Jeeves & Jericho Smokey Russian Caravan

So I had the opportunity earlier this week to go to our local bakery/coffee shop called Huffkins.
Originally a Bakery, but more a small Costwold chain of restaurants that Bakes their own products and sells them in the Restaurants as well as a select few other locations.

You can check out Huffkins here

http://www.huffkins.com/


One of Huffkins main selling points is that they stock local produce where possible from other suppliers in the Cotswolds. One such supplier is Jeeves & Jericho that produce some exciting tea.

http://www.jeevesandjericho.com/collections/black-tea

I had the opportunity to try their smokey Russian Caravan. I have had Russian Caravan from Whitards before, and found it had a distinctive strong tastee.

However the Jeeves and Jericho Smokey Russian Caravan is a nice smooth tea, it has a really smokey smell, but don't let this put you off as it does not have a smokey taste and does not leave a smokey after taste in your mouth..

To Score this tea I would give the following:-

5/5 for ease of use as I didn't have to prepare it (Huffkins did all the work) - But it is lose leaf tea so would drop to a 3/5 for having to prepare yourself

4/5 for taste

5/5 for packaging (They have pretty cool packaging and tins when you see this on their website).

Green Tea Direct from China

The other day I decided to have a rare cup of Green tea... I say rare in as much its the first cup of green tea in over a year.. The last time was last August when our Chinese agent for work came over and presented me with two pots of Green tea and a bag of green tea (Not the stuff discussed today, as this came from my boss who had been over to see him 6 months previously). So I currently have enough green tea to start my own tea business!

This is probably one of the most mild tasting green teas I have drunk - Much better than what you can normally get in the UK. and look at the leaves, full whole leaves.

I was taught by our agent the correct way to drink Green tea, basically don't use freshly boiled water, leave the boiling water to stand for 5-10mins before pouring into the tea leaves, and then only drink half of the pot of tea (use a strainer to stop the leave from falling into your cup), but the tea leaves should be allowed to freely flow in the tea pot. Once the pot is half empty refill!

You can apparently get a whole day of tea drinking from the same set of tea leaves!

Anyway here is what it looks like

This is the tea, a very nice looking tin, Not sure where in China this originates from.

As you can see, big tea leaves, and you can see them unfold and expand when soaked.

A nice clear liquid, Will have to prepare a pot in the glass tea pot to show how clear this is.

Twinings Blueberry and Apple Tea bags

So here is a tea that I have had on a number of occasions, prob the best High street fruit tea I have tasted, It smells fruity and it tastes the same, Does not taste like a weak squash. I guess that is because of the Blueberry in it.

This is the Packaging (Not normally crumpled)

This is what the tea looks like with tea bag removed, Nice and clear.

To Score this tea I would give the following:-

4/5 for ease of use and carrying around (bags do not come in their own envelope, they are all together in one box)

4/5 for taste (Not quite as tasty as the Suki tea)

3/5 for packaging (Its Twinings, it does what it says)

Suki Red Berry tea

So I first discovered this tea in Patisserie Valerie in Worcester, having tried other Suki black tea at Patisserie Valerie in Bristol. This time I decided to try a Fruit tea as I wanted something sweeter.

My was I in for a treat.

Containing hibiscus Blossoms, rose hip peel, apple pieces, elderberries, Blackberry leaves, freeze dried whole blackberries, raspberry and strawberries.. Very fruity.

When it first got delivered to the table the smell was amazing - Now normally with an amazing smell comes a less amazing taste. But this time I was wrong the taste was extremely fruity. Like a strong squash.

So I brought some myself, You buy it from here:-

Please take a look at Suki teas website for more teas

https://suki-tea.com/

So this is what it looks like before pouring in water - even this looks inviting

This is what it looks like before drinking, so much darker than previous fruit teas.

At some point I want to try and get myself a glass tea cup, but funds won't quite allow me yet!

Anyway to score this tea I would give the following:-

1/5 for ease of use and carrying around (Its lose leaf tea which is harder to carry around)

5/5 for taste

2/5 for packaging (Its plain, its simple, it does what it says)

Clipper blackcurrant and blueberry tea

So the first tea to post is a fruit tea from clipper tea. 

Smells great,  but tastes abit like a watery squash, ideal if you don't like your tea to strong. Each tea bag comes in its own bag to keep it fresh,  ideal if you want to take a couple in your work or handbag.

Opening up the box we remove a sealed tea bag, therefore keeping the rest of the bags as fresh as possible.

Once opening the individual packet for the bag, this is what you are presented with Dry and wet!

      

I would give this:

5/5 for ease of use and carrying around

2/5 for taste

3/5 for packaging

Welcome

Why did I start this review of teas? I have relatively a newbie to tea drinking, and only really started drinking tea in the last 5 years. I had tried tea when I was younger, but never liked it. Turns out this was because everyone who made tea made it with lots of milk, and I don't like hot milk!

It wasn't until my, now missed boss who passed away, suggested I should try it with a little bit of milk which was how he drank tea. This I found to be pleasant, but soon it got to the point where I would have a dash of milk. One day when in the office my boss suggested that the dash of milk was hardly worth it, and that it would be just the same without any milk.. Since that day I have drank tea by the pot load in the mornings and all without milk.

Over the last few years I have tried various different varieties of tea, in various forms, and have become somewhat a tea snob! typically going for loose leaf tea (although some tea bagged tea is actually very good).

I would love to go to China and try some tea direct from the source. The best I have got to this is been brought copious amounts of green tea direct from china from the company I work for's sales agent.

I have decided since there are a large number of tea suppliers in the UK now, that I would provide a useful place to review tea as I feel the quality and taste does vary company to company. I will try to review a good selection of tea.... Enjoy!