Wonders of Tea

As part of a new series reviewing the major UK supermarket teas I thought I’d begin with Typhoo. Typhoo was first created back in 1903 by John Sumner – a Brummy. He was well versed in tea due to his fathers publishing of a book about the first tea trade missions to China and so was at home when him and his father set up a pharmacy/grocery business offering tea and other such things.

Unfortunately Mr Sumners legacy has been trashed when it comes to taste and decency. Although it is now the most popular tea in the UK outselling even the great Yorkshire Tea by Taylors of Harrogate. Its taste can be described only as wood-y, bland, tannic and dirty. I’ve never come across such a foul concoction in my life as a Typhoo tea. In fact it almost killed me once and it saddens me that its the most popular tea here.

I’d never drink Typhoo and I strongly recommend no one else does either.

A pitiful 1/5

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This is by far the most famous of the gunpowder teas and also the best (I think so).  I first got Temple of Heaven Tea at a Nottingham Chinese supermarket several years ago.

If you’re unsure what gunpowder tea is I do a full introduction in a previous post.

I remember being concerned about the tightly rolled black pellets of tea leaves.  That was until I steeped them and they unfurled to create a fantastic, refreshing and slightly smoky brew.

I regularly top up my Gunpowder Tea stocks with this variety.

You can get some Temple of Heaven Gunpowder Tea from iHealthTree.

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In my previous review for a Williamson brew I wasn’t entirely positive about the resulting beverage so I came to the Darjeeling with little expectation.

I was pleasantly suprised!

First is the dry leaf which is a beautiful array of colours with dark greens, rust reds and golden tips.  It should be noted that this is a blend of Nagri and Moondakote harvested during the second flush.

I spent some moments sifting the leaves with the spoon before brewing my tea just to take in the array of colours and the beatiful fresh smell.  Now the smell was your usual clean, crisp Darjeeling but with a hint of…something…flowery.

I brewed the first cup using my new tea strainer for about 3 + 1/2 minutes and went without milk and sugar.  I’ve found some Darjeelings go well with milk – maybe to hide their dullness – but this tea doesn’t need anything adding to it.

The taste had a very definite flowery twang that verged on the sweetness of Jasmine.  This fresh flower taste persisted long after finishing the cup giving a pleasant fresh-mouth feel with no tannin dryness.

This is one of the best Darjeelings I’ve had and will become my regular evening drink form now on.  Williamson’s Assam didn’t quite hit the spot but their Darjeeling is fantastic.

4.5/5

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Williamsons Assam (forgive the quality)

Williamson Tea is a UK tea merchant with a long history of tea wholesale and farming, especially in Kenya where they’re one of the biggest tea plantation owners in the country.

Today though I’ll be reviewing their Pure Assam broken leaf tea which you can purchase from their site for £2.60 for 125g.

The leaf is a broken orange pekoe which has a fresh, clean and crisp aroma.  The initial taste is a basic and woody which is typical of its single origin status.

This Assam is slightly weaker in body than I’d expected and would make a good mid-morning tea.  Although I initially tried this without sugar this tea actually responds well to just a pinch of demerara.

I attempted to get a bit more kick out of this tea by using 1+1/2 teaspoonfuls rather than the recommended single teaspoon.  Unfortunately it fell very rapidly into being too tannin and bitter – even when taken with sugar.  This Assam seems quick to release its tannin when pushed.

I’m happy overall with this tea and I’ll continue to use it as my standard mid morning beverage but it lacks a lot of the creamy, freshness of other Assams and indeed I prefer even the bagged Assam by Twinnings!  In my attempts to boost the body of this tea it slipped into bitterness too easily.

I’ll give the tea a respectable:

3/5

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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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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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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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I recently bought this book from the local Ottakers store and I can safely say it is THE definitive book on the subject of sitting down, having a nice cup of tea and possibly a biscuit. The authors; Nicey and Wifey have managed to fill the book with pages upon pages of facts and information on the subject we all love. The biscuit section provides classifications reviews and history of some of the best known and even little known biscuits of the world. Want a history of the Bourbon? Its right there. How about some information on the Wagon Wheel? That’s there too.
Not only biscuits are discussed but subjects as diverse as “Tea in Public”, “Work Tea Making” and the science of dunking!

I recommend this book to not just people of tea but to EVERYONE in society today for it offers truth and honest discourse that will improve your life.

The authors website is available here: Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down

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