The Friday Review - Grey's Teas Part 3 - The Assam edition

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - we hope you're enjoying Afternoon Tea Week 2016!

Today we bring you our third and final look at Grey's Teas, this time focusing on a selection of Assam Teas.

Let's start by taking a look at Assam Dikom....

Grey's Teas - Assam Dikom

The Dikom tea garden is based in the south-east of the Assam region in India’s north east, Dikom is considered one of Assam’s best tea estates. The tea produced is a bold, no nonsense traditional tea.

When brewed for five minutes you have a beautiful rich coloured tea with a bright, slightly malty flavour. A well rounded cuppa.....

Grey's Teas- Assam Dikom

Next we have the Assam Harmutty Second Flush.....

Grey's Teas - Assam Harmutty Second Flush

The Harmutty garden was established in 1870 and located in the Brahmaputra valley. The tea is usually picked in May, and has a wonderfully inviting aromatic aroma. 

A nice tea fact for you - this is a clonal tea....which means that the tea bushes which these leaves are picked from are cloned from the root-stock of the original tea plants native to Assam! 

This tea should be brewed for about four minutes and can be drunk with or without milk....we opted for without milk....

Grey's Teas - Assam Harmutty Second Flush

This tea when brewed is a lovely dark amber colour.

This is a lovely bold and rich tea with a slightly malty flavour. 

Finally we have the Assam Tonganagaon 2nd Flush....which also happens to be my favourite of the three....

Grey's Teas - Assam Tonganagaon 2nd Flush

This tea is produced by a small garden, from the Tinsukia district of Assam, in limited quantities, 

The tea is a golden amber colour when brewed for four minutes....

Grey's Teas - Assam Tonganagaon 2nd Flush

This tea has a bold flavour, which is malty but also slightly spicy...and its this delicious warmth that I love about it. A great cup of tea to start the day off with!

We hope you've enjoyed our look at Grey's Teas -there are plenty more teas to see over on the Grey's Teas website. We'd like to thank Grey's Teas for sending us the tea samples to try - please remember this hasn't affected our taste buds and all opinions expressed here are our own.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel 

The Friday Review....Harrods First Blend Tea, 1901

Hello there,

Welcome back to the Tea With Me and Friends afternoon tea blog ..... it's the end of another week and that means it's time to share another cup of tea with you!

Last year when I was wandering about the Harrods food hall (as one does), I came across a rather beautiful tea caddy....

Harrods First Blend Tea

On closer inspection I discovered that this tea is from the Harrods archive collection, in fact this blend dates back to 1901. I couldn't resist giving this tea and try!

The Harrods tea counter has always been popular, the archive records show that shortly after the 1849 store opening the tea counter was already making £200 a week.

This first blend tea brings together ceylon, assam and china teas...

Harrods First Blend tea leaves

This blend appeared on the tea counter from 1901 until 1932 and once brewed you have an unusual, punchy tea with a beautiful amber colour...

Harrods First Blend Tea -
from the Archive Collection

The tea has a slightly nutty flavour, its a very robust cup of tea, but not too overpowering. Equally as good first thing in the morning with my breakfast or with a piece of cake in the afternoon...

Harrods First Blend Tea - perfect with a bit of cake!

I paid just under £20 for this tea, but that is for two foiled wrapped packs of tea - each 125g. Plus the caddy is rather cool! It would make a really nice present for a tea enthusiast!

For more information about this tea and the others in the Harrods range please pop by their website. Do you have a favourite tea from Harrods? We'd love to hear from you if you do - please leave us a message below!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

The Friday Review - Steven Smith Teamaker

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends - it's Friday (again) and that means we're back with another tea. This time we have a really special treat for you as we are featuring a tea from America!

Some of you may remember the lovely Valarie from Portland who I met last summer when she visited the UK and we enjoyed a spot of afternoon tea at The Goring. Well, at Christmas Valarie sent me a rather lovely package which included some tea and some hot chocolate.

So today we are going to share with you two teas from Steven Smith Teamaker  - Brahmin and Bungalow, both are black teas which Lorna and I enjoyed without milk.

Steven Smith Teamakers have been involved in tea since 1949, and today we import their teas and botanicals directly from farmers at origin. Some of the farmers have been working with Steven Smith Teamakers for over 15 years. They blend their tea in small batches and package it in oversized sachets....

Lorna opted to try the Brahmin tea, which is blend of full-bodied Indian Assam teas paired with Ceylon teas. It's described as a Breakfast Tea.

The liquor was rich in colour, a lovely amber colour. Lorna enjoyed the taste, but when I tried it I found it very light and not exactly what I would call a breakfast blend. It was nice and perfect for anyone who prefers a really light flavour to their tea.

My tea was the Bungalow tea, which is a blend of first and second flush organic Darjeeling teas - the flavour is described by Steven Smith Teamakers as light but complex.

Again, this tea had a wonderful amber colour - but I found that it lacked flavour. It was pleasant enough and could be enjoyed in the afternoon as a light afternoon tea, but wouldn't be great for anyone who enjoys a robust cup of tea.

It's great to try teas from another country and we'd like to thank Valarie for sending us this tea! If you'd like to find out more about Steven Smith Teamakers, pop by their website.

I know we get lots of visitors from outside the UK - if anyone has a favourite tea they'd like to share with us please drop us a line!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna

The Friday Review....The Ritz Royal Blend Tea

Hello there,

We hope you are enjoying Afternoon Tea Week 2015 at Tea With Me and Friends. Today is Friday (woo hoo) and that means we have another Friday Review for you.

Today we are trying a rather special tea, on my recent visit to The Ritz I was given a caddy of The Ritz Royal Blend tea to try at home. The tea caddy is rather lovely...

This tea is a blended black tea which consists of Ceylon & Assam leaves, which also appears on the afternoon tea menu at The Ritz.

When you open the caddy, inside you will find instructions on how to boil the perfect pot of tea including timings and measurements.

Once brewed the tea is a beautiful light brown colour....

The tea is a delicate blend, very refreshing and perfect for enjoying in the afternoon with a piece of cake....or the odd scone....

This caddy is available from The Ritz website and costs £15.00 for 10g of tea - for more information take a peek at The Ritz website.

I'd like to thank The Ritz for giving me this lovely caddy, however this gift has not effected my taste buds and all opinions expressed her are my own.

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel