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Probably the best mass produced bagged tea in Britain. The Yorkshire Tea brand has been around since the 70s and Taylors of Harrogate since the 19th century. This is a really smooth ‘English breakfast’ type tea that goes well with milk and sugar. Recently my old standby PG Tips changed their blend and now it has a slightly bitter taste. You will not find any bitterness with Yorkshire tea. Just a creamy, malty brew. This is now my everyday cuppa.

Yorkshire gold is Taylors’ premium blend and it is a bit ‘brighter’ but not as ‘malty’ as their flagship brew. YG tends to go bitter if over steeped too.

N.B. It’s pronounced York-sure. ;)

I thought a new personal review of this tea was needed since PG Tips sort of did a ‘new Coke’ last year. Early in 2015 PG Tips reduced the size of their tea bags from 3.1g to 2.9g. To compensate for this minor reduction and still achieve the same great taste the blend was slightly changed. I must say they did a good job of hiding the change. The tea still brews up into that nice malty/cocoa flavour. The only difference I taste is a slight bitterness if it is over steeped. Otherwise this is the same great cuppa it always has been.
A classic Assam, Ceylon, and Kenyan English tea.

I bought this today at The World Market, probably paid way too much for it too! It’s a decent cuppa, more mellow than Yorkshire red, so don’t expect this to be stronger. Nice malty flavours that don’t have a bitter after taste. Yorkshire Gold is a really good black tea, however, it won’t replace my PG Tips .

This is a superb Earl Grey. A bit stronger than the bagged version (as expected) and quite smooth tasting. Recommended for those who believe Twinings changed the US formula in 2006 (see my review of Twinings’ bagged Earl Grey).
I tried the loose leaf version a few years ago and found it a bit weaker than the bagged, perhaps a bad tin?

I’ve been fighting a bad head cold the last couple of days….this tea has saved my life! lol The 5 or 6 times I spend with this tea a day makes the cold almost bearable. It’s like a nice warm blanket.

OK, this tastes a bit more mellow than the Yorkshire “red”…and surprisingly makes a much better cup. I prefer my tea strong, but this was a nice change of pace.

A VERY good backup for my everyday tea PG Tips.

I bought this at the same local store which offers Taylor’s Earl Grey (Which I reviewed) and wanted to take the plunge and try this tea in earnest. Like their Earl Grey, I had heard many great things and looked forward to trying it. Wow! I’m impressed. Tasted wonderful with my bagels this morning….not quite up to PG Tips IMHO, but a decent substitute. If you love strong black tea you will love this!

This is a really good black tea. Rich and flavorful, best served with milk.

Where to begin? I have read so many good things about this tea and could not wait to sample it… plus finding it locally was very convenient. On opening the box doubt began to set in. There was no aroma of bergamot whatsoever, which lead me to think they might’ve made a mistake at the packing plant and put straight black tea in my box! As it started to brew I realized it was indeed Earl Grey because a faint hint of bergamot could be detected wafting out of the cup.

Added my usual splash of milk with two sugars and prepared to be amazed. I was not. It was indeed an Earl Grey, but more lemony and not as strong as I thought it would be. The tea color was a bit redder than Twinings brand (which has a stronger and better flavor) and the underlying taste of the tea was smokier than I anticipated…which isn’t a bad thing.

All and all, not a poor Earl Grey but not a great one either.

N.B. This review is for the bagged version.

My second review for this Earl Grey and I want to take the opportunity to speak up for it. Firstly, this size tea bag is meant for 6 oz of water. If you want more tea use more bags (or import the larger Brit version). Secondly, I’ve read some reviews that stated this is “weak”. Well, Earl Grey isn’t supposed to be a strong tea, though there are versions out there that play up the bergamot a bit more. Personally I think the balance of bergamot and tea taste is perfect in the Twinings blend.
Thirdly, there is a controversy concerning the US version of this tea was weakened in 2006 when the packaging changed (the Brit version was indeed reformulated in 2011, but that’s another pot of tea entirely!) and I want to address that.

I don’t think it was changed at all. The tea was always blended in England and prior to the 2006 package change had been packed in the US. After 2006 it was packed in England and was still blended there, hardly a need to worry there. The new packaging lists the strength of the tea as “light”, whereas before no such indicator was displayed. Perhaps the power of suggestion played into peoples perception of the taste, they were told it is a light tea and tasted it as such.

It is also possible that a bad batch of tea reached our shores in 2006/07. That combined with the new “light tea” description may account for some people detecting a taste difference. An entire blog was devoted to this “change” in 2006 – savetwinings.blogspot.com , but sadly has not been updated since 2009.

Twinings denied any change in their US Earl Grey formula at the time and never have admitted to any changes to the US blend since. I believe them because you can ask any Brit who loves Twinings Earl Grey…the company isn’t exactly shy about tampering with the blend and admitting to it when they do. www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8728913/Twinings-is-changing-Earl-Grey-man-the-barricades.html

Sorry for the rambling nature of this review but I felt this good, solid tea needed a sympathetic defense witness. lol

Yes, I’ve drunk this before, and no I didn’t like it. weak and tepid. If you add copious amounts of milk and sugar you can get by though.

It is better than most store brands…take that for what it’s worth.