Downton Abbey® Mrs. Patmore's Pudding Tea

Smells good, tastes pleasant enough, although caramel teas always disappoint me.

Tea tasting used to be a pretty big hobby of mine in the ye olde days of highschool. Although I never stopped loving tea, I did lose that sense of fun in being a tea critique and keeping a journal of my different forays and journies in the world of tea due to circimstance. A few big changes in my life have led me back to rediscovering the things I used to love, and I am so happy this website still exists.

Blog post aside! I tend to shy away from bagged teas, but I would consider the Downton Abbey blends an exception to this rule. Am I suseptible to marketing? Yes, probably. I fit the niche of Victorian/regency era aesthetic loving demographic RoT makes these teas for. I have no shame, but I digress again.

As for the tea. In the tin I get a very creamy scent. Steeped the scent dampens a little bit (dissapointing). It’s a very plesant black tea with caramel flavors, veering into the buttery side. It’s a very comforting dessert tea. Not unpleasently heavy, but leaving me satsfied after having a cup or two. It’s not the most special thing I’ve had, but I will reach for it now and again at work, and as a substitue for my at least once monthly bread pudding cravings!

So… Why the flavored teas lately, some may wonder. Well, my nephew has been staying with me (family crisis) and he likes flavored teas.

We both enjoyed this one. As one noted, it was very bready. It was creamy, vanilla and caramel notes, bread pudding-like taste. Not overly sweet. Recommended dessert tea.

Well this tea is rather wonderful. It’s bready and light. It doesn’t need milk. The name fits it quite well. I would love to have more if I come across it again!

What a horrible, horrible day at work. The morning was fine, but the afternoon … No. I cried. I used four letters words. Repeatedly and at volume. Good thing I work from home. The cats barely blinked. Really, it wasn’t a big deal. We were “blitzing”, where you try to work as many pieces as you possibly can in 4 hours and then post the number of your completes for all to see. For the first 2.5 hours I completed 17. Yes, 17. Normally you can do 20 an hour. But two co workers went through the queue and cherry picked the easy ones, leaving the icky ones for me and others. I know that for a fact, because the computer system records who looks at a piece. Guess who had the most completes? Yes, those two. When I mentioned it to the team leader she looked surprised and said it didn’t really matter who completed the most. I think she missed my point.

OK, done. Got that off my chest. Bad day = good tea, right? Yep, what is better after a crap day then pampering yourself with tea? I picked up a tin of this at the new local tea shop back in September, and haven’t opened it until now. I remember hearing some of the Steepstercians I follow talk about this tea favorably last winter. I couldn’t find it in town, and I didn’t want to order a tin, so I was glad to see it there. It was a little spendy, but then you get the tin, which is really nice.

So, the tea. Beautiful rich color. I can’t smell it, but I imagine it smells divine. The flavor is good. Again, I don’t taste a whole lot, but this tea is mellow. Mild. A little sweet. Creamy. What I DON’T taste is as important to me as what I do taste. No bitterness. No fake flavoring. No feeling of dryness on my tongue. All in all, this is a delicious dessert tea, perfect for me to comfort myself with after a spectacularly crap day.

The first time I had this (about a year ago), I hadn’t particularly liked it, but I think that was because I sweetened it then, and found it a little bit too much like drinking a pastry. I found I enjoyed this this time, when unsweetened (though I suspect the opposite may hold true for a number of tea drinkers).
Got 2 bags of this, so brewed them together. For those who may not know, when Brits use the word “pudding” it can also be used to mean “dessert”, not just the soft, custard-like stuff served in bowls. I believe that’s how the word is meant here: as a “dessert” tea.
It certainly has a near-sweetness to it, even without sugar or other sweeteners. I felt like I was tasting pastry, even with none present. It seems to have a nuttiness, as well. I liked it—maybe as a fall tea, to enjoy watching the pretty leaves outside the window, or at campside.

From OST’s stash sale.

This is a tea I’ve been wanting to try for a while since I’ve seen a few reviews singing it’s praises. I haven’t enjoyed too many of Republic of Tea’s blends in the past and I know I don’t tend to like their black tea base, but I decided I wanted to give this one a try anyway. I’m glad I took the chance. This is a lightly caramel flavored tea, and the base has a bit of bitterness, but it’s quite pleasant. It doesn’t taste artificial and there doesn’t seem to be any added sweetener (rare for a caramel flavored tea). I don’t think I like it quite as much as Bigelow’s Salted Caramel, but it’s definitely one I will enjoy while it’s in my cupboard.

Many thanks to the wonderful and generous Ost! I was lucky enough to pick up some things from her awesome stash sale, and today the box arrived. I’m so excited to try all these new teas!

First up, Mrs. Patmore’s Pudding. Somehow I got it in my head that this was a fruity tea, but that is not the case. I guess if the pudding in question is vanilla or butterscotch pudding, this could be a pudding tea. The flavors are pretty mellow and kind of difficult to pick out. It would be nice if the vanilla and caramel notes were a bit stronger, but the tea does have this amazing creamy smoothness going for it, so overall, I’m really liking it. Good to have a few bagged teas on hand too, so I can steep on the road :)

I’ve been wanting to try this tea for a while and finally had the opportunity yesterday. Republic of Tea is pretty hit and miss for me, but this one was a hit! Sweet, rich, caramel and vanilla flavoring layered over a pleasantly smooth black base. Very tasty with no additives and I’m guessing it would be delicious as a latte as well. Methinks I’ll be purchasing this one the next time I place a RoT order!

The caramel and vanilla flavors really shine through with this tea. Perfect with a little milk and a little sugar.