Taylors of Harrogate

This will be my first tea log here, so hello, Steepster! I’m Calli, and I’ve been drinking tea since…I think about 2009? I also used to spend a lot of time lurking on Steepster circa 2011-2015, so I blame you all for my tendency toward chattiness whenever I’m blogging. Here’s hoping that this style of tea-logging has not gone too far out of fashion over the years since I’ve been gone and that I am not therefore too annoying for using it. As for why I was gone – health problems, mostly, and during the last two or three years of that time, I just…stopped making tea for some reason. Now, one of my fandoms has accidentally led me back into tasting and ‘learning’ to drink tea all over again, so I figured I might as well document The Journey Back somewhere.

This tea is not, of course, part of the fandom tea activity that’s helping me slowly learn to use my tongue properly again. This tea is one that kind of stuck around in a limited capacity even throughout my absence from the Land of Tea, and is something I buy in boxes of fifty bags at Fresh Market a time or two per year. For many years, I drank all my tea without adornments, and I still do for the most part, but Taylors of Harrogate Scottish Breakfast was always an exception and still is. I always drink this tea with a generous dose of honey (generic wildflower – the current bottle that was supposed to last all spring, but which might, given how early pollen season has started around here, make it another two weeks at most, is Sam’s Club Member’s Mark) mixed in and after letting a slice of lemon float in it for a while. This is because I have absolutely wretched spring allergies, and very strong black tea with honey and lemon is one of the few things that helps with the bevy of symptoms which inevitably outwit, outplay, and outlast my daily doses of Allegra. Sometimes I have to repeat the treatment a time or two throughout the day on a very bad day, but as a rule, I’ll be basically okay after I stop sneezing over and over again, and this mix usually has the power to make me stop sneezing.

Strange shout-out time: I picked up the idea to try this method from a fanfiction author who writes really excellent long-form Chronicles of Narnia stories and goes by rthstewart on Ao3 and ff.net, and is also the reason I’ve spent way too much of the past few years on Ao3. Would definitely recommend checking her out if adult perspectives on Narnia, fiction that deals fairly seriously with religious ideas without devolving into junk religious-genre stuff, or World War II spy dramas (yes, I’m quite serious – these fics were also what led me to read the work of John le Carre) appeal to you at all.

Taylors of Harrogate isn’t, for probably obvious reasons, mentioned by name in the amusing tales of Edmund Pevensie’s attempts to survive partially presiding over a court which prominently features a lot of tree spirits every spring, but it’s become what I imagine when rereading those bits. The box says it’s a mix of second flush Assam and unspecified black teas from Kenya which is supposed to be ideal for soft water, and a bit of quick-googling reveals that my home region apparently has either soft or even, in places, very soft water from the Chattahoochee River, so perhaps this is another reason why the tea and I get along well. This cup was made in a “1990 – Bouquet 100 Years of Royal Albert” mug, which Google says holds about 400ml, and with one teabag. The box says the net weight of the 50 teabags is about 4.41 oz or 125g, so I divided 125 by fifty to try to figure out how much tea might be in each bag. The answer I got was 2.5, so 2.5 grams is what I’m going to assume is the average weight of tea per bag for this blend until/unless I get better info. My apologies if any of these calculations is inaccurate – like I said, I’m still learning my way back around tea after being ‘gone’ for two and a half years.

