Twinings: Christmas Blend Tea

So, so far, I've reviewed two Christmas tea's. These have been from Whittards and Marks and Spencers. Today I am reviewing the third Christmas tea I have in my tea cupboard.

Today the tea is from Twining's and it's their Christmas Blend. It's priced at £7.50 for this lovely little scenic caddy.

Looking at the ingredients this tea is eerily similar to the Whittard's tea. The ingredients are pretty much the same. There's orange peel, a black tea, safflowers, but here lies the difference. Twinings have opted for Christmas spice, where Whittards went for cloves. So, even though the ingredients are very similar, the tea's taste a lot different!

With regards to the caddy, isn't it pretty? Who doesn't love a London at Christmas scene? It's extremely cute, with all our iconic London icons. A black cab, Big Ben, a red telephone box and a Christmas angel sprinkling magic over the capital city, which could easily be the statue of Eros which normally sits on Piccadilly Circus! The packaging, as always with Twinings, is lovely.

Inside this delightful tin box sits a aromatic and attractive tea. Amongst the stark, dark black tea are lovely dashes of orange from the orange peel. And to be fair, Twinings haven't scrimped on the orange peel. As you can see in the picture below there is a liberal sprinkling!

I will start this review by stating that this tea I think is the same blend from last year. Twining's, it seems, has found a recipe that works and is sticking with it. I think that is fair enough, though, if anyone at Twinings read's this, I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY miss your Mulled Spiced blend from 2010 and your Christmas Cake blend from 2013 and 2014!

As I have done with previous Christmas tea's I added a splash of milk and a tiny bit sugar. It's how I take my spiced tea's and thought it only fair to review all the tea's under the same circumstances.

So, I loaded two generous teaspoons in a teabag, added milk and sugar and waited for this spiced tea to infuse.

Christmas Blend is a highly spiced tea, and that is the difference between having something like cloves to using something like Christmas Spice as Twinings have done with this tea.

As the tea brewed the whole kitchen filled with that wonderful spicy scent. It certainly smells yummy and it's very hard to leave the tea to infuse for any length of time. You just want to dive right in.

This tea tastes like it smells. It's very, very spicy! It's actually very reminiscent of their recent pyramid spiced chai latte tea's.  But does it make for a decent cup of festive tea?

I would say a very cautious yes. From the first sip  your mouth certainly feels as though it's alive. Your taste buds absolute buzz when sipping this tea as the Christmas spice works it's way around your mouth.

However, I honestly feel that a dash of sugar really is needed to tone this tea down a little bit, especially if you don't like overly spiced tea's. The sugar just takes the edge of what possibly is a firecracker of a tea if taken without sugar. That's great if you like spicy food and drink but if your less keen or have a more subtle palate then I would recommend adding a sweetener of some kind!

It is a festive tea though and it really is Christmas in a cup. The tea is blended very well indeed and having had several cups (it's a hard life being a tea blogger!) today every single cup has tasted identical and that really does count for a lot.

I am disappointed slightly in the fact that as a citrus lover, and despite the huge amount of orange peel in the blend, you simply don't get any hint of orange and that is a big let down for me. And that is simply because the Christmas spice is so strong that it does tend to wipe out the flavour of the orange and the actual tea in itself. Perhaps next year, Twinings, if using this as their blend could look into reducing the spice ever so slightly, so that the natural sweetness of the orange could come through.

Overall, this is a nice blend. It certainly packs a punch and is a tea that you'll never forget. It is perfect to be taken in front of a crackling fire, with some chocolates at your side and something good on the television!

And, to let you know, that as a stroke of genius, Twinings have catered for every taste in their Christmas range. You can get a festive English Breakfast, Christmas Chai and Merry Christmas Mint infusion. All come in their own caddies so if Christmas Blend isn't your thing, you can still celebrate with a tea of your choice. Sadly, I can't review these tea's as money is tight this time of year, but maybe next year I'll take a break from Christmas Blend and try something new!

Seeing what Twining's has included in their Christmas range has become a tradition for me since I became a tea drinker and now I'm back, living in London, I have very easy access to their adorable shop on The Strand. For this, I consider myself one of the luckiest girls in the world! Nothing quite beats going up to their teeny shop and seeing the gorgeous packaging on the shelves.

And already, I'm looking forward to what surprises Twinings have for us all in 2017!



  

Whittard: Christmas Tea

Todays' review is a classy, elegant, well crafted and simply beautiful Christmas tea.

It's from Whittard's and is simply known as Christmas Tea.

