TWG Tea Company

huh…mango you say? I think not. I’m going to have to try this one again to see what i can make of it but colour me unimpressed with my first try of TWG teas courtesy of omgsrsly! :)

the science continues…

This tea is very romantic. It’s also very expensive. I bought this without knowing the price and without knowing that it’s a decafe blend. It is 34.00/100g!!! Ouchie.

At first sniff: It is very floral and berry like. I love the smell of it. It’s very elegant, regal, decadent in a gentle way. The vanilla enhances all these smells. It’s what sold me on getting the tea in the first place. The tea is pretty plain but hidden in the leaves are some dried strawberries.

At first steep: It’s definitely floral, so for those of you who don’t like floral teas, you might want to turn in the other direction and walk towards another tea. I like it with a little milk and sweet. Today I had it without any sweetener. I’m letting the aroma do the talking. I wish it wasn’t decaf, it might be a little cheaper then. I’m not sure if I’ll restock once this 100g is gone, it’s lovely, but is it worth the price?

Room temp and Re-steep Note

Room temp – the tea is very subtle, it looses a lot of the kick to it that I love about it.

Re-steep – the citrus note when smelling it is much higher, compared to the first steep. It’s also weaker and I steeped it for 7 mins again with less water in it. I could probably get away with it if I steeped it for longer, so the flavour is stronger, but I find it’s a watered down version.

OHHH Christmas Tea, Oh Christmas Tea, how lovely are your brannchesss (I’m fetching a little on this one, but still.)

You know those smells, those smells that reminded you inexcusably of Christmas. I’m talking those candles you sniff that take you back to the kitchen where all the spices are being used for baked goods and holiday dishes… smells of cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, citrus, brown sugar, yams, butter… OH MY!

This tea is the tea version of said candles or other such scents. It literally oooozes Christmas when I smell it. I am a Christmas lover, my door has a wreath on it November 1, and after November 11, it’s fair game, and I go Christmas nuts. I love the smells, the cool air, the snow (if we’re lucky enough to get any) and the colours of Christmas. It is by far my favourite time of year, that an autumn. OHH Christmas Tea.

Dry Smell: Smells of ginger, cloves, citrus, with a very SLIGHT smell of almost medicinal qualities to it. It takes over your nose and has you close your eyes and just think of the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year!”

Steeped: It smells exactly the same, filling the entire room with the lovely smell of Christmas time. Pine cones, ginger, cloves, gingerbread all wrapped up in one luxurious tea. It’s one I come back to over and over when I want a herbal/rooibus tea that doesn’t need sweetening and is so so so satisfying. It does have a slight medicinal quality to it as well, and I find it’s better straight, as oppose to adding milk. It coats your mouth with a fresh feeling, while warming your insides like you’re sitting next to a fire.

I haven’t tried re-steeping it yet, but I was thinking of trying it today, as the tea is a little on the pricey side (20.00 per 100g) because it’s hoity toity. It’s hands down by far my favourite rooibus tea. No fake taste here, just pure joy. I gulp it down it’s so good, sometimes I have to remind myself to let the taste simmer in my mouth.

A beautiful oolong, highly aromatic, mid-large leaves.

This tea is deliciously tantalizing. The slightly bitter taste of green tea and sweet, full, delicious aroma of berries and vanilla goes so well together. This tea doesn’t have a grain of sugar but the aroma alone is very satisfying and pleasing to all senses. I had this tea while having an afternoon tea @ a prestige hotel in Singapore. At first I was a bit skeptical but after having it, I was content with my choice.

Cause it was about the time I went to bed the last time I tried it , there remained half cup of it(I didn’t throw the tea leaf cause my infuser was busy with sth else,and coincidentally I dropped the leaf into my whisky tumbler ,which matched its alcohalic character LOL
Cooling down,the tea appears much more cocoa-y,very smooth with a pleasant yet very weak astringency and satisfyingly sweet aftertaste.There are more chocolate notes than coffee or alcohol once it’s cooled(The tea does have unique and huge changes with temperature!I’m so happy it taste just the type I’m into with the magical hands of temperatureNormally I would be somehow a little eager for milk when drinking cocoa,but this time ,the liquor is amazingly delicious without making me wanna try any addition!
And it’s such a relief the tea won’t go bitter or less delightful even when you leave the tea leaves a whole night!A very good and steady choice even when I’m not home, without my infuser or something.

