Oh, I am loving this tea. I grew up on bagged orange pekoe, as most of us did, Lipton was my mother’s brand of choice. However, we didn’t drink much hot tea, Lipton was reserved for the summer and sun tea. Sun tea, for those who don’t know, is when you put several bags of tea in a clear pitcher with a tight-fitting top and set it outside to brew in the sun for a few hours. A lot of my summer memories involve mom’s sun tea and how she never let me add sugar to it.
When I moved to Canada, one of the first things my mother-in-law and I bonded with was an after-dinner cup of tea, where she and I (and sometimes other family members) would sit and just chat about everything and nothing. She’s a Red Rose fan and though I do enjoy looseleaf teas much more now, whenever we’re at her house for dinner, I always say yes to that after-dinner cup of Red Rose.
When drinking bagged orange pekoe hot, I have to add copious amounts of sugar and cream, yes, cream. This has the sweetness and touch of creaminess I was looking for in the bags I used to drink. I added 1 tsp of sugar, as is my habit, but next time I might try less. I only let my black teas steep for 2 minutes, and that worked well for this tea.
Long, long story short, this is the best orange pekoe I’ve ever had and definitely one I plan to keep in stock and use year ’round.
