Twinings

Strong, flavorful, tannic, a typical breakfast tea.
No extra flavors, just strong tea if you steep it a while.

Yay! Steepster is back! And I can log in!
SO I received this teabag YEARS ago in the mail from Twinings and WOW – I actually like it. I can taste apple, like a pie apple, and definitely some spice. I had this days ago now, so I’m not exactly sure how the black tea was. But I really like this for the apple and the spice and I would definitely drink it again. Wouldn’t mind buying it if it was very cheap. I’m so sad for neglecting this lone teabag! I had this early in the morning before leaving town. I’m back taking care of my Gram for a couple months, so steepster notes might be sparse again anyway. I am probably 70+ pages behind in reading everyone’s notes.

Tried this teabag from a TTB, and it’s one of the weakest EGs I’ve ever had. It barely tastes like anything. I taste the black tea, but only the tiniest hint of flavor. Perhaps it was better at its prime – you never know with TTB teas.

Pulled this one from the wrapper and immediately got a whiff of peppermint. It is minty but a bit oily as well. We’ve been suffering from Spring Allergies here and this was a comforting tea to sip while the sinuses struggled. I don’t think it will be an every day tea but it’s definitely a good one for when feeling not 100%.

A few teabags of this tea ended up on my desk from a coworker because it gave her heartburn.

It does have more of a pumpkiny taste rather than just pumpkin spices, but at the trade-off of tasting really artificial…. like an exaggerated sweet pumpkin pie flavor. The spices, too, are really strong and taste of flavorings rather than actual spices, which really slap in the face… especially the clove note. It leaves a sort of pepperiness on the tongue, so I can see why this could give my coworker heartburn.

That said, I don’t hate it… for a quick bagged tea that I’m going to mindlessly sip from my work thermos, it’s fine. But it doesn’t hold a candle to the multitude of loose leaf pumpkin spice offerings I’ve tried.

Mild, flat. Diet green tea? It seems like they put a bit of grass or straw in the cup but there’s not much on this one at all.
It’s probably fine if you have no sense of smell since the body is present on the tongue, just without any real discernible flavor. I’ll stick to the natural and caffeinated stuff. :)
This looks like tea, but tastes more like hot water.
Might actually have to dump this one mid-cup.

I grabbed this bag for a quick fix before a weekly status meeting at work.

Not bad, it has some nice spice notes from all the ya know, spices in it.
After 5 minutes, it tastes like watered down chai. Maybe I should have oversteeped it.
I get a bit of flourishing cinnamon across the tongue and throat. The cup went down smooth and quickly, I’m switching back to Assam for some kick.

A tried and true classic, almost gives me a classic “Chinese restaurant” tea taste. Very mellow, with a pleasantly malty aftertaste. Not complex, but a great choice for when you want a simple, unfussy brew. I used the teabags, haven’t tried the looseleaf. One of the verrry few teas I put sugar in (one cube.) A little sweetener really enhances this tea.

Fun Fact: Twinings claims this was created for King Edward VIII, who abdicated his throne for love in 1936 (after being King for ten months). If this were a Mariage Freres tea, the description would read, “A timeless ode to the sacrifice of romantic love, with fine, delicate leaves from verdant mountaintops of exotic Eastern lands. A rare, intimate blend truly fit for a king.” It would also be 14€ instead of 3.

Is there a better timing for this tea than today? I have finals tomorrow. 3 oral exams and defending the thesis. And tomorrow I won’t have much time to drink tea at all.

This tea, selected for calming me down, however somehow without expecting promised effect; is quite fine.

It is, surprisingly quite sweet. Not sure which ingredient did it, though. I noticed spices — cinnamon; and roasted chicory root and its robust flavour. I haven’t noticed camomile (which is a plus), nor vanilla (which is maybe hidden beneath the spices and chicory). It was altogether quite fine.

Sadly I don’t remember where I got this tea, though.

