Wonders of Tea

This tea blend was first established in 1886 by Yorkshire tea merchant, Charles Yaylor and is one of the few remaining family-run independent tea merchants left in the UK.

The tea itself is blended using a variety of leaves from India, Africa and Sri Lanka. Although you could consider this tea merely an ‘off the shelf’ brand available anywhere its far, far from it. It’s available in the supermarkets but its quality is absolutely incredible and you can tell the family behind this tea are really passionate about the leaf.

Mr Taylor who first came to blend these teas did so realising that everyone in the UK had different levels of ‘hardness’ in their water. Therefore he blended teas to get something that tasted great anywhere in the country and even now the company continues this process to make sure it keeps true. If you have especially hard water in your area then they have a special blend too.

Yorkshire tea has become my everyday tea of choice. Its a fantastic benchmark for quality and the company is a shining example of how a tea merchant can be ethical as well as in business.

history, review

I had my first Cote D’or chocolate bar over two weeks ago but as I don’t like to jump on and start a review after the first go I’ve had a couple more since then and I’ve now come to the conclusion….but first!

Cote D’or has been around a long time being established in 1883 – a fact it makes clear on its packaging. Although now owned by Kraft foods it’s kept all of its individual, historical feel so you can’t help but feel you’re getting a decent piece of chocolate when you flip open the card wrapping and split the foil.

One thing I’ve not noticed in other bars that this chocolate had was a top layer ‘glued’ onto the main bar base. So the shaped elephant logos on the top were part of a seperate piece. Now at first I thought this was merey a cheap way of producing the chocolate but the whole bar also splits lengthyways in your mouth and I can see it has a massive effect on the taste and texture of the chocolate.

As its temperature raises in your mouth the parts seperate and play around on your tongue increasing the surface area to get the chocolatey taste its an absolutely fantastic little gizmo. Whether its done for manufacturing reaosns or for this I don’t care – it tastes a lot nicer than the usual single block method.

So what do I truly think of the Cote D’or 70% Dark Chocolate Bar?

I’m thoroughly impressed: 5/5

chocolate, review, sweets

Whittard Darjeeling

Whittard’s teas have been established since 1886 and I’ve always been a fan of their Lapsang Souchong for a number of years. Its one of the biggest tea and coffee supply chains in the UK and was originally set up by a Walter Whittard on Fleet Street at the height of the UK tea industry.
Imports from India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and other parts of the old empire were plentiful and demand was high.

Today its stores number in the hundreds across the country and I recently decided I’d go for a browse and restock on a few of my dwindling supplies (I have approx. 16 varieties at any one time). So I got myself some Badamtam First Flush Darjeeling and it comes as loose leaf. Its not one I’d tried before and I expected great things considering the price.

However, I was to be disappointed. Darjeeling teas are traditionally a delicate flavour with no bitter aftertaste – this one was different. There was a sharp sting in the tale of this tea and when drinking it you felt positively cheated. Although better than your average supermarket teas it was still seriously lacking in quality kick with a low quality bitterness you’d more often find in dry and poorly kept teas.

Whittards have let themselves down with this line, which is a shame because I’ve always been a fan of their other teas and I will still continue to buy their Lapsangs and green teas but this Darjeeling didn’t pass muster unfortunately.

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After much anticipation I recieved my tin of Portsmouth tea all the way from the US. I was expecting great things and I wasn’t disappointed, in fact I was more than impressed!

You see from opening the box the quality and thought thats gone into the product. From the inset letter-head instructions on brewing the various varieties to the polished aluminium tin the tea leaves came in.
This was tea provided by tea lovers for tea lovers.

Now the tea I recieved was Kenya Black. I’m more of a black tea than green these days and this was a welcome addition to the collection as it provided a refreshing and smooth taste. Portsmouth tea provides tea in loose leaf form and I’ve always advocated the use of leaves over bags except for when convinience and speed are necessary. The leaves settled well in cup allowing you to drink without straining. It must be noted that I always leave my leaves in the cup to infuse throughout the whole drinking process rather than filtering it out. In this way I believe you get a more varied spectrum of intensity as you’re drinking the tea which adds to the whole experience.

Normally I use filtered water as the water in Stoke can sometimes be a little hard but I decided to give it the hard-water test and skipped the filter. Very nice! Even when challenged by high-lime levels in the water this tea still shines through.

I’ve had this tea 9 times so far and every time has been a pleasure. The taste is fantastic and I feel pampered everytime I reach for it because the quality is tangible from tin to cup.

Its for all these reasons I’m going to give them the maximum score:

5/5

You will love this tea!

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Lapsang Souchong is a little different from your run of the mill teas in that its not simply dried and/or fermented tea leaves or herbs but its actually smoked in large baskets over pine chips producing a distinctive but homely taste.

You can smell the smokey aroma as soon as you open the box and dip into to pull out a pungent tea bag, bringing back memories of bonfire night as a child. And thats what’s so captivating about this tea, becuase when you have boiled the water and begin to pour the aroma intensifies and suddenly you your transported to your past and have your very own ‘Bonfire in a Cup’ with all its memories and feelings held in the strong smell.

