Fortnum & Mason

A couple of our generous friends gave us Williams Sonoma gift cards as wedding gifts. My wife, who is a pastry chef and all-around fabulous cook, loves this store for all of its cool cooking gadgets and utensils. I guess Williams Sonoma is her Best Buy.

Anyhow, we were at Williams Sonoma to see what we could purchase with our gift certificates. I assumed we would spend them all on some fun cooking toys for her. That was fine with me because I would reap the rewards by eating all of the great food items that she would create. However, always the wonderful and selfless soul that she is, my wife insisted that I buy some of the fine imported teas that Williams Sonoma offers.

The first one I chose was the Royal Blend by Fortnum & Mason. The tin brags that this tea was “first blended for King Edward VII and hugely popular ever since”.

I could smell the Assam tea in the short brown leaves when I pried open the lid. I steeped this tea at 212 degrees for four minutes. I also followed the tin’s recommendation to add an extra teaspoonful of tea leaves “for the pot”.

There was no discernible aroma wafting from the brewed liquor. The color was a golden red.

The first sip sent pretty standard tea flavors into my tastebuds. The taste was full, malty, and a little spicy. I also thought at first that I was experiencing a tad of bitterness. I didn’t want to rush to judgment, though, so I kept my eye…or…buds…on it through the next several gulps.

My conclusion was that the flavor was not bitter but slightly tangy. Perhaps that was the Assam. The taste of this tea was somewhat schizophrenic because there also was a smoothness to it. Maybe that was the blended Ceylon. Or, maybe vice versa.

This is a nice flavorful black tea without bells and whistles. The overall taste is standard black tea but there is a complexity to the Assam and Ceylon blend that gives it something extra. I couldn’t detect the sweetness that some have mentioned. I also wouldn’t classify it as an exciting blend. But, hey, if this tea was good enough for Queen Victoria’s son, who am I to complain?

I am still love, loving this tea which I brought back from London what seems like a million years ago and a million teas ago. I have kept it stored really well and it still tastes AMAZING. Yum, yum, yum. It is like a pastry in a cup all sweet with a tinge of baked goodness.

Not feeling so good this morning…I drank this on the way to work as it is slightly sweet and honeyed. See previous notes for HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS TEA!

Another tea I love. See previous notes.

Drank this tea on the way to work this AM. I needed something sweet to help celebrate the new year! I’ve been drinking lots of tea of late but nothing noteworthy (hence my disappearance). I love the steepster community and am VERY THANKFUL to have you all as we ring in 2013. I adore this tea and love to celebrate!

This tea is so pleasant and understated. It is a great blend. I choose it today for the way to work as today I am getting a root canal. I am nervous, and really aggravated as I only learned of the need for this root canal YESTERDAY and my general M.O. is that these things need days and days notice so I can get myself ready. ARG. Back to the tea: it is simply a great blend. Maybe not toooooo brisk or jolt-y so generally I drink it mid-day not morning. BUT! today needed happy, calm, relaxing…etc.

I got this tea when I was in London a few months back. I’m not sure why I have not logged it yet. I LOVE this tea. As the description states it is very sweet and mellow. IT is a great tea to sip all day as the flavors are not overpowering or tiring.

This tea has great associations for me – my amazing trip to London with my husband, the beauty of the Fortnum & Mason store, the freeing feeling of being on vacation, the wonder of exploring new places.

This is one of my favorite teas. Now I just need to get to London to buy some more!!!

A milder, lighter, less astringent peppermint tea. I actually prefer more punch in my peppermint, but this is a perfect choice for more delicate palettes.

This tea is a gift from a friend of mine. She bought it at the Picadilly store when she visited London.

I took all the caution for the preparation and as I read on tin (in very small characters) that it was a strong tea, I decided not steeping it too long.

Good idea, because it is really a strong tea ! Waouh it’s a real breakfast tea : it sounds the bugle to ensure you are awake.

The palate is heavily malted with a light bitterness after taste. No doubt it’s robust as assam can be.

I had it plain with sugar and I liked it but I’d like to try with a cloud of milk next time.

I may have systematically brewed it at too high a temperature… However I have tried it with shorter and shorter steeping time. I found the tea always tasted too bitter for my taste. The quality of the leaves seem however rather nice.
A box was given to me as a Christmas present; I have probably tried it between 5 to 10 times, always ended up draining the teapot in the sink after 1 to 2 cups that I had not enjoyed.
I’ve also tried it iced without success.
I will probably end up throwing it away…

…very strong flavors. I guess the explanation of it’s profound taste lays within the fact that King Edward VII was a heavy smoker. Anyways, I do like it on my palate and love the awakening effect. I do recomment to try this tea with a slice of lemon. That transforms this blend into a refreshing summer tea. The Assam will still be able to push through nicely.