I will admit that I fell in love with this tea, not on it's taste but on it's really beautiful and elegant tea caddy. Whittard's have created a simply beautiful tea caddy this year. It's gorgeous red and gold colour scheme looks expensive (though it's an affordable £10). On the appearance level, it's far outweighed anything I've yet seen in the Christmas tea collection. It's beautiful and sits permanently (or at least through the seasonal period) on my counter top.

Not only is the caddy lovely to look at, it's practical too. It's clip lid means the caddy seals tightly and your tea will stay lovely and fresh for however long, (or short!) it stay's around. The use by date on my tea is 2018, though I'm sure it will be long gone by then!

But, we all know that tea is like books, you cannot judge them by their packaging. For no matter how beautiful the caddy, if the tea is awful then really, it's all rather pointless.

I've been unfair on Whittard's Christmas tea in the past. I brought my first Christmas tea in 2010. I was a complete novice and had just started drinking my tea black and unsweetened. I brought some Whittard tea and made a pot, taking a sip I was almost ill. The combination of spices and other flavours was too much and I threw it away, promising never to drink it again.

Fast forward six Christmases and I now know where I stand with Christmas tea. I know how best to prepare it so I can fully enjoy and I've relaxed a little, adding a dash of milk and a bit of sugar to make the tea that extra bit tasty.

So, after all those years, I purchased this tea from Whittards. And, oh what a joy it is!

The list of ingredients, though simple, are interesting. This tea includes, orange peel, cloves, safflower petals and vanilla pieces.

On the surface this is a simple Christmas tea. There is no added ginger, or cinnamon or all spice or any other spices that could be added. However, the sheer, and utter beauty of this tea is in the blending. I recently reviewed  Marks and Spencers Christmas Spiced Tea. Though certainly not a terrible tea, my main complaint was that it wasn't blended well, and considering it came in teabags, it made for uneven taste in each cup.

This is smooth, flavoursome and most importantly it's even. I've had several cups already and as is commonly known, I make my own teabags up and every single cup tastes exactly the same. You simply don't get one cup full of a clove flavour and another cup mostly vanilla. It's even through and through. This is one reason why I tend to go to companies who are experts in creating - and blending - tea, they know exactly what they are doing and do it exceptionally well.

This tea is a joy for every one of your senses. When you unclip the clasp of the caddy the aroma of this tea is stunning. It's fresh and fruity. And it looks stunning, too. The tea is black in colour, and scattered through the blend are dashes of colour from the orange peel and cloves.

But that first sip was heavenly. It's a tea that is made for your day off work, when it's sunny and bright outside but with a biting crispness in the air. I literally did sink back into my chair and did that one thing lots of tea obsessives do. Take a sip and exclaim 'ooh that's a lovely cup of tea', even though not only the room, but the whole house is empty!

But, beautiful it is. The black tea is smooth and mellow. And I was really pleased, (being a lover of citrus in tea) that the orange peel brought to the tea a lovely fruity tang. This is especially lovely because even though most Christmas tea's add orange peel, that element is masked by the heavy use of spices. This, however, is so well blended that the orange was easily detected, making my heart jump for joy.

The cloves added a spicy kick to the tea and that is the fun element of this blend. You take a sip and within seconds your tongue is fizzing with the clove's spiciness and it does linger for a good few minutes too. It's a really nice touch, especially for those who like a bit of a kick in their food and drink.

The addition of a sweet, rich vanilla really rounds this tea off. It's a good mixture of spice and sweetness. The balance is good so one does not overpower the other. And due to that good balance the vanilla isn't sickly sweet, which is another sensation I've found in tea's from Christmases past. In fact, it's been so bad I've avoided any blend that includes vanilla. But, again, Whittard's have triumphed with this tea.

What else can I say about this blend? It's absolutely perfection in a cup. It hits the right notes (for me at least). It's tasty but not sickly sweet or too full of spices it's hard to drink. It's blended so perfectly well that you will be left yearning for another cup. I've had three today - I doubt with all sincerity that this tea will last till December let alone the big day!

This is a absolutely perfect companion for a nice mince pie. In fact my mum is a coeliac and had purchased some gluten free spiced pear pies and it really matched that well, too! Just yummy on all fronts.

For December 25th this is a ideal tea to pull out the teapot and serve to your guests as a afternoon drink. It's also warming, too, so ideal for those outside events such as fireworks and Christmas carols. But, I can also add, it's ideal for curling up on the sofa in front of the telly on a freezing cold day.

This tea perfectly sum's up the exciting Christmas season. I am so in love with this tea it's ridiculous.

And I can only credit Whittard for doing so well with this Christmas blend. It's a hard tea to get right and they have got it spot on. And it leaves the Marks and Spencers tea in the shade. It's simply everything that I would expect from a Christmas tea.

