Rose Garden

Steepster ate my review! Quick version – thank you ashmanra. A nicely balanced cup that despite my fear of rose tea, I actually found myself enjoying this one. Another solid offering from Twinings.

My daughter’s boyfriend is visiting from Ireland, and he brought presents of TEA! There are so many kinds of Twinings tea that we don’t have here in our town and possibly not even in the US. This one is new to me.

Opening the outer pouch I give it a good sniff and I am met with the scent of tea, followed by a nice peppery rose aroma. That is a good start, as I have had rose tea that knocked me over and took my lunch money, and destroyed the taste of the tea in the process.

The tea brews up as a medium dark brew, not as dark as Orange Bliss was the other day. The sip is smooth and gentle. There is no need to tame this with milk unless you just enjoy adding it. Ad it is sweet enough for me without sugar, but I bet it is very good with sugar, too, as the rose flavor is naturally sweet and would probably grow more so.

The rose flavor is very well balanced here, strong enough to taste without hunting for it, but not overpowering or perfume-y. Twinings is a very consistent tea company that really doesn’t disappoint.

Another sample from the lovely Ashmanra
I think I was besotted from the first moment I tore open its little packet.
I realized that this is the first Rose tea I have ever tasted (I have had floral teas with rose in them but never just a Rose and Black tea)
I love the name Rose Garden, for that is exactly what it smells like, a whole garden full of those pink English Roses.
As I was sipping this, I literally caught myself with my pinky raised, HA!
But, it just feels like that kind of tea.
Taste is sweet, lightly floral and very proper.
If you don’t like roses, do not even try this tea.
But, for me, I am thinking a Rose Tea is needed for my permanent collection.
As I was sipping this tea, I was looking through Pinterest and bumped into this, which made the whole Rose experience even more British:
http://pinterest.com/pin/79376012154322878/
(beware: Only those who love the Doctor might get this;)

Normally this one works very well for me but I think cold-steeping it might have been a bad decision – black tea doesn’t seem to take too kindly to being drunk iced with no sugar, for me, and this was no exception. Overly perfumey when cold, even slightly artificial! Sorry, Rose Garden, I’ll have to continue drinking you hot ):

Brought a tin of this back from London. When I lived there a few years ago, twinings sold another amazing tea blend. Hearty black with a delicate rosiness about it. Rose Garden is not unpleasant, but the black tea is too weak and the rose too reminiscent of cosmetics. Nice over ice but I’m still sad.

Anyone else remember Twinings Rose Pouchong/found anything close? I last saw it circa 2008.

This is one of my favourite teas, and has become my standard brew! It tastes like Turkish Delight but as tea. Definitely one to stock up on before they stop making it.

swoon This is a tea to win hearts. Alluring, subtle and satisfying. Makes me feel sophisticated and coddled at the same time. I need to get my hands on it before it runs out.

I’m not regretting buying it, it’s reasonably pleasant, but I don’t think I’ll be too gutted when it vanishes off the shelves. The rose taste is quite fresh and subtle, not too perfumey like some can be, but I think it needed a better quality black tea; this one’s a little flat and on the bitter side.

Haven’t tried it with milk (I tend to avoid putting milk into favoured teas) but it’s good with just a pinch of sugar.

Same series as Blossom Earl Grey. So apparently – 7 years old limited edition tea.

Same steeping parameters, 4 minutes, 300 ml boiling water into cold cup.

Brews bit darker than previous one, with strong rose aroma – but it’s not artificial or soapy. It filled my room pretty well and quickly. But in brew? Yeah, it’s there – quite well present! And same, not (much) soapy, not artificial. Hmm, taking more and more sips and I feel like it is soapy. Weird. The tea base is stronger somehow, on the sweet and malty side.

Not my everyday drinking tea – well, it was limited after all, but… it wasn’t so bad as I was afraid of.

Yesterday, after riding the new Alien Swirling Saucer in Hollywood Studios, my husband and I ventured over to Epcot for a little of the Food and Wine Festival. Seeing as we’re passholders with plans to spend a longer time there in a few weeks, we just popped into a few shops around the World Showcase to look for anything they might have gotten in since we were last there in May. (We don’t do summer in Disney. Too hot. Too busy.) Twinings added some little drawers across from the register that you pull out to find some loose leaves under a plexiglass with holes in it for smelling some new teas. They only have 4 available to smell. As soon as I got a whiff of this, I was sold. It smells heavenly if rose. I want to wear it. I want to bathe in it. For now, I shall drink it! The aroma is so lovely and strong of rose, if you aren’t a fan of the fragrant flower, then this isn’t one for you. It tastes more of rose than black tea, and I find it absolutely amazing. The quality of tea is also new from Twinings. The tea comes in little pyramid bags filled with nice sized leaves. Looks like a much pricier tea. Apparently, it was a limited edition flavor in the UK, and now it is only sold in the Twinings shop in Epcot. Just one of the many unique Twinings finds I’ve purchased at Epcot. Highly recommend to rose fans!