Ilse Wouters Send Message

Definitely one of the better bagged teas I’ve drunk recently. The label says " strength : no.2 medium" and I say “hurray”, as it has a definite taste, which might convince some people to add milk. I particularly like its finish, deep and full (confirmed by its fragrance), and not at all the bitterness one often finds with stronger bagged teas. A perfect alternative for coffee if you are on your own.

I bought these teabags a short while ago and they flew!!! Not that the tea is that exceptional, but it’s an easy drinking black tea, not too strong, and can stand it when steep time is not ideal (read : too long). So, as far as I am concerned, a decent cuppa made with a teabag.

When I saw the name “Empress Grey” I was quite curious as I hadn’t seen Grey in this title before. I love Earl grey and I can appreciate Lady Grey teas, but this Empress Grey is more like a blend between a very aromatic Earl Grey and a lemon tea, and I’m not such a fan. Too much lemon for my taste.

Tried it again, so many months later, when mornings are colder and a Christmas type blend is more appreciated. Still not too eager about this blend, too much cinnamon according to me…cinnamon dominates too easily other fragrances according to me. Important to have this tea brew for a very short time if you don´t want to have a too spicy result.

I have a small tin of this tea I hadn´t looked at for a long time, but today I decided to give it another try. Still very fragrant nose, still a fading away fragrance when steeping, but I liked it better than when I logged it last time. Maybe I even noticed the orange blossom today (very subtle) as well. I was skyping when having the tea and so, it cooled down quite a bit, but the drink didn´t turn bitter and kept its aroma, which I consider a positive thing.

A nice full-bodied black tea. I didn´t know this tea, so I bought it as much for the container (will be reused for some loose tea without any doubt) as for the tea bags. Complex taste, a bit coffee-like, which I prefer to drink later on during the day. It doesn´t turn too bitter when steeping for a longer time, so ideal when you – like me – sometimes forget you´ve made yourself a cuppa.

In the morning I like a nice cup of tea quickly made, so using tea bags is perfect. This supermarket brand does the job, and at a very competitive price. Further more, it doesn´t turn bitter that easily when having it steeping too long.

I finished these tea bags I had for a while already. Not too big a fan of green tea, but this is surely the other opposite, of a near tasteless brew, that gives you the same amount of apple flavour as of pear as of green tea…making it a hot drink that even tea haters can have without any problem.

As I am “living” in a British hotel for a while (in order to find our own place soon, I hope), I just couldn´t continue trying to enjoy the tea bags of PG Tips provided, so I discovered a Whittard of Chelsea tea stand in the shopping centre nearby and opted for a pack of Russian Caravan teabags. I know it could be a lot better, but in a hotel room, using the water boiler and cups provided, teabags are just plain practical. This tea can be drunk all day, has a slight smokey feel to it, but is never headed plain bitterness…that´ll do nicely on hotel, as far as I can tell. I´ll try to check out the loose tea variant at home pretty soon.

Still had a bit left to make the last batches of iced tea for this year, and it´s a good choice : a good green tea base with banana, or rather green banana=plantain I think (no sweet aroma here). The resulting tea is very aromatic, and lacks the (artificial) sweetness of a lot of fruity green teas, and when drunk cold it is very refreshing. Originally I had picked the tea for its fragrances. According the pack the recommended steeping time is 2 minutes but I never had a problem letting it steep for a lot longer.