PG Tips

Hi all! Long time no speak! Since I last did a tasting note, I’ve gotten a new job, so it’s been pretty hectic around these parts. I haven’t been drinking much tea (mostly because my apartment doesn’t have AC and it’s been hot as heck in Chicago), so I haven’t been on Steepster much.

Last night a fellow tea-loving friend gave me a few bags of his PG Tips. He loves PG Tips so, so much. It’s his everyday tea and has been since he lived in England for awhile. He had already told me he loves strong, bitter black teas, so I knew that’s what this would be. And honestly, it’s better than I thought it would be. Definitely bitter, but I could see how it would be warm and comforting on a winter’s day.

Perhaps more importantly, this bad boy should be arriving at my house today: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003DTLNI8/ref=oss_product. I’ve been wanting a nice iced tea pitcher for ages now, so I now I’ll be able to drink tea all summer!

a convenient tea and pretty good, but it doesn’t wow me with complexity.

This is in my opinion the best tea out there. Definitely my favorite breakfast tea, but perfect enough to drink at any other time of the day. I recommend this for everyone.

In the class of teabag breakfast teas, this is a go to. Nothing flashy or exotic here. Just a dependable cuppa. I drink it black with truvia.

There seems to be 2 other names for this same tea on Steepster. One thing I found interesting was that the rating was 78 on one of them and this one was 66. I guess people tend to go to the one with the rating that is closest to what they had in mind, so people rating this tea positively go to the other one while those who didn’t like it come to this one. There must be a psychological explanation for this.
Anyways, enough rambling. I just got my first PG Tips(240ct) that I ordered from eBay, at a very cheap price too. Shipping took forever, but it’s quite worth it. Comparing it to the Twinings English Breakfast, I think it’s slightly better in respect to flavor, scent, strength(brews up darker), etc. Maybe the pyramid shape actually does help the tea to be brewed better. I also found the taste to be very balanced, and I’ll certainly be more sure of this once I have this straight. I think I’ll be enjoying this for mornings and mornings until I run out and get some more. No wonder this tea is the best selling brand in England!

Add: This tea is definitely made with the common tea drinker in mind who adds milk/cream and sugar to their tea. I tried it without milk once and it just wasn’t as good. I guess teabags do have their limitations, but it is still a fantastic tea with milk added.

Steep Information:
Amount: 3tsp
Additives: none
Water: filtered, boiling, 22 oz
Tool: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 2:22 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: astringent, black tea, Assam?
Steeped Tea Smell: Bitter, Strong astringent black
Flavor: astringent black tea, slightly bitter
Body: Full
Aftertaste: bitter
Liquor: Translucent dark reddish brown

Yes, something can smell bitter.

I admit we bought this at the local grocery store because of the monkey commercials.

Post-Steep Additives: almond milk and German rock sugar
The tea was much smoother, less astringent and bitter.
The tea was barely drinkable before the milk and sugar.
An acceptable cup of tea, but I am not purchasing it again.

MilitiaJim – this is the bold black coffee of the tea world.

Next time we are doing 2 minutes or less.

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/04/pg-tips-loose-leaf-black-tea.html

OLD SCHOOL BABY. I get this from the British food section at Wegman’s. It wakes me up nicely for early-morning blogging and writing sessions. I drink it with milk and sugar. Like I said, old school. :-)

Finished up my box this morning . Yummy as always !

Had my usual two cups for breakfast . I like that this tea is strong enough to handle milk . Some teas just lose their flavor under the weight of milk . Hopefully work will be just as easy today as yesterday .

Love this tea ! Had two cups with some honey and a little milk mixed in . The strong flavor is exactly what you need in a breakfast tea . So glad I discovered this one last year .

Am I missing something here? PG Tips scores so well amongst you lot and I can’t stand the stuff. In fact, I bought some Yorkshire, Hampstead and Teapigs for friends that still have this rubbish in their cupboards. I hope they have now seen the light.

This tea is great during exams :-)
I normally brew for about two minutes and it comes out strong enough to keep me awake but not so bitter that I can’t drink it.

This is your basic everyday black tea, and it’s darn good! Introduced to me by some part of my family I don’t quite remember but who obviously remembered me, I’ve been having this tea for about 9 years and it hasn’t let me down not once! For the last 3 months or so we’ve been having it with breakfast, and it goes along very well with about anything you can muster from your kitchen. Highly recommended – don’t leave home without some bags! (WHo knows what alien teas are at your hotel room? shudder)

Also, if you’re cutting it with splenda (which I recommend you try), go for 3 minutes to get it a little on the bitter side. Otherwise you’re better off going with a shorter steep – say 2 minutes. Bitter + sweet = amazing.

Now this is a brand that I unfortunately I don’t like, which is a rarity with tea.

Now I’m not the biggest fan of tea bag teas but this is a lot worse than others. Its a bit too general, if that makes sense, there is nothing to make this tea different. Its just a homogeneous cup of ‘brown’.

I now it has a big fan-base so I won’t pile abuse on it but I will just say that I won’t buy it again.

I think the best thing about this tea are the adverts. Monkey*in Johnny Vegas’ husky voice*!!!!

So this morning’s formula was: 200ml boiling water with two tea bags (approx. 6g) for two minutes, 200ml warm milk plus a cube of La Perruche brown sugar. Not bad. It makes me want to sweeten a little more, add ice and tapioca to make my own bubble tea.

I first tried this from my friend, whose English boyfriend converted her to a tea drinker (but then again, she didn’t like coffee all that much so maybe it’s not so much of a conversion). This is his daily morning tea with a splash of milk, and now it is hers too.

While this is not my favorite morning cup, it is quite affordable, and feels… sturdy. It’s strong, a little bitter when straight, but with the addition of milk it makes a hearty cup. I also like that the pyramid tea bag infuses better than standard ones, and that it has 3g of tea as opposed to 2g. Overall, I wouldn’t mind having a 40 count box on my cupboard.

I love PG Tips, it’s what a “proper” cup of tea tastes like for me. I have it with a bit of soymilk and that’s it. I used to put sugar in my tea when I started drinking it but no more of that nonsense now!! Sugar spoils the taste, I find.

Beware this tea! Strongly sour, bitter, herbaceous, and unpleasant. I get this result no matter whether I steep the tea for one minute or three, no matter whether I use boiling water and a hot teapot or water well below boiling. It is very hard to find a really good decaffeinated tea, but almost all are better than this.

Background: The non-decaffeinated version of “PG Tips” is sold bagged and loose in grocery stores across the U.K. It is known for its dark brew and strong flavor.

It can be found in many supermarkets in the United States, often in the “Ethnic Foods” aisle.

It is very hard to find good decaffeinated tea, and I have never tried a decaffeinated tea as good as typical non-decaffeinated black tea.

Still interested in decaf tea? Look for teas decaffeinated using the CO-2 process, rather than the Ethyl Acetate process. Then brew the tea for a shorter time than you would a regular tea — two minutes and thirty seconds should be your upper limit.

Amazon last year had an incredible sale where i got about 2600 bags of this tea for about $8 total no tax free shipping. This tea is much better than lipton. This tea is also stronger than lipton. I make a lot of iced tea at work and if you throw in about 6 bags of this into making 3 quarts of tea you get some pretty slurry tea. you’ll get some serious work done.