Totally bought this for this tin.
This is a royal blue tin with red writing on it that says keep calm and carry on. It has a bit of history of the “keep calm” on the back which essentially says that during WWII the British Government created a bunch of posters that said “Keep calm and carry on” in order to help keep peace among citizens. But the posters were never used, and years later someone found one and resurrected the saying. So I thought that was pretty neat.
What’s not pretty neat is that I can find no information on this tea anywhere on the expanse of the internet. All I can find is that is it “afternoon blend” but what is in an afternoon blend?
The tea bag looks and smells like a crushed up Ceylon blend. The brewed tea is the colour of a Celyon tea, really reminds me of Red Rose. The smell of the brewed tea, smells of Ceylon but there is something else creamy in it. Not too sharp, maybe something like vanilla.
The brewed tea tastes like Ceylon (big surprise here – haha). But it is not harsh or astringent like I find a lot of Ceylon teas. There is definitely something creamy in there. Not necessarily vanilla, but kind of feels like that. It is much more mellow that I expected – maybe that is the afternoon part.
Definitely surprised at this tea. I anticipated it to be just a really cheap bagged tea (and therefore taste like a really cheap bagged tea), but it tastes pretty good. Maybe I will drink this in the afternoons :)
I found this:
“Afternoon Tea Blend
Most tea importers’ catalogs, British or American, will include a lighter blend that is perfect when accompanied by light sandwiches or sweets at the afternoon tea table. Some are made up of just Sri Lankan Orange Pekoe grade teas; others are composed of a medley of Darjeeling, Assam, and Nilgiri that give an all-Indian flavor; and a few combine teas from both Sri Lanka and India. The blender’s aim is to create a tea that complements, rather than masks, the delicate flavor of the afternoon tea meal.”
http://www.teatimemagazine.com/content.aspx?id=918
I also feel a need to add that I have a NOW PANIC AND FREAK OUT poster in my living room in the country.
Thanks Anna! After writing the review, I found a sticker on the bottom of the tea that says it is black tea from Sri Lanka (doesn’t narrow it down too much). I love the idea of “Now panic and Freak out”, that is awesome. I wonder what that tea would taste like…
Probably a hibiscus-flavoured rooibos, going by the peeves of most Steepsterites, haha.
Ha ha. Totally true.
I think I saw these at Winners and also assumed that they would be your average cheap bagged tea.
That’s where I bought it from, Winner’s/Home Sense.