Twinings

Chai Ultra Spice is only ultra gingery to my taste, and not ultra spicy, possibly because they didn’t put in any black pepper. They claim there is cardamom in there, but you could have fooled me, I didn’t taste it at all. Also, I looked at the ingredients list, and I’d really like to know what “natural chai flavour” is. Last I checked, “chai” means tea, and I seriously doubt it is natural tea flavor they’re talking about.

But, that said, if you’re looking for a bagged tea that tastes like liquid gingersnaps when appropriately doctored up with sweetener and milk, this is the tea for you. Even though it wasn’t the ultra spicy chai I was hoping for, it was pretty decent anyway.

I am a big fan of the cherry/cinnamon version of the moment of calm, so obviously this one was one not to be missed.

Sure its a grocery store appearing tea, but still I was pleased with its riverdance on my palate. The mango mellows and smooths the cinnamon’s tap dance aross my taste buds. The orange is subtle but its citrus flick is notable.

I love this one at work between lashings of ‘normal tea’ and it has that soothing ‘anti-brain popping feature’. Tis a keeper, well until work stops being stressful. ;)

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve had this tea. It’s one of my favorites. I was in a bit of a hurry today, and only steeped for 3 minutes. I think I prefer 5; at that steep, it’s a thicker, richer cup. At 3, it’s very light and delicate with apple being very prominent, and the cinnamon a barely-there note. Both ways are yummy!

Even though I’ve fallen for *LiberTEAS*’s Breakfast Blend, I still hold this tea in high regard. I’m thinking her loose-leaf shall be my at-home, pre-work tea to gently wake me up, whilst this shall comfort me and take care of me at work (since the individually-wrapped bags are good to keep in my desk).

I’ve figured out why I like this tea so much. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy and like I’ve had some of my mom’s apple dumplings. No, this isn’t as good as Mama France’s apple dumpings, but it’s close enough to make me smile.

My last bag of this at work. Luckily, a fresh box is sitting on the tea shelf at home and I can replenish my stash.

This is my absolute favorite breakfast blend. The taste is reminiscent of a cinnamon apple dumpling. The black tea base stands up well against the flavorings, and isn’t covered up at all. This is one of the teas that I’ll always have on hand.

This is my normal office tea. I tend to forget that I put a tea bag in and steep it way too long, but it’s still quite drinkable. I like the bitterness and astringency that it has (even when steeped a more reasonable amount of time). This is a serious no joke black tea.

Ahh, the last of this tin, just means there’s more room for new tea. Good strong cup of tea this morning, but next time I get Twinings Irish Breakfast, I think I’ll stick to buying the bags. The loose tea is just so tiny, every cup ends up having a bunch of dust in it. I usually prefer loose to bagged, but this is one of those teas that’s better off staying in the bag.

I see that the Tea Smith makes Lady Grey, so I should find it. When I first had Lady Grey I liked it a lot; however, the Twinings tea often tastes too weak to me. I think the problem is that I shouldn’t be adding milk, and I don’t much like tea without milk.

This tea MUST be steeped well. I would like to find a company besides Twinings that sells it, but so far no luck. Like Pride of the Port, it is a good black tea that becomes nicely rounded with milk (and as always for me, a little sugar).

This is not a high-quality tea, but it is the only kind of black tea that I like to drink without milk. It needs to be sweetened, in my opinion (and I always sweeten tea) and it takes only a little milk at most. If you oversteep you get more bitterness and less fruit.

Ah, am finally home!! Having a pot of this, because I’m getting low on it and will soon have another tea out of my cupboard. Hurray for replacing it with new tea!!