I picked up this tea in a hurried trip round Fortnum & Mason, post obligatory ice cream parlour visit – lovely!
The tea section, although very similar to the great Tea Emporiums of Europe, is a little smaller in size, but has a subtley different range available compared with others (see Tea Palace or Mariage Frères) which therefore makes it a bit of a treasure trove – this occasion I was on a hunt for a lovely Oolong, as my cupboard was sorely lacking. I simultaneously purchased this tea and Formosa Poochong Oolong Tea.
How to brew?
Well, don’t over do it – don’t add to many leaves as this this stuff is £200/kg !! – and also don’t brew too long, it really does go quite bitter and unpleasant in my opinion, and I believe it should be a light green-brown, not the dark brown I get the times I forget how quickly this brews! I would say 2mins, then check it, then brew further to taste. And brew off the boil, just say 90-95 degrees.
What about the taste?
Lovely, quite rich and filling, I prefer this one late afternoon, it’s too heavy for during the day – although it could also be an “unwind” tea for the evening. Because it’s an oolong it does have more, shall we say, “meat” to it, than my usual light coloured teas, it has a wonderful dusty burned feeling, both in the raw spirally leaves when they come tumbling out of the packet, and in the taste, like you can feel where it’s been before it made it to your tea cupboard!
It has got some sharp notes, like a sort of citrus flavour, and then the after taste can be a bit like bitter lemon, if like me you brew it a minute too long by accident (which I seem to do every time I brew this after not brewing it in a while!).
Anything else?
Simply that although the tea is expensive (£10 my 50g cost me!), the leaves are re-brewable – you could easily get 3 out of it, and each one would taste different, but also the leaves are large and light, so the bag came to the same size as the 125g I bought of Formosa Poochong.
I am going to rate this as good, not at the very top of tastiness, simply because it can be hard to brew (and that is subjective to personal taste anyway) and because it’s very expensive but as enjoyable as my other oolong, which is more flowery.

A bergamot tea connoisseur once told me that this is the best brand for Earl Grey Tea but it’s from UK. Fortunately, a year afterward, Williams-Sonoma started carrying this so I get to try this wonderful tea. It’s definitely my favorite Earl Grey Tea along side with Dilmah.

I also used it to flavor ice cream and it was a hit among my friends.

it’s been a while {of course I don’t update my steepster regularly} since I had a cup of this EG. I’m sticking with the high rate, the most enjoyable thing is the aftertaste, so bergamoty! I just read today of the existence of a couple of bergamot trees in California. It would be nice to make your homemade EG blend. I’ll do my research about such wanted fruit here in Mexico City

A really good EG, specially with the fresh bergamot smell sneaking out of the tin, once you brew it, it’s not over empowering, just has this refreshing after taste. The black tea base is bold, like a nice wake up slap in the morning.

I had this last Sunday at a girly tearoom, and I thought this was awesome! It smelled so flowery that I thought a flower was blooming in my cup. :) Even bees would love it because it tasted strongly of honey (I was not sure if any honey was added to the tea, though)! A delicate and sweet tea indeed. I was glad that I had chosen it from the menu!

TRIUMPHANT AT LAST! I’ve got my mitts on some Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend. I’ve been on a quest for this tea for a few months now, and finally resorted to paying a hefty randsom on Ebay for it. But it’s fresh, and it’s mine and that’s a bit of ‘jubilee’ for me!

Next order of business, the tea cup I select to taste it in is also important, for savoring my victory, so … (choose carefully)…. and the nominees are— ‘Red Tower’ by Copeland Spode, and ‘Silver Birch’ by Royal Albert…. and the Royal Blend goes to — the Royal Albert! Splendid! Congratulations, you fine china teacup. I shall enjoy you as well.

Now for the tea. I managed to obtain a 50 gram cardboard box which — pleased to discover — contains 25 individually sealed packets. Good, that’ll last longer, and portable too, if I should wish to gloat about my conquest in some public place. {BONUS!}

One tea bag makes a 1 liter pot, as any good british tea will. None of this single bag=single cup american marketing cozenage. This box of 25 tea bags is looking like a much better return on the investment {another BONUS!}

At this point, it hardly matters what it tastes like, it would have to resemble raw sewage to ruin my day now. Which, fortunately, it is no such thing. It’s … typically british, non-offensive… warm…. comforting… taking it straight up without milk or sugar. The milk and the sugar are wating in the wings to further draw out my victory celebration, but right now, it’s straight tea all the way. ahhhh….. sigh. Victory tastes sweet.

And the tea is good too.

This is my favorite classic Earl Grey tea, the one I always goes to. No competition.

It’s the best earl grey I have ever tasted, and it doesn’t have that awful aftertaste that lingers in your mouth long after taking a zip.

This tea I purchase from Fortnum & Mason, again and again and again and again. Their tea is pricey, but the best.

The morning cuppa. Not my very favorite tea due the extreme briskness, but it has a bit of oompf for the morning time. Better with some soymilk to mellow it out. Someday I’d like to try some other teas from Fortnum & Mason.

This one is definitely a bit on the brisk side for yours truly but it is still enjoyable with (soy)milk and perhaps some sugar… see my previous notes if interested. :)

This came as a belated Christmas gift from a friend who says it is one of her favorites – it’s good to have friends that have nice taste in tea. :)

This Assam comes as one of their “stronger black teas”. I steeped mine at boiling for around 3.5 minutes. It’s pleasantly robust, very malty and smooth. There is an underlying fruitiness in this blend which I am quite enjoying. You get a bit of pungency in the finish which I am not loving, and overall it’s a bit strong for me. This is one I will definitely need to take with soymilk and a pinch of brown sugar.

The boyfriend seems to like stronger black teas and he took to this more readily than I did.