Whittard of Chelsea

My Milky Oolong, how I’ve missed you. It’s been absolute agony to be wrenched apart from you for so long… but now you’ve returned to me, 100g of you, twice as good as the original 50g that hardly tided me over half a year.

Suffice to say I’ve decided this is now a tea to remain a staple in my collection! Lately it’s been tempting to switch my morning sencha with this (just because it tastes so fab that it starts off my day perfectly); the other day I took a 0.5l flask of this to the library with me while I studied. I am utterly in love with this tea.

Today’s tasting is of a half-mug, leaves directly in the mug as they unfold so large I can just scoop them out with a spoon. Just the scent of the leaves is amazing and… I can’t even think of an english word for this, so “gourmand” will have to work instead! And the aroma of the brew, so rich and milky without being dairy- that’s what I love about this tea.

This time round it’s been left to brew a little longer than usual so the butteriness is washing off and turning it into a greener oolong; fresh and ever so slightly astringent with a sweet end to every sip. Needless to say I love this tea in all its forms… Maybe once I run out of this I’ll try a different company’s milky oolong. For now, I have enough of this to last me a while :D

It slipped my mind to review this the first however many times I tried this; so this last tasting’s from memory!

There’s a little bit of a story behind how I came across this. After I realised I could use my staff discount at /any/ Whittard store I came back to London, to the Covent Garden branch specifically, for some loose-leaf tea shopping (loose-leaf tea caddies aren’t available at our branch). A certain gentleman working the desk on the first floor named Adam served me as I was looking for the strawberries and cream pu-erh they have on the website— and don’t sell in the shops, unfortunately— but instead recommended me this oolong. Later he revealed he drinks it as his breakfast tea with a croissant.

Thing is, it’s called milky but it’s much more /buttery/, so it would complement a buttery croissant very well in my view— not that I’ve tried that combination yet! Brewed lightly, it runs thick and smooth and wholesome through the mouth, brewed more strongly, it’s more akin to green tea with notes of that creaminess in the fresh taste. The scent is incredible, too, plus the leaves are rolled up in such a way that they unfold spectacularly large when brewed and are good for a couple more top-ups.

Last time I had this it turned out more green-y— I have yet to perfect my brewing times for this one!

Essence of bubble gum, not to mention that whittard’s customer service is really lacking. So, this tea is not worth the trouble of ordering, the taste is not worth the bother. I am half way through it, and it’s about to be tossed out. I already threw out the ‘summer pudding’ tea, that was so horrible it didn’t deserve cupboard space.

It might be worth it, if their tea was any good. Which it isn’t. Check out their overall ratings, you’ll see that I’m not the only person who thinks they are mediocre. There is a whole world of tea out there, and I don’t have to put up with bad tea and bad customer service. Sorry England, maybe I’m just a spoiled Yank, but I do expect better, and from where I sit, ‘better’ is not hard to get.

{edited to add}… egads, I threw it out, and the plastic tupperware container I’d had the rolled paper bag in (the way whittard comes packaged) now stinks like artificial apple. That is surely one way to test the authenticity of tea flavoring, is to see how much of their chemically added flavor can be absorbed into a plastic container! Do I really want to drink such a thing? as previously determined— A resounding NO

Quick note; in a hurry. upon smelling this tea I thought it would taste like Christmas ham-clove and cinnamon. I was relieved to find it did not, though both spices were apparent. I’m not a clove fan so I didn’t make it far, though my wife that doesn’t write notes loved it. Moderate astringency (wife didn’t agree) and dry is no good to me either. This is something I may have to work on so as not to miss out on other notable intricacies present in drier teas. Pleasant afterflavor, should work nicely to clear the palate of an oily meal. Not bad, just not a clove person.
tunes playing-America=Tin Man/Ventura Highway/Sister Golden Hair Surprise

I’ve been sipping on this since I woke up, I’m on my second infusion. The tea holds up pretty well in a second infusion … then again, my taste buds are quite impaired so take that for what its worth. At the very least, I find that the spice notes here are enjoyable and warming and soothing for my itchy throat.

When I first opened the package of this tea, I was surprised to smell just how spicy the aroma was. It is almost as pungent as the MarketSpice tea! It isn’t quite as oily in presentation, though, so I didn’t think it would be quite as spicy tasting as the MarketSpice.

And it isn’t. This is actually what I’d call a warmly spiced blend, but not spicy or hot. The black tea is about as strong a flavor as the cinnamon, and the cinnamon is the strongest of the spices, with the cloves appearing about mid-sip. The orange sort of peeks its way through, appearing throughout the sip, but not becoming a really strong flavor. More like a pleasant accent to brighten up the cup. At first, I found myself wishing that there was more vanilla flavor, but as the tea cools slightly, the vanilla flavors begin to come forward.

This is a pleasant enough tea, but the black tea base is a bit on the mellow side, and I found myself wishing for just a bit more roundness. I suspect that this is a Ceylon, and I think this blend would have been even better if there was a little bit of Assam or Nilgiri added to it, to add some roundness and maybe a touch of malt to the cup.

