TWG Tea Company

sweet,but spicy taste

Once again I’ve been completely puzzled the first times I drank this, as it did not taste like what I expected. At the same time, TWG description of the blends can only be considered as simplistic or minimalist.
After a few surprising and almost difficult to drink brew, I realized this blend, though different from my usual rooibos, definitely grew on me. After believing I never would be able to drink it all, I changed my mind and realized it might be easier and easier to drink until it’s finished, as I like each new pot better than the previous, for now.
The rooibos in itself seems really nice, brews a very clear and bright color, quite fragrant.
Let me try to describe the fragrance and flavors, quite tough because I haven’t managed yet to really grasp what could be in. There’s nothing flowery, nor fruity or sweet in this blend, which favors much more vegetal and earth tones. Thinking of the Caribbean, those flavors would remind me of a walk through the jungle forest, definitely out of the seaside and out of blooming gardens.
There’s a clear nutty flavor to it, bringing both mellowness and a tinge of bitterness. The cocoa beans cannot be mistaken for chocolate, it’s clearly the unprocessed, unsweetened slightly bitter flavor that comes through. I still have not managed to be certain whether there is some vanilla inside, bringing additional mellowness to the nuts. Nor am I clear whether there is some coconut; in any case, if there is, it would be fresh and raw coconut, most probably just scooped from the nut, taking only the pieces that were closer to the bark and neither the milk, nor the soft flesh at the center of the nut.
I hope this rambling will make sense.
I may some day post another tasting note not too similar on this one, which still puzzles me…

A really nice surprise. I’m used to earls with a bold black tea base, either ceylon or assam do the trick but this darjeeling is really not malty or bold, it’s light with a small hint of floral. It reminded me of the Oolong Earl Grey by Red Leaf Tea. In my humble opinion it shouldn’t be considered a black tea. The liquor is light ambar, the scent is floral & fresh & the bergamot is strong, but not over empowering. After brewing the bergamot looses it’s strong scent but I guess it’s because the flavor blends right in with the darjeeling & lingers beautifully after every sip.

I’ve tried a 2nd infusion & unlike most of the teas I have, this one holds the flavor pretty well. I think I’m in love <3

No notes yet.

Having another test of this. I am now expecting the hibiscus on it, but even so, it still overpowers me. There is the tartness, the acidity, and it seems to spread all over other flavours without being balanced by anything else. Maybe there is a peach and berry underneath it all, maybe there is rooibos (rhetorical, there is rooibos evidently on the mix) but the hibiscus just takes over.I am not a good person to rate this, hibiscus really is not my thing.

My first tasting note!

Made my first visit to the lovely Urban Tea Merchant shop in downtown Vancouver yesterday. What a lovely shop! (Did not realize it was right beside my dentist – will have to pay a visit now each time I go for a check up!)

Was thinking I wanted their caramel black tea, but the staff guy suggested this one – Napoleon smelled a bit sweeter, so i chose it instead, and I love it! Very smooth black base, can taste the creamy caramel and mocha. Having it with cream and a couple of swirls of the rock sugar wands they also sell….it’s very good! So good, I am drinking it at 930 at night….lets hope I sleep! A wonderful tea, highly recommend.

This came to me via a co-worker to whom it was served at a hotel in the United Arab Emirates. Looked up the company; it’s Singaporean and has a very tony, elegant website. Opened the pouch; beautiful fabric bag. Tasted the tea; flat.

It’s a basic, “brown” tasting breakfast tea, getting a little bitter as it cools. Kind of a disappointment, as I had anticipated something posh.

Ah, well. It’s still always fun to add a new one to the tasting list.

Avoid this tea at all costs! When I opened the tin, I was greeted with an overpowering smell of rose. Sure enough, the ingredients on the bottom list tea and rose, even though the tea is described as containing “a scattering of cherry blossoms.” All cheap “cherry” teas contain rose, but I was expecting more for this price. Also, the green tea in the blend is a mediocre tea sourced from Singapore, not Japanese sencha. Shame on TWG for marketing this tea as a gourmet Japanese cherry tea.

Finishing this off. I really enjoyed having it on-hand. Sometimes it ended up coming out bitter, but that was mostly me not paying attention to the temperature. Especially near the end, when there was a lot of tea dust in the scoop.

Still enjoyed it though. Buttery green went well with the caramel. Might buy some more…

Last cup of this for now, though.

This was another tea I received as a gift for my birthday. I wasn’t really excited about it because green teas aren’t my favorite, and I usually don’t like flavored teas…

When I smelled this tea, I was even less enthusiastic. It smelled strongly of artificial peach. In tasting the tea, however, I was surprised at the nuanced flavor. This tea appears to be much more heavily scented than it is flavored. I was pleased that I could still taste the green tea, and to balance out the sweet fruit, it had a savory finish. The aftertaste was not cloying (as I usually find flavored teas to be). Overall, for a flavored tea, this one was very good.

I had to restrain myself form eating the big chunks of caramel that were scattered throughout the dry tea. It was worth it though, as the liquor had a yummy, rich, caramel flavour augmented by creamy notes of vanilla.

I got this tea from the Urban Tea Merchant in downtown Vancouver. I was disappointed that they stopped stocking THÉ Ô DOR, but TWG seems to be a pretty decent replacement line.

I’m never quite sure how to steep black tea/green tea blends so in this case I temporized by doing a slightly lower temperature and less time than I would for a straight black tea. I love the Bourbon vanilla scent of this blend – it’s sweet and rich and makes me think of baking sugar cookies. Unfortunately the flavour is more vegetal and less vanilla-y than I would like, although the vanilla is still certainly there. There’s also hints of something else under the vanilla – maybe something citrusy and traces of some sort of spices.