Strangely the liquor reminds me of the cocktail “Black Russian”,with the cloying and creamy touch of sweetness as if it’s the effect of coffee liqueur(I don’t get sweetness that directly,it’s just a feeling of its texture and scents maybe).Then I just keep thinking about brandy、coconut and rum ,how could it happen that it’s alcohol-free?!
Some time ago I heard somebody said she loved this tea cause she got lots of cocoa bean here.Oh but I think this is more like white chocolate with alcohol (especially coffee liqueur),cocoa has been completely transformed into some dizzying dessert with lots of alcohol……

The main reason I bought a 50g loose version of this was that I missed The THÉ À L’OPÉRA by Mariage Freres so much.No one in my country sells those bulk thus much cheaper version for a long time,so the price goes much higher （about tripled!It’s unbearable !)as to actually the same tea than it used to be,what a pity! And from the introduction of Silver Moon,I figured there may be a good chance they would taste somehow alike.
Bingo!I’m right!Apart from the sweet strawberry aroma,the two are 70-85 percent alike!The A l’Opera does a much better job though——more intense and refined vanilla 、 exotic dried fruit sweetness 、dark amber&soft leather& red berries and robust but elegant incense scent (which reminds me of Tibet) ,while Silver Moon tends to be girly,reminding me of the word “Kawaii” (yes the Japanese one).
The dry leaf smells like some kind of sweet beverage 、strawberry candy or some yogurt&strawberry ,than I get a touch of jade greenness sniffing them rather closely,just like what I get from Opera Tea(plus the dry green leaf look just the same with Opera,in both shape and color).The liquor tastes like Opera with slighter vanilla while without the fantastic incense-caused luxury(/ indulgence),but luckily they shared the same kind of green tea base!Very intense green tea but without any darkness or astringency,thus mellow、light and fragrant . I really like this kind of tea base ,does anyone know what kind of green tea particularly they used in Opera or Silver Moon?
BTW ,Steeping the last brew with only a little water longer and stronger , the taste tended to be more tart&sweet ,girly and strawberry-like,somewhat like tea-and-strawberry-added candy and strawberry yogurt ,not completely my cup of tea concerning the presence of strawberry(I wish it could be replaced by(or cooperated with) some wilder 、more robust and flavorful red berries,cranberry 、raspberry and acai may do the trick?).Anyhow it’s quite soothing and pleasant,with high quality and good potential

I love this tea! It tastes exactly like sakura when you steep it properly. I drink this when I crave for the sakura jelly (with real sakura inside) that I bought in Japan.

Here’s how I prepare this tea:

1. Pour 1/4 cup of 80c water on 1 tbsp of Sakura! Sakura! tea. Steep for 15 secs.
2. Drain the water. You won’t be needing it.
3. Pour 1 cup of 85c water on the strained tea leaves. Steep for 1m15s.

I add sugar to enhance the flavor of the cherry blossoms. And yes, you’ll definitely taste the sakura MORE when the tea is colder.

Sipdown!

I just chucked what was left into a basket and put hot water over it. Nothing scientific at all. The water had cooled some, but IDK what the temperature might be. 3 minutes later, I had to add honey.

It’s just SO perfumy it’s hard to drink.

Thanks to CrowKettle for the sample.

Umm. It’s a white tea. It smells really nice and fruity and sweet – almost perfume-like. It tastes fruity and sweet, but I can kind of tell it’s flavoured, as it’s not exactly super subtle. IDK.

I think I brewed it wrong because I am getting some bitterness and it’s drying my mouth out. White teas aren’t my favourite, so I want CrowKettle to try this tea so I can copy her brewing methods. :)

(1 tsp in 8 oz, because I can’t find instructions anywhere!)

It’s done! Finally!

Not a tea I’ve loved. The flavour is just way too much. I mean, it smells lovely but completely overpowering, and if overleafed at all it feels like I’m drinking mango perfume.

I think I like mango tea, but perhaps a milder mango tea.

Decided to have a batch of this since I’ll be heading down to the Urban Tea Merchant this week for some intel. :D

It’s… mango tea. I’ll have to cold brew some to see if it’s better that way. There’s loads of mango and vanilla, but it’s almost woody and seriously astringent, and it feels like I’m breathing perfume. I steeped at 195F for 4 minutes… it shouldn’t be astringent.

Sadly this doesn’t make me excited to try more of their teas. Especially considering the cost of some of them. However, I will go and get some stuff… FOR SCIENCE! And for a curious friend. :)

Had this tea this morning while listening to a defence. It was tasty, and I enjoyed it. The defence was pretty good, too. :)

I’ve mostly been drinking iced teas this week, the same stuff as usual. I keep trying to get up earlier, or get home earlier so I can prepare and drink more teas, but it hasn’t happened yet. And it probably won’t for a while. I’m so busy at work, and since I can’t have any food or drinks in the lab, my tea consumption has dropped considerably.

