Betjeman and Barton

This is one of my favourite Betjeman and Barton teas. It reminds me of a green version of Coquelicot Gourmand, but it’s less sweet and lighter – and green, obviously (or not so obviously, if you haven’t had Coquelicot Gourmand. Which you maybe should, because it’s lovely). It smells absolutely scrumptious – I sometimes open the tea jar just to sniff at it for a while. Its flavour is more subtle, but still lovely. I usually go for citrus-y or flowery flavours with green tea. This one is on the sweet side of things, which I think may be harder to pull of well with greens, but it works like a charm.

When I first made this tea, I couldn’t taste the chestnuts at all… I can’t say I have the most refined tea palate, but still. Then I got a cold one time and decided to have this as my ‘get better’ tea, with some honey, and suddenly the chestnut was there! Doesn’t work the same way at all if I just add sugar. So I love this with a bit of honey. Not too much, though, otherwise it overpowers the tea flavour.

This has a nicely round feel. Definitely raspberry but with a sweetness as opposed to the sourness I’ve usually encountered in raspberry teas. Overall this was a nice cup and I can see where it would be good iced. Thanks for sharing, Ysaurella!

I am possibly the WORST person ever right now. I’m super backlogged on notes, half the stuff I’ve sipped down I never wrote notes on (but enjoyed very much), and what I do have I’ve lost the page I wrote down who gave me what to try, and UGH! Life. It hates me right now! I think this came from Fjellrev ?

Anyways, this is my first B and B tea as far as I can recall. Sorry if anyone has sent me others, I either still have them hidden in my “to try” box, or I had them and failed to write a note. As I said, I currently suck super bad right now.

I’m currently in full-blown breakdown mode, smack dab in the middle of the worst anxiety/depression bout I’ve had in YEARS. It’s to the point where I’m so stuck in my own head and all these really intense feelings and such that I haven’t been able to get out enough to walk from one side of my room to choose a tea, to the other side to make a cuppa.

I was finally convinced (well, threatened-with-violence-if-I-didn’t-finally-make-a-cuppa) to make a cup, and blindly grabbed this one. Not sure what to expect, but it smelled lovely in the baggie – crisp and sweet.

Steeped, the liquor is a pale green, and smells almost creamy. I want to compare it to honeysuckle, but that’s not quite right. Close though.

It tastes almost like it smells. There’s a crisp freshness, without being overly grassy or vegetal, combined with a sweet fruitiness that I can’t really pinpoint. It’s really lovely, nice and light, a bit like a sunny romp through a grassy field, all in a teacup.

I’m glad I have plenty left to enjoy later, when I’m a bit less, umm, emotional? because I can see this being a tea I’d like to keep on hand. It was definitely a glimmer of sunshine at the end of an absolutely horrificaly stormy day, so thank you Fjellrev for the generous sample!

Iced this becomes much more fruity and much less caramel. An apple green is essentially what I got, tart and vegetal. Quite refreshing, though I rarely drink iced greens.

Still, I can’t see myself drinking this regularly. But its always nice to try new things – especially in sample sizes!

Steeped some of this hot and set some up to cold brew in the fridge, so I could decupboard the whole sample that I got from Sil a while back. This has been a week of sipdowns, and that is such a good thing!

The main flavors I’m getting here are the tartness of an apple, the surprisingly rich caramel flavor, and then a vegetal green tea beneath it all. I know there are supposed to be a lot of other fruits in the ingredients, but its possible I could have lost them due to scent/flavor contamination from being in a drawer with other teas. That’s the main reason I’m coldbrewing, too – to see if I can pick up on those other flavors with the different brew parameters.

This is really good though I agree that the caramel and apple seem like it would be better suited to a black tea base. Still, it works for my afternoon cup today.

YES, it’s a sipdown! I chose this as a library tea. Cuz ‘n’ stuff. Someone just awkwardly looked at me while I was tilting my Timolino back to get to the last drop.

Very fruity, and it’s awesome that the base isn’t astringent. This could have made a pretty good cold brew, I’m sure.

I swear I smell genmaicha around here. Where is it?!

Thanks muchly to Sil for passing down a sample of this!

