twining's green tea- thumbs down

[ChrisW]

Having enjoyed jasmine-flavored tea before, I noticed Twining's Jasmine Green Tea on the grocery shelf. "Ooh, a royal warrant, it must be good". After drinking through half the box, I'm thoroughly dissapointed. Not only do I not detect a single hint of jasmine flavor or aroma, it gives me stomach upset and nausea when I drink it. Sometimes I can't even finish the cup, due to stomach discomfort. The Queen of England must not have very good taste if she swills this everyday.

[stobes21]

Having enjoyed jasmine-flavored tea before, I noticed Twining's Jasmine Green Tea on the grocery shelf. "Ooh, a royal warrant, it must be good". After drinking through half the box, I'm thoroughly dissapointed. Not only do I not detect a single hint of jasmine flavor or aroma, it gives me stomach upset and nausea when I drink it. Sometimes I can't even finish the cup, due to stomach discomfort. The Queen of England must not have very good taste if she swills this everyday.

I've never been impressed with any of their offerings. Pre-packaged tea bags are usually pretty marginal, and the Twinings I have had is stale too.

[ouch]

Are those tea bags?

[jzono1]

It's green, and temperemental at that. Watch your brewing temperature carefully if you want to get anything good out of it. 80-75C, but no more than that. TBH, skip green teas from twinings, either go for the decent white(at double the price), or get what they do best, black tea.

[ouch]

I stopped drinking green teas when I realised that it's only fresh for about a month, and it takes a month to get here from China.........

[SepticTank]

The Queen of England must not have very good taste if she swills this everyday.

Just because it has a Royal Warrant on it doesn't mean that HM the Queen consumes it - it merely indicates that they supply something in the same line to the Royal Household - so the Twinings might well be the stuff that gets dished out at garden parties to the great unwashed.

I'm pretty sure HM doesn't use Brasso (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brasso) herself - but it too has a Royal Warrant on it...

As for Twinings - can't stand any of their blends - whoever does them doesn't share my taste

[Bobtrumpet]

I PIf'ed their regular Green Tea to a co-worker who likes green tea. After several tries, I am just not a green tea fan.

I do like a number of Twining's Teas: Earl Grey, Lady Grey, English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast (a bit strong, but good), and Ceylon Orange Pekoe. I know they are not generally considered top-of-the-line, but they are fine for me.

[Proinsias]

If you get something well sealed in small packs I find it pretty good 6/8 months after harvest time. As soon as the bag is opened it's a race against time coupled with a want to make it last a little while that makes life tough.

Some of the Japanese greens aren't ready until they've had a few months to mature but that might be like recommending Spanish wine to yourself, ouch.

I would stay away from Twinning's for green tea. There are plenty online vendors with far better quality and freshness for the same price.

For jasmine try to stay away from the artificially flavoured stuff. Jasmine pearls and jasmine rings are usually a slightly safer bet than just loose leaf with jasmine, on the rare occasion I go for jasmine I prefer the 'girls ring' jasmine.

[Ltltony]

I'm a fan of the Ceylon breakfast

http://www.teedosen.de/botw/tw26.jpg

[Hobbesoxon]

Having enjoyed jasmine-flavored tea before, I noticed Twining's Jasmine Green Tea on the grocery shelf. "Ooh, a royal warrant, it must be good". After drinking through half the box, I'm thoroughly dissapointed. Not only do I not detect a single hint of jasmine flavor or aroma, it gives me stomach upset and nausea when I drink it. Sometimes I can't even finish the cup, due to stomach discomfort. The Queen of England must not have very good taste if she swills this everyday.

I'm with you, this tea is largely worthless.

The Royal Warrant is for the Twinings real tea - special grades of loose-leaf that the company supplies specially for good hotels and other institutions. The company also sells tons of crushingly average tea in teabags to supermarkets in their countless thousands. Needless to say the two products are dissimilar to say the least... :chinese:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[sol92258]

I'm with you, this tea is largely worthless.

The Royal Warrant is for the Twinings real tea - special grades of loose-leaf that the company supplies specially for good hotels and other institutions. The company also sells tons of crushingly average tea in teabags to supermarkets in their countless thousands. Needless to say the two products are dissimilar to say the least... :chinese:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

I knew Hobbes would come through on this...

