Fortnum & Mason

This is one of the Fortnum blends I was most excited about and it did not let me down.

I am not a big Earl Grey fan. Bergamot on Ceylon is too, too sour for me. Bergamot on Keemun is very nice. Even bergamot with white tea is better than most standard Earl Grey to my tastes.

I have had Smoky Earl Grey before and liked it. It was the Earl or Harlem from the Ambessa line by Harney and Sons. I guessed this one would be good, too, and it is.

I like lapsang and I like it strong, so this was right up my alley. I felt it was only medium smoke though I see from reviews that some folks disagree and that’s okay. The bergamot is second player here and that suits me.

There are three tins of Earl Grey Classic in the advent and I wondered what on earth I was going to do with them. (Neither Ashman nor tea party guest like bergamot.) This has inspired me. I think I will try mixing it with my Russian Caravan. Of course, I will try it plain first!

EDIT TO CORRECT: If one puts one’s glasses on, there are NOT three tins of Earl Grey Classic in the advent. There is only one. Another has the word “green” in teeny tiny letters and the remaining tin that I mistook for a plain Earl was actually Victoria Earl.

Sipdown

December Sipdown Challenge Prompt – A tea you don’t drink in summer

I don’t drink this in summer because it is always already gone, as I only get it in the advent! Otherwise, I think I drink everything in summer!

First Advent sipdown from the Fortnum calendar! Make a carafe of iced tea for Ashman to take to work.

Fortnum & Mason Advent Day 3

This is one of my least favorite Fortnum black tea blends. The first sips with breakfast were pretty good, but pretty standard black tea. Even cooling a little, it began to get a little bitter. I should have added milk and sugar or honey. I made a resteep and it was better.

Someone in another note mentioned that this blend was made for King Edward iirc, amd perhaps his tastebuds were dulled because he was a smoker. Seems like it could be the reason this was his sort of thing, but it isn’t mine. If I took milk and sugar it would be fine but there are lots of teas out there I enjoy more.

Fortnum & Mason Sachet Advent

I bought the sachet advent knowing that some of the teas would be the same as the ones I had last year in the advent with tins, which we also purchased the refill for this year. Buying the refills meant that you know which teas are when – no surprises – but you can choose to put them in the calendar in the order they were in the box or move them around a bit, which is what I did. Even last year, not everyone’s teas were in the same order, but they were close,

The first sachet is one I have had. It isn’t terrible but I would not buy it if I saw it in a store. My first thought on sipping it this morning was, “King Edward wasn’t very picky.”

More charitably, I will say it is an unspectacular British style breakfast tea, not as strong as a builder’s tea, but not very fancy. Decent Assam and Ceylon. It has a bit of a metallic taste and is easily drinkable without milk and sugar. It could also easily accommodate those if you like your tea that way. This is definitely a daily drinker to me and not very Royal.

FORTNUM & MASON ADVENT DAY 18

Well, well, a returning tea! I had this on day 4! If a tea must be duplicated in the advent, I wish it was most any but this. Like Smoky Earl Grey, come on, people, that would have been so much better!

I don’t hate it, but it is a standard breakfast blend that really tastes better with milk and sugar. I will probably make iced tea with the rest.

Fortnum and Mason Advent Day 4

I knew this was for sure a milk and sugar tea for Ashman, so I served it at lunch with a hearty sandwich. It is supposed to hit 75 again today, but it has been cloudy this morning so I thought he would enjoy a ham and cheese toastie with tomatoes. Fresh garden tomatoes, by the way. How weird is that?

We usually have all our tomato plants out by early November but this year they kept putting on fruit but it wasn’t ripening. I finally brought in the green tomatoes and ripened them in a bowl wrapped in newspaper. Today, Ashman discovered a whole new bevy of tomatoes as he was cleaning the turtle pen, so the counter is covered in green tomatoes again.

Moving on to the tea, this is low grown Ceylon (yes!) and Assam (okay). Not bad, but not really what I love most. Ashman liked it fine with milk and sugar. I had it plain with a lemon biscotti to dip in it since I wasn’t very hungry. I don’t hate it but I would never buy it on purpose. Lovers of British style blends will like it.

My first reaction was nope but as I sip it isn’t so bad. It is lovely if you love standard Assam and probably really good if you drink English style tea with milk and sugar. I try to have my tea plain always.

Compared to Queen Anne, this is heavier on the Assam and more tannic. Compared to Breakfast Blend – gosh, it seems really similar but maybe is a little stronger? My tongue is orange. It’s one of those.

A hint of smoke or toast (that could be the incense that just wafted into my face), a touch of bitterness, a little metallic but not much. So a pretty typical breakfast blend with Assam and nothing to write home about. It is okay, but I wouldn’t re-purchase.

Queen Anne wins so far in the unflavored Fortnum blends catagory.

Sipdown

Finishing as a cold steep for Ashman, who is finding that this is how he prefers his strong black teas.

Fortnum & Mason Advent Day 18

This is strong and brisk, a bit coppery. Added milk but no sugar and it was fine but this isn’t a tea I would purchase normally.