Yay for no astringent base. I made sure the water cooled down before steeping, and honestly, I kind of forgot about the kettle, so the water was even cooler than planned. But it works really well.

I taste mostly strawberries and fresh apple. There are no artificial fruit flavours here, which I appreciate. I can’t pick up on any caramel, however, but perhaps because the pieces couldn’t melt as easily. I’ll have to go back and see what’s left in the leaves.

This cup smells like spring to me.

This is the best vanilla-y tea I’ve ever had. All others pale in comparison. I wish Betjeman and Barton had a store in America, though, because shipping from France is not cheap.

One of the few teas I got at Betjman and Barton, I am always looking for more rooibos suppliers and new different blends.

But it turned out to not be my cup of tea. I was sort of dubious when I opened the package – full of little pieces of I suppose dried pineapple but the rooibos itself looked small and broken. I opened my tins of other rooibos blends and this rooibos does indeed look a bit lower grade than my favorites. But it turns out that it is not necessarily a problem, it is the flavouring itself I do not like – pineapple I can not detect on the taste, only a kinda of cream flavour with coconut which makes me think of coconut gone rancid (sorry, not meaning to imply that is happened here, just that the particularly combination is evocative of that to my nose).

Another tea from a swap with Ysaurella which was a tea I really really wanted to try. It was on my shopping list, tried to buy it a few months ago but was out of stock. But, and not for the first time, Ysaurella came to the rescue!

This is probably the nicest (do not check numeric ratings, I am seriously considering deleting all) Betjman tea I have tried yet. It´s a “russian” french tea and very much so – some citrus, some bergamot and an elegant base. For me it works very well, I get little bergamot but more orange, some smoke and a hint of bitterness which somehow make it even more drinkable. Very nice indeed.

This is a lovely cherry tea. Kindly sent in a swap with Ysaurella, and been drinking and drinking it and just not leaving taste notes. Perhaps because I do not know what to say about it, it´s a totally correct take on what it is supposed to be.

It´s cherry, and a nice kirsch-like cherry flavour, not like cherry flavoured lip balm or medicine. I mean it tastes natural and that is a total wonder in cherry flavoured anything. The base is absolutely adequate. Liked it very much.

Lovely tea, does what it says on the label, so to speak.

This is a nice evening tea.
This is a nice sipdown. (148)

Nice.

Another cup from Sil!
I can taste the apples and cherries but not much of the caramel. The caramel is more in the smell than the flavour.

This is good, but not one I"d re-stock, mostly because it’s a green tea.

Thanks for the sample!

Sipdown, 129 (I decupboarded a couple of teas that I have decided to give away to a friend of mine). I cold brewed this one, and it was delicious! Mega yum. Apple and caramel and a hint of cherry.

Sometimes you cold brew a tea that you feel generally ambivalent about and it turns out SO MUCH BETTER than the hot steep. That’s how I feel about this tea. Also I love apple teas cold brew, so that may have something to do with it.

Argh, Steepster ate my note! Well shoot. Thanks to Sil for this tea. Long story short: I found this to be a nice tea. The fruit flavoring was authentic, the caramel light but smooth, the green tea base inoffensive. I’m not in love, but I do enjoy the cup. I’m not much on flavored greens these days except in some circumstances, but I found this one to be very nice.

Oh no! The first note. Thanks for yet another tea, Sil. :)

I stood there waiting for the water to reach 170-175C. With a candy thermometer, suspended in my kettle. That’s how serious I am about trying these blasted teas!

I REALLY need to get a variable temp kettle! I might go to Canadian Tire tomorrow to see what’s available.

For a green tea, this is pretty good! It smells of fruity dessert. Maybe an apple crumble, but without the oats? A little buttery, definitely fruity. The flavour isn’t strong at all, but that could be due to the age of the sample (I don’t even know how Sil got it!) or how it’s been packaged, or because I didn’t use the right water temperature. IDK.

It’s pretty good, and I’ll enjoy the cup, but it’s nothing I’d chase down. It’s going into my ahem swap box, I think. Might as well pass on the French teas!