Ironically, today is the first day I've tried any of Twinings' products, the Earl Grey - coincidentally and ironically my first tasting of Earl Grey. It's okay, for my inexperienced palate, but I certainly don't expect it to be indicative of true Earl Grey

[SepticTank]

I certainly don't expect it to be indicative of true Earl Grey

Indeed not - Fortnum & Mason is the peak of EG to me. Although Jenners of Edinburgh comes close (and as it's close by here, my EG blend of choice)

[Ltltony]

Indeed not - Fortnum & Mason is the peak of EG to me. Although Jenners of Edinburgh comes close (and as it's close by here, my EG blend of choice)

Fortnum & Mason is pretty good but not my favorite.

You may find this interesting.
http://mysite.verizon.net/lcatanzaro/TendingTowardTea/EarlGrey/Rating.html
I was surprised at how low she scored Fortnum.

She seems to like tea in bags so I wouldn't put too much stock in her ratings.

[SepticTank]

Fortnum & Mason is pretty good but not my favorite.

You may find this interesting.
http://mysite.verizon.net/lcatanzaro/TendingTowardTea/EarlGrey/Rating.html
I was surprised at how low she scored Fortnum.

Then again like razors and blades - we're all entitled to our own opinions and tastes. She rates Twinings EG as 5 star - I rate it as undrinkable...

EG should be tea flavoured with oil of bergamot - not a beverage of oil of bergamot with a hint of tea... if I wanted to drink oil of bergamot, I'd cut out the tea altogether :biggrin:

Wee bags of fustings she can keep - I'll stick to proper leaf tea in a tea pot

[Ltltony]

EG should be tea flavoured with oil of bergamot - not a beverage of oil of bergamot with a hint of tea... if I wanted to drink oil of bergamot, I'd cut out the tea altogether :biggrin:
:lol::lol::lol::lol:



Wee bags of fustings she can keep - I'll stick to proper leaf tea in a tea pot

I couldn't believe she was rating tea and for most of the ratings she used bags.:confused1:hang:


I am still on the hunt for a favorite Earl Grey.

[mankini]

Tea is one of those quintessential treats. Different tastes for different folks. Recently I had the pleasure to try some green tea a colleague brought back to the US direct from China. Wow, this stuff exploded in my mug of not to hot water and went for several cups before losing its potency. The smell and taste was superb. I have one of the vacuum sealed little bags it came in and am looking for as vendor near my home. If I score I will report.

[1969Fatboy]

I admit about the quality of twinings. I do use the earl grey on occasion but for the price.....what do you expect. Convenience and price tend to over take quality with teas.

[SepticTank]

I admit about the quality of twinings. I do use the earl grey on occasion but for the price.....what do you expect. Convenience and price tend to over take quality with teas.

This side of the pond, 125g of Twinings is substantially more than 125g of Jenners - the difference is that Jenners is available in 2 places (their main store in Edinburgh and their concession at Edinburgh airport), Twinings is everywhere...

[ant4177]

Before you give up on Twinings please try Afternoon tea. Like someone else said they are really only good for black tea.

[Hobbesoxon]

Twinings Lapsang Souchong can be OK, if you like pine. :)


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[Taipei Personality]

Twinings Lapsang Souchong can be OK, if you like pine. :)


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

Wow, talk about a rush of memory! I tried Twinings Lapsang Souchong for the first, and last, time over 20 years ago and could never put finger (palate?) on the taste. It's pine, alright!

[Hobbesoxon]

Wow, talk about a rush of memory! I tried Twinings Lapsang Souchong for the first, and last, time over 20 years ago and could never put finger (palate?) on the taste. It's pine, alright!

Jeps, they smoke it over pine logs (or so they say)! Unfortunately, it gives them a license to use lower-grade tea. If ANYONE has come across a lapsang souchong that's actually made out of good tea, do please let me know. I've been trying for years... :chinese:


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

[Proinsias]

I had some rather nice lapsang souchong from Teaspring last summer listed, approximately, as Zheng Shan Souchong. They seem to have three other lapsangs on offer at the moment. I've not tried them personally but I've heard a few thumbs on teachat for the lapsang at teaspring.

I'm currently ploughing through some from Harvey Nicks which is distinctly mediocre.

[Hobbesoxon]

Teaspring, I should have known! Great for greens, and I'll check them out for the lapsang. Ta!


Toodlepip,

Hobbes

P.s. Lapsang souchong = zhengshan xiaozhong when written in actual pinyin (proper-mountain, lesser-type)