Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Twinings of London
Tea Description:
Lady Grey® is offered exclusively from Twinings. This light black tea is perfectly balanced with the citrus fruit flavours of bergamot, orange and lemon to deliver a delightful tea with a refreshing taste and uplifting aroma.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
After my less than exciting experience with Earl Grey tea from Twinings of London, I found myself skeptical about this Lady Grey® Black Tea from Twinings of London. So, my hopes and expectations were not high when I brewed this tea. I guess it’s a good place for me to start with a tea because it’d be difficult to be disappointed by it, right?
And fortunately, with low expectations, I’m finding this much more tolerable than I found the Earl Grey tea. I guess when I say “Earl Grey” I get excited because I love me some bergamot and so my expectations are immediately set pretty high and that tea really let me down. This one doesn’t disappoint me and I’m not sure if that’s because it’s a tasty tea or because I wasn’t expecting all that much from it.
I like the combination of lemon, orange and bergamot. I like the way the other citrus flavors bring out the flavors of the bergamot. That said, the black tea is still kind of blah. It tastes stale. It tastes boring.
Not horrible, just boring and blah. I can’t help but feel like the flavors would be much better suited for a better tea leaf. Or perhaps a tea company that actually cared about its product to not mince it to dust and stick it in a tea bag.
Ahh … I feel the tea snobbery steeping into my soul!
Earl Grey Tea from Twinings of London
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Twinings of London
Tea Description:
Twinings has been blending my family tea for years. Today, I am proud to continue this tradition with the tea celebrated throughout the world known as Twinings Earl Grey. Legend has it that my ancestor, the second Earl Grey, was presented with this exquisite recipe by an envoy on his return from China.
Fine black tea perfectly balanced with the distinctive flavour of bergamot, a citrus fruit.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I can’t believe I haven’t yet tried this Earl Grey tea from Twinings of London! I’ve tried so many! This being a more ‘common’ brand that is more readily available, I am surprised that I’ve not tried it. But there you have it!
And to be honest, I really wasn’t missing out on much. Sadly, if this is one of the Earl Grey teas that people are exposed to early in their tea drinking experience, I can see why there are so many people who don’t really care for Earl Grey tea.
That’s not to say that this is bad, exactly. But it’s certainly not great. If this was one of the first Earl Grey teas that I had tried, I probably wouldn’t be as enthusiastic an Earl Grey drinker that I am today, so I guess it’s a good thing that I haven’t tried this Earl Grey until now.
The aroma is kind of dull – both the dry leaf and the brewed tea. The brewed tea is a little more lively than the dry leaf, but it doesn’t have that bright, invigorating bergamot aroma that I’ve come to love when it comes to Earl Grey.
And that dull flavor translates to the cup too. This just … isn’t all that exciting. It’s one of the most boring Earl Grey teas I’ve tasted. And as I mentioned earlier, I’ve tasted a lot of Earl Grey tea.
The black tea is kind of boring. It’s just kind of … blah. So much so that I find myself struggling to come up with some descriptive words to describe what I’m tasting but I can’t seem to do it because it’s just so uninspired.
Generally, when I drink an Earl Grey tea, I’m excited and roused with joy over drinking one of my very favorite tea flavors – but that’s not happening right now because this tea lacks excitement in general. It’s just really quite ordinary. In a world full of exciting teas, why would anyone limit themselves to something so average?
Irish Breakfast Tea from Twinings of London
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Twinings of London
Tea Description:
The Irish really love their tea and are amongst the most frequent drinkers of tea around the world. In celebration of this tea drinking tradition, Twinings blended a special Irish Breakfast Blend. This tea is best taken with milk and sweetened to taste to bring out the best flavour.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Before I get in to this review, I want to say that Twinings is a company that confuses me. I guess I am somewhat easily confused, so that is no great feat, really, but, it seems to me that there are two separate tea companies called “Twinings” – there is this Twinings from which this tea was acquired: Twinings of London. And then there is another company: Twinings. I really don’t know if these are indeed the same company or different companies, but to me, they appear to be different. Am I correct on that? Anyone in the know, please feel free to comment and educate me!
Now… on to the review of this tea. I received a bag of this tea from a tea friend, and it was one that I’ve not tried before but I’ve enjoyed other Twinings of London teas and tisanes in the past so I figured I’d also probably like this one. And it is good for a bagged tea. Of course, bagged tea does have its limitations, but I think that this tea manages to still be a good, strong tea despite those limitations … although I can’t help but think how much better it might be if it were loose leaf.
I brewed it in boiling water for three minutes, and I’m pleased with the result. It is bold and has pleasing notes of malt, as well as a good hearty flavor to it. Something that would, indeed, make a good breakfast tea as it has a certain vigor to it. A light, caramel-y sweetness. As I continue to sip, I also can taste the tea bag … which is not nearly as tasty as the other qualities of this cuppa. Yes, indeed, I taste a “paper-y” kind of taste … and I am wishing I didn’t taste that, as it is lessening my enjoyment of the tea.
It’s drinkable, certainly, and it would be good for when you might have one of those busy kind of days when you don’t have time for loose leaf. Let’s face it, loose leaf does require a few extra steps compared to a bagged tea, but, if I’ve got the time, I’d rather go with the loose leaf.
London Fog from Téanzo 1856
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Téanzo 1856
Product Description:
Our creamy Almond London Fog is sure to please with this almondy twist on the classic. Blend hot with milk and sweetener, or serve over ice. Top with whip cream for added luxury.
Ingredients: Black tea, almond, and natural & artificial flavors.
Taster’s Review:
What a delightful spin on the well-loved tea beverage found at that coffee shop. You know which one I’m talking about. Well, to be honest, I haven’t consumed many London Fog Lattes from that coffee shop (why go to a coffee shop and spend $5 on a tea beverage when I can stay at home and sip on better tasting teas for much less), however, I am willing to go out on a limb here and say that I prefer this to those London Fog Lattes.
Why? Well, first off, I like that I can choose how strong I make this, and how much steamed milk and sweetener to add. At the moment, I’m drinking this non-latte, and I think I like it even better like this than with the milk, because I’m able to enjoy the complex flavors of the tea, the bergamot, the vanilla AND the almond…
Which leads me to the second reason that I prefer this to the London Fog Latte at that coffee shop. This version from Téanzo 1856 is not only flavored with bergamot and vanilla cream, but also almond! And I love the sweet, nutty flavor that the almond brings to the party. It offers more creamy flavor … and this is so creamy and rich tasting that it really doesn’t need the steamed milk. It tastes so good straight up.
The black tea base is not as strong as some Earl Grey blends I’ve tried, but, it manages to hold its own and provide a pleasant background of black tea flavor that compliments the tangy notes of bergamot and especially the sweet notes of almond and vanilla.
This is the first tea I’ve tried from this new company, and it’s a winner as far as I’m concerned! If you like those London Fog Lattes, I think you’re going to love this London Fog from Téanzo 1856!