So, Whittard, I can only thank you. You have impressed me so much through the year with the tea's I've purchased. And I hope that this will only continue into 2017.

I would also like to add that this tea is also available in bagged form to - so if you don't own a pot, infuser or DIY teabags, you have no need to miss out on this wonderful blend!

Marks And Spencers: Christmas Spiced Tea

Yes readers. It's that time of year again. Christmas is fast approaching and the geese are getting fat! And so, in the tea world, we now have a plethora of Christmas tea's available on the market. (Oh so much tea, so little money!).

Today I thought I would review Marks and Spencer's Spiced tea. Now,  I cannot directly link to this product as M&S don't have a website for their food department but this tea will be available in every store on every high street.

A couple of Christmases ago I was really impressed with Marks and Spencer's Mulled Fruit tea and had nothing but praise for that product. It was a great alternative to black tea and perfect for those fruit tea lovers. Well, the product is back on sale this year at M&S though I haven't tried any so not sure if the recipe is the same, but, chatting to folk in the tea world I have been assured if it's not the same, then its certainly very similar!

But this year I decided to try a tea from M&S that I've not tried before - their Spice Tea.

As you can see this tea comes in a delightful little seasonal red caddy, and I'm well and truly a sucker for a lovely caddy that's for sure. It's really rather wonderful isn't it? And, as always with M&S, very tastefully done, too.

Within this caddy there are 50 circular teabags that are filled with a generous amount of tea. I actually found it a refreshing change that the tea is bagged and not loose. I suppose, the whole idea of a Christmas tea is you drink it with family and friends whilst celebrating the holidays, therefore, having the time to make the tea traditionally, in a pot. Due to this tea being bagged you can easily pop a bag into a cup, making it a more accessible tea.

Within the caddy the tea comes in a gold foil bag allowing you to keep the tea lovely and fresh - a practical thing to do which I think is a good idea.

Upon opening the tea I was really interested in the aroma. The tea lists nutmeg, cloves and all spice in it's list of ingredients (amongst other lovely things, too!). And the aroma is fabulous. Really inviting and delicious, and yes, it does sum up Christmas day. Spiced Christmas pudding, oranges, crisp aroma's hanging in the air. Just enticing.

To be fair to this tea, I have prepared this tea as I would any Christmas tea from Twinings or Whittard's or indeed any spiced tea at all. A small drop of milk and a teaspoon of sugar. As much as I'd love to, spiced tea is something I cannot drink black, so I know that this tea will be no different.

I infused the tea for four to five minutes and it infused to a rich colour.

I quickly settled down to drink this tea on a dark, grey, very wet November morning. My first impressions where not overly wowed but not let down by it either.

Despite it's promising aroma, I found the overly strong presence of all spice slightly off putting. Having taken a couple of cups of this tea, I've found that the blending must of been slightly off somewhere as with one bag all you get is all spice, another bag the nutmeg is the stronger flavour. A even blending would of been preferable.

And yet, oddly, despite the strong all spice the tea is slightly lack lustre. Perhaps, as a dedicated tea lover, I'm more used to the stronger Twining's Christmas tea's, maybe, but I found that as the tea cooled it lost it's flavour somewhat. It was all a bit lacking.

So, I threw a half dozen bags into a teapot and brewed it again and I did find that from the pot, it was a lot, lot better.  Perhaps it's because I used more bags and got a better mix of flavours, but from the pot it was evenly flavoured, far stronger and much, much nicer then simply dunking a teabag into a cup. So, despite what I said earlier about convenience, perhaps Christmas tea's are tea's that ought to have a little time invested in it so you can enjoy it's flavours fully, making a more rounded, and far happier experience.

I will be honest, if you are a true tea obsessive, who likes rich flavours, I'd honestly turn to places like Twinings and Whittard for that special Christmas tea. (Both shops have already released their Christmas tea and reviews will be appearing over the next few weeks on both brands). Let's face it they are the experts in tea.

However, if you just want something a little different from your normal all day tea or English breakfast, to make your Christmas  a little more extra special then this really isn't bad at all. If you have friends and family coming for Christmas, invest in a lovely pot (if you don't have one already!) and serve them this on Christmas afternoon.

Marks and Spencers haven't done too badly, but, perhaps next year they ought to look at their blending process so every tea bag tastes the same and is more evenly produced.

But, even after the tea has gone, you're left with a pretty little tea caddy. And that really cannot be bad!

Twinings: Discovery Collection Orangery Of Lady Grey

(Photograph taken from www.twinings.co.uk)

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.

