringency to it, but overall it’s really a delicious tea. I don’t generally add milk to tea, but I might have to try a drizzle of oat milk in this one to smooth out those tannins. Regardless, super impressed with it. I can’t wait to try the Biscuit Brew too!

Steep:
1 bag
212°F
5min

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: paper
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet, bready, bakey, toasty
Flavor: astringent, bakey, toasty
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: astringent
Liquor: dark opaque red brown

Comments: biscuit to me would be shortbread… this is a solid wake you up breakfast tea but thats all

Post-Steep Additives: creamer, sugar
good, cuts on astringency

Resteep:
weak, watery

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Leaf system:
1=Bleh! not again if it were free
2=Acceptable, if it were free or there were limited other tea options
3=I might purchase this tea from time to time, or select it while out
4=A staple in our cupboard from now on, I will purchase and keep purchasing

YouTube Review https://youtu.be/c-p4GcsxuSU

TikTok Review https://www.tiktok.com/@circuitswan/video/7145554025029700906

Twitter https://twitter.com/CircuitSwan/status/1572310656065609728

Blog Post https://amazonv.blogspot.com/2022/09/yorkshire-tea-teabag-black-tea-malty.html

Statement of Sponsorship or Advertisement:
I received this product for free as a gift.

Disclaimer:
All my reviews are as unbiased as possible, whether I buy or receive free product. I accept no other compensation other than free product.

Got this one because I heard it was good with hard water. It leaves more scum than other brands but the taste is great. Taste taste requires to compare it to Red Rose Orange Pekoe (I’m in Canada )

Picked this up from TJ Maxx as I needed a cheap and convenient bagged jasmine green for homemade taro bubble tea. It certainly served the purpose but I was surprised at how good it tastes on its own. It has a fresh, clean jasmine flavor without the bitterness or weird taste that low grade jasmine tea usually has. You don’t really taste the green tea base but that’s fine by me. I just want the flavor of pure jasmine flowers in my cup.

That said, it’s best to throw out the teabag after a couple of minutes as it infuses quickly and turns astringent if left in the mug. In a side by side tasting, my Yunnan Sourcing jasmine dong ting bi luo chun still blows this way but it’s not really fair to compare it to a loose leaf tea. By bagged tea standards, it’s more than serviceable.

I have had this sealed tea bag for awhile and decided to finally have it. I picked it up at some hotel I’m sure, although I haven’t traveled extensively by air and stayed in good hotels for a few years. My travel was mainly by air between our homes in western Wisconsin and Atlanta, and now car travel between Wisconsin and Fort Myers. Very little chance of picking up a premium tea enroute now.

This tea has a delicate flavor of blackberry fruit and elderflowers. Distinctive though, with a natural sweetness. I may go to fruit teas for the evening when I want something sweet. As this tea required boiling water, I thought it had a black tea base and I made it in the morning. Instead, it’s an infusion.

I can’t find this tea for sale, but Taylors has a Blackberry Raspberry I will probably buy now.

Meh…. reminds me of tea I can get in a mid range hotel. Not bad and will do in a pinch but definitely not something I would reach for on a daily basis.

This appears to be my last bag of these, which means someone else in the house has been drinking it. It has a cloudy feel as I drink it.

This is one of the last in the sampler I received at Christmas. I kind of knew going in to this mug that it might not be for me. As I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of things that are malty. Definitely a strong malt taste and bitter aftertaste. Steeped for just under the recommended 5 minutes. I think if I was to drink this again, I definitely would try doctoring it with some milk and honey. The rest of these bags will be tucked into the “rest of the family can try” drawer.

I am shocked and appalled with myself that I haven’t left a review on this tea yet, since it is a favorite cupboard staple. I was sure that I had… but upon searching my Steepster.txt file of tasting notes, it was the “red box” Yorkshire Tea that I had reviewed. I know some people have a clear preference for one over the other, but I like both!

Using this for the sipdown prompt “Tea from a British company.”

Steeped, this tea has such a quintessential aroma of autumn leaves and spices. To taste, it is bold with more of an astringent bite than I typically care for (I even shortened my steep time compared to my typical for blacks, but I guess I need to shorten it more!). However, that astringency does make this ideal for “British style” milk-and-sugar tea. I get a strong maltiness mixed with autumn leaf pile, a dash of cinnamon, and a faint citrusy aftertaste.

While I don’t normally sweeten tea, a drizzle of honey worked wonders on the astringency of the cup, and after that I decided to go sans milk. But I may make a latte in the future.

I love this stuff to make sweet iced tea during the warm months!

I absolutely adore how this smells while steeping. The citrus scent is very enticing. Used boiling water and steeped for 4.5 minutes. While sipping it, I am reminded of Tang, the powdered drink mix of astronauts and cold weather camping trips of my childhood. At the same time, I find a bitter after taste. Added a honey spoon and the bitterness was dulled but the citrus remained.

Tried a second steep after reading another tasting note. The citrus scent was dulled and the bitterness as well. Honestly, it ended up just being a bland cup of tea the second time around.

Black, Malty, and Strong… just as it said on the box.

Not a fan though. Probably because I’m not a huge fan of the malt taste.

I think I’ll pass this off to the spouse. He might like this one but it’s not for me.

I’m sipping this while the weather has it’s annual battle of winter vs spring. We’ve had seriously scary high winds, 60+ degree days, and now it’s snowing and 30*. Tomorrow back up to the 50*s.
There is no doubt that this is peppermint tea. The tea bag from the foil has a strong scent. Steeping, you could smell it through the kitchen. It has a nice warm smooth feel. Perhaps a tiny bit oily but not unpleasant. If you’re looking for peppermint, this tea does not lie.

More from my Christmas tea bag sampler. I tend to like to drink greens mid afternoon for a pick me up. After spending the day arguing with our heating system (I think I won) I decided to warm up with some tea.

I do like the Jasmine in this tea. I think I would like this even more if it was loose leaf. Not sure I’d buy it for myself but if it was offered in a restaurant or at a friend’s, I would have it with no complaint.

Another kid in close contact quarantine and day care is closed for 2 weeks, so I’m drinking tea for my sanity. This is my 3rd cup of the day which is unusual for me at this time. Part of the sampler that was gifted to me at Christmas and I’ve tried most of the sampler.

This is a bagged tea. I’ve recently grown to like EGs now that I’ve found some good ones. I think this is a decent one to serve to others and I don’t need to hide it away for myself. A nice citrus and bergamot taste. I like the smell of this one while steeping.

I picked this up at TJ Max this afternoon. I wasn’t expecting to snag anything during our outing, but naturally, any lover of tea will find the excuse to try a new tea. My wife was more eager about this than I was because she loves lemonade, but the rose grabbed my attention.

I brewed it hot with two bags in a 16oz cup. Sweet lemonade with a touch of rose. I am going to add to the cold brew pile and see if it’ll be less intense. I do like it, but it’s a tad sweet.