Grinnyguy

This is not your average Ceylon. I’ve got an average Ceylon, and it’s nice, but it doesn’t blow me away with interesting flavours.

This, on the other hand, is so full of flavour that it’s hard to believe it is a Ceylon. As the description says, it’s got a slightly chocolaty hint to it, but it’s more that it just smells warm and inviting and cosy. Sniffing it is like sniffing a fruity red wine, and the colour is deep orange.

The flavour is just as good. The astringency comes through a little more, and it’s probably best with a spot of milk. I thought I was an Assam man for strong black tea, but this might just change my mind.

I’ve had a good sample through the Canton Tea Company’s tea club, and saved the last cupsworth (if that’s not a word yet then it should be) for the right moment. Well, I’m sitting in the conservatory with the rain pattering on the roof, with the cat on my knee, and this is the right moment. Yum

This should have been my perfect tea. A first flush darjeeling with a twist of Earl Grey. But somehow it just doesn’t quite work, and it was a bit of a disappointment. Maybe I was building it up high in my anticipation, to a level where it could not match.
The bergamot has a very suspicious role in this tea. It sits there, dominating in its uncompromising way, as if it’s trying to hide something. Of course, in a first flush darjeeling, there is nothing to hide, but the bergamot is too strong for it, and the special-ness of the darjeeling is not allowed the space to impress the taste buds.
It’s not horrible, but I’d rather just have a Darjeeling and an Earl Grey separately and not on top of each other.

I’ve started drinking 2/3 this, and one third Assam Tonganagoan (the spelling of that place is beyond me I’m afraid).
It’s a pretty nice combination, with the strength of the Ugandan tea balanced with the smoothness of the Assam.

This has pretty much broken the record for being used up in my cupboard. Looking at.other reviews, there is a really mixed bag and some people are quite negative in their thoughts. But I think this is among the Earl Grey purists only. I haven’t come across anyone who dislikes this tea, and I’ve given it to at least half a dozen people.

I am so impressed by this tea. It tastes just like actual dandelion and.burdock, only not fizzy. I’m not saying that it is delicious, because it’s not, but it’s about as good as you could.hope for, from an adaptation of a sweet fizzy drink.

I’ve been experimenting at work by getting people to guess what the smell is. Most people have guessed aniseed but I think that’s just the Burdock coming through. It’s sweet-ish but not sugary, so works ok.

I couldn’t get into this tea really. It’s a bit grassy, but it doesn’t have a whole lot of flavour. I suppose it is comparable to supermarket bought frozen vegetables, I don’t dislike it, but it’s a bit bland and doesn’t have enough flavour to get me excited

I was in Australia when I came across this tea. It was available to taste in the shop we visited. I really hadn’t intended on bringing any tea back with me, but I couldn’t resist, especially with my girlfriend egging me on!

As many of the other reviewers have said, this is quite a long way from a ‘normal’ Earl Grey. I still think it’s a legitimate Earl Grey, because the Bergamot isn’t lost in the flavour, but it’s less of a case of Bergamot vs tea, and more of an overall balance between a whole range of flavours. In fact, when I drink it, I don’t distinguish the flavours, in the same way as I wouldn’t focus on the individual ingredients when eating a Bolognese or a stew.

I’m not at all a fan of flowery tea, but this really works!! I’m also not used to having more than one Earl Grey in my cupboard at once, but since the other has a really tangy Bergamot flavour and this is more rounded.

You feel very refined drinking this tea, and it wouldn’t be out of place in a posh restaurant.

Highly recommended

Pretty good, and the best thing about it is that you can get about three steeps out of it before the flavour starts reducing. Like most oolongs, I find that the first half cup isn’t that great, but then my taste buds adjust and I love it. Really good oolong!

This is an excellent tea bag. It’s strong like a Kenyan should be, and a little bitter so it needs milk certainly. Once it has milk in it, it reminds me a bit of good quality chocolate. It still has that bitterness, but that’s a good thing in a smooth, comforting drink like this. If it was a note, it would be a low note, but not a rumble of thunder, more like a tuba.

I’m not convinced that any of these analogies make sense to anyone else, but they work for me!

I can’t believe it took until now to talk about this tea. It’s well balanced and sweet, without taking over from the tea. One of my favourites, but sadly it’s just run out (boohoo)

I’ve just had long boring day, topped off by replacing a punctured tyre in a rain storm.

