The experience of purchasing tea from Fortnum & Masons in London is fun – its poured from a large antiquated looking cannisters into a sealed sachets to take away. There is a lot to choose from and some of the blends probably would not suit my tastes – but they do have a very interesting selection of single estate teas.
I discovered their Castleton Moonlight Darjeeling Oolong – which is wonderful. To me this is the ultimate refreshing tea – its delicate and mellow yet flavourful – and gently uplifting – no hints of bitterness and very elegant. It uses the natural flavour of the leaf with no enhancement and has a soft honey aftertaste and light amber golden colour. It needs no enhancements – no milk or sugar. Even though its not cheap – the leaves can be used up to three times successfully. Its a good daytime or evening tea. Sometimes I use a teapot and strain leaves, but mostly I just add a teaspoon of tea to water in a glass or china cup and watch the leaves swirl.
