Downton Abbey Bates' Brambleberry Tea

Hands-down the best tea I’ve ever had. I should probably stock up on this since it’s limited edition. It smells heavenly and tastes wonderful too. This makes me think I’m sipping tea in an English country garden (and not just because of the marketing appeal).

Mild berry flavor on an okay black tea. Not that special, but it tastes okay. A little fake, but also interesting. I only had the single bag that RoT must have sent with an order or magazine at some point.

The fruity flavors are really strong in this tea, and in a very pleasant way.

A few months ago PBS had a big sale on anything Downton Abbey, coinciding with the end of the series. I used the opportunity to snap up tins of the teas I’d liked when sampled, this being one. It’s the end of August now, and I’ve finally dug in the tea cupboard enough to where I’d been squirreling this away. (Try to bury my faves so I drink up the ones I’m not as fond of.)
I made the first cup unsweetened. I wish I’d used a little less water in the pot. I tend to forget that Republic of Tea should put more in each teabag than they do. Still, a nice smooth fruity black tea, not bitter. I was careful to only steep for four minutes, rather than longer. (Sometimes to make up for smaller teabags, I steep for longer than usual, hoping that will make up the difference. Often that works, but other times, it also renders the tea more bitter. I didn’t do that here.) Bates’ Brambleberry Tea is a pleasant, smoothly drinkable blend, nice and summery with understated fruitiness.
The rest of the pot was sweetened with honey, which brought the fruitiness way into the forefront. I shall have to chill the rest and describe this when it’s an iced tea.

It is now two days later, and I’ve pulled the carafe of the above tea, chilled, from the fridge.
How refreshing! It almost has a melon-like flavor to it now. It’s sweet, cold, and thoroughly enjoyable. I highly recommend this tea—especially as an iced tea!

very good black tea.

This tea is really growing on me. Used two sachets per 16 oz water.

Is there such a thing as an actual “brambleberry”? I should ask the Goog. Anyway, this one threw me for a loop because I normally am not a huge berry tea fan, especially when brewed hot. This one is making me rethink that. Maybe it is just berry herbals that aren’t my favorite? I don’t know but this was darn good both hot and as it cooled off. This is going in my RoT basket! Thanks for sending this my way, Ost!

I’m back to bagging it today. I never look a gift tea in the mouth (or bag). So, when I received this sample in the mail from The Republic of Tea, I ran with it!

Before my eyes were opened by the universe of complex and splendid flavors in loose leaf tea, I confess that I bagged often; daily, as a matter of fact (you are my Steepster friend so I am confident that you will not judge). One of my favorite bagged teas at the time was the products by The Republic of Tea. However, that was almost four years ago so I was curious to see if my taste buds had now become elitist.

When I opened the sample package, the strong berry smell slapped me in the nostrils. It was sweet and like fresh berries, but maybe too strong for folks with sinuses that are less allergy-clogged than mine.

I steeped the Republic of Tea trademark “environmentally friendly, round, unbleached tea bag – free of wasteful strings, staples, and tags” in a cup of boiling water for five minutes. The brewed aroma was berry-like but not as powerful as before. The color was a reddish dark gold.

The taste was definitely full of berry flavor. It was also sweet and surprisingly smooth. In addition, the taste was as potent (without being obnoxious) as the flavor of some loose leaf teas. However, this flavor was a single-dimensional, one-trick pony. No intricacies or mysteries were contained within. The aftertaste was smooth, sweet, and berry pleasant (sorry, couldn’t resist).

To sum up my experience, there was nothing that I disliked about this product. If you evaluate it only by its own merit as a bagged tea, it is a superior offering. I will definitely reach for it again…if they send me another free sample.

Tasty. Fruity. Possibly one of the better fruity blacks I’ve had in a while. Inoffensive base with a fruity overlayer, though I’m not sure I could pick which better off the lineup that it was by taste. Good though. This came free in my Republic of Tea catalogue a few months ago.

I received a sample of this tea from Republic of Tea and was impressed enough to keep the outer packet to remind me to write a review. I like some of Republic of Teas loose teas, but never have been a fan of bags, even if they are the round, environmentally friendly, unbleached bags used here. And another disclaimer, I have never watched Downton Abbey so don’t understand all the marketing hype. I just know I enjoyed this tea which is essentially a nice blend of black tea with natural fruit flavors and dried bits of various berries. Nothing artificial tasting, just a light fruitiness and bold black tea base. Above average and very pleasant.