Welsh Tea - Foiled Sealed Tea Bags

I have been woefully absent from Steepster (and Twitter) as of late. Goodness, I can’t even think about how long it’s been since I’ve updated my blog. My tea drinking has suffered tremendously too – which we all know is a VERY. BAD. THING. ;) I hadn’t abandoned my tea entirely, it’s just that with all the stress and whatnot, I was reaching for some old favourites, and more recently, a new favourite as well. While my all time favourite has been Yorkshire Gold, a tea that I reach for during times of illness, stress, heartache, or (dare I say it?) sheer laziness – ok, is laziness really the right word? Maybe yes, maybe no. It isn’t wrong to want a tea that is no fuss, no muss, and will bring you the happy, soothing feelings, right?

I confess that over the past months, I haven’t been paying too close attention to the notes of it, other than it’s got a nice kick when you brew it for a long time, and is on the malty side – similar to Irish breakfast, which I love. Honestly, with the amount of honey that I’ve been adding to the brew, it’s a wonder I can taste anything at all – but I can, and the overall effect is hearty, and comforting – just what I need. I can see why it has been a favourite of the Welsh for so long – it brews up dark, rich and hale.

The local Welsh Association sold this for fundraising. A much more healthful purchase than the Butteryball Butter Shortbread, to be sure.
The color is a DARK red brown, even though I used ice to make it cold and weaker. I can smell peat moss and Ceylon tea from ten feet away.
I took a sip and nearly choked. This tea tried to strangle me! I definately can see exhausted Welsh coalminers drinking this then jumping up and digging tunnel straight to China! It’s bitter and with a general “Indian black blend” taste similar to Irish Breakfast, very well suited as an eyeopener. I don’t think I’ll drink this for enjoyment, though.

I should preface my note on this by saying that there is a fair amount of disagreement over this tea in my household. In my opinion, it’s absolutely wonderful. However, others have found it to be overly strong and bitter. So, it is not a tea for everyone.

That said, it brews a strong, rich black tea. It can, I suppose, be a little on the bitter side (don’t leave the tea bags or strainer sitting in the pot all afternoon), but I drink it with milk and sugar and find the taste to be quite nice. It’s particularly pleasant on cold rainy days – it certainly warms you right up.

This tea is very similar to Irish tea – wonderful color, taste and effect.

I like my breakfast tea strong and Glengettie can best be described as industrial strength. That’s the way I like it, it’s not a pleasure tea. You drink this to prime your engine in the morning and start the day. If I want a tea to give me comfort, then I drink either a green or white tea.

This was in my Mom’s Day basket. Half the fun has been comparing the deliciously fanciful Welsh spellings on one side of the box with the English on the other side. I figured a Welsh tea would not fanny about, so I kept this morning’s steep short for my normal preferences (3:30). Doing so created a beautifully seamless tea without a lick of acidity—no standout flavors; just smooth and strong. It’s developing some muscle as it cools, but by the time I get to the bottom of the tumbler, I will be needing a boot in the hindquarters.

It’ll make great iced tea this summer.

Had a doctor’s appointment this morning and could only have straight black tea due to a blood draw. I’ve been trying to work through this MASSIVE package of Welsh black tea bags I won from the International Online Tea Festival last year.

This is a very brisk, dark tea. Malty and bready, with a sort of metallic/mineral quality toward the end of the sip. Has a slight citrus note when it cools down. I only brewed one bag of this CTC for 2 minutes in 350ml of hot water, and that was probably my limit before this would’ve been too astringent for me to drink plain. Easy tea to brew strong and dark for English-style milk-and-honey treatment. I’ve mainly been drinking it as iced tea, using four teabags left overnight in one liter of cold water in the fridge, and 2g of Amacha herb as sweetener.

Not my favorite for a breakfast blend, but totally servicable. Works really well for the sweet iced tea cold brew.

Leafy malty aroma, medium high bitterness. It tastes more complexed when it’s warm rather than freshly-brewed-hot, I like that roasty flavour.

Another gift from Sara!

The brewed tea smells… like subtle black tea!

I can pick up a little malty note and some astrigency. Oh, there’s a bit of a citrusy note. It’s a pretty basic black tea, would probably go well with some milk of your choice and served with tea sandwiches or a burger.