After 12 days of repeat teas I get to the final tea...
#25 Christmas Day Bonanza
Tea Style: Rooibos.
Flavours: cinnamon, rooibos, hibiscus, ginger, coconut, lychee.
Osmanthus Green: Thesis, YouTube, Update!
In which I review some floral green tea and update you on my life...
Thesis Writing
So thesis writing is fully under-way now and my supervisors assure me that writing will get harder and longer as it continues - fun, fun, fun!
It takes me a while to get into writing but I expect I'll make a video about Thesis writing soon. I actually quite enjoy writing though so I hope I'll be able to keep the pace up and stay on schedule :)
Warming Camomile & PhD 3rd Year Retrospective
The Worst Tea Experience of My Life
In which I describe a tea failure of epic proportions...
Dear Reader,
Let me set the scene for you. It was a warm but not unpleasant summer afternoon. The kind which threatens rain.* The kind we British deem perfect barbecue whether. And indeed I did barbecue for it was the last evening of Cubs this term.
An enjoyable game of kwik cricket, two burgers and a few glasses of fiery ginger beer later I was satiated. The cubs all left with their respective guardians and I set off home.
On the drive back I got to thinking, as I often do, that I desired some good company and a pot of tea. Potentially even a biscuit to round off the evening.
It's A Brand New Tea!
On Tea - Tea Throughout the Day
In which I give my thoughts on what tea to drink when throughout the day...
So as a British person (66% of Britons drink tea daily) I feel the need to consume a good quantity of tea everyday. The average Briton drinks 3½ cups a day - you'll find me at the top of the bell curve dong my best to keep the average up. I normally have around 6 cups a day.
Sencha Green Tea
In which I blog about the last two weeks, gain another year and try some green tea...
The Last Two Weeks
It's been a busy few weeks so I'm afraid the blog has suffered slightly. I had a hectic week filled with work and rehearsing and just about managed to make a rather ridiculous cake. This was followed by a pretty stellar concert by CAOS which filled out the church and enjoyable festivities thereafter. I plan to update more regularly in the future.
Other than that I have turned another year older and received many gifts of tea, cake and board games. The tea will be reviewed shortly. As for the board games I now have Ticket to Ride: Europe, Alhambra & Hare and Tortoise. I probably won't review these as they've been around long enough to be well reviewed online but I've enjoyed playing them already :D
White Tea
In which I review another tea from the outlet...
The only other white tea I've tried before this was an Earl Grey variant which overpowered the tea a little. So this is my first time properly trying white tea.
It's a delicate tea and so only needs a quick brew of 2-3 minutes. This tea tastes as if it falls between green tea and black tea. It's very enjoyable :)
It's nice to have something to break up my green tea-black tea-green tea rotation I have at work :)
Web-link
http://www.whittard.co.uk/tea/teabags_1/white_tea_50_teabags.htm
Interesting Tea Uses
I might start putting interesting links at the bottom of the reviews :) Here's the first one courtesy of Alex:
Green Earl Grey
In which I restock my work tea...
Teat for the Tea God! Mugs for the Mug Throne!
I was down to my last few tea bags at work and so decided to head the the Lowry Outlet Mall where there is a Whittard's outlet shop with a few friends.
There were some good discounts available:
- Buy one get one half price on all tea/coffee
- Ridiculous discounts on all Christmas packaged products (up to 80% off)
And now I have a large stock of new tea for work and for reviewing!
I will endeavour to review other tea brands in between all these Whittard ones too!
Green Earl Grey
"Stop what you are doing and savour!"
Regular readers will now I am a big fan of Earl Grey. With the aforementioned offers I just had to risk it and get hold of some green Earl Grey. This tea is essentially just green tea with bergamot added.
It's a lovely brew and means I can enjoy Earl Grey at work without the need for milk or lemon*. It's lighter than the black tea equivalent and very refreshing. I would heartily recommend it!
*Yes I drink Earl Grey with milk - I like it that way!
Web-link
Lowry Outlet Mall: http://www.lowryoutlet.co.uk
Tea: http://www.whittard.co.uk/tea/green/green_earl_grey/green_earl_grey_50_teabags.htm
Tom Out!
Christmas Tea
The Great British Tea Test 2012
That tea review data in full...
So we set out to try all the major and supermarket brand teas and decide which was the best this year.
