fortnum and mason

Hello Tea Friends,

This tea was actually a gift from my wonderful sister in law who knows I have a passion for tea. You cannot imagine my excitement when I received this; not only does it come in a beautiful tin but there is nothing finer than a Christmas tea to get you into the festive spirit.

Opening the tin revealed the blend which was decorated with a large star anise piece on the top. It’s so beautiful! The blend itself is a little festive as it has red safflower petals decorating a dark brown blend. It bares a soft yet spicy scent, like cinnamon and clove.

Brewing Parameters: 1.5 tsp in a large mug with boiling water for 3-4 minutes.

Once steeped a dark brown liquid with a red hue sits in my glass that bares the same generic spice scent as it’s raw form.

The first few sips reveal a dark base, wooden and thick with some bitterness with a delicate spicy after taste. Specifically clove, cinnamon and cocoa nib which is probably where the bitterness comes from. I imagine it would be reduced with a bit of sweetener.

The spice is not actually as strong as I expected, it’s more subtle against the black tea base. In a way it’s nice, sometimes ‘in your face’ flavoured teas are too much. There is also some dryness in the after taste though the spice lingers a while.

I would say while this was more of a subtle spice it was Christmas-esque and suited for all day drinking. I imagine a pot of this on Christmas morning would go down a treat! It’s subtlety may even win over some plain tea drinkers.

Until next time, Happy Steeping!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black blend

Where to Buy: Fortnum & Mason

Description: Warm yourself up this Christmas with the exotic flavours which have been added to this Fortnum’s blend. This Christmas Spiced Tea has a festive seasonal flavour from zesty clementine and bold spices. With the addition of delicious cocoa nibs, this tea finishes any Christmas afternoon treat.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

kittylovestea

My name is Kayleigh Jade and I was born in Leicester, England, UK. I have always had a love for herbal and fruit tea (even as a child) but my curiosity got the best of me in my teen years and I started to look into other teas. I eventually found some companies in the UK that offered different teas and eBay was an easy source for international (particularly Chinese) teas. I found myself liking specific teas more than others such as Pu Erh and jasmine green pearls (which are two of my favourites still to date) and my obsession kept growing. Now I am in tea clubs and regularly order new products to try and though I have tried a good variety of different teas I still consider myself to be a beginner student. My goal in life is to keep tasting and steeping and learning and hopefully by having this blog I will pass on what I learn and feel. My name is kittylovestea because it combined my two favourite things in the world. Those being cats and tea (of course!). My cats are also interested in some of my teas (especially dessert or sweet teas) and always seem to become excited once they smell what I’m brewing. I have arrived home before to find a few tea packets on the floor with suspicious looking holes which any cat owner know are made from biting. I now have to be careful with the storing of my tea but it’s nice to know my 4 angels have the same interests as me. =^_^=

This post was posted in Black Tea, Fortnum & Mason