This is the third Twinings product I bought in the last week. I nabbed it along with a box of Prince of Wales and a box of Darjeeling while all were on sale. It is my least favorite of the three so far, but that being said, it really is not all that bad.
In the glass, this tea is lovely. It shows a warm, dark orange-tinged amber. The nose is fairly nondescript. I can just pick up faint aromas of dried grass, straw, toast, malt, honey, and perhaps a bit of almond. In the mouth, the tea is on the lighter side of medium in terms of body. A crisp, clean entry reveals fleeting impressions of toast, almond, dried grass, malt, and straw with a hint of honey. Even though there is not a ton going on flavorwise, this tea is clean and smooth in the mouth with little bitterness or astringency. The finish is clean and clipped, imparting a touch of almond, honey, toast, and grass flavors.
With an addition of cream, the tea completely transforms. As expected, it becomes smoother in the mouth. The light maltiness and nuttiness of the tea becomes more pronounced while the honey sweetness and dry, crisp grassy notes take a backseat. I imagine that this would be even better with both cream/milk and honey. I will have to give that a try sometime.
In the end, this tea is okay. Truthfully, I am not the hugest fan of most Ceylon teas, and in general, I find orange pekoe to be kind of a basic tea. What I mean by that is I’ve just never found a pekoe that really sticks out to me. In my opinion, pekoe is good to give a blend body and a little bit of crispness, but in terms of flavor, I find it to be too soft, clean, and sterile to really stand up on its own. This product does virtually nothing to change my opinion of pekoe, but then again, it could serve a purpose as an easy drinking breakfast tea to pair with food. Even though it doesn’t do much for me, I guess I’m just not willing to write it off completely.
Flavors: Almond, Brown Toast, Dry Grass, Honey, Malt, Smooth, Straw