It is good as it is, but, it could be even better, I think!

So I haven’t posted in a while and so I decided to have something I haven’t had in a bit. I picked up this tea recently on a trip to London, and while it was a free gift with purchase, I was not at all upset at the blend concept. Keemun + Assam sounds like a rounded tea and I was looking forward to giving it a try.
First, the leaves themselves ranged from half inch to broken pieces, and majority were deep black, with the occasional golden leaf tossed in. The smell of dried leaves is quite subdued, having to really hunt for any serious aromas. After steeping, the leaves develop a fired, yet not smokey, smell. They smell almost charred, but not offensively, just very warm. All in all, the smell doesn’t really match the deep color of the liquor. Speaking of the tea itself, the smell is of dark caramel and heavily roasted carrots or beets. The taste is subtle and would be completely covered by any addition of milk or sweetener. It has a sizable body one would expect from an Assam, but without any heavy astringency.

In the end, the tea is a bit bland for my taste, but is a nice balance of the extremes of both tea types. Perhaps better in the afternoon rather than the morning. I enjoyed it, but would like to find a bit more in a black tea.

Happy sipping everyone!

Backlog:

Mondays tend to be my craziest day of the week, my husband is usually off on Mondays (sometimes he gets called in), and we seem to always be running, running, running. I don’t have the kind of time I’d like to have to enjoy a pot (several pots!) of tea, so, I usually grab a bagged tea and gulp it down before we start our running. Instead, today, I brewed some of this and poured it in a travel mug and drank it while running around. It was certainly a welcome part of the errands run. Rich and bergamot-y. I like this Earl Grey quite a bit.

What a lovely Earl Grey! Quite unlike others that I’ve tried. The base is a blend of teas, and this blend is very bold and distinguished, and the bergamot seems rather mellow as a result. But it has mellowed in a very enjoyable way, offering a sweet hint of juicy citrus notes throughout the sip, but, by the time I’ve reached mid-cup, the flavor begins to reveal some hints of floral tones. It’s a very unique bergamot, a very lovely Earl Grey.

Yay for Earl Grey!

Huh, I thought I had posted about this…

I’ve definitely had it before.

Anyway, as many of you may already know, I don’t actually care much for Darjeeling. I find it too finicky to brew and too prickly and grassy in flavour. I honestly don’t understand all the Darj. hype. I can only imagine that once upon a time somebody somewhere did some excellent marketing.

So when I was given 100g of this along with 100g of EG (sigh), it was accepted with as sincere a smile as I could muster and a secret thought that it would be exclusively for the husband, as he doesn’t dislike it as much as I do.

For the sake of thoroughness and openmindedness and what have you, I did try a cup of it though. This is the one I thought I had posted about, but apparently hadn’t. I wouldn’t say I particularly enjoyed it, but it wasn’t totally offensive either. I think I would say it was probably worth around 70-75 points, and drinkable. The things that I dislike about Darjeeling weren’t standing out so much.

This may be a question of leaf quality. The bag has no information on it at all regarding origin, so I assume we’re talking about a blend of several estates. This also makes me suspect that it’s a somewhat lower leaf quality than the FFs Darj-lovers happily shell out small fortunes for every year. The bag doesn’t even have any information regarding leaf grading on it.

So hot, it turned out surprisingly drinkable.

On a whim I tried putting some in the fridge for a cold brew last night and I have tasted the result this morning. It’s quite weak in flavour with a smidge of that prickly grassyness that I associate with Darj and don’t much care for. However, in a cold brew it doesn’t seem to bother me as much, probably because the flavour of the tea itself is so very, very delicate.

I wouldn’t say it was like drinking a glass of cold brewed tea really. It doesn’t really taste like something that is easily identified as tea unless you know about it. It’s more like drinking a glass of cold water with just a little bit of flavouring to it to make it interesting to drink. Not very different from how you can make a jug of ice water more intersting and refreshing to drink by tossing in a slice of lemon.

I would just like to point out that I’m not actually around at this point. Well, I’ll probably pop in for a bit here and there, but not properly. I likely won’t be again until in a couple of weeks time when we have returned from our honeymoon.

Only two sleeps now! Best man and his girlfriend have arrived safely from the UK and we have fed them dinner this evening. We had also bought them dessert, but as it had to thaw out and we forgot, they didn’t get any. So we’ve shown them where we live and how to get here so they can get here bright and early on Saturday morning. He will be going with the boyfriend into town while I’m at the hairdressers (we think) and she will be helping me into my dress and then going into town with me.

They brought us two pouches of Whittard of Chelsea as a present, this one and a first flush Darjeeling (which annoyingly doesn’t state the estate on it, so I just put it under a generic Darjeeling already in the system). sigh Well, they weren’t to know that both of these are pretty much non-hits with me. Particularly the Darj, which I’ll try, but it will probably be one mostly for the boyfriend.

