The Tea Diary: Box #5

This time on “The Diary” I decided to go with a black tea blend from Twinings Classic collection called Irish Breakfast. I’ve never had tea from this company so I was a tad apprehensive to buy a full box of a tea I knew nothing about. Still how was I going to get a feel for what I like if I didn’t try it? Sometimes you have to go with that warm feeling in your gut.

Right out of the box, as it were, the bags are individually wrapped and that’s huge with me. I love wrappers because it allows me to throw a bag in a purse just in case… yeah I’m one of those. After opening the package I totally understood why. Irish tea is apparently synonymous with peete moss, or at least the smell of it. Ah the aroma of alfalfa.

Letting that first cup steep the cynic in me was steaming with doubt, and my office smelled like a cottage. Pros and cons in the tea world I suppose, but with the first sip it was clear the pros vastly out weighed the cons. Despite it’s over baring smell the taste was light but warming. The small bites of black tea seemed to mellow with a beautiful balanced finish. There wasn’t really a strong note, more of a soft hum through out the body of this brew.

Overall I approve of the Twinings brand, it’s a strong brew that doesn’t over power the pallet. In addition the pricing was modest and the added bonus of the packaging made it a strong contender.

The Tea Diary: Box 2

The next box of tea I tried was a black tea by Bigelow.  It was their Vanilla Chai, now don’t get this confused by the yummy chai latte at starbucks, because you will be disappointed.  I kind of was…

 

The great this about this tea is that they come foil wrapped and after you open one you will know why.  The office was flooded with a spicy vanilla scent that, while not unpleasant, lingered for days.  I put a bag in my cup and absentmindedly left it there, there wasn’t any water in it so it was easy to forget, then left for a weekend.  When I opened the door Monday it reeked of spice.  These things are potent!  Now I assumed that would lead to stronger flavors… wrong again.  I let them steep, and steep, and steep, but the more I tried the weaker the flavor.

 

In the end, it’s a nice little black tea but it was definitely missing any kind of punch.