I have had a second cup of this tea, only to write this review up, the first cup I had began as ‘oh, this should be interesting’.
I had actually seen this, and its companion “Breakfasty Toast & Jam” tea in the supermarket in the past, and only bought this example to try because it was discounted and on special, otherwise I wouldn’t have indulged in such and unknown quantity.
Opening the box it’s in a foil packet, it has the best before date on the front.
The tea bags are ‘tea pot’ style bags with no tag on them, and they’re in sheets of two which are joined by a perforated edge.
Smelling the bags themselves, they’ve got a very rich malty, maybe with a wisp of vanilla, it makes for a very biscuity smell to them, it’s kinda unnatural, especially in a tea context.
Back of box.
The ingredients on the box lists; Black tea, and then “natural flavouring (3%)”, but doesn’t elaborate further than that as to what the natural flavouring is.
Making the tea I used a regular mug (one of those Pantone colour mugs 375ml capacity), they’re not my usual mugs I use for tea. My regular mugs are a bit bigger, but I had my doubts about this brew the first time, and again this time.
Into the mug I added one slightly lower than level teaspoon of sugar, then let the bag sit for 4-5 minutes according to the box’s instructions.
Then I added just a touch of milk.
Contents of the tea bag.
While the tea sat for its journey in the water I opened up one of the tea bags and emptied the contents out onto a plate.
It looks like tea, but there are bits of something within the tea contents. I assume this is the “natural flavouring (3%)”.
Smelling the mug, again it’s that sweet malty smell, like a biscuit, and unlike something you would expect from regular tea. Even a mug of tea you’d dropped a biscuit in. I feel like you’d need to drop a whole packet of biscuits into a mug of tea to get this scent out of it.
The flavour is a sort of uncanny valley where you know something’s off, something’s wrong but you’re not really sure what it is.
It’s actually perfectly fine for the first couple of sips, there’s the tea flavour in the background and in the foreground this malty, biscuity flavour.
But then as you have more of it, it becomes kinda overpowering, like it’s the only thing you’re tasting.
The malt flavour is the strongest component that comes through when having a mouthful of the tea. The sweetness of the biscuit flavours seems to be more present in the scent coming from it when you go in for a sip of the tea.
When I had my first mug of this tea, I only managed half the mug. And it made the room I was drinking it in smell a bit like the brew itself.
Yorkshire Tea Toast & Jam and Malty Biscuit on supermarkt shelf.
For this second mug I’m sat in the kitchen with it.
And I’m now about half way through the mug, to write this up, and I think I’m just about done with it.
I am a tea drinker; Nerada. Just their standard black tea.
Very occasionally I’ll get an Earl Grey, also Twinnings “Australian Afternoon” is nice in the morning if I don’t want to break out the teapot.
Would I buy this again? No.
Although I am kinda still tempted by the Toast & Jam variety, only in a sort of ‘how much worse can it be?’ sort of experience, to compare and contrast to this version.