Fortmason

Just had the pleasure this afternoon of being treated to afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason, to top off a touristy day since it’s not often my relatives visit from France :) This is the one I picked after much deliberation (the staff confirmed that the tea is served with the leaves still in the pot, so a green tea or anything more delicate was out of the question. Pity! I wanted to try a green single estate tea…) -As it was an afternoon tea after all, I thought a black tea would be best.

And how lovely it was! A fresh but rich orange blossom scent that came through with the smooth China tea, and the more robust flavours of the Indian tea really hung in the mouth along with the perfume of the orange. It was a good balance of fruit and floral flavours since I find orange blossom often leans too heavily one way or another. I had planned to drink the first cup black and then add milk, but it was so delicious I asked for some lemon slices and continued to drink through my pot black with a squeeze of lemon. Absolutely perfect addition to the meal.

I do not recognize nearly as many flavors as some of you on here. I grew on on very simple fare and was not an adventurous eater.

Some time ago I bought a moisturizer with neroli in it, and I thought it smelled strange but it grew on me. Then White Antlers sent me a neroli spray. I was hooked on the scent at that point.

Eventually I saw a recipe for orange blossom lemonade, made it, and fell in love. I buy my orange blossom water from The Spice House. I love the bitter floral taste.

Then I tried a tea from Lupicia that was supposed to have neroli and I couldn’t taste any at all. I love Lupicia, and other people reviewing the tea (Mimosa) said it was bitter floral and many of them disliked that, but I just couldn’t taste it. I decided that maybe orange blossom just didn’t come through the same in tea.

Browsing the Fortnum & Mason site I saw this blend – a base of Chinese and Indian black tea with orange blossom. It was pretty inexpensive for a big tin, so I added it to an order I was making for Christmas.

Oh my goodness. They got the orange blossom! The base is smooth enough that Ashman likes it without milk and sugar. It appeals to my love of Chinese black tea. And the orange blossom is so strong! The flavor of it lingers and lingers. I am one happy camper.

I served it to Superanna (who doesn’t love black tea) last night and she liked it a lot, and to her Irish husband who loves black tea and bitter/floral flavor and he also enjoyed it very much.

It is a winner.

A good floral black tea that goes really well with milk. I am an earl grey with milk drinker but sometimes find the citrus notes too much. Fortmason has a hint of floral/ citrus that provides a bright tasting strong cup of tea.

This was more floral than I expected, but still pleasant – it mingled in really nicely with the orange.

If I could find a lotion or a scented candle in this scent, I’d be a happy lady. Thanks, Sil for sending me a bag of this to try!

This is really, really floral. Jasmine, maybe? I was expecting a plain tea, as the name really doesn’t give anything away.

It’s not bad, but I don’t think I’d want more. The flowers almost give it a bitter tinge, although I only steeped 3 minutes at 195F.

Thanks for the sample, MissB, but this is one I don’t care for! :(

This has a nice floral aroma, and a good blend of black tea. I oversteeped it and it can get a little too bitter.

Sipdown (108)!

Many thanks to MissB for the sample! I think I only have one more tea left to try now from the stuff you sent my way? I know that was a while ago but I feel pretty accomplished for making it through all of those sipdowns.

So this review is for the bagged version of this one; and dry it doesn’t smell like a lot. I don’t really know why but my first thought was “Fresh Linens” and then just simply “Fresh” when smelling, even though I couldn’t really identify anything in particular flavour wise.

Steeped up there’s something REALLY appealing about the smell; it’s just a tiny bit fruity and really, really floral. I know this is supposed to be orange/orange blossoms so I’m not really ‘surprised’ per say, but it’s a lot better than I expected. I really hope the steeped smell carries over into the taste! Also, I should point out that orange blossoms are actually my favourite flower and have been since I was in highschool and had to read the screenplay for Federico Garcia Lorca’s play ‘The Blood Wedding’. However, despite that, I’ve never actually seen one in person let alone smelled one so I don’t have a lot of familiarity (or really any) with how they should taste.

I actually didn’t like the first few sips of this; it seemed a little harsh and perfumey. However, once it cooled down a little bit the flavours seemed to calm down as well and I got really into this one! I don’t taste anything actually like orange and I don’t know if I should be – do orange blossoms actually smell like oranges? I wouldn’t think so. The description for this one is kind of unclear as well: it says “scented with orange” do they mean the fruit or the flower?

What I do taste is this really aromatic and fresh floral note that reminds me of rose, but not rose. I want to describe it as a combination of my Grandma’s perfume and roses on steroids – in a good way on both fronts! It’s making me feel like, ugh, I don’t know quite how to phrase it? The simile that springs to my mind is “Innocent young adult discovering her first love through a summer romance”. It’s like Nicholas Sparks version of tea! I’m totally in love with this blend! I need more!

If anyone has the loose version I’d be really, really interested in trying it! I can only imagine it’d be even better than this!

What a strange experience. While this steeped up, my nose kept telling me this was a bergamot infested tea. Uh oh. I did not want to end up going home early from work because I had some berg! (my allergy, makes me super queasy)
Anyhow, I looked up the ingredients and found that there was indeed no evil berg in the blend, but nevertheless every sip I took, my body protested. I suppose the scent was similar enough, being a citrus mixed with floral, that it set off my body’s natural defense mechanisms.
The funny part is that I didn’t hate the tea. It was… ok?! Sure, I wouldn’t go for something so floral on a regular basis but with a bit of milk to cut the floral, I could go for a cuppa every now and then.
It was a rather unique blend of floral and fresh orange zest that I’ve never encountered elsewhere.
Plus, this is what I imagine the infamous EG actually tastes like (hey it’s likely the closest I’ll ever get to knowing haha)
Thanks for sharing MissB!!

I think I’m going nuts because in my mind the smell of this tea was a mouth watering cherry/orange liqueur type smell. However, there is no cherry in this blend so I have no clue where that came from. What I do know? This is certainly a floral black and oftentimes I find floral teas tend to have a dryness to them that’s just not for me. Still, I could continue to smell this all day so I am happy for the chance to have tried it. Once again, thank you MissB for the share!!

Review is for the bagged version, courtesy of MissB.

Another tea where I’m not sure of the ingredients, but I feel like this is a flower-scented black. Not entirely sure what the flowers are; maybe a bit of jasmine, perhaps rose… Mostly I think it’s a mixture. A bouquet. Haha. It’s also very strong, considering my 2 minute infusion, 8 oz. water. Not overly fond of it – too floral for me. Rating 58.