Thanks for sharing! :)

What a strange tea. If I hadn’t looked at the description, I would’ve said this is a nondescript floral. I don’t know where on earth the candied chestnut or the maple syrup are. It’s not terrible, it’s just utterly odd.

Sipdown! 809. This tea is pretty tasty! Before having any idea what it actually was (aside from green), my guess would have been that it was a caramel apple tea. Looks like I’m not too far off! Just missed the plum and strawberry flavours, which make sense as it tasted a bit different than just straight apple. This is definitely the best caramel apple tea I’ve ever had though – nice green base, delicious caramel, and distinct apple flavour. I’m pretty impressed! Thanks Sil!

Another sample sent to me by ysaurella – thanks! I’m still limiting the notes, but I definitely liked both the Betjeman & Barton blends ysaurella sent me (this and Pouchkine) a lot more than the ones I bought myself – Luxury & Hanami (also Courtisanes, but that’s green). I like the orange, though I agree that I wouldn’t be able to distinguish it as blood orange, I like the more subtle taste of the chestnuts (compared to Luxury), and the cinnamon is a very nice addition to the mix. Good black base too. Definitely a pleasure drinking this – thanks again, Ysaurella!

Have had several cups of this now, and I’ve decided it’s a nice black tea base with essence of confusion-to-your-senses. Sorry, candied essence of &tc. I rather doubt the flavouring is all natural, and I feel I should dislike it for that reason, but it is such a happy smell/taste (though smell especially) that I don’t. Certainly not over-perfumey, despite which, I find myself craving an oil blend I could dab on myself and wear around all day. I definitely am craving candied chestnuts, aka marrons glacés! I totally agree with Ysaurella about the slight chestnutty bitterness, which is nutty but different from other types of “nutty” flavour.

Will try to do a closer approximation of a proper tasting note soon! Just for now, adding that yesterday I tried a smidge with my unsweetened almond milk, being afraid of ruining the cup, and it was lovely that way too.

Well, that was an interesting tasting. Free sample from B&B, and I liked it quite a lot, but am still trying to process something that smells so fruity and sweet, along with the buttery, and that tastes so *un*fruity and so buttery. And not sweet! What’s that about?!? Actually I think some of it may be that the green tea base is more Sencha-like bitter than — well, than not. (China green is more than a bit broad as a category! But I still think it tastes a bit like a Sencha.) Got a few infusions, and all were tasty.

I’ll be tasting this again, and may have a better sense of what I think of it, but may not manage anything much more. Pity a classy operation like Betjeman and Barton provide such useless brewing instructions.

Thank you again Ysaurella for this lovely tea.
Tony just fed me a raspberry. Now THAT’s an awesome boyfriend! He’s been really nice to me all day. Of course, he’s always nice, but I have a terrible kink in my neck, & am laying around with alternating ice packs & heat. I’ve been doing tennis ball therapy on myself, laid back on the yoga ball, done reiki, really gentle yoga, lets just saying I’m no fun today & the only saving graces are tea, Tony rubbing my neck & shoulders, & St. Louis cardinals baseball.
This is a tasty tea, with the flavors that remind me of mince pie: apples, cinnamon, raisin, & spice!
Another sipdown!

Here is another tea from my swap for Ysaurella! Thanks again! I hope you have received the teas I sent by now!

It has been snowing in St. Louis every day this week, which might sound exciting, but the temperature has been a fairly steady 34 degrees (F), & so there really is no accumulation, just a dusting here & there. In some ways a disappointment, as I love a good deep snow, but in other ways a relief, as I have a gig tomorrow evening & hate moving my equipment in those conditions. Still, it is always beautiful to watch the snow fall! I love it.
I’m heading out the door to make a bank deposit (I love being self-employed), & for some reason when I drive I like to sip on something sweet. This tea sounded like a perfect companion to my drive!
The aroma is Almond, apple, & cinnamon, & the flavor is tasty, with all 3 present. The apple gives it a bright tangy & juicy element, & it reminds me of the mince pies my mom used to make, which didn’t actually include any meat, but rather, they were a mix of apple, raisin, spices, & whatever.

Another yummy tea from France, & although I admit that the Pleine Lune is my favorite so far.