Buckingham Palace Tea

This one had some smaller pieces that looked like they could get bitter quick so I was very cautious with the steep, removing the leaves at about 2 minutes. This is another outdated sample from LiberTeas that I should have drank sooner but it still holds fairly true on smell. Steeped aroma is bold black tea (very Assam!) with an afterthought of bergamot that comes through to me as a bit of fruit loops. Now, assams are not my favourite and neither are earl greys but I have discovered I apparently have a fondness for jasmine so I’m very intrigued by this blend.

With my brave face on, I delve into the first sips. Bold but then tempered by a flowery sweetness – that must be the jasmine. The sip morphs back into a bit of astringency at the end that prompts me to keep sipping. I’m not picking up on any bergamot and I think this is one that must be drank quickly so I’ll just sit here and do that, I think.

Nice blend, but not remarkable for me. Could be the age or could be the ingredients, either way it was lovely to try a new tea! I have enough left for another 2 or 3 cups, I might give it to the beau for iced tea as he likes that sort of thing. Actually, I might give it to his work as they are all into tea now. I love sharing the tea love!!

This is a great tea. I love the jasmine + Earl Grey notes. The Assam is a bold note. Great with breakfast (I’m having some Sin Dawg: http://www.daveskillerbread.com/sindawg.shtml – so very yummy!)

The tea is smooth, slightly sweet, a little bitter, malty, rich and very interesting. My taste buds are kept interested as I sip with all these different tastes going on.

This tea is added to my cupboard courtesy of DOULTON! Hooray for another great tea!

Today’s tea party included freshly baked bread with butter, honey, jam, or apple butter, a cheese platter, and cookies. This was the first tea we tried today.

The dry tea is lovely with the delicate flower petals mixed in. The aroma of the dry leaves is floral/citrus.

The steeped tea really smells like wonderful jasmine. My first jasmine tea was from Southern Season and was not very good. I really can’t drink it! But this is delicious! I am sure this is exactly how jasmine is meant to be! Jasmine is the primary flavoring note I get, followed quickly by a deeper rosy note, warm and sweet. The tea is a tiny bit astringent and gets more so as it cools, so I would drink this quickly or add milk if I would be taking a while to drink it. I didn’t realize there was green tea in this until after it was made. Knowing that, I would change my parameters next time. We used boiling water and the longest recommended steep. I think I wll back off the water temp and steep time a little and see if that takes a bit of the dryness out. We used no sugar. The jasmine was delightfully sweet as it was.

Everyone loved this, and I know I am delighted with it! Thank you, Doulton!

This has always been one of my favorites. Currently I am drinking it iced and the flavors really shine in the cold – I do the cold brew in the fridge method. Used about 7 teaspoons for 1 1/2 quarts, about 7 hours. Really good, refreshing stuff!

This is a favorite breakfast tea in our house. It’s a nice robust cup with the flavors of Earl Grey and Jasmine. It has Assam maltiness. I would call this a complex tea, that changes flavor somewhat as it cools. We drink it black with sugar. Not so great iced, it gets a bit cloudy. I have reheated the cooled tea and it’s surprisingly good, it seems to hold its original flavor fairly well.

I thought I would enjoy this tea, as I enjoy jasmine and earl grey, but it was not to be. The initial aroma of the dry leaves is mostly of bergmot. Upon steeping however (4 minutes at boiling) the jasmine rears its head and dominates completely. This is exactly like drinking perfume, and not in a good way (I do like floral and scented perfumes, so I was surprised at my reaction!) I would have liked a tea that was more about the bergmot, as promised by the dry leaves, but the jasmine is too much here. I’m willing to try again iced, as I usually prefer jasmine on ice, but I’m not too hopeful. I also think that a shorter infusion might be a good idea – following the package instructions nets a really strong brew!

This is a solid, bold, strong, good tea. I still like SeredipiTEA’s version a little better but this is still a goodie!