Tuesday 11 November 2014

Marks And Spencers Mulled Fruit Tea


This is no doubt that Marks and Spencers know how to do Christmas. I recently brought a wonderful Christmas tin from this well respected store. It contained shortbread, which I gave to my niece, and it now serves as a huge tea caddy.

This morning I was fortunate to find myself in the food hall at Bluewater, and, as a (fairly well known) tea snob or tea geek which I've been called recently (thanks #teaclub) found myself browsing the tea section. Amongst the regular Earl Grey's, English Breakfasts and Ceylon, I found this beautiful little packet. New in for Christmas - Mulled Fruit Tea.

I love Christmas tea's but sadly, because I no longer take milk or sugar, don't enjoy many of them, except, of course Twining's Christmas Afternoon! Sadly, the use of cloves and other Christmas Spices, although delicious with milk and sugar, are a little too strong for me when taken black so I was particularly happy to find this alternative.

There are three fruits contained within Mulled Fruit Tea. Spiced apple, cranberry and that traditional Christmas favourite, clementine. The tea comes in tea temples, and you get 15 for £2.90. Not a bad price considering the actual quality of the tea.

When I opened the packet the tea smelt of spiced apple, the type that nanna would put in her apple pies. It was delicious and really fruity. I have to be honest, at this point, I didn't detect in the aroma any of the other ingredients, but that was not a problem. The spiced apple was gorgeous by itself. This tea is rather like my favourite Yankee Candle - the aroma stays in the house long after the tea has been finished, so the whole house smells like Christmas.

I brewed the tea for the maximum three minutes ( I believe that the longer the brewing time the better in all honesty) and kitchen smelt lovely. Just a lovely Christmasey smell, fruity, warming and gorgeous.

Normally, I can drink tea fairly hot but this one I had to let cool down a little.

When I managed to finally drink this tea I was not disappointed. The spiced apple, as with the aroma, came through first and foremost and, to me, anyway, it was like eating warm apple pie. It's a very warming tea with a plentiful and comforting flavour.

Underneath the rich sweetness of the spiced apple came a tartness which most only come from the cranberry and it's a bit shocking as it comes from nowhere. If this was not combined with the other flavours I would imagine that this tea would be hard to drink as it's not a sweet cranberry often found in other brands of fruit tea, this is sharp and slightly bitter, but it keeps your tongue on it's toes - this was not going to be a totally sweet tea and is all the better for it. The mixture of sweet and sharp is brilliant!

Sadly, clementine, which is what I was most looking forward to, is the least easy to detect in the blend. With some sips you can slightly detect it, other's it's not there at all. A strong presence from the clementine would make this tea perfect all in all it's pretty fantastic. I'm really impressed with Marks and Spencers on this one. (I do try to remember though that taste is a personal thing, and, some readers may find that the clementine comes through strongly, so don't let this put you off trying this amazing tea).

The gorgeous spiced apple, by far my most favourite element of the tea, stays in your mouth for a while after you've taken the last sip and it's incredibly refreshing and very moreish (second cup on the go already!). 

I came away feeling really impressed. I don't think I've tried a M&S tea before, and it's just a shame that it's a Christmas tea. However, I can see why this is limited as it has Christmas written all over this tea. It's absolutely perfect for serving on Christmas evening with some rich fruit cake or a mince pie. Or, if you're having New Year's fireworks why not serve this to your guests to warm them up on a cold evening. This tea is made for such occasion's. I would even of recommended this for fireworks night - but I'm a little late!

This tea is a great chance to try a seasonal drink and especially if you find the spices of other Christmas tea's a bit overpowering, or, indeed if you are a fruit tea lover. I've been less then keen on fruit tea's for sometime now, much preferring the substance of a hearty black tea, or, the healthy benefits of drinking green tea. But, I will make an exception with this tea.

In a nutshell it's totally gorgeous, very apt for the time of year and is about as comforting as you can possibly get. Marks and Spencer's prove yet again that they can produce something that extra special at Christmas time.

I will certainly be restocking this tea over the next few weeks. I'm not too sure how long 15 tea temples will last.

For me, this drink will make the perfect partner, curled up with a favourite book or television show. Now the nights have drawn in, this tea is the perfect companion for those special moments.






3 comments:

  1. I would love to try it.
    Elena

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  2. Nice review :) I was lucky enough to be gifted some Marks and Spencer Mulled Fruit Tea this year, it certainly hit the spot.

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    1. Thank you, KittyLovesTea. My aunt, just this past hour, has dropped off five boxes for me! it's great for a wonderful Christmas treat.

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