Fortnum & Mason

A refreshing tea that smells and tastes strongly of elderflower. It brews very light (don’t overbrew or it will go bitter) and is wonderful as a summer drink. Goes well with honey, doesn’t go well with milk.

Out of curiosity, decided to have this with some maple syrup. I’ve never sweetened tea with maple syrup before, but as I’ve read a few reviews here where people used maple syrup for that purpose, I decided to give it a try.
It is very, very good. Not as sweet as sugar (a plus), and adds a distinct hint of maple syrup (which I love, so also a plus).

So this tea made me happy, which is good, because the situation here is only getting worse and worse. A soldier was kidnapped during the latest ceasefire. That is every Israeli parent’s worst nightmare. It also means that any chance for a ceasefire anytime soon have just been blown to smithereens. And I can’t even imagine what is going over the kidnapped soldier.
At times like these even great tea isn’t enough :(

Still a staple and a favourite. This time I made it iced in a shaker, with lots of ice and some Moroccan mint that I grew in my garden. Working on papers, waiting for the nightly rocket attack (I live in Tel Aviv, Israel. The situation is horrible. Let there be peace and an end to this violent madness). Decided to have this as an evening relaxation treat. I know that there are a number of steepsterites that don’t like Ceylons, and I understand. This is an excellent blend, and iced, the astringency is less felt that when brewed hot. Then again, this blend is not super astringent in the first place. Very sad that Fortnum and Mason discontinued this blend.
Be safe.

Had this with milk and sugar in the morning, and it was a bright, sparkly treat as usual. There is something decisively uplifting about Ceylon. Well, good Ceylons at least.

My parents were over during the weekend, and this is my mom’s favorite tea, so we shared a cup. She likes her light, and with lemon, and I brewed mine darker, and with milk and a bit of sugar.

I had another cup of this last night, with milk. Ceylon has been used to death, and so many tea lovers have fallen out of love with it. Buy good Ceylons are versatile, if a little astringent, friends, and they make wonderfully fragrant brews, both hot and cold, with milk or without. They are also make for an unobtrusive base for any home-made blend that you want to make, and go well with lemon, Moroccan mint, mint, oranges, etc. This tea is my favourite BOP Ceylon blend, and is fantastically well behaved and dependable. And I just love the very “tea” smell of it when I open the caddy.
Don’t give up on Ceylons just yet, that is all that I’m saying. They are the bread and butter of tea, IMHO.

Curses at F&M for discontinuing this blend. Had it with milk, and it was brisk and wonderful, as usual. My personal Jeeves in the form of a tea – or maybe that is just the fever talking.

Still my favourite blend, and glad that I stocked up on it, as F&M aren’t carrying it any more :(

Drinking this iced (made in a Takeya flash chill tea maker – a great purchase!) – very, very refreshing. This is hands down my most versatile tea, and a staple must in my cupboard. Light, smooth, brisk and refreshing.
Something to drink lounged in a beautiful, summer garden.

Backlogging a cup sipped with a friend after a hard and rather bland week. He usually drinks cheap Wissozky tea bags, and so having his pick of about a dozen or so black teas was a new experience for him. He picked this one based on its lovely caddy, and we both enjoyed it very much. Tea is such fun to share!

Two cups to end the day with. Still my favourite black tea blend, still perfect for all hours

My favourite tea blend, this tea goes wonderful with milk and yet can also be brewed light w/out milk. It is a very refreshing and uplifting blend, fantastic as an autumn or winter pick me up.

The Green Earl Grey is my favourite Fortnum & Mason tea, but their Christmas Tea is perhaps the worst tea I have ever tried . . . ever!

The tea base itself is fine, but the ingredients are listed as “mulled wine flavouring”. Now, this could mean spices to flavour wine to make mulled wine, but I suspect there is actually some sort of “wine” flavouring because there is a revolting vinegar-like taste somewhere in the mix. This is so repellent and unpalatable that I felt ill after drinking it and I couldn’t get the wine flavour out of my mouth. I ended up getting rid of all 200gms of the tea.

On the plus side, the special edition tin is beautiful – I love the contours of the tin and the old world lettering and gold print. When I was a kid, we used to receive tins of biscuits, tea, chocolates, etc. from Harrods and Fortnum & Mason and holding this tin brings the memories flooding back. We had kept the tins but they were all thrown out when I had lived overseas for 10 years, so the only reason I bought this tea was to own a good, quality Christmas tea tin that would last for decades. Initially, I had hoped to find a unique blend of tea for the season in time for Christmas but now it will have to wait until Christmas 2013.

It is definitely an unusual tea, so it is worth trying if only for that reason. Perhaps someone will like the tea and can post a review to counterpoint mine.

I was always disappointed with the handful of Fortnum & Mason teas I had tried in the past, but I really enjoy this tea. It was actually given to me as a birthday present by my parents who were unaware that it was a green tea. The scent of the bergamot is strong, but not overwhelming and the taste is sharp and slightly bitter as nature intended rather than the dull, flat taste in Twinings Earl Grey.