If this does not have hibiscus hidden somewhere on it, I will eat my hat. My non-existant hat, but there you have it. A tiny tiny little itty amount of hibiscus but that it does have it, oh I strongly suspect so.

Dry leaf or while steeping this smells divine. Peaches with berries on a rooibos base. LaFleurBleue who sent me this sample would know what I mean when I say this is a fruity rooibos like Berry Berry Nice instead of a blend fruit rooibos like Carpe Diem or Marco Polo Rouge.

But then you taste it and instead of mellow rooibos, the underlying taste is a sharp sour acid hibiscus like tang.I can not get either the peach or berries promised in the scent or the mellowness of the rooibos which should be underneath. Nope, there is something hibiscus and just does not work with my expectations. I will keep trying though.

I got this massive urge to go and separate the rest of the sample and just barely refraining from doing DNA analysis on anything which might be hibiscus to see if it really is. But really, I would swear I can taste the hibiscus right on the middle of my tongue. I have a test where I leave a little bit in a cup overnight and then seeing the color and shape of the residue, will check.

Thank you very much for the sample, LeFleurBleue, this smelled heavenly indeed and I think I am learning somethings about TWG blends!

PS – the overnight cup test hints strongly of hibiscus as well, the residue is blue-ish pink rather than orange-brown as it with most rooibos. Examining the dry leaf, there seems to be rooibos, little tiny pink berries (a filler? they look somewhat like pink peppers used in spice teas and which taste like nothing), rose petals and tiny little pink bits of petals which could be hibiscus. Hmm, enough evidence?

The smell of the dry tea is absolutely heavenly and very strong… I could almost start eating the tea with a spoon.
And among the rooibos leaves, there are small pieces of fruits and dried entire small berries (round very small ones – dark color but original color difficult to identify on the dried fruit).
After brewing, the color is a bright brownish red and the smell o so fragrant.

The taste was also very strong, very mellow fruity but with a surprisingly tart flavor. I absolutely did not expect this bittersweet, tart, almost sour taste from the smell; I do not find it unpleasant but I’m sure it might offend the buds of other people.
I spend quite some time trying to figure out what it might come from: I believe it comes from the berries. At first, without any reason but the size of the berry (and my quick assumption), I assumed they would be blueberry or gooseberry. But this was not the taste of such fruits – as it was more tart than tangy, for a gooseberry and not as sugary fruity enough for blueberry. After some thinking, I finally realized those might be a different kind of berries, not so much used for “direct” consumption (think picking raspberries from the bush and eating them instead of filling in the bucket) than for “transformation / use as an ingredient”. And then sloe berry (berry from the blackthorne; prunelle in French) came to my mind. Maybe it was cranberry but I’m not so sure about that.

I’ve had it a few times and am still surprised by the taste at each new brew. I cannot really make out my mind about it. Strange!

I tried it again being extra careful of not over-brewing, neither putting too many leaves.
And this time I might have been a bit too skimpy or too quick as the brew was a bit light.
Nice tasting, no bitterness but nothing that special in it either. I’ll have to come back to it again and hopefully find the magic recipe.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

No rating, because I think I screwed up somehow this.

A sample, so kindly sent by LaFleurBleue and my very first TWG tea (first singaporean tea as well). I am very fond of mangoes, am pretty fond of a green tea with Mango I have and love a black tea with peach and vanilla I own. And somehow mangoes and peaches have a certain similarity in my mind.

But something went wrong. The dry leaf smells like mangoes with a hint of sharpness I can not define. I brewed it up hot but not too much leaf and there was a pine quality to the tea which baffled me. Mango yes, but peculiar. As the tea got colder definite bourbon vanilla notes as well. Peculiar! Must experiment, I think it was probably too hot, will try much colder water and for longer.

I won’t be rating this tea yet…
I’ve been lured by the Gentleman in this tea name. Expecting something slightly refined, I put way too much leaves in my strainer. Second I put less water than usual in my boiler and did not get a full teapot. Third and last, I got busy while brewing and forgot the tea for way too long.
The resulting brew was strong, with a slightly bitter touch, that did not prevent me from drinking it all, though with probably not as much pleasure as could have been. The citrusy flavors seemed well balanced and very pleasant.
I’ll have to prepare it by the book next time to try to see if I get my gentleman and not the ruffian just out of the boxing ring, all sweaty and male I ended up with today…

No notes yet.

This is probably the best friggin tea I’ve ever tasted.

It costs almost literally an arm and a leg ($30 for 3oz), but it tastes like the sweet glorious dream of a simpler time, so I’d say that’s ultimately worth it.

Seriously though, this tastes damn fantastic. I want to high five both Dean AND Deluca (presuming they are people?) for being this awesome and creating this masterpiece.

If you don’t like rose flavors, get out. Also, you’ll hate this possibly. But I am a big rosey dude and this is both a blend of excellent white and green tea with a mild-ish but certainly strongly present smell and taste of rose gardens. This tea could not possibly taste or smell any better than it does.

It cost a pretty penny as all TWG tea tends to cost, but I say it’s well, well, well, welllllll worth it. Pick some up, you won’t be disappointed. And if you are, send it my way and ill kiss your face for making my life better with the best tea of all time. Seriously. I love it. If this tea was a student, honor roll for sure. It would be one of those students that somehow gets MORE than a 4.0 GPA. I didn’t know that was possible, but this tea could do it. It’s put magic.

Nice flavour. I have to admit that I’m going to experiment a little because I used it in my new Cuisinart PerfecTemp tea maker. I can taste the ginger, but it doesn’t dominate the tea.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.