Serendipitea Send Message

Forgive my uneducated palate but this smells and tastes to me of a lightly fruity (plum?) flavoured Rooibos ?! At least on the first steep .. I then gave it a second long steep and added a teaspoon of raw sugar which seemed to bring out more of the vanilla flavour that others have described .. It’s quite nice, ‘smooth’, and certainly doesn’t need milk or sugar etc, but it kind of left me wanting more ..

I think I need another cup (or two) to give it a fair rating, and that said I really do want to like it because I covet that tin! But right now I’m kind of on the fence – wouldn’t turn a cup down, but I don’t know that I’ll purchase ..

I emailed Rhonda at H&S about this just last Friday, and she offered to send me a sample which my postie delivered first thing this (Mon) morning – how’s that for excellent customer service ?! Unfortunately I was running out the door when it arrived so all I could manage was a quick sniff, and that was enough to see me rushing thorough my errands and racing back home to try it asap .. And let me say it did not disappoint!

From the dry leaf to the brewed cup it smells of strong sweet cinnamon (YUM!), and even without sugar it’s a treat .. But (imho) it tastes even better with 1teaspoon of raw; no milk though, it would be wrong to adulterate it further!

Sweet Strong Cinnamony Goodness, and the second steep was just as good as the first .. Even as it started to cool off in my cup it was delicious, and this will absolutely definitely find a permanent home in my cupboard and cup :P

While not technically a tea, Black Adder has been a staple in my home for many years .. I love it hot and I love it cold; I just leave the bag in my cup so it gets nice and strong then keep topping up with water until I can no longer taste it ..

It’s also a wonderful blender so if variety is your thing then try it mixed with other herbals or flavoured greens – today I threw a bag of this and a bag of Healtheries Green Tea with Mandarin & Limeflower in my travel mug, filled with boiling water and went on my way = so so good!

It’s very popular with guests, and I really wish I could buy it in larger amounts – this is the only reason I didn’t give it a rating of 100!

I picked this up the other day as I was desperately looking for something new to try amongst the limited range my grocery store stocks .. Went home and excitedly brewed the tea a tad longer than directed on the packet as I love a strong Spicy Chai .. Took a sip and blech, watery and flavourless :(

I stirred in a teaspoon of raw sugar which brought out the cloves (of which it smells strongly), but that was it, no other spices or tea .. By this point I wasn’t sure I would be able to drink it so I continued adding – milk, more sugar, chocolate, cinnamon, until finally had a palatable cup of tea .. I have to say though, it took a lot of effort to get there!

I tried this again twice more the following day, brewing at double strength, bags torn open, in milk, with honey, and a whole variety of other things thrown in, but it just doesn’t do anything for me .. Hence the rest of the box will be left in whatever communal kitchen I’m next at – probably my kids school teachers lounge, where hopefully others will get more joy from it than I did ..

A year ago I would have rated this a lot higher than I will today, partly because I hadn’t tasted many black teas back then, and more to the point because I hadn’t tasted the lovely Lady Grey back then .. To be fair though, I do find this to be a nice cup of tea, with or without milk & sugar – but I’ve decided not to replace it when the current box runs out ..

One other note is that I’ve found some non-flavoured tea drinkers (my parents in particular) complain about the strong floral aroma of the Earl .. They’ve even asked me to not make ‘that perfumed tea’ while on vacation together, which of course I did, but went outside to drink it ..

The Earls ‘better half’ indeed, and oh my she’s as pretty as she tastes ..

I enjoy a Lady Grey any time of the day or night, with or without milk & sugar .. Even my non-tea drinking friends like it’s light floral notes, and I personally amp up the citrus by adding a few drops of Sweet Orange Essential Oil to the tin = Yummy!