Tea for Tuesday: Twinings Liquorice

Twinings Liquorice Tea

Today's Tea for Tuesday is the Liquorice tea from the "Comforting" range by Twinings. I like liquorice, and the packaging design is quite pretty, so I thought I'd give it a try. The tea is made from 100% liquorice root and, as with all the teas I'm trying, is caffeine-free. However, there is also a warning on the pack about the harmful effects that large quantities may have on those with hypertension, so if this applies to you, it's probably one to avoid.

Quite soon after the water hit the bag, it turned a bright shade of yellow and the sweet aroma of liquorice emanated from the mug. Unlike the other teas I've tried so far, the taste and smell of this one were nearly identical. Unfortunately, although I enjoyed the aroma, the flavour was too sickeningly sweet for me and finishing a whole cup proved challenging. In order to confirm that I hadn't simply over-brewed my first beverage, I made a second, weaker one, on another day, but it made little difference. 

If you're used to having sugar in your tea and enjoy the sweetness, then perhaps liquorice root would be a perfect flavour for you. Personally though, I don't think I'll be trying this one again.

Tea for Tuesday: Twinings Blackcurrant & Vanilla

Twinings Blackcurrant & Vanilla

Tea for Tuesday time again; this time in the form of a Blackcurrant & Vanilla fruit infusion by Twinings. As the flavours diffused in the mug, the water took on an orangey red colour and had an almost pink hue in certain lights.

Whereas the Blackcurrant, Ginseng & Vanilla infusion gave off a strong odour of vanilla when the boiling water touched the bag, this one had a distinctly stronger aroma of blackcurrant. The vanilla also came through, though it had more of a perfume-like quality to it. This was also true of the flavour: a slight tang of blacurrant with a vaguely vanilla after taste. It didn't have the same smoothness as the ginseng infused blend, but it was still delicious.

Another one of my favourites so far!

Tea for Tuesday: English Tea Shop Chocolate Super Berry Burst

English Tea Shop Super Berry Burst

Today's Tea for Tuesday post comes courtesy of my fabulous & creative friend Kei (Doing a Thing and Unfortunately Oh!), who sent me a rather lovely package of items out of the blue, some of which happened to be various types of caffeine-free tea. Hurrah! The tea in question is Chocolate Super Berry Burst from the English Tea Shop; I'd never tried chocolate tea before, so that's a bonus!

The smell of the infusion was highly chocolatey with a hint of vanilla, which was pleasant but slightly confusing to my senses (evidently, my brain didn't want to associate the smell of chocolate with a cup of tea!). The colour of the tea began at the orangey red colour in the photo above and arrived at a deep reddish brown by the end of its five minutes of brewing. It was actually a really pretty colour.

Looking at the list of the list of ingredients on the back of the packet (organic rooibos, organic hibiscus, organic roasted cocoa pieces, organic licorices, organic vanilla pods, organic raspberry concentrate, organic blackcurrant and organic pomegranate conentrate, with natural chocolate, strawberry and raspberry flavours), I wasn't entirely sure what the flavour would be like. It was, in fact, somewhere between the taste of chocolate and Turkish Delight, or at least what I remember TD tasting like during my childhood. In any case, the combination was not unpleasant and has a good balance of sweet, bitter and fruit hits.

Another new tea and another one I'd have again - great! :D

Tea for Tuesday: Twinings Cranberry & Sanguinello Orange

Twinings Cranberry & Sanguinello Orange

This week's Tea for Tuesday is Cranberry & Sanguinello Orange by Twinings. The scarlet red brew looked wonderful against the pale cup (though I didn't quite manage to reproduce the deep red colour in photographic form) and the gorgeous scent of tangy fruit filled the kitchen as it infused.

This fruit infusion tasted strongly of cranberries from the moment it touched my tongue and a pleasant, citric hit followed shortly after. I was worried that it might be slightly bitter, as sanguinello oranges can be, but it remained at a pleasant level of acidity. The only complaint I have with this particular flavour is that, although the orange tastes pleasant whilst drinking, the after taste continues to become stronger after finishing, almost to the point of being overpowering and tongue-numbing. However, I should point out that I'm very sensitive to citrus fruit, and so that might not be a problem for anyone else.

I'd like to try this tea again, but I don't think it's one I could have regularly.

Tea for Tuesday: Heath & Heather Nettle Infusion

Heath & Heather Nettle Infusion

Tuesday has rolled around again, which means that today's post is part of Tea for Tuesday! Technically, it's been more "find a substitute for caffeinated green tea, which mostly consists of herb and fruit infusions",  rather than tea, but let's just ignore that. Today's "tea" is of the nettle variety and is produced by Heath & Heather. Nettle is well-known for its health-boosting benefits, and is also rather conveniently caffeine-free. As with tea, it's also possible to make your own brew using stinging nettle leaves, but I'm not sure how to do this yet, so for now, bags it is!

The aroma of the infusion is reasonably subtle, giving off an earthy smell that's somewhere between green tea and mushroom broth. That might sound unpleasant, but it's actually quite nice, and the infusion's colour reflects scent of it as well. 

Taste-wise, it's very similar to mild green tea, which I was pleased about as I have so missed that taste! However, it isn't as bitter as some brands of sencha can be, so if that's something you find off-putting about green tea, then nettle infusions might be an alternative to try. Personally, I loved this one!

Tea for Tuesday: Twinings Blackcurrant, Ginseng & Vanilla

Twinings Blackcurrant, Ginseng & Vanilla Fruit Tea

The first flavour that I decided to try for Tea for Tuesday was Blackcurrant, Ginseng & Vanilla from Twinings Fresh & Fruity range. The back of the packet indicated that this particular infusion is "naturally caffeine-free", so that was helpful!

The colour isn't as deep red as most blackcurrant teas tend to be, but watching the orangey red swirls diffusing their way around the cup was still rather enjoyable (or perhaps I just need to get out more, haha ;D). There was a faint aroma of vanilla as the boiling water hit the bag, but that dissipated quite quickly and the tea was quite odourless after that. 

As for the taste, the strongest flavour was undoubtedly that of the blackcurrant at first, before the faintly medicinal, but not unpleasant, smoothness of the ginseng came through. The vanilla merged nicely into the other, stronger flavours and the combination reminded me somewhat of a fruity version of elderflower. The packet also suggested that to add some sweetness, honey worked well, but I don't eat honey so I added a few drops of agave nectar instead. I did like the added sweetness, but it certainly wasn't a bitter tea and so it wasn't really needed. 

Definitely a flavour I'd have again!

Tea for Tuesday

I hate to sound like a stereotypical British person here, but I really love tea! It's warming, refreshing, comforting, and delicious all at the same time and nothing else quite matches up to it. For the past several years I've mainly opted for green tea, no (soy) milk, no sugar, because I got used to its particular flavour whilst on holiday in Japan, as the hotel my friend and I were staying at provided it for free next to its hot water dispenser! 

However, as I suffer from a rather debilitating form of chronic migraines, I've been told to cut out all caffeine from my diet. Green tea was the only thing that I ate/drank that contained caffeine and so, unfortunately, that means it had to go, as I'm not really fond of the decaffeinated versions of it that I've tried previously. 

In light of this, I've decided to try out as many flavours of caffeine-free teas and infusions as possible and to write about them in this blog every Tuesday. Currently, I have seven different flavours to sip my way through, but if anyone has any other suggestions, including your own recipes, I'd love to hear about them!

To read about all the caffeine-free teas and infusions I've tried so far, have a look at the Tea for Tuesday tag.