Lapsang Souchong can be drunk with a little milk and if absolutely necessary a little sugar but I generally prefer to drink it ‘neat’ so as to not dampen the smokey fragrance. The aroma undulates and chages as if its being blown by some unfelt wind but it never fades until totally consumed. The taste is what you’d expect from a smoked black tea although some may find the slight smokey taste a little unusual at first you soon get used to it and appreciate all it has to offer. Although this is certainly one of my favourite teas I wouldn’t say its a tea I’d drink regularly or as part of my normal tea routine. Its more of a tea you’d drink on special occassions as you’re not simply having a drink but a whole kaleidescope of emotion and memory in one cup.

A fine tea but don’t overdo it.

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As its been a while since I’ve done a review I thought I’d give one of my more established teas a try. Its been in the back of my cupboard for some time as my first experience with it was a little…..difficult.

Its Dr Stuarts Energy Plus and you can see the box to the left there. Now I’ve generally been a big fan of caffeine as I used to be a heavy c*ffee drinker back in the day but I aslo hate the fact I’m hooked so after weening my way off it and returning my caffeine-addled brain to some equllibrium I decided to give this caffeine free tea a try. It contains “a revitalising blend of rooibos, ginseng and ginger”. Now I know a little something about herbs and their properties (although please do email me if I’m wrong) but only ginseng has a reputation for energy inducing effects albeit in a much milder form than caffeine. Ginger is good for digestive problems and rooibos is a tea with a very high anti-oxidant content.

Taste
Now enough of the introduction, how about the taste. In a word? Mouthwash.
It tasted absolutely foul and smelt even worse. Although entirely natural it had all the attributes of a cup of chemical waste. I did persevere though and after a few ‘tries’ with the tea I did begin to notice my taste buds were being battered into submission and I was ‘aquiring a taste’ for this caustic brew.

Give up
Alas I eventually gave up on it as I was expending more energy in making it than I got from it. Incidentally there was absolutely no energy benifit even after a week of drinking it. This is why it has been languishing in the back of my cupboard ever since. I’m sure if I ever feel sick I’ll have some in the hopes the ginger in it will help me over the nausea but I have a sneeking suspicion it may make it worse.

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Well we had a fancy old car come around today and deliver a selection of fine teas to our office. It had a good variety as well as having bicuits and some coffee. You pay as you use by the little pay box on the side of the display. I immediately dived into the camomile and limeflower tea which cost a respectable £1 and after trying this and the English tea I have to say its bloody good tea! Very crisp fresh flavours. I look forward to making my way through numerous cups over next few weeks – they return in a fortnight to restock the cabinet and I may ask if they have some more varieties. I will be giving a thorough review of each individual tea after a few cups over a number of days as I like to get a feel for the tea. Tea is after all a state of mind and not merely a drink. What I can score on now is the service – polite, friendly and thoroughly pleasant.

5/5

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Gray for the Americans I believe?

A FINE tea with a definate citrus twist. Often goes nicely with a bit of lemon or on its own. Milk is a definate no-no but sugar is a little more acceptable but not by much!
Its very similar to Earl Grey tea but has extra orange and lemon zest in it – hence the citrus.

I always feel a little self concious (as a man) drinking Lady Grey. It feels worse than buying a gin and tonic! At our office I keep a box of Lady Grey on the shelf with the cup. When I shuffle in there for some I look like your average anaorak-clad flasher grabbing it quickly form the shelf and shuffling about with it as discreetly as possible.

Alas I am rewarded with a fine brew. I recommend it to all those brave enough to give it a go!!

Indcidentally. My foray into the world of tea began with Lady Grey so it has a special place in my heart.

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Now I know that in the past I have been very vocal about green tea in the bag. However, I have come across a product by Clipper that seems to pull it off. How? It doesn’t rely on the green tea alone for its flavour! The name doesn’t give away its not-so-secret ingredient – Raspberry!
Thats right this tea has a good crisp raspberry flavour along with the green tea and ginseng.

When these three flavours combine they produce a very crisp fruity tea with a hint of the ginseng mustiness. Of course the ginseng is of the Siberian variety and so you benefit from its adaptogenic properties and its energy boosting effects. This is a morning wake up tea for those not into their caffeine and want something a little gentler.

As with all Clipper teas it is part of the Fair Trade campaign so you know Siberian ginseng farmers are happy with a good wage – BONUS!

I strongly recommend this tea – even to those who are not normally fans of fruity teas, because it really does suprise you and is highly refreshing.

5/5

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Not my cup of tea I’m afraid. Ok the first time I tried these bags was after their funny plastic packet had been open and dried out for a good 6 months and so they probably weren’t their best. BUT they just taste weak! Now theres nothing worse than watery tea. I like a tea to kick me in the face – in a nice way of course!
PG Tips reminds me of a sick, weak hamster. Yeah a hamster.
Whereas Yorkshire! Now Yorkshire is a fantastic beast of a drink. I cant remember if I’ve already mentioned it….if I have you can probably tell I like Yorkshire.

Now I know tea bags are supposed to be good for two cups but I always have a Yorkshire tea for one cup and its brewed for at least 5 minutes and then squeezed to death!! That way you get a cup of TEA rather than a funny tasting water.

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