Yorkshire Gold

This is the second post in my teabag face-off between PG Tips and Yorkshire Gold (which I keep wanting to call Yukon Gold so sorry if I slip up – please take note that this is not a potato review). Again, one teabag, 4 minutes in a preheated 6 oz cup, tried straight and then with additives.

This tea bag clocks in at 3.4g. Exciting to know, right? Anyway, this one brews up a bit lighter and clearer than the PG Tips. It’s still dark but I can vaguely see the bottom of the cup. It smells very similar to the PG Tips, too but it has an almost fruity sweet touch as a top note. Tasting it with no additives, it’s pretty true to the smell. It’s nutty and a little flat with a bit of a sticky bitter end taste. Not as chewy or heavy tasting as the PG Tips, this one has a faint sweet note to it. Adding some sugar and half & half makes this one smooth out on the end taste and gives it a less flat flavor while it keeps that higher note of sweetness.

Overall, not an exciting tea but this one wins for me hands down both with and without additives. While it isn’t as thick as PG Tips, it’s got a bit of a fuller flavor that doesn’t need as much help to make palatable. I don’t feel near as guilty making the husband drink this but I definitely wouldn’t want to force it on him daily.

I needed a brisk, robust, and malty tea this morning. This one sure fits the bill. The 2 1/2 minute steep time gives me the chewy taste that I need in the morning. This tea has only a tad of bitterness and astringency. A longer steep gives it too much of both.

A while back I saw this tea on a discussion, and was curious. While I do prefer flavored teas, particular tisanes (Yes I know, they are technically not ‘tea.’) I want to broaden my horizons more. And plus wanted to find a morning tea that has plenty of caffeine.
1st smell: Strongly astringent
1st taste: I knew by the smell that I would not be able to taste it without a bunch of sweetener. I decided to use honey as my sweetener. I put in 3 very full spoonfulls of honey into the cup, stirred it and took a sip.

Bleh! No matter how much honey I put in, it did not improve the taste. I did look up the reviews for the tea before making it, (Which generally I don’t do.) and saw many people mention that steeping it for more then 2 or 3 minutes would be a mistake. So I steeped for 1 minute and 25 seconds. Still very astringent.
If I can convince myself to try another cup…(Debatable…depends on how masochistic I am feeling I guess.)I will try for 30 seconds. I still might see if I can give it away or swap it. I would rather it go to someone who enjoys it.

I recently finished my regular Yorkshire tea bags, and then my Twinnings Earl Grey. I have to admit, those were better in my opinion than the Yorkshire Gold, albeit not by much. I feel like this tea has a more delicate taste, which may or may not be the intention of the tea makers. I thought perhaps this would be stronger, but even after my standard 3 minutes, I found myself desiring a stronger tea flavor. It could be because I’ve been drinking Earl Grey, which was perfection for me.

It’s very aromatic. I always enjoy a deep inhale of tea steam before I sit down with my cuppa. Just a bit of sugar and milk (gasp! I know!) and lately, a small biscotti in the afternoon keeps me going.

Brewing for about 4 minutes yields a nice rich golden color and a malty scent. Nothing fancy about the taste, but it’s just what I look for in a quick breakfast (or early afternoon) tea- slightly bitter, malty, with a faint hint of fruit on top. This is of course a tea that would do well with a drop of milk and some sugar. I will sometimes fix it up this way when I’m in the mood, especially when I’m craving a coffee substitute. But I usually prefer it strong and dark. This tea does not have any of the delicate nuances of an Assam, but it definitely delivers the goods when you are sleepy, and just need a reviving cup. It is what I imagine the folks on the old-school British comedies are drinking when they are trying to get through all sorts of silly drama. When Hyacinth Bucket shrieks ‘tea Richard!’, this is what I imagine she’s reaching for. She drinks it in her Royal Doulton with the hand-painted periwinkles, of course.

Well I’m quite fond of Yorkshire Tea (probs one of the best ‘general’ tea bags) even though, and cover the ears of the young children, I live in a hard water area. Now please steepsterites hold your gasps, I feel that contrary to popular belief that tea, including Yorkshire Tea, can be brewed in a hard water area.

But enough of the water debate, down to the tasting. A nice tea with a solid malty backnote and since I’m also a fan of assam this was a pleasant suprise as it is seemingly not there or at least toned down in the regular Yorkshire Tea. I haven’t noticed the caffeine kick that people have mentioned with both varieties but maybe thats just me. Although high strength coffees often make me sleepy (I think its odd too) and this does have a calming effect. Don’t know whether thats the power of the tea or the caffeine messing with me.

I bought this tea because for some odd reason my local Morrisons was selling a box of 80 YG teabags for less than a box of 50 regular YT bags. It wasn’t on any promotion it was just cheaper. So I thought that less for more beats more for less and took the box before they could realise their mistake.

A definite winner for me, one of the best ‘general’ tea bags and a whole heap better than PG tips.

This is perfect for days that I’m running out the door. I’ve got a box of 160 bags sitting at school and at home, just in case. Maybe it’s the former coffee addict in me that makes such a thing a requirement?

Listen, this is clearly the tops when it comes to generic tea bags. A lot of people swear by PG Tips but I really don’t think there’s a contest. Is this a fine tea that you sip with a pinky up? Do you serve it ceremoniously out of your fancy zisha teapot? No, but if you’re in need of a jolt of energy and you’re running out of the door, this is the bag you want to throw in your thermos.

This definitely fits the bill for me of a coffee replacement; when I started my job in a REAL OFFICE, I had to get used to the 6+ pots brewed for the caffeine heads here… but it just didn’t happen. Coffee is good and all, but it’s not my thing. So I had to find something to hype me up sufficiently without making me twitch out… This works well. I love Assam and am into bitter brews, so I like this, even though there are definitely much subtler black teas out there. I’d be interested to try the loose leaf version, though, that I just found in a super market near my house last night (although it was a bit pricier than I’d expect at the super market… but probably worth it!)

I picked this one up at Walmart for $6 Cdn. The box contained 40 bags, and they are the old fashioned style of teabags that we had growing up, not individually wrapped.

As it was hot outside, I decided to do a glass of iced tea, after walking to buy the tea bags.

I used 2 tea bags and 250 mL of boiling water. That’s about 6 grams of tea. Then I filled up a big bowl with ice and poured the tea in. That was enough to make one extra large cup. I squeezed in part of a lime as well. I also added sugar.

The first thing I noticed right away was the colour. Immediately after pouring in the water you see the most beautiful gold tea colour.

The flavour was light and drinkeable. I didn’t find it strong like Liptons.

The review for the hot version will follow. Special thanks to Stockman for suggesting this tea.

For the hot version, I decided to go with two tea bags and 250 mL of water and then added some cold water after. The tea had a good flavour.

I also tried ot hot with lots of milk and sugar. I found it a bit week, even using two tea bags. The asssam in my cupboard was tastier. I will continue to try thus tea as I have lots left.

This is my go-to bagged tea for busy mornings at work. I add plenty of sugar and some cream to this, and I love the malty taste. Besides, it’s one of the only teas in my arsenal that can truly make me feel ‘awake’ despite the fact that I’m not a morning person.