Recently, I visited Twinings. That teeny tiny little shop hidden away on The Strand in London. That peaceful haven for the tea lover.
I had promised myself - and more importantly my mum - that I was simply purchasing refills for my tea jar. That promise lasted barely seconds. Amongst my purchases I brought orange and cinnamon from their international range. I brought the Queen's 90th Birthday blend and a few other bits and bobs.
I also brought this. This little gem is from Twinings Discovery range. Orangery Of Lady Grey.
I have, on previous occasion tired their Orange Grove tea, also from this range and was disappointed with it's oily flavour and texture. So why I decided to place one of these in my basket, I do not know, however, I am very glad that I did.
I am a Lady Grey lover. I am a Earl Grey lover. I love all the variations on the Grey family, but the deliciously orange Lady Grey has stayed a firm favourite over my tea drinking career. It was the tea that helped me move from milk and two sugars to black and unsweetened. This was helped due to it's fragrant, fruity taste.
Unlike Earl Grey, Twinings seems to have left the recipe for Lady Grey alone, so I know I'm getting a constant, evenly flavoured cup of tea. Lady Grey is like a old friend, reliable, loyal and trustworthy. And more than once I've cried into a mug of this fabulous tea.
But with Orangery Of Lady Grey, Twinings have bettered Lady Grey. Never thought it would happen, but it has.
The Discovery range is made of silky tea temples which are filled to bursting with loose leaf tea. The range of tea's go from black tea (Orange grove, Rose Garden, English Breakfast) to Rooibos, to fruit tea, via Camomile herbal and green Sencha. It's a unique collection because every taste is pretty much catered for, which is great to hear, though perhaps a decaff version could also be thrown in to the mix for those who are unable to drink caffeine.
The packaging for this line of tea is gorgeous. Pretty, solid and strong cardboard boxes with a modern and colourful design, inside the box the tea is housed in a gold foil, resealable packet to keep tea fresh.
Within the box of tea there are fifteen (I limited myself to a couple of cups per week) silky pyramid teabags. The tea inside is richly dark in colour with blue cornflowers and pieces of orange - intensely attractive to look at.
The simple joy in this tea is when open the packet of teabags and are hit with a strong, yet not overpowering, aroma of fresh oranges. When I opened the packet and inhaled that gorgeous aroma I knew that this was a tea that would be for me. It's certainly vibrant and fresh and mouthwatering good.
And it is a joyous tea indeed. It's warming, perfect for autumn and just delicous.
The tea itself is a black China tea which is delicious, robust and nicely flavoured. It's smooth and mellow and intently refreshing and very light to drink.
The icing on the cake, though, is the wonderful blending of the tea. It's very hard to get flavoured tea right. You can be left with a overly flavoured tea which can taste like perfume and you can get tea's that are barely flavoured, leaving the tea feel washed out and weak. Even Twinings themselves have sometimes got the blending wrong and off kilter. However, with this tea, they are spot on.
The citrus flavours, which also does include lemon, are well blended with the tea. Tasty and bursting full of flavour, yet subtle and delicate enough to work hand in hand with the tea to make a wonderful partnership.
This tea just works. You truly do get the best of both worlds with this tea, a decent black tea that has that extra special something to spruce it up. Twinings have really hit the ground running with this blend, balancing it well, picking high qualities ingredients and packaging them in a eye catching, pretty design.
So why is this tea better than the standard Lady Grey that can be found on the shelves of every supermarket and convenience shop. Well, it's a hard one to describe. This flavour of this tea is just a bit more zingy then Lady Grey. It has more of a kick than the traditional blend, it feels fresher, as if it were just blended yesterday.
Of course, being a silky pyramid, you have loose leaf tea within rather than the processed tea that goes into the standard teabags sold in shops all around the world - and I have to say that loose leaf tea is far better to drink and enjoy.
I will never knock Lady Grey. It still holds the bigger part of my tea drinking heart. But, I suppose, this is just the souped up version. A bit of luxury in a cup.
But luxury it is. The only downside to this tea is the price. For fifteen silky pyramids I paid £6.50. That is, in my opinion, hideously expensive for fifteen bags. I do acknowledge that this tea is a luxury blend and therefore will cost more, naturally. I understand that. But this does put this tea into the realm of a treat tea rather than a every day tea.
So, I suppose I can have the best of both worlds. Lady Grey as my daily fix of orange flavoured tea, and Orangery of Lady Grey is my couple of times a week treat.
Despite the price, I will certainly buy this little gem of a blend again. And again. And again. It's too delicious for words really.
If you like Lady Grey, or indeed black tea with a hint of something fruity you'll certainly love this. Twinings have honestly struck gold with this little beauty of a tea.
To Twinings, I congratulate you for another hit.
It's just about as perfect a Lady Grey as you could possibly get. And that comes from someone who is incredibly fussy about her Grey's.
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