The individual leaves are long and beautifully green, and it brews a nice clear and emerald liquor. Personally, I enjoy the bitterness of the bergamot but two people who tried a mouthful of the tea found it completely unpalatable. In fairness, neither of them like Earl Grey tea particularly and I imagine anyone who is familiar with Twinings tea or similar would take a while to get a taste for this tea (myself included).

The only downside is the packaging. F&M use to make really nice printed tins but now they just used printed stickers with different coloured tins for different types of tea (black, fruit, green, etc.). Nevertheless, it’s a good solid tin that will stand up to a fair bit of rough treatment. I am reviewing the tea only and haven’t deducted any points because of packaging.

In brief, the best F&M tea I have tried.

Eeeeew, what did I do wrong today? I steeped for three min, and last time I oversteeped but it was surprisingly good.
I doubt that is why, as this tasted stale and dusty, with a funky aftertaste. Almost soapy. Now, I rinsed out my mug beforehand so there should not have been any residue left. Blach!

Who sent this to me?! was it QueenOfTarts? I suspect so. Thanks for such a generous sample, wow!! This is good tea. Stout and perfectly bold, malty and everything I want in a morning black tea.
I’m not normally one to enjoy a blend but this is super tasty.
Nothing fancy or anything, just really good, solid tea here!

I’m back at Tea Central (my house) today with real tea making equipment and a cup that is not composed of paper. I also have more than five minutes to make and drink some tea. Life is good. And, this is the perfect time to take Earl Grey Classic by Fortnum & Mason for a test drive.

When I pried open the lid of the tin, one of the freshest and most natural bergamot aromas that I had ever experienced hit my nose. I hoped that the taste would match this great smell.

Fortnum & Mason doesn’t include detailed brewing instructions on their packaging. After researching the procedures of other fellow Steepsters for this tea, I chose 205 degrees for three minutes as my method of madness.

The brewed liquor also had a fresh bergamot scent, although a little lighter than I expected. The color was golden brown.

The taste was black tea, balanced with bergamot flavor. The freshness of the bergamot scent did carry over into the taste, but the bergamot did not control the total flavor of the tea. Instead, it was a smooth, malty, and full black tea flavor with bergamot blended into the taste. There was no bitterness. The aftertaste was lightly shadowed with bergamot accents.

This is a fine and smooth Earl Grey tea. I would rate the bergamot power 6.5 on a scale of 1 to 10.

One thing that sets this tea apart and above some of the other Earl Grey teas I’ve tasted is the freshness of the bergamot flavor. It’s not as strong as the Rishi Earl Grey (still my favorite Earl Grey), which I would give a 10 on the bergamot power scale. But, this is a very nice tea that I would enjoy in the mornings or afternoons.

A couple of our generous friends gave us Williams Sonoma gift cards as wedding gifts. My wife, who is a pastry chef and all-around fabulous cook, loves this store for all of its cool cooking gadgets and utensils. I guess Williams Sonoma is her Best Buy.

Anyhow, we were at Williams Sonoma to see what we could purchase with our gift certificates. I assumed we would spend them all on some fun cooking toys for her. That was fine with me because I would reap the rewards by eating all of the great food items that she would create. However, always the wonderful and selfless soul that she is, my wife insisted that I buy some of the fine imported teas that Williams Sonoma offers.

The first one I chose was the Royal Blend by Fortnum & Mason. The tin brags that this tea was “first blended for King Edward VII and hugely popular ever since”.

I could smell the Assam tea in the short brown leaves when I pried open the lid. I steeped this tea at 212 degrees for four minutes. I also followed the tin’s recommendation to add an extra teaspoonful of tea leaves “for the pot”.

There was no discernible aroma wafting from the brewed liquor. The color was a golden red.

The first sip sent pretty standard tea flavors into my tastebuds. The taste was full, malty, and a little spicy. I also thought at first that I was experiencing a tad of bitterness. I didn’t want to rush to judgment, though, so I kept my eye…or…buds…on it through the next several gulps.

My conclusion was that the flavor was not bitter but slightly tangy. Perhaps that was the Assam. The taste of this tea was somewhat schizophrenic because there also was a smoothness to it. Maybe that was the blended Ceylon. Or, maybe vice versa.

This is a nice flavorful black tea without bells and whistles. The overall taste is standard black tea but there is a complexity to the Assam and Ceylon blend that gives it something extra. I couldn’t detect the sweetness that some have mentioned. I also wouldn’t classify it as an exciting blend. But, hey, if this tea was good enough for Queen Victoria’s son, who am I to complain?

I am still love, loving this tea which I brought back from London what seems like a million years ago and a million teas ago. I have kept it stored really well and it still tastes AMAZING. Yum, yum, yum. It is like a pastry in a cup all sweet with a tinge of baked goodness.

Not feeling so good this morning…I drank this on the way to work as it is slightly sweet and honeyed. See previous notes for HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS TEA!