The Real Tea Company: Winter Green Tea

This week has been my lucky week. On Monday, I received a fabulous email from a new start-up tea company called The Real Tea Company who informed a rather ecstatic me, that I was one of the lucky winners of their competition. The prize? A wonderful taster pack which contained three of their tea's and a rather gorgeous heart shaped tea infuser.

Within the taster pack there were three tea's. A English Breakfast blend, an Assam Marsala Chai and a Winter Green tea.

The prize arrived today so I opted for their Winter Green Tea. As regular readers know, of course, I adore green tea. I love it when it's packed full of juicy tropical fruits or soft peachy flavours. But to really experience a green tea, I love to drink it pure, unflavoured as nature intended it to be.

It didn't really take me very long from the tea arriving to the point where I was carefully undoing the cute little brown envelope that contained the tea. As I undid the envelope that all familiar, and much loved aroma of green tea came flowing out, and, yes, my heart did beat a little faster. If there is one tea that gets the tea loving side of Laura going, it's a natural, pure green tea. The last green tea I brought was Twinings Gunpowder Green which was a huge hit for me, and this, I realised, would probably have the same effect on me!

Green tea, as I've often said, is rather like marmite, you either love it or hate it. Very few people in the tea world, or without it actually, sit on the fence with green tea. It's quite divisive and brings out strong opinions in people. Those who loathe it are very quick to tell me, those who adore it happily sit back quietly and enjoy all of it's many benefits.

I am in the love it camp. I always have been. But, I'm exceptionally picky about what green tea I buy. For instance, Twinings recently launched steam green tea was awful. But, on the other side, I'm quite partial to Tetleys Tropical Green, not only for it's fruity taste but for it's added vitamins. Generally though, with the exception of one or two, I tend to buy green tea from tea merchants rather then from the supermaket shelf. That's just my preference, but I like what I like and cannot help that.

I will admit the thought of trying another green tea makes me excited which is why I opted to try the green tea first. I did toy with the idea of the Masala Chai, but honestly, my green tea loving side took over and before I know it I was preparing the Winter Green.

Visually, the tea is striking, with tightly curled leaves, it colour is dark green, boarding on black. The aroma is just gorgeous - it has that all familiar plant like aroma which I find enticing.

The advice on the packaging was to steep the tea for three minutes, but I will admit I always err on the side of caution when it comes to infusing green tea and set the timer for two minutes which I find, for my own personal tastes, is perfect amount of time for green tea. Though, you may like to infuse for a little longer which makes for a stronger, more robust flavoured tea.

I fell in love with the tea during the infusion process because it infuses to a gorgeous emerald green colour. It's really quite striking to see what beautiful colour the tea becomes. I loved it. It sparkles in the mug and is just about beautiful in every way a tea can be.

This tea screams health and goodness. From it's appealing aroma to it's gorgeous appearance you feel as though you are going to be drinking something that is really good for you and that is a wonderful feeling!

So what of the taste?

The tea is strong and fully flavoured. This most certainly isn't one of those wishy washy green tea's.  It's as satisfying as full on black tea. One of the complaints I've had from readers about green tea is that they feel as though they are not getting a proper cup of tea when it comes to green tea, that's it's weak and unsatisfying. That it lacks any oomph. This tea then is the complete opposite. I do feel as though I have had a decent cup of tea, and even after only two minutes steeping time it's strong and most certainly makes it mark.

Winter Green Tea is exactly why I love green tea. It has a earthy flavour which I really like. It's rich and smooth without being overbearing and does not have that bitter twang that a lot of green tea's can have. The taste of this tea is rather like peeling the layers off an onion. With each layer you remove the flavour reveals something new.

Upon first sipping you come across the familiar earthy, vegetation type flavours, which are crisp and brisk and which green tea lovers adore about the tea. Then, the tea takes on rice like flavour that most readers will be familiar with if they have tried a genmaicha tea. (Genmaicha tea is a green tea that is blended with puffed rice and has a very distinct flavour).

Finally, the tea has a smokey flavour which rounds the experience off nicely.

I was really impressed with this green tea. I have been used to drinking a fair amount of Sencha and Gunpowder Green tea's lately which have completely different tastes so it was really nice to get back to what green tea is all about.

I've had a second cup of this tea and honestly enjoyed it as much as the first! It's truly yummy and I'm so impressed. It's tasty and oh so satisfying and comforting when you feeling under the weather (as I am currently) on a chilly, damp, miserable day. It's certainly lifted my spirits!

So, I can only say a huge thank you to Real Tea Company for picking me as one of their winners. I'm really pleased that I got to try your beautiful tea.