This is one perfumy tea. Wow.

The scent is a super strong, super floral mango. I mean, think of the ripest mango ever that hasn’t quite started smelling boozy, and amplify the scent of the skin by 1000. This is one seriously strong tea.

I decided to try it iced, to see what I think. I think I overleafed, honestly. 2.5 tsp in just over a cup of almost boiling water for 2 minutes. I added a “smidgen” of baking soda and 1/4 tsp honey to see if I could get an iced black tea to taste… good, instead of bitter or astringent.

All I can taste is the flavour. All I can smell is the flavour. My kitchen is now an Alfonso mango.

The honey was a wise choice, but I’m not sure the baking soda was needed here. I think I’m going to finish the glass, then do a re-steep to see if maybe I managed to wash away some of that MANGO!scent.

Edit: The second steep at almost 4 minutes is much more pleasant, in that it’s way less perfumy and tastes more like tea with mango. I’ll probably throw away the first (short) steep in the future, as I highly prefer the second.

I got this at The Urban Tea Merchant.

Hmm. So far not terribly impressed. I can’t find any steeping instructions on their website, so I’m going with my general black-tea-brewing-parameters: 2 tsp, 16 oz water just off the boil, 3 minutes.

The tea smells delicious. Mango and other tropical fruits kinda attack the nostrils when opening the bag.

After steeping, the tea still smells of mango, with a strong black tea base in the background. 3 minutes worked perfectly as the tea is completely drinkable as-is. The mango flavour is a little odd, and seems to get a little lost in the strong base. I added a little sugar, sipped, shrugged, and added some soy creamer.

The mango is mostly lost, sadly. I can smell it, and sort of taste it, but I’m mostly getting a breakfast tea taste from this, only a little fruitier.

I’ll have to try this one iced and cold-steeped. Not something I’d rush out and buy more of, but I don’t have another mango tea in my cupboard, and I think that this one, as is, will be a good morning travel mug tea.

Edit: As it cools it’s getting more floral. IDK. I’m ambivalent.

This came to me via a co-worker to whom it was served at a hotel in the United Arab Emirates. Looked up the company; it’s Singaporean and has a very tony, elegant website. Opened the pouch; beautiful fabric bag. Tasted the tea; flat.

It’s a basic, “brown” tasting breakfast tea, getting a little bitter as it cools. Kind of a disappointment, as I had anticipated something posh.

Ah, well. It’s still always fun to add a new one to the tasting list.

The smell of the dry tea is absolutely heavenly and very strong… I could almost start eating the tea with a spoon.
And among the rooibos leaves, there are small pieces of fruits and dried entire small berries (round very small ones – dark color but original color difficult to identify on the dried fruit).
After brewing, the color is a bright brownish red and the smell o so fragrant.

The taste was also very strong, very mellow fruity but with a surprisingly tart flavor. I absolutely did not expect this bittersweet, tart, almost sour taste from the smell; I do not find it unpleasant but I’m sure it might offend the buds of other people.
I spend quite some time trying to figure out what it might come from: I believe it comes from the berries. At first, without any reason but the size of the berry (and my quick assumption), I assumed they would be blueberry or gooseberry. But this was not the taste of such fruits – as it was more tart than tangy, for a gooseberry and not as sugary fruity enough for blueberry. After some thinking, I finally realized those might be a different kind of berries, not so much used for “direct” consumption (think picking raspberries from the bush and eating them instead of filling in the bucket) than for “transformation / use as an ingredient”. And then sloe berry (berry from the blackthorne; prunelle in French) came to my mind. Maybe it was cranberry but I’m not so sure about that.

I’ve had it a few times and am still surprised by the taste at each new brew. I cannot really make out my mind about it. Strange!

No rating, because I think I screwed up somehow this.

A sample, so kindly sent by LaFleurBleue and my very first TWG tea (first singaporean tea as well). I am very fond of mangoes, am pretty fond of a green tea with Mango I have and love a black tea with peach and vanilla I own. And somehow mangoes and peaches have a certain similarity in my mind.

But something went wrong. The dry leaf smells like mangoes with a hint of sharpness I can not define. I brewed it up hot but not too much leaf and there was a pine quality to the tea which baffled me. Mango yes, but peculiar. As the tea got colder definite bourbon vanilla notes as well. Peculiar! Must experiment, I think it was probably too hot, will try much colder water and for longer.

I tried it again being extra careful of not over-brewing, neither putting too many leaves.
And this time I might have been a bit too skimpy or too quick as the brew was a bit light.
Nice tasting, no bitterness but nothing that special in it either. I’ll have to come back to it again and hopefully find the magic recipe.