Hmm. The dry leaf aroma coming from the bag is meh, as is the wet leaf. In a pinch, this will do. It has the punch you need but lacks the depth in flavor. Though I must admit the liquor aroma is fairly nice. Slightly woody and bready, with a hint of milk. This ones tannins catch up quite quickly. And they lend a bit of metallic notes. I’ve now added a bit of oat milk. I feel this blend was made for milk, as most tea bags are, of the plain black tea variety. It is decent. Tempered a bit more and creamy. A decent cup.

Can we pleaseeeee get rid of the four duplicates for this tea? Good grief. It took me a good five minutes just to find the original. I Am VERY skeptical going into this. No bergamot smell whatsoever coming from the bag. The wet leaf smell like Pinesol. Or those lemon candies. Nope, definitely lemon candies. But the liquor is Pinsol. This flavor is a lie. It sits on a throne of lies. This is not Earl Grey. Yes, I know it says Lady Grey but it should at least have a hint of bergamot. All I taste is LEMONS and a bit of orange. No. Nope. Nope. No.

I won’t lie, drinking Christmas tea on 19th January seems weird. And very off. We took down our Christmas tea yesterday. Everything looks like early spring here.

Anyway, there is nothing I can do, but finish my advent calendar! Thank you Devon!

Okay, this was quite mediocre. Nice, however a bit flat tasting black tea base and spices. Probably the most prominent was clove and cinnamon. Quickly forgettable. I would expect a little more from famous company as Twinings is.

This was included in Lexie’s advent box, thanks Lexie!
I wasn’t expecting much here as I’m not a big fan of their regular chai, but this has a nice mellow pumpkin and a ginger note too. Steeped up nicely in my go cup when I probably steeped it too long. I’d grab a box of this if I saw it in the store. A nice change of pace from regular chai.

So this mostly just tastes like peppermint to me. I was hoping for a lot more vanilla, I only get a tiny hint of creaminess which is disappointing. At least the mint flavoring gives it a more fresh peppermint flavor, rather than just the herbaceous peppermint leaf.

It’s fine I guess, but why bother adding the vanilla at all…? :(

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 16/19

A surprising, very nice ginger-based tea. A Nice blend of ginger and black tea. More than I expected…a great holiday treat.

My morning cup thanks to Devon and her Advent calendar.
Finally, another tea but green — and extra bold sound great on Monday morning!

I have prepared it as inteded, so boiling water, and 4 minutes steep. That was a bit a warning sign for me, as it is “only” tea bag, 4 minutes is long steeping time and boiling water releases absolutely all caffeine from this dust.

I was pleasantly surprised to see it is not bitter. However it was one-dimensional flat tannic drink. Somehow similar to Yellow Label. Maybe a bit sweet and maltier. That said, it is only malty and tannic.

But great caffeine boost, indeed!

Sipdown! (24 | 179)

This was been my tea of the morning (with oat creamer) for the past few days. To be honest, I’m a little sad it’s gone. It’s almost as good as Harney’s Gingerbread Festival, and with the sweetened creamer it tastes like a speculoos cookie. A lot of gingerbread teas lack the molasses notes of actual gingerbread, but this one does it right.

Would definitely buy this one again if I could get it for a reasonable price. Probably my favorite of the holiday teabags I’ve tried?

Okay, unlike yesterday’s, this one is actually a black tea lol…

Very tasty! It does actually taste like gingerbread, with a good balance of warm spices and a deep, sweet, molasses-y note. The ginger is definitely the strongest of the spices (obviously), but I can also taste the sweet cinnamon. My only complaint is overall it’s a bit thin, but I suppose you could maybe solve that by using more teabags.

Does it dethrone Gingerbread Festival as my favorite gingerbread tea? No, definitely not. But it does taste like gingerbread, and is likely far more accessible for most people. Still recommend it for sure!