And I would like to end this review by wishing this new start up company all the very best for the future. I hope they find all the successes they are due. I shall enjoy watching this company grow!

Wilkinson's Of Norwich: China Black Tea & Orange

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!

How A Zesty Orange Blend Rejuvenated My Love For Tea

My relationship with tea is long lasting and deeply formed. It is unbreakable. But, like any relationship, whether it is a romantic one, a friendship or family ties, it can, at times be taken for granted.

This year has been a year of mixed emotions. It resembled a trip on the choppy waters of the Solent rather that the smooth cruise through the Med that I had hoped for. I've been so happy I could of sung, in the blink of a eye, I've been so sad it felt as though not only my heart, but my entire self was broken.

But through it all my love of tea has remained steadfast, loyal and constant. At times though, it's needed sprucing up!

When it comes to my tea drinking, I've never been one to stick to one brand or type. I cannot honestly say that I've sat and drunk my way through thousands of PG Tips, Tetley or Yorkshire Tea teabags. Quite out of character for me, when it comes to tea,  I'm experimental. In the morning I can be drinking an Earl Grey, at lunch a Gunpowder Green, in the evening a Elderflower. What I'm drinking at 8am isn't even what I'm drinking at 9am. I chop and change and that's how I like it.

Yet, still, I felt, as though I was taking this wonderful drink for granted. That I had lost my true appreciation for it. And it made me sad.

The best tea investment I've made this year then has to be this tea jar from Twinings. It's available in different sizes with different contents. You can get a mixed jar which contains the ever popular loose tea pyramids in all manner of flavours. From Gingerbread Chai to ginger. You can get a jar that contains only Earl Grey tea, and you can get a fruit tea too!

There is nothing nicer in the morning then rummaging around the jar for that first cup of tea, wondering what I'll pull out of the jar. It's a delightful treat that makes me smile. And since I've refilled the jar now, it's crafted especially to my personal tastes so there are no tea's now in the jar that I'm not keen on.

Yet, the one tea that really made me appreciate my love for tea all over again, was a simple but well executed tea that my mum brought for me whilst on holiday in Norfolk. A wonderful, rich and flavoursome black tea with added orange. I took one sip and then instantly I remembered how much I love tea and why I love tea so much.

Tea offer's me solace. It's like a warm, comforting blanket. A friend that is always there in times of need. It's a item of familiarity in unusual situations. It calms me when nervous and upset and brings even more pleasure in the happy times.

I will admit that tea lack's the "up and at 'em" energy boost that so many get from coffee. If you take any commuter train into London first thing in the morning you'll be ankle deep in coffee cups from Starbucks or Costa, the dregs of undrunk coffee sloshing around your feet.

No, tea doesn't do that. It's effect is more gentle - and for me, far more emotional. Coffee is the feisty, amusing cousin. Tea is the steadfastly loyal daughter. Just to take five minutes out to really savour a well prepared cup of tea has to be one of life's luxuries. There are some tea's around, such as a really good Earl Grey or a high quality green tea, that should only be taken at a slow speed. To glug them back whilst you're running out of the door would be criminal.

I have spoken to many people in the tea world, the tea loving consumers and those who produce and sell the tea's we all enjoy. And the one thing that has stuck me is that we place tea on another level. It's not a case of tea, hot water, milk mixing together in a cup to make a passable drink. Tea to the passionate tea lover - such as I - is our life force. The genuine tea obsessive cannot live without it, it courses through our veins rather than blood. We are constantly looking not just towards our next cup, but to the next blend we can try, to the next flavour, always hunting for that next exquisite mug of tea.
For the perfect blend.

And yet, at times during this year, I have taken tea for granted. But no longer. One sip of a perfectly balanced orange flavoured black tea has brought back to me all that I love about camellia sinensis. All of it's exquisite qualities. It's warming properties, it's ability to give comfort, the fact that it will always be here, reliant and trustworthy.

Indeed, it is nice to know, that no matter how happy or sad you are feeling, even if you are on your own, that there is something there, in your kitchen cupboard, that gives you balance, comfort and for a few minutes, peace of mind, even.

So, that is why I love tea. No matter if it's a rich and robust black tea, a light and airy green tea or a zingy fruit tea. To me it's a friend. And a friend I can honestly say I could not live without.

It's not just a thirst quencher. It's not just a comfort giver. It's everything.

And never again will I take it for granted again. From now on every sip will be treasured and appreciated. It's qualities are extra special.

And it doesn't matter if you enjoy a supermarkets own brand or a expensive artisan tea. As long as you enjoy it and treasure it, you'll always have something that little bit special in your life. And that can only be a huge bonus, surely!