Today's tea I am reviewing is a perfect black tea for the chilly autumn day's we are now experiencing. Though it can be enjoyed all through the year (obviously!) I find that somehow this is perfect for this time of year, and perfect if you are not keen on the favourite autumnal tea - pumpkin spice, that can be found pretty much everywhere at the moment!
This delightful little gem is China Black with orange from Wilkinson's Of Norwich.
This tea was purchased for me by my mum on her annual autumn holiday to Norfolk. Though I had made a list for my mum of the tea's I fancied, she had somehow lost it, and had to ring me from the shop so I can only thank the lovely assistants for helping mum sort out my package of tea's!
I love black tea and I also love orange. As regular readers will know that Twinings Lady Grey is a perennial favourite. As much as I love the zingy lemon based Earl Grey, I do like the orange flavoured tea's as well, they just appeal to me. So when browsing the website for idea's I had to have this orange tea.
And I'm so glad I spotted it because there is absolutely nothing at all to dislike about this tea. So much so I cannot get enough of it and will certainly be asking mum for top up's of this fabulous tea whenever she is in Norwich.
As this is a loose tea I had to set to making home made teabags. I do have infusers, which I love, but I tend to find that I get the perfect amount of tea and flavour when I make the bags. I buy empty teabags for just a couple of pounds for 100 on ebay and they are well worth it. No hassle trying to dispose of tealeaves, which for me, always get everywhere .They are convenient and only take a minute to make up, with no fuss at all.
The teaspoon, a gift from my bestie, is perfect as I now know the perfect tea to teabag ratio. Two heaped spoonful's in each bag makes for the perfect tea!
China black with orange is a gorgeous tea. It's leaves are really lovely and dark and the aroma of orange when you open the bag is strong, natural and not at all overpowering.
It's important for me to state that the aroma and the flavour of orange tastes natural. Quite often in flavoured tea's the flavour can taste synthetic and somewhat oily and you get none of this in this tea. It is gorgeous to the taste. Just lovely.
Once I've prepared the teabag I leave the tea to infuse. Three minutes is good but I tend to set the timer on the cooker for four minutes as that, to me at least, is perfect. You get a well rounded, well balanced flavour. Too little time you won't experience the full glory of this tea, too much time and it can tend to taste a little stewed which is equally unpleasant.
I LOVED this tea from the minute I first tasted it. It is refreshing and exceptional. And I honestly can say that I can't leave this at one cup. If I make a teabag up of this tea, I tend to have three on the trot, it's delicious.
The base tea, a china black, is strong and robust, but well rounded and flavoursome. Strong enough to not only handle it's own against the orange flavour but it's smooth also and very easy to drink without any hint of bitterness or a twangy aftertaste. It leaves your mouth feeling fresh after drinking. I was very impressed (and recently I've had a few iffy black tea's!). The quality is very high and the tea itself would be beautiful and enjoyable on it's own, let alone with the added orange flavour.
The orange flavour is rich enough so that you are in no doubt at all what the flavour of the tea is, yet, almost at odds with itself, it's light enough to not make for a extremely pleasant tea. It is full of flavour yet doesn't have that heaviness that sits in your stomach as some flavoured tea's have. It's very hard to describe. I think what I'm trying (and failing miserably at!) to say is that you get a full, well rounded orange flavour, yet it's light enough to serve for an afternoon tea with a lemon sponge cake or dainty fairy cakes. It's the best of both worlds.
And I fully believe, as I stated at the start of this review, that this is a perfect autumnal tea. At the moment almost every tea shop (be it online or on the high street) is overflowing with the usual pumpkin spice tea. This never has, never will be, a tea that I'll drink as I just don't get on with it. So this orange tea is a good replacement, if you, like me, don't like pumpkin spice tea.
This would be ideal to serve to friends at your firework party or after a evening trick or treating. It's exceptionally warming and comforting and enjoyable.
I have tried tea's from Wilkinson's before and have always been impressed, but this is a personal favourite of mine from the shop and will certainly buy this gorgeous tea again!
And another added bonus of this tea is it leaves your kitchen smelling wonderfully fruity, too!
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