Decent Earl grey tea

TenRens matcha and tieguanyin icecream is superb. Along with their tieguanyin chocolate popcorn .

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I’ve already answered this. Taylor’s of Harrogate pisses all over Twinings Earl Grey. It should do, it’s twice the price.

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Have TWG still got that huge space in the lobby of the department store adjoining 101? Obvious where all the money is being spent… and it’s not on tea leaves. Classic Asian ‘face giving’ product, so expensive could only be bought as a gift, not for oneself.

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Yup , that is why it is aimed at the Asian status market not at actually black tea connoisseurs.

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Taiwan’s local black tea is world class and very diverse. All achieved with no additives at the high end. I have a black tea with hints of natural citrus flavours, you stick your nose in it and it’s like they added orange peel to it but absolutely nothing was added (it’s not common because it’s hard to grow). Others with truffle qualities. Others with sweetness or floral. Chocolatey or malty.
The funny thing is most of these are new varieties or fermentation and roasting techniques developed over the last 20 to 30 years and some just within the last 10 years. Using small leaf oolong tea varieties instead of traditional big leaf Assam leaves is the secret. The floral and sweet aromas come through from that variety and they have low astringency (the bitter taste from tea that is over brewed or poor quality tea leaves and why most black teas are drunk with milk)

I’m not even getting into how amazingly good something like oriental beauty is at the medium to high end. It’s not even that expensive to buy good grades given what you get for it.

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Love black tea from Nantou.

Taiwan’s high mountain oolong gets all the attention, but I’d take Nantou black tea over it any time.

Guy

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With no additives it’s pretty incredible what kind of flavour profiles you can make with tea. You are probably referring to no18 sun moon lake tea which has a sour slightly lychee truffly flavour , cross between a large leaf traditional tea and a local small wild leaf tea. Taiwanese are so good at making and inventing new black teas Japanese have come here to learn and also Chinese have hired them to teach them in the mainland.
China obviously has fantastic black teas as well but quite different than Taiwan’s .
I’ve made black tea a few times it’s a lot of fun. It’s also a hell of a lot easier than making oolong tea. Of course it takes experience and good tea leaves and weather to make the perfect tea. And time…You can age black tea if you want.

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Bwahahaha

TWG - founded 2007

The 4 digit number of “1837” mention in the TWG logo identifies the year of free tea trading in Singapore when chamber of commerce has started. Tea trading used be done by East Indian company monopoly until then. “1837” identifies the year of free tea trading in Singapore when chamber of commerce has started.

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Hi Icon, if you’re still looking for Typhoo brand tea, try the shopping mall (Q-Square) attached to the Ikea store in Xiao Bitan. There is a store on the second floor , Coffee something, (I don’t remember the correct name). They have a selection of Typhoo brand teas. Hope you find your kind.

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Yeah but do connoisseurs drink Earl Grey tea?

I like TWG for Earl Grey in the same way I like Taylors of Harrogate for mass market teas. However, for the quality high mountain Taiwan teas, Pu-erh etc., I get family members to send the more high quality stuff that often ranges in the hundreds of US dollars. I don’t disagree that TWG puts a lot into the packaging but I like their Earl Grey blend and the bergamot balance.

I just ordered a ÂŁ30 tin after this thread and am having a cup. No comparison with Twinnings, etc. Waaaay better than the McTeas. Have you actually tried it or just using Marxist class based pigeonholes?

I totally agree , I have and have had some amazing black teas in Taiwan. World class.

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Interesting info , definitely not whenTWG started ha.

How did it go?

Guy

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@Icon, if you are still looking for typhoo tea, I saw it in carrefour (zhishan store ), 2 varieties, regular and extra strong. ~200 nt for 80 bags.

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That’s what I’m talking about. Thank you.

Well, TBH, a little too much bergamot, not enough red tea. Does not taste like soap but not my cup of tea either.

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Definitely not going to knock the tea in east Asia, but there is a certain je ne sais quoi to the tea back home (Barry’s which now that we are talking about it is an Anglo Norman name, that’s where Simon Coveny comes from, good at negotiating Brexit, bad at giving me a visa)

Also in cork it’s breakfast in the am, dinner in the pm, and the evening meal is called tea.

Lunch is what happens when you don’t have any food and means a mouldy sandwich and a bag of crisps.

Given that some English people think that pants means underwear I’m not taking anything for granted.

Breakfast, dinner, and tea, am I right or wrong?

Posted that video before (I have a limited vocabulary😅)

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Straying from Earl Grey here, but iHerb ships Barry’s. Extra strong Typhoo from Carrefour is almost coffee strength with milk, that of course is a good thing.

There’s something of a fascination with Earl Grey in Taiwan, it is on a remarkable number of cafe menus around the place. It is for you folk with very refined palates.

Tea doesn’t always have to be so refined though. My grandfather made a mean billy tea out on the paddock. No pinkies in the air out there.

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Sounds very interesting. I never got Earl grey I mean it’s ok, but … billy tea blows it out of the water I imagine? Barry’s extra strong? Is that politicians who are even more adamant about not issuing visas? You’ve met Simon coveny and he told you to feck off when you applied for a visa, now try Barrys extra strong. It will tell you to get lost before you even think about it.

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You seriously think Twinings is better than TWG for Earl Grey? Not even close by a country mile. I am not disagreeing that their business model caters to the nouveau riche on Orchard Rd in Singapore (the country is full of such types) and that it’s packaging is slick, but the blend is pretty good for 30£ for a tin of loose leaf. And way better than Twinings, which is for the below stairs types.