January Sipdown Prompt -a malty tea

And it is an actual sipdown! I have finished seven tins of the Fortnum advent now.

This is a true breakfast tea in the English style that is intended for milk and sugar, which I do not usually add. I didn’t today, either. As long as I have food with my tea I generally don’t need it and if any tea is left in the pot after the meal, it is usually a small enough amount that I can drink it without adding anything to smooth it.

This one is strong, so I only steeped for three and a half minutes. It is malty and a little brisk, and the end of the sip and the aftertaste is tart cherry.

Advent sipdown #16

It doesn’t look like I will meet my goal of finishing the advent teas by the end of January but it will be very close! The Christmas green will be become sweet iced tea later today, but the Earl Grey will probably have to be drunk on my own because Ashman isn’t usually a fan.

This one is still too strong for me to drink without either food or milk and sugar. We had our third weekend in a row of “winter event” that caused Ashman to have to work by night and day. (He is currently asleep on the floor in the bay window with Sam the King of Dogs, having put in 130 hours in two weeks.)

I welcomed him home this morning with blueberry Belgian waffles (frozen not homemade) topped with homemade blueberry syrup and whipped cream. Bacon on the side. The tea was very good with it because it was such a sweet meal and the whipped cream no doubt mitigated it. I thought it was fine.

Shortly after eating I poured the last cup of tea and tried to drink it by itself and the horrendous trademark throat and tummy burn started. Poured out the last few ounces. Sad.

It is probably a good tea but there are so many breakfast teas that do this to me, usually teas from India. I shouldn’t even try to have them without milk. Ashman drank his with milk and sugar and liked it just fine. I bet builder’s tea lovers would dig it!

Reposting this from mobile to see if our computer is the problem or Steepster…

Advent sipdown #16

It doesn’t look like I will meet my goal of finishing the advent teas by the end of January but it will be very close! The Christmas green will become sweet iced tea later today, but the Earl Grey will probably have to be drunk on my own because Ashman isn’t usually a fan.

This one is still too strong for me to drink without either food or milk and sugar. We had our third weekend in a row of “winter event” that caused Ashman to have to work by night and day. (He is currently asleep on the floor in the bay window with Sam the King of Dogs, having put in 130 hours in two weeks.)

I welcomed him home this morning with blueberry Belgian waffles (frozen not homemade) topped with homemade blueberry syrup and whipped cream. Bacon on the side. The tea was very good with it because it was such a sweet meal and the whipped cream no doubt mitigated it. I thought it was fine.

Shortly after eating I poured the last cup of tea and tried to drink it by itself and the horrendous trademark throat and tummy burn started. Poured out the last few ounces. Sad.

It is probably a good tea but there are so many breakfast teas that do this to me, usually teas from India. I shouldn’t even try to have them without milk. Ashman drank his with milk and sugar and liked it just fine. I bet builder’s tea lovers would dig it!

Advent Day One

I am not a fan of many breakfast blends. I drink my tea plain but with this one I can’t. I really needed sugar and milk to make it palatable for me.

Coffee lovers and lovers of British style breakfast blends will probably like it. It is so malty and has the sharp coppery taste plus astringency that keep me from really enjoying it.
It steeps dark and it steeps fast. Maybe I can find a happy spot to make me like it, or something else to blend it with, or maybe it will become a sweet iced tea, but I can’t see this 25 grams going down this way.

It was a week ago that we tried this one so I may not remember it as well as I would like, but I want to add a note on Queen Anne and wanted to have the comparison easy to view again later.

I was hoping this would be one of that select group of black teas that Ashman likes without milk and sugar. It was not, and I knew it would not be as soon as I smelled it. I was so sure, in fact, that I put milk, sugar, and whipped cream on the table at his right hand. I figured he could tolerate it like a Friesian blend if nothing else.

I drank it plain, and found it to be a not so special breakfast blend, but probably pleasing enough to anyone who likes standard milk and sugar breakfast teas. It was a little bitter and tannic, but it wasn’t awful.

Ashman sipped, winced, and added all the things. He said it was decent with additions, but not a favorite. Keep in mind that there are only about two black teas he likes plain and even my beloved Queen Catherine is one I drink alone.

I was not too worried about the fact that I have a whole bunch of Fortnum teas to go, because I love their Rose Pouchong so I knew it wasn’t going to be a store-wide dislike of their teas.

Sipdown

I thought this might be in the running as a replacement tea for my daughter who loved only London Cuppa, but she found it to be just okay and prefers a couple of other teas we have tried. Still nothing has caused her eyes to light up but several have been drinkable to her.

I really like this one. It has that rich TEA smell that grabs you at breakfast time, but doesn’t have to be tamed with milk and sugar, although it does take additions well. It resteeps for a combo pot pretty well, too.

