I’m pretty sure almost everyone has heard of the hit British TV show Downton Abbey that aired on Masterpiece. You might not have been a fan but you have probably met at least one fan during your life. I, for one, live in a house full of Downton Abbey fans and even though I do not watch the show I know a good amount about it. This being said, recently my mother decided to go to the Downton Abbey exhibit and she loved it! They were selling tea in the gift shop so she got me a can to try! The movie was released last Friday so I felt this was a perfect time for me to talk about this delectable tea.

The tea is called Mrs. Patmore’s Pudding Tea, and before I get into how it tastes I want to tell you a little bit about the packaging. Looking at the tea you can tell it is from the show, it has pictures of Mrs. Patmore and Daisy standing in the kitchen on the front. The can is also yellow and gold and it honestly looks like a very nice, but still gimmicky, tea. On the back, there was a small description of what Downton Abbey is and how popular it is while also making sure to tell you it was shown on Masterpiece. One thing I really liked was how easy it was to find the ingredients in the tea. As a black tea, it contains sweet blackberry leaves, carob bits, and natural caramel and vanilla flavors. I did not know what carob bits were so I decided to google it and found out through Bon Appetit that they are chips made out of cocoa powder that is more earthy and mellow compared to traditional chocolate.

When I finally opened the container I was surprised to see that everything was in a tea bag and not loose leaf! I am not upset with this, it just kind of surprised me a little bit because the show portrays the family as rich and typically wealthy people do not drink tea out of tea bags. The suggested way to make the tea is taking fresh filtered water and then boil it. Once that’s done, you take one tea bag, put it in a cup, and let it steep for 3-5 minutes in 6 oz of water.
The way this tea smelled was like a sweet black tea that had a little extra kick in it. Honestly, it smelt like something you would have with dessert and I am not just saying that because it is a “dessert tea.” Once I took a sip my mind was blown! It had the tartness of a black tea but it was also very light. The first thing I tasted was the caramel and vanilla and the aftertaste tasted like the carob bits and the black tea. To be straightforward, this tea is amazing! Being my tea obsessed self, I went ahead and looked up a place online that I can buy this tea at. On the Republic of Tea website the tin of tea, which has 36 tea bags, is $12.50 plus shipping, and on amazon it is also $12.50. I did also notice they had other teas from the show and seeing how good this one was, I might end up trying some of their other teas as well.