Wednesday 22 January 2014

Twinings Floral Range: Rose Garden - A Beautifully Scented Blend To Melt Your Heart

"It's just like Turkish delight in a mug" I was told by a lovely Twinings customer service agent in a email. And she was right. Rose Garden is a beautiful blend, that will truly melt your heart, and I'm positive that within a few cups, you'll become addicted to it, like I was!


Before I start on the tea, I want to talk about the packaging that Twinings have chosen for their floral range. (I forgot to discuss this on my previous post about the Lavender Earl Grey). All of the floral range come in boxes, but also caddies are available too. The design throughout the range is of painted ladies in beautiful gowns. So the Lavender lady is wearing lavender, the Rose Garden is wearing a gown of pink, and, well, you catch my drift! You can't judge a tea by it's packaging, I know, but it really is the most stylish looking range of teas. It's just right, it's appealing and I love displaying the caddies on my kitchen unit so visitors can see them. As per usual with Twinings, every last detail is well thought out. Mulled Spice, for instance, shows a lady in a scarlet dress with white snowflake patterns. Mulled Spice, of course, being a blend best taken at Christmas time. A lot of people shop with their eyes, and go for what is appealing to them, particularly when buying a new product. The packaging design goes beyond pretty. It's actually quite beautiful.

As with the Lavender Earl Grey blend, the caddies cost £6.00 from Waitrose or Twinings Online. Replacement envelopes cost a little over £2.00 for twenty. (The caddies come with 20 teabags).

I will admit to you that when I received a sample of Rose Garden in 2010, I took one sip and declared that it was horrible. Quite often the way we brew tea and how we take it makes a huge difference. I didn't read the instructions, just plonked a load of milk in the cup and expected it to taste lovely. It wasn't. But the huge mistake was the milk. Adding milk to Rose Garden tea is not needed. Rose Garden is very sweet so it doesn't need milk, and it can make it taste sickly sweet. All it needs is the tiniest amount of sugar to bring out it's full potential. That is all you need to do. The recommended brewing time is three to four minutes and that is about right, though a little longer will not detract from the taste at all.

So, the floral teas come in individual envelopes.


When opening up the box to fill up the caddy, the first thing that hit me was the lovely sweet smell of rose. It reminded me, like the Twinings assistant said, of Turkish Delight. It's so sweet and fragrant and very inviting. You literally cannot wait to pour the water on the tea and start to drink it.

Standing over the tea as it brewed was delightful. How could I, at one point, think this tea was horrible? The aroma is subtle, and gently grows stronger the longer it's in the water. During the brewing process it brewed to a medium brown colour, not too dark, but not weak either.


I couldn't wait to try this tea, as I smelt it brewing, and took a good ten minutes out to enjoy the heavenly blend. And it really is heavenly. From the first sip, all you can really think about is Turkish Delight. Not the stuff that covered in chocolate and tastes plasticy, but the real Turkish Delight that only has a dusting of icing sugar on top.

I would say this blend of tea is as close to perfection as you can possibly get. It's sweet, indulgent and a genuine pleasure to drink. With this tea, you can forget your worries for a few minutes and just sink into your enjoyment of it. In fact it takes me back to when my parents and I visited a stately home, and sat in the cafe, which was surrounded by rose bushes. It was a hot day and the scent of roses was drifting into the room. It was so lovely, as is this tea.

Summary of Rose Garden

- Available in caddies costing £6.00 and refills of 20 cost £2.09
- Best taken without milk, with a tiny amount of sugar.
- Brewing time is three to four minutes.


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