The University of Massachusetts Boston comes back from the holidays all bundled up with a nice hot cup of tea in hand. Over the break, my life was filled to the brim with brand-new teas for me to try. For Christmas I ended up getting over 120 packets of tea, thanks to my aunt and my boyfriend. So, this semester is going to be jam-packed with new teas ready for me to judge. The first article of this semester is going to be a review of two out of the eight teas in the Taylors of Harrogate Classic Tea variety pack.
The reason I am reviewing just two of the teas for this article is to be able to tell you all about the Taylors of Harrogate tea company, and about this specific variety pack. Next week, I will write a review for the six other teas in the collection.
The first thing to note about this variety pack is that it has eight different kinds of teas: English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Decaffeinated Breakfast, Lemon & Orange, Pure Assam, Green Tea with Jasmine, Organic Peppermint, and Organic Chamomile. There are six packets of each kind of tea, meaning that there are 48 packets of tea in total. This pack of tea is 10 dollars, which means that each packet of tea is worth about 21 cents—and in my opinion, it is worth it. This sampler also comes in a very nice resealable box that has little dividers for each of your teas to keep them nice and organized. This sampler would be perfect for a tea party or family event where you wanted to leave tea out for guests, not only because of the price and the beautiful box but the range of tea they have in this sampler. Speaking of the box, when you first open it you see two little blurbs about their company and about the tea they sell. This makes you want to drink the tea even more and fills you with excitement! Now to the good stuff, the tea reviews!
The first tea I am going to talk about is their Green Tea with Jasmine. This tea is a very light tea and is best in the afternoon when you need just a small pick-me-up, but not as much as a coffee or a cup of black tea will give you. When you pick up the packet, there are instructions on the back to steep the tea for four to five minutes, then enjoy! When you brew it, the water turns a very pretty light gold color and the first sip makes you smile.
The second tea I am going to tell you about is the Organic Peppermint: your run-of-the-mill mint tea. To be honest, I do not find anything special about this tea, but it was still very good and refreshing. When you pick up a packet, there are brewing instructions on the back as well, and I will say it is quite a good cup of tea.