English Afternoon

Afternoon cup of tea on this beautiful fall day. The weather this weekend has been wonderful. Yesterday we went to the farmer’s market and ran a bunch of errands. We also went to the animal shelter to drop off some food and almost left with a new kitten, oops. He was gray and just so darn cute. I left it up to my fiancee, since he is the only boy in a housefull of all girls and I know he wants a male cat. He decided to wait since we foster kittens all the time, and that way you can really get to know their personalities. It’s nice and sunshiney here today, and we enjoyed a nice walk around the neighborhood with the dogs. I’m going to curl up on the couch to finish my library book that’s due tomorrow and then work on the homework that I’ve been putting off all weekend. I don’t regret it, though, because the fiancee’s days off are few and far between, so it was very nice yesterday to have him to myself for the whole day!

This tea is ok, just very average really. It has more of an earthy/smokey taste to it, and I prefer my black teas to be just strong and sweetly malty. Not terrible at all, but I doubt that I would actually purchase any of this for my house!

-Standard teabag with a tag.
-Teabag smells faintly of malty black tea. Tea liquor aroma is earthy with a hint of maltiness.
-Tea liquor is a thick dark brown color.
-Lightly smokey flavor with a malty finish. Soft and somewhat sweet black tea aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Fair tea. A standard afternoon tea with a smokey/earthy note.

Not bad, but not great. I don’ care for the combination: smoky Keemun together with the sweeter Ceylon. The two flavors compete rather than blend.

I had this at a friend’s house while we were making caramels and marshmallows and gingerbread (oh my!). The experience? Was wonderful. The tea? Merely meh. I must have oversteeped it. I wasn’t really paying attention what with the caramel-y goodness going on. It tasted bitter and vaguely unpleasant. Ah well. Can’t complain too much—an afternoon of friends and candy goodness can’t possibly be spoiled by a subpar cup of tea.

Much like Twinings English Breakfast tea with a bit more smokiness and perhaps a bit weaker. This tastes quite earthy to me. Not a bad cup of tea.

A blend of Keemun and Ceylon…so I´m gessing, is this the new version of Twining´s Traditional Afternoon?
For some rerason Im not finding the Traditional Afternoon to add a tasting note…maybe they´re not carrying it any more?
Anyway, would love to try this one. A blend of black by Twinings can´t be bad :-)

Mild, not very much flavor. I like my black teas very strong so I would not recommend this tea.

A very busy afternoon/evening yesterday and a somewhat busy morning today has lead my body to decide it will no longer respond to my demands. It’s achy, sore, and sleepy, so I’m having one last caffeinated beverage this afternoon to push me through until bedtime. I’m so tempted to take a nap, but I have to wake up earlier than usual tomorrow for work and I want to be sure I can sleep tonight.

Just a short 3-minute steep for this one and it brewed up much darker than I expected. The flavor is solid and a bit lighter, which I would expect from something that is more of an afternoon blend. It’s probably not one I would purchase, but it’s certainly one I’m enjoying. Thanks, Devon Bartholomew, for letting me sample all the bagged teas!

I love Keemuns and I love most Ceylon black teas, so I thought this would be a no-brainer. However, this tea is remarkably plain to me. It’s not bad, but it lacks any Keemun smokiness or sweetness, and it seems rather light to me. I have had probably 13 or 14 Keemuns, and this is the second bagged one I have ever had, so maybe that’s why I’m not a huge fan. I will probably start liking this tea more as I work through my stock, but I don’t foresee keeping it in the regular rotation. I used 2 bags for 16 oz of water. I think I’ll add a third bag next time to see what happens.

This one jumped into my grocery cart while shopping for the fourth of July. I have tried it several ways since then and I’ve settled on my favorite so far: two spoonfuls of sugar and some milk. There was already a lightness to the tea that the sugar helps bring out and the milk helps tone down the harsher element that the tea has without covering it up completely. So the additives in this case help blend the flavors of the tea together smoothly and it makes for a pleasant cup.

As compared to Twinings English Breakfast, English Afternoon is a much bolder tea. In fact, I would more likely have the afternoon tea for breakfast and the breakfast tea for afternoon!

I would recommend this tea to coffee people to help them get into tea and to tea people who are returning to tea from coffee. (like myself)

For a bag tea, it is hard to find a commercially produced line of teas better than Twinings. This is a good offering of CTC Assam and Ceylon teas blended to make a flavorful cup. I found it to have a slightly hoppish taste with hints of caramel. I intend to try a few more cups of this in future. Recommended.