This tea was my antidote, and to my relief, it’s just what the doctor ordered. It’s got a nice smooth soothing flavour, but not overpowering and with something interesting and subtle about it (if I was a proper sommelier I’d find some taste or smell to compare it to, but I’m not in the mood).

Highly recommended nice and hot with a spot of milk to make it even smoother.

Delicious, one of the best green teas I have ever had. Easily brews three times with no issues and still tastes great. When I get it right, it’s lovely and smooth, with a nice strong flavour.

Successfully gave it to my girlfriend, who luckily likes it more than I do!!

I was given this tea by my sister’s boyfriend, who visited Nepal recently. This is lovely, fairly similar to my Sikkim Temi. Very moreish

My tea timer on my phone told me to make this using 70degC water and to steep for 2 mins. I usually use slightly hotter water and am careful with the timings because any more than a minute makes it horribly bitter.

It was a bit of a pain to get water at 70degC and I ended up mixing together hot and cold water to get the right temperature, but I followed the instructions precisely, even heating the mug (I made it with a tea ball) to make sure it was right.

The result was a better cup of sencha than I have had for a long time, a fuller taste without being bitter.

I’m learning….

It’s not a tea that I can get used to. That’s not to say that I don’t like it, it’s just not what I expect from a tea!

This has a very sweet smell, sickly and sweet. Luckily it doesn’t taste so sweet, although it is sweet compared to most teas.

In the taste, the ceylon tea balances out the sweetness of the maple, and they are probably in about the right balance. But somehow the two flavours don’t quite mesh together.

I have enjoyed it, but I can’t say that it stands out as being my favourite tea – just as being a bit interesting and a bit different. Worth a try, but do like I did, and get a pack of a dozen bags, not a hundred!

It’s been in my cupboard for a long time and I’m glad to see an empty tin so I can put some bagged tea into a nice clean tin and clear some space.
It’s not that I didn’t like, but I’ve never really found that flowering teas are my favourites, and the same is true of this one. It’s pleasant, and the flower taste goes nicely with the tea, I just rather that they didn’t bother mixing them. Hmm…

A good solid darjeeling. I need to look up how much these cost, because it’s a pretty nice no-nonsense tea.
I find with some Darjeeling that it is too bitter without milk and yet so weak that the flavour gets drowned by any milk you add. This tea seems to get a compromise so that it works with OR without milk, amazing!

It’s actually an excellent Earl Grey, especially considering it comes out of an ordinary-looking teabag. I’ve had it sat around for a few weeks because I wasn’t expecting much from it.
It’s a nice fruity Early Grey, without the tendency of some Earl Greys to have a hint of dishwater in the flavour. If anything, the bergamot flavour dominates a little too much, but I don’t mind that when it’s fruity like this. It’s quite warming and gives you a cosy feeling inside

Nice solid black tea, good with milk

It’s all finished before I wrote a review, but I can say it is absolutely delicious. As the product description says, it’s more mellow than some ginger tea, but it has a bit of a bite to it anyway. It’s one of the best flavoured tea I have had in a long time and I will be getting some more one day. It’s one of my favourites, one of my girlfriend’s favourites, and one of my housemate’s favourites too – it must be doing something right!
Tastes like proper fruit rather than pretend stuff, tastes like ginger, and still tastes like black tea. Balance – that’s the word for it.
Recommended

Will at Iford manor teas sent me a sample of this tea when I ordered some other teas. It’s a beatuifully fresh-tasting clean oolong. It’s not a very very powerful one, but it’s good enough to taste just as good on the second brew. It has the sweetness of a first flush darjeeling but just the faintest smokiness of an oolong to remind you what you’re drinking. An excellent tea.

I had a tea party for my birthday with some incredible cakes and of course a selection of teas. I wanted to get a few more people enthusiastic about tea. I can recommend it, it was a wonderful afternoon. Of course there were people who asked what my favourite tea was, so I showed them this to give them the idea. It’s an excellent tea – probably not the best First Flush Darjeeling there is, but it’s delicious and much cheaper than some of the other ones you can get

It’s taken me three or four tries to get this tea right, something which I probably should have expected as it’s quite cheap on the scale of First Flush Darjeelings. Now I’ve got it right, though, it’s absolutely delicious and I know exactly why I tell people that First Flush Darjeelings are my favourite type of tea. So sweet and gentle, I just love drinking it.

For the record, the trick is to use slightly more leaves than usual, use water at 85degC and steep for 1.5 mins or thereabouts.