I steeped it for three minutes with a sand timer, the way I timed tea when I first started drinking it over a decade ago, and the final liquor is a pretty medium brown that looks excellent against this white china. It started out darker, but the slice of lemon seems to ‘bleach’ it a little. Looking through a list of shades of brown, it seems like the cup ends up somewhere near Hex #B7410E (Rust) or Hex #CD7F32 (Bronze). When I take a swallow, the first thing I get is the lemon (perhaps it accentuates the ‘brightness’ cited for the Kenyan teas), followed by an even mix of strong, if somewhat generic, black tea and wildflower honey. I’m sure the tea would have a more distinctive individual taste without the honey and lemon, but I can still tell I’m drinking tea here and not just hot water with lemon in it. It’s dry on the tongue, which I believe is one of its natural attributes which is probably also accentuated by the lemon, and it’s strong without tasting thick, at least in this adulterated form. The associations it brings to mind, if I can be forgiven the abstraction, are things like a sunny morning in a cozy kitchen and someone cheerfully telling you to drink up and get on with your day, which is…more or less what I’m going to do now that I’ve got a decent amount of my old medicinal friend here down my throat and my brain feels a little clearer. It’s definitely not a tea I’d drink for a Fine Tea Experience, but it’s wonderful as a morning pick-me-up. Don’t delay washing up any tea things you use with this one, though, because if you do, it will stain – those tannins are powerful! Do not leave any cup or pot you’re especially fond of in the sink to be washed later, at least not unless you’re trying to ‘season’ your mug in the traditional British fashion.

Went to an Indonesian restaurant last weekend and enjoyed one of the best milk teas I’ve ever had, so I’ve been craving them. Soon after I saw a post about this particular Taylors variety that I hadn’t had before, and couldn’t resist buying some to try. Made a delicious sweetened oatmilk tea this morning- it’s lovely. Really nice, subtle biscuity flavor that works nicely with the bold black tea. So good with the oat milk.

I ordered Tea, Toast & Jam online from the UK because these teas aren’t readily available here. But we ran for errands this evening and stumbled across this!

I went with a double teabag situation and decided to steep 2.5 minutes and I’m quite happy with the result. The base has some tannins, but I’ve made a point of drinking it still while quite warm as I find astringency creeps in with cooling. The base itself has some maltiness and there is a taste of biscuit! It’s hidden within the base (not at the forefront), yet very much there. Actually quite happy with this cuppa.

Taylors Earl Grey Leaf Tea is a solid black tea—leagues above any supermarket black tea. I’ve mostly had it hot, boiled for anywhere between 1 and 8 minutes. Served hot, the tea has robust, tannic notes, typically associated with black teas. The oil of bergamot is rather distinct and overpowers the natural taste of the black tea, especially the more you drink. Depending on your position as a traditionalist or connoisseur, this may not be to your liking. Overall, Taylors Earl Grey Leaf Tea is a solid introductory tea everyone can enjoy.

I had this at my internship orientation earlier this week and I really liked it. It’s hard to find a good bagged fruity green tea and the cardamom wasn’t a lie as I could taste it as well. I snagged a couple of bags to take home and some of their other fun flavors from this collection. I saw it’s like $12 something for 48 bags of this collection on Amazon and might have to snag that deal if the other flavors are as good as this one.

After months of drought, a summer’s worth of noisy storms and rain hit about bedtime last night, so I broke out the big guns this morning to propel myself out the door. This is really strong for a bagged tea, and maybe a little astringent for an Assam. (I haven’t steeped it enough times to land on what I consider perfect steeping parameters.) All the same, with milk, it’s doing its job.

Bagged version, again from a grab-it-because-it-isn’t-local grocery run. The scent is deliciously malty and bready, but I used too big a tumbler and too little time on the first run, and it didn’t translate into equivalent flavor. Upped the time and downed the water on this morning’s cup—better, and much, much zippier. I was highly caffeinated until nearly lunchtime.

Just finished a mug of this and, for a bagged Lapsang, it was pretty nice! Definitely had a mineral/metallic kind of twang to the smokiness, but the body was good and I thought the overall intensity of the smoke notes was the exact sort of campfire-adjacent punch I was looking for.

Only real downside, in my opinion, is that it’s so smoky that it actually permeates the overwrap the tea comes in – so definitely not something I’d want to store alongside other teabags. Instead, it will probably go in my special storage area for all my other smoked teas.