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 10/19

From a TTB early last year. I saved two servings, and I was pretty positive I left a review the first time I had it, but Steepster has been eating some of my reviews. I remember enjoying it a lot more the first time. It was a pretty pleasant, hearty EG. This time, I don’t taste as much EG, but the base is still quite strong and a little malty. I’m enjoying it, but I wish I could detect more of the bergamot from last time.

So this is essentially an apple cinnamon chamomile tisane, with some additional spices added in.

It’s quite nice actually. The spices are subtle, which allows the apple and chamomile to come to the forefront, and they go very nicely together. It’s slightly sweet, but thankfully there’s no licorice root. The spices add just a touch of warmth, and overall it has a mellow apple cider sort of vibe to it, though with the added honey and soft floral notes of the chamomile.

Very pleasant for winding down on the couch with the puglets!

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 6/19

Well, it seems I have completely different blend than this one. Mine contains:
Spearmint (34%), Rooibos Leaves (18%), Natural Apple Flavouring with Other Natural Flavourings (15%), Ginger, Peppermint, Apple Pieces (7%) and Baobab Fruit Pulp Granules (5%).

Never had the last one, but overal it should help with the stomachache and even though I already took Espumisian, hot tea won’t hurt. I also found out that my body temperature is 36.9°C (98.4°F), so it seems I am indeed ill. My mother is afraid it is a covid, so I will make myself a test tomorrow morning. Maybe I will feel fine, maybe worse, who knows…

Anyway, never heard about baobab fruits used in tea. It smellls strongly apple-y and I am surprised not to see any camomile in this.

Flavourwise it is quite strong in menthol with fruity — apple note. Not sure about baobab fruit flavour, so not sure if it is there at all, in taste.

In conclusion, it is very enjoyable tea without typical herbal taste profile.

Sipdown! (2 | 157)

Sipped through this one with creamer added, as my first tea of the day. I liked that I could still taste the bright orange peeking through, along with the warm spices. It held up quite well to the additions.

I think this is a nice enough orange spice tea, and I like that the spices are mild enough to let the orange be present as well. It’s not the sort of flavor profile I crave, but if I were in the market for an orange spice tea in the fall or winter, I would consider this one.

Happy New Year, tea friends! Here’s to another year of yummy teas all around!

So, I made quite an effort to buy pretty much all of the grocery store holiday teas this season, and since stores around me never seem to carry any of them (grrr…), that meant ordering them online. So I went through the trouble of getting them, but then I didn’t end up actually drinking any of them, because I had so many advent teas to contend with. Oops?

Therefore I’ve decided to try them all this January, and write a note for each one. Hence we have arrived at the first note, welcome! I chose this to try first somewhat randomly, it was the first black tea I saw in the pile of boxes. It’s quite nice actually. Oddly I’m tasting quite a bit of orange, which isn’t even mentioned in the description. It’s a nice sweet orange, and the spices are subdued enough that they don’t completely overpower it. I’m definitely picking up on the clove, and then the cinnamon adds a sweet warmth in the background. The base tea is quite light, but very smooth.

A good one to start with! It’s similar to Constant Comment, though I remember that one having a much stronger clove presence. I prefer the more restrained version in this tea, it lets the orange shine a bit more.

Holiday grocery store teas tried: 1/19

Day 16 of my Steepster homemade advent calendar from Kelmishka! I’ve still been drinking my advents the past couple of days but I needed a break from writing up proper tasting notes. So now I have some catching up to do! Thankfully I took handwritten notes to work off of.

I like the pomegranate and raspberry flavors in here! They’re sweet and juicy. It’s got some hibiscus tartness going too, and a little bit of that same syrupiness that some of the Clipper berry teas have. I’m not sure what causes that! In this case, it’s mild enough to be pleasing rather than off-putting – but it does make me think this is one herbal where I wouldn’t suggest leaving the bag in indefinitely. This would also probably make a good tea soda.