Anyway, they just went back to their hotel about twenty-ish minutes ago, so I put the kettle on so we could try one of these new ones before going to bed. The EG was requested, so that’s where we’ll start.

As I was spooning out the leaf I noticed a fair bit of aroma. At that distance from my nose, it was suprisingly sweet and it reminded me rather of that Girlie Grey I had from Jeeves and Jericho some time ago. TeaEqualsBliss, you might remember that one, I believe I shared some of it with you.

This of course made me curious, so I put my nose closer to the bag to get a better idea of it, but then it was just all sharpness and sort of dusty turqoise bergamot. From a distance though, it smells a bit like a citrus-y pudding.

This makes me hopeful.

After steeping, it’s more or less the same thing, although the bergamot is softer and retains that dessert-y touch to it, even when my nose is closer to the cup.

This makes me even more hopeful.

I did oversteep it a bit, but only by a few minutes, so no real harm was done, and it doesn’t seem to be showing up in the flavour. It tastes very creamy and smooth. If I didn’t know better I would think it had a smidge of cream-y flavouring added or perhaps a touch of vanilla. It says nothing of the sort on the box, though.

I actually like the EG! I think it’s because it’s not just like being pelted with bergamots. It’s not so sharp and dusty like they can sometimes get. It has that extra dimension of creamyness which makes it slightly pudding-y. Not very, just ever so slightly.

I’m suspectly, actually, that this may have more to do with the base blend (unfortunately not elaborated on) rather than the flavouring process, because it is indeed very very flavoured. For once it’s just not completely offensive. I feel certain we’ll get through this tin with little trouble.

I am drinking this tea right now. Well, I tried to make ice tea but I think I failed it. very Bitter.

I have only just got this and don’t have a clue how to brew it, but what I can tell you straight away is that it is a hundred time better than my usual jasmine tea. And I really didn’t think it would be.
I am thoroughly impressed

A must try one. I’m from Turkey, one of the country where tea is consumed most. Unfortunate to say that we do not have this kind of flavoured tea varieties in here. I am lucky enough to find out about Whittard, and its spice imperial. About a decade a go, discovered it during my visit to London. It has an amazing taste; a very strong taste as well. Therefore you get the best joy of it when blending it with a regular (not flavoured) black ceylon tea. Don’t use same amounts while blending, whittard s.i. should be added half amount of the other that you’re adding. Enjoy!

The smell reminds me of summer. I do like also the taste, it’s not too flavoured black tea.

A very fruity-tasting, sweet instant tea with a slightly citrus aftertaste. If you don’t have a sweet tooth then you probably won’t be a fan, but I do and am! I wasn’t sure about the idea of ‘instant tea granules’ when I first saw these tubs in Whittard’s, but this mulled wine flavour brought me around to the idea. I could drink it all year round.

Was not a Rooibos partisan before or after this particular blend, but I must say it is the most delightful Rooibos I’ve ever tasted. Blended almost perfectly, the cinnamon and orange blend with the rooibos to produce a unique taste that lingers slightly. Excellent breakfast tea and also useful as a gateway to new converts to loose-leaf (a big crusade of mine..)

It’s a bright and warm day in Leicester today so I coaxed my husband into helping me do some spring cleaning. Only going to manage downstairs today but it will be a good start, sort my house out for when it gets looked after at the end of the month before I go on holiday to Brighton.

I forgot all about this tea until I pulled it out of the back of my cupboard this morning along with my last tin of baked beans (which was used for breakfast). A delicious pineapple and coconut instant tea drink that can be brewed hot or cold as it’s an instant mix. Very delicious and non time consuming in a pinch.

This is an instant tea that requires 3 spoons per mug that slowly dissolve’s. It can also be used with hot or cold water. I am trying it with boiling water.

Smell is pleasant and strong with sweet pineapple and coconut aroma’s that make me close my eyes and pretend I am on a beach somewhere far, far away.

Colour is brown with honeyed tones.

The taste is unbelievable (in a good way). Pina Colada is the perfect name as that is truly what it tastes like. Refreshing and full on flavour with sweet goodness. Not something I could drink all the time but it makes a nice change. It also leaves a pleasant after taste. Who would have thought a fruit cocktail tea medley would be so nice?

In one word? YUMMY!

I bought a box of the bagged version of this tea (50 teabags) last year- before discovering I hated it. I would not recommend drinking it black – although, I may be biased, preferring most black teas with milk – it just tastes bitter and a bit nasty to me without (perhaps my fault?). I can’t really distinguish any of the individual flavours – just a vague hint of mixed spices. Saying that, it is still pleasant to drink, if I manage to offset the bitterness with a huge amount of milk.

The dry leaf smells a bit sour, but smooth and creamy. The first thing I taste is the tea base. It’s just slightly smooth and a little bit astringent. The rhubarb comes out at the end of the sip as a tart bite. The cream is more present in the scent than in the taste. I am enjoying this cup, but I think that I like the idea and the scent more than the actual taste. I’m expecting more flavor than tea base… but maybe that’s just me. Thank you to maisonlula for a sample of this tea!