Since I have problems with insomnia, yet like to drink tea of an evening, I buy decaffeinated black teas. For this taste test, I am comparing this Taylors of Harrogate Decaffeinated Breakfast Tea with Ty-Phoo Decaf Black Tea. I poured them both right after each other, one teabag per 8oz cup. I am taste testing them black and unsweetened.
This, the Taylors of Harrogate, came in a 50 gram box of 20 teabags. That means each teabag hold 2.5 grams of tea. Even though I have left the bag inside the cup, it does not taste strong or assertive to me.
The box only identifies it as “…seriously flavor-packed teas from the Rift Valley in Southwestern Kenya, then gently decaffeinate the blend using a natural process.”
It is mild as black tea goes. It tastes weaker than the Ty-Phoo Decaf.
Since neither brand really gives much in the way of origins for the teas in their respective blends, there’s not a lot to go on, flavor-wise.
This tea IS good for someone like me, who’s more interested in just having a nice, mild cuppa (or 3) of an evening, so I can enjoy it without worrying I won’t be able to sleep. It’s also good, blended with others. It is not a standout blend, but it works fine for a nightcap cup of tea.
Not too special, but it works for what it is.

TTB teabag. This tasted really nice! I liked how malty it was. I would drink this again. It was really nice with milk and sugar, especially when it cooled.

Single bag from a previous TTB. This ends up a bit watery, but I enjoy the quality of the black tea. It’s a little biscuity and pleasant with sugar and milk. I would use less water if I made this tea again.

Delicious full bodied tea from a bag, who knew?

I have been off my tea game for most of this year. Moving got the best of me and then all of the sudden I started drinking more and more coffee. I’m trying to snap out of it though. I drank tea before work today so thats good. The last of this actually. Its fine. Stands up to milk and sugar. I tried the gold version first but maybe I should have started with the regular? Its ok. Easy every day tea. There are probably other black teas I like more tbh.

I tried a bag from the TTB and then bought a box online. This tea isn’t bad, it has a bit of an astringent bite so you know it is tea, and a nice jammy note at the end. I might prefer Taylor’s Assam for a caffeine kick, but this is a close second for a nice cuppa from a bag.

TTB tea! I’ve seen this tea get a lot of hype on here, so I was excited to see it in the box. I like it! If I drank caffeinated teas daily, I would consider keeping some of this around. It’s mostly malty black tea, and there’s something biscuity and interesting about it. Sweetened with milk, I was really pleased with it.

A sipdown! (M: 7, Y: 7)
Sipdown prompt: A grocery store blend — correct me if wrong?!

And steeped for 2 minutes in 80°C water, so definitely not oversteeped with wrong tea temperature. Thank you anyway for new tea bag wrappers for my collection. That counts and that is a positive thing.

The TTB has arrived! So big, so many teas… no chance to try them all!
Tea #9

Okay. I have no idea how they translated a toast into my mug. But they did, and well. It’s indeed a bit burnt side toast, but it is bready.
I have been expecting a bit more from jam. It’s there, but this strawberry jam was just slightly smeared on that, a little burnt toast.

Happy that I have tried it (no milk), but based on that hype all around, maybe I was expecting a bit more. Or I just need to re-try it with milk. But nevertheless, interesting tea and execution was well done. Better than expected.

Sampled from the Strange VariaTea Traveling Tea Box

ExcuUUUuse me, but who give this bagged tea permission to be so delightful?! Goodness.

I recently started my first social work internship and had my final day of orientation/training on Thursday. I brought one of these teabags in my KeepCup, but alas — I could not find a SINGLE WORKING HOT WATER HEATER/KETTLE at the office! There were a few of those dual hot/cold water dispensers, but none seemed to actually heat the water. Cue me holding a cup of lukewarm water with a teabag floating sadly in it.

Reader, I drank it. What else was I to do?! And you know what… it was fine. Surprisingly not bad. I could tell this tea was going to be yummy once I was able to, y’know, brew it properly.

And it was! So yummy and cozy and malty and sweet-but-not-sweet. I’ve gotta get me a box of this.