The Tea & The Cakes
We tried the following teas:
- ASDA red label
- Clipper
- Lancashire
- Marks & Spencer everyday
- Morrisons red label
- PG Tips
- Sainsbury's red label
- Tesco red label
- Tetley
- Twinings
- Typhoo
- Whittard
- Yorkshire
Afternoon Infusion
In which I get a free tea with my pumpkin and ginger cake from Graze...
I recently got a few free Graze boxes and they send you a small piece of cake with complimentary tea :)
Brewing
"A blend of assam and kenyan leaves."
There were no instructions so I used my usual 5 minutes brewing time and added a little milk.
Colour
Lighter than my standard teas but still a light brown, tea colour.
Aroma
There is a hint of bergamot but the predominant aroma is that of black tea.
Taste
This is a very pleasant blend. Perhaps it's a gateway tea to those who don't currently like Earl Grey as it tastes like normal tea with a hint of bergamot. It is very refreshing and a great way to start the afternoon. The fact that it comes packaged with cake doesn't harm it either!
BII Showcase
This week I attended the 4th annual Biomedical Imaging Institute Showcase. It was very interesting to see new MR applications and to see a study that I was a subject in being presented. Also I managed to get the annual free mug, which of course I can now use to drink tea!
Conclusion
A refreshing afternoon blend which comes with a cake :) Lovely.
I know I've said this before but I think I may soon change the layout of my tea reviews as they are getting a little repetitive :S
Web-Link
http://www.graze.com/products/browse/1184/guilt-free-high-tea
Tom Out!
Bonus: M&S Turkey Feast
M&S sandwich
This week it is time for the king of the Christmas sandwiches IMHO - the M&S sandwich! Will it retain it's crown?
Price: £3.00
Taste: The stuffing is very tasty, you can taste the sage & onion. A small amount of mayonnaise makes the sandwich moist enough without overpowering. It could do with a bit more cranberry sauce but when you get a whole cranberry it is splendid. The turkey has a lot of flavour as opposed to in the others to date where it was indistinguishable from chicken.
Conclusion: Still excellent and the best so far. Will another sandwich topple it in the following weeks?
Blend of Both
In which I try a tea donated by Katy and put Sainsbury's to the test!
This tea was donated to me for the express purpose of reviewing on my blog so here it is :)
Brewing
"It has been expertly created to deliver the delicious full-flavoured taste of original Tetley, but with the natural refreshing benefits of green tea. So you can have it with milk and still enjoy green tea goodness."
There are no brewing instructions so I assumed standard Tetley brewing of a minute or two and then added milk.
Colour
Tea coloured though it came out a slightly darker hue than the normal blend does.
Aroma
Realistically it just smells like tea.
Taste
This is a very refreshing blend. Usually I find Tetley very strong but the addition of green tea lightens the blend while still tasting like the standard blend. I'd say it tastes like Tetley light and there is a bit of a green tea aftertaste.
Data Entry
This week I 'ave mostly been typing on a computer. Manual data entry is annoying, if only my handwriting wasn't so terrible and I could use OCR.
Web-link
http://www.tetley.co.uk/our-teas/products?id=3
Conclusion
Like Tetley, but lighter!
Tom Out!
Bonus: Sainsbury's Turkey Feast
Sainsbury's turkey feast
This week it is time for Sainsbury's Christmas offering.
Price: £2.70 (although it is in the £3 meal deal too)
Taste: A bit different from last time this is turkey, bacon, stuffing, cranberry sauce and salad. The stuffing is lovely and moist and there's no overpowering mayonnaise flavour. The cranberry sauce adds a pleasant aftertaste but is a little subdued. I think the weird thing about this sandwich is that it doesn't seem particularly Christmassy just a glorified chicken and bacon sandwich really. It's still better tasting than the Tesco one but it is still disappointing.
Orange & Lotus Flower Green Tea
In which I try a fruity and flowery green tea.
Brewing
Green Orange Lotus Tea
"We suggest brewing this tea for a maximum of 2 minutes, any longer and you'll lose the delicate taste. Allow one bag per person and use freshly boiled water"
This is a fairly exact brewing time but for good reason. Over-brewing really does ruin this tea.
Colour
A brownish-green like most green teas but it looks a little more orange to me :)
Aroma
Smells like green tea with a strong hint of orange. I'm not sure if I could smell the lotus flower as I don't know what they smell like.
Taste
Obviously this should be drunk without milk. This tea has a light, delicate, complex flavour. You first get a familiar green tea flavour with a hint of orange which builds before tailing off into a floral flavour. I can only assume this is the lotus flower flavour which is delightful :)
Camera Mug
I drank this tea from my new camera lens mug :D
Camera lens mug
Conclusion
Delicate, floral, tasty!
