Tower of London

I remember reading great reviews about this tea, being tempted but passing on it since it had been only available in sachets at the time. Recently I saw it offered as loose leaf and immediately ordered – this tea has not disappointed. I always liked the famed Paris from Harris and Sons but felt that it was just a bit understated and underpowered. Tower of London seems to address all of my little peeves about Paris perfectly.

It is floral, sweet and bergamoty. Lush, decadent, tempting. I usually do not add milk and sugar to my blacks since they get inevitably hopelessly overpowered but this tea strangely tastes as if milk and sugar has already ALREADY been added to it and just in the right amount. This blend is by far my favorite Harney and Sons tea.

Sipdown no. 25 of 2023 (no. 683 total).

I had a humongous bag of this and whenever I have a humongous bag of anything that is a sipdown candidate, it ends up getting mostly used for cold brew.

This was a nice cold brew. Close enough to the standard “tea” flavor you find in good restaurant iced teas to be reminiscent of that, but with other things going on. I didn’t get a lot of berry in the sipdown, probably because of the tea’s age, but I did get something that tasted rounder and deeper and even, I think, somehow greener than a standard.

I think it is the honey note that gives it that depth. It’s not citrus.

I’ve been so busy that I not only haven’t posted in awhile but I completed missed that we had a tea shop open out here! I found out about Trina’s Tea Kettle and Boutique after work and ran right over.
https://www.facebook.com/TrinasTeaKettle/?hc_ref=ARQsVMxHRGJzCUUOUkxfzb1nl4euaWkhnwqPCE7LWSlni14zRVNp36X9VpWqlxwYfGA&pnref=story
I’m glad I did! Not only do they have some very cute accessories, they also carry a bunch of Harney & Sons blends :)
I;ve been out of Tower of London for awhile, so I picked up a tin …so consistently yummy! Perfect before dinner tea with the weather just starting to cool down.

One teabag used.

I bought the tin with the sachets. What a lovely tin it is! This is going to sound crazy, but this tea tastes similar to Harney & Son’s Paris, only better and more mellow. It must be the addition of honey to this one. It has a beautiful color when steeped. If I had to choose this over Paris I would choose this one. Bliss.

Similar to Paris, but not as delicious. It’s actually a little bit strong to me so I have to throw a bit of milk into it to dilute it a tad. Love the purple tin :D

I admit I’m not a tea connoisseur but I have to admit that this tea is great for what it is. I tend to drink my teas without any milk or sugar but this is just perfect when I want something fruity and something a little sweet. AND it still tastes great after two pours. Plus this is my fiancé’s favorite!

Oooo! This one was a surprise, because for some reason the name made me think it was going to be an unflavoured black tea blend. Ost sent me a bunch of sachets to try, so I tossed one in a mug, poured on boiling water, came back 3min later and was like “whoa… definitly not unflavoured”. :) Then I sipped and sniffed for a while, trying to guess the flavour. I definitely got a citrus flavour, thought it was bergamot or lemon. And then I was pretty sure there was a creamy vanilla sweetness in there. But it didn’t taste like just a cream earl grey, there were some other berry/fruit notes in there as well. Now that I’ve read the description, I definitely get the “preserves” essence that they describe. The base tea is rich and sweet and complements the flavour very well. This is really yummy, I’m happy to have more sachets for later. :)

So, opening the package, this tea has a wonderful aroma. That aroma is a bit muted once it starts brewing. In tasting the tea, I can tell that there is flavor there other than just black tea, but just barely. And its not enough to identify what that is. I tried steeping it for longer, but it just got bitter.

I don’t know, maybe my sensitivity to flavors has been demolished by my passion for spicy foods. :)

One I would be ok with drinking if its what was available, but not something I would pick first or go out of my way for.

Tower of London reminded me of the Paris tea, but with less vanilla, and more of a fruity base. It’s sweet, smooth, flavorful, and refreshing (?); which is surprising for being a black tea.

(Side Note: I truly enjoyed this tea, and regret buying the sample. However, I just went onto the site and ordered more. My wife wanted to get a few fruity teas, but I wanted to get the free shipping, so I figured, “Why not get more of this?” I did. Plus, I got other samples to try. I’m pretty pumped to get the opportunity to drink this again. Now that it’s going to be getting cold again, I’d like a great tea to have to warm me up in the morning commute to work.)