Yesterday I got a package from derk with plum jelly that she made herself with her very own hands and I was totally stoked! I got up and made fresh biscuits and instant (expired- it’s fine) bacon while my daughter made eggs and we had a nice brekkie together. The jelly was soooo good. There was tea in the package, also, but I had promised daughter we would have Queen Anne together before I knew about the tea, and besides, I am saving it to drink with my bestie when she comes as she doesn’t drink black tea anymore! So….perfect!

Thank you, derk! I love it!

Fortnum & Mason Advent Day 20

I was glad to see this one today, because a few of the F&M black tea blends are not to my liking and I have to add milk to a couple of them to e joy them at all. This is one that I know I like well enough plain, even if it isn’t knock-your-socks-off great.

As their black tea blends go, it is not too astringent nor a punch in the face, but a good strength for morning or afternoon. Tastes fine with food and not bad on its own. I wouldn’t buy a whole tin but I don’t have a problem with finishing this 25 grams.

Sipdown!

Icky rainy day. Chicken soup and tea, steeped extra strong, for lunch because the blah outside is making the house feel chilly inside. Finished the tea with a bit of German chocolate as a treat before my next students arrive.

This is one of my preferred teas in the tins advent. It is just a good daily drinker and a typical tea, easy to drink with no additions and nicely balanced. Even slightly overleafed as I made it today, it was pleasant.

SIPDOWN!

I was beginning to despair of having the advent finished by end of January but there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

This was the most easy to drink of the plain black tea blends, enjoyable but not earth shattering, reliable, good with no additions, but no replacement for my dear Queen Catherine. Mild and innocuous. Not too sour, not too brisk, not too malty, just a nice, drinkable breakfast or afternoon tea.

Fortnum and Mason Advent Day 6

I skipped breakfast today and puttered around before making an early lunch. We had a severe fog warning and even though it is to be quite warm later today, the whole world felt damp and cold.

I made one of my comfort food lunches from childhood, a bowl of chicken soup and a lettuce sandwich – crisp iceberg on bread with mayo and salt. Not overly nutritious, I know. But comfort nevertheless.

And the advent tea is one I tried before and loved! Today I took stock of why I like it when many blends contain these same ingredients and get a thumbs down from me.

The Ceylon is warm and coppery, more like low to mid-elevation grown Ceylon than the minty/lemony sour (to me) high grown stuff. I know Lover’s Leap and Uva Highlands are popular but they just don’t do it for me.

The Assam is malty and bready but doesn’t assault your tastebuds. I drink my tea plain so I like for it to be pretty well-behaved.

Sipping it, this has a rounder, smoother body and a thicker mouthfeel than the other black tea blends I have tried from the advent so far. I also got a wisp of sweet potato and maybe a touch of honey flavor.

As far as ease of drinking goes, but not in terms of flavor, this reminds me of Queen Catherine from Harney and Sons. It is a solid cup of black tea. It doesn’t have as much oomph as Catherine, and lacks the hint of natural smoke the Keemun carries. Catherine is much, much cheaper, though, but there is a place on shelf for this and I can tell Ashman would prefer this one of the two. He thinks Catherine is really strong and adds milk and sugar.

Since I had enough tea left after lunch for one more cup, I had to have a couple of slices of a Terry’s Chocolate Orange to finish it off, so I can say that Queen Anne pairs well with meals and sweets. :)

Ah, now THAT’S more like it. After Breakfast Blend being a bit disappointing for me (so tannic!) and Ashman only liking it with milk and sugar, I hoped this one would be more to my liking. And it is!

I didn’t look it up before making it but there was no mistaking the scent of Ceylon tea when I opened the tin. I gathered it had Assam as well and steeped accordingly. I am having the loose leaf version.

Bright, medium strong, very smooth, slightly drying but not sour, oaky, a little malty. I do not need any additions at all to enjoy this but I can guess that Ashman would prefer it with milk and sugar. Will update if he ever drinks this one.

I will enjoy this one! It is just the right strength for me at breakfast. Next up – Royal Blend.

Sipdown

This is a favorite from Fortnum & Mason. I have never bought a tin on its own but look forward to the 25 grams in the advent. It is simple and is exactly what it says, but the strawberry flavor is on a Chinese base (Keemun) which is so much smoother.

It resteeps well so we get several big pots of tea from the little tin. It is not finicky and has never been too harsh but maybe I have been attentive enough with it. We drink it plain but it can take milk and sugar if you like. Great with breakfast, on its own, or with a snack .

Fortnum & Mason Advent Day 12

This is a favorite from the F&M advent. I love that they use Chinese tea for the base because it always seems to agree with my stomach, whereas teas from India sometimes seem to rile it up.

The strawberry is not super powerful in this tea, but it is definitely strong enough. I look forward to this one, even though it doesn’t beat Carol by Lupicia.

Fortnum & Mason Advent Day 18 (tins)

Strawberry is a favorite for Ashman in tea and I love it, too. This one is good, if one dimensional. Great with breakfast. It is a solid and smooth, easy to drink black tea base that truly needs no milk or sugar, even for Ashman. The strawberry is there but doesn’t dominate. It will never replace Carol or Yume or Frasier, but it is good!