Web-link
http://twinings.co.uk/green-teas/orange-lotus-flower-green
Great British Tea Test 2012
So at the end of the month my plan is to drink all the 'standard teas' i.e. Tetley, PG Tips, Yorkshire, Sainsbury's brand etc. and compare them. I anticipate this may require the help of my house mates. I will then run a double blind study to assess taste etc. and post the results in the style of a scientific paper sometime in December :D
Tom out!
P.S. Camera lens mug:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0058CW9UO/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00
Bonus: Tesco Christmas Sandwich
Tesco xmas sandwich
Since it is now November I feel I can now get away with breaking the Christmas embargo. At the bottom of my tea reviews I will be reviewing a Christmas sandwich from one of the major retailers. This week it's time for Tesco.
Price: approx £2.60 (although it is in the £3 meal deal too)
Taste: The turkey is nothing special but it normally isn't in these sandwiches anyway. The cranberry sauce is good. The sausage was a nice addition but the sausage wasn't particularly flavourful. I found there was too much mayonnaise which, coming from someone who loves mayonnaise, made the sandwich a little lackluster despite it's moistness.
After Dinner Tea
Here's another birthday present I've taken ages to review.
Brewing
"Infuse for at least 5 minutes in freshly boiled water."
As with many herbal teas it needs a long brewing time and can't really stew. Just remove the bag when it suits your taste :)
Colour
A mahogany like brown. A bit reminiscent of the box colour.
Aroma
I was a little bunged up when I reviewed this and the aroma is not very strong. You can smell hints of fennel and cardamom though.
Taste
A nice lightly spiced brew. It's quite wintry and warming but not as strong as a Christmas brew would be. Lovely :)
Doctor Who/Spartacus
I've been drinking this tea while watching the new series of Doctor Who :D Also Spartacus: Blood and Sand which is an excellent series reminiscent of Rome.
Conclusion
A calming spicy tea for the evening. Excellent to wind down before bed :)
Web-link
http://www.pukkaherbs.com/tea-room/all-our-teas/after-dinner.html
Tom out!
Cranberry Green Tea
Here's the second of my candidates for a new workday green tea.
Brewing
"We suggest brewing this tea for a maximum of 2 minutes, any longer and you'll lose the delicate taste. Allow one bag per person and add freshly boiled water."
Same as last time - a nice quick brew for a delicate tasting tea.
Colour
Very pale brown with a reddish tinge.
Aroma
Unlike last time you can clearly smell the cranberry and the general tea aroma is less pronounced.
Taste
At first the tea tastes like a herbal tea with a weak cranberry flavour - very refreshing. The after taste is stronger than last time and tastes more like your usual green tea.
BC-ISMRM
I've been drinking this tea while going over my slides for a presentation at the British Chapter of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Getting nervous now as this is my first presentation at a conference.
Conclusion
A refreshing workday green tea with a subtle cranberry flavour - lovely.
Verdict
Which is better? There's only one way to find out - DRINK!
I think the Mango and Lychee tea is the more interesting but the Cranberry tea is more suitable for day-to-day drinking. For now I think that will become my workday green tea :)
Web-link
http://www.twinings.co.uk/green-teas/cranberry-green-tea
Tom out!
P.S.
Mango and Lychee Green Tea
I ran out of green tea so this review and the next review my attempt to find a new workday green tea :).
Brewing
"We suggest brewing this tea for a maximum of 2 minutes, any longer and you'll lose the delicate taste. Allow one bag per person and add freshly boiled water.
"
A change to my usual long brewing habits. However I did over brew the first cup and I don't think it ruined the tea at all - it just made it taste more of green tea than mango.
Colour
Very pale brown.
Aroma
I'm not sure if I would pick out the smell as mango or lychee (I don't believe I have ever sniffed a lychee) but there is definitely a pleasing fruity aroma.
Taste
At first the tea tastes like a herbal tea with a strong mango flavour (probably lychee too but it's clearly a complimentary flavour as I don't know what it tastes like and it isn't very obvious). The after taste is a weak tea flavour which is equally enjoyable.
Lasagna Lunch
I've been drinking this tea while enjoying a home-made lasagna for lunch. Back to work soon though!
Conclusion
A very refreshing tea which, as it's green, doesn't require milk. A fruity, soothing change to my workday tea schedule :D
Web-link
http://www.twinings.co.uk/green-teas/mango-lychee-green
Tom out!