Second Cuppa

Who’s Drinking PG Tips?

CBS Sunday Morning did a story on Norah Jones the other day. She was being interviewed in her New York apartment when I noticed a large box of PG Tips tea in the background.

Who else in world of celebrity drinks “England’s No. 1 Tea”? A few minutes of internet research yielded the following list: Julie Andrews, Piers Morgan, Helen Mirren, Paul Rudd, David Gilmour, Sheryl Crow, Lady Gaga, Joss Stone, and Nicole Scherzinger. Yep, they all claim allegiance to the PG Tips brand.

Norah Jones, a celebrity who drinks PG Tips — Norah Jones drinks PG Tips

So there you go. If you enjoy the occasional PG Tips, you’re in the company of some very talented individuals. What’s in your cuppa?

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf: English Breakfast Tea Review

In the same Dallas shopping center as In-N-Out Burger, another company with Southern California roots opened its doors: The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL). With ‘Tea Leaf’ in the name, they must be more knowledgeable about the Camellia sinensis plant than those other coffee chains, I figured.

Unlike other English or Irish breakfast teas I’ve sampled, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf’s English Breakfast blend features Keemun (China) and Taiwanese black instead of the more common Assam (India) and Kenyan (Africa) teas, resulting in a notably more complex aroma. Ceylon (Sri Lanka) tea is also included in the blend.

I purchased the whole leaf, loose tea version of this product (a tea bag version is also available) and prepared it at home in a teapot with boiling water. If you order this tea in-store, CBTL will use a whole leaf tea bag infused in water that is 200° Fahrenheit — a temperature slightly below boiling.

I’m introducing a new, condensed tea review format to appease my blog visitors who’d rather quickly scan my tea reviews than read my long, rambling introductory comments. Here it goes.

Aroma – Dry Leaf:	Fruity, earthy and smoky
Aroma – Brewed:	Sweet and earthy
Body:	Medium
Flavor:	Bright finish and very astringent
Color:	Light amber
Thoughts:	There is so much more depth to this Keemun-based English Breakfast tea than any Assam-based English Breakfast tea I’ve ever tasted. It is pleasantly aromatic and brisk. Its medium body does not hold up so well to milk.

Whittard Original (Loose Tea) Review

What makes a good breakfast even better? A good tea, that’s what. And not only is Whittard Chelsea 1886 Original a good tea, it’s readily available on the international aisle at my local grocery store. No need to wait for delivery.

This blend of Assam, Ceylon, and Kenyan teas has a pleasant aroma that I liken to freshly cut grass. On the tongue, it’s full-bodied, malty, mildly sweet, and moderately astringent. It has the kind of bright finish I’ve come to expect from Ceylon.

Whittard Original rivals, in both freshness and taste, the loose teas I’ve purchased from online merchants. Also available at the grocery store (and another perfect day starter) is Whittard English Breakfast, previously reviewed at Second Cuppa.

Tetley British Blend Review

Tetley British Blend - Round Tea Bag

I’m a sucker for attractive packaging, which was the proverbial straw that caused me to buy a pack of Tetley British Blend Premium Black Tea at my local grocery store. The blue and white Tetley logo, surrounded by a swirl of green tea leaves, works beautifully against a purple background.

I opened the package and took a whiff. The aroma of the tea bags, 80 in all, was sweet and mossy — similar to PG Tips, Typhoo, and Twining’s English Breakfast, which I assumed to be comparable teas. Tetley British Blend comes in large, round, string-less tea bags, containing the quantity of tea you’d expect from teas produced in the UK and Ireland.

After steeping, Tetley British Blend has a very mild earthy, mossy aroma. For a full-bodied tea that holds up well to milk, it’s devoid of flavor except for a bit of astringency.

It’s not noticeably sweet, nor is it bitter. It may be the most mellow ‘English Breakfast‘ tea I’ve ever experienced. Two tea bags per cup gives Tetley British Blend an extra tannic kick but not much else. The following is from Tetley’s US website:

Is the Tetley® tea I buy in the USA the same as the Tetley® Tea in Canada or the UK?
The tea in Canada and the UK is not the same as the tea offered in the USA. The Canadian consumer has a different tea palate than the US consumer, and our tea reflects the choice of the Americans. Our British Blend tea is the closest blend to what is enjoyed in Canada and the UK. It comes in a round, stringless tea bag with a special paper that allows for fuller infusion, but it is not an identical blend to the Canadian/UK blends.

Different tea palate? Really? PG Tips can be found in almost every grocery store in America, including Walmart. Several US-based tea merchants, including Upton Tea and Teavana, seem to be doing quite well. Instead of patronizing us, maybe Tetley should allow American consumers to decide for themselves.

If you want UK version of Tetley, it can easily be acquired through Amazon.com and other merchants on the Interwebs, which is what I intend to do some day. In the meantime, I’ve actually come to appreciate Tetley British Blend … a little bit. It’s not offensive, and it goes well with milk. No sweetener required.

Seeking Comfort in Second Cup’s English Breakfast Tea

Battling boredom and loneliness before departing from Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, and after doing several laps through the terminal and grabbing a bite of sushi, I needed another diversion. Lester’s smoked meat was tempting, but I had already gotten my fix a few days earlier at Snowden Deli. What I needed was a warm cuppa.

Second Cup, Canada’s answer to Starbucks, has a competing kiosk in the airport. I expected something comparable to the tea I would get at Starbucks (typically Tazo Awake) if I got tea at Starbucks (which I don’t).

English Breakfast was one of the options. Unlike Starbucks, all Second Cup teas — 10 varieties total — are packaged with the company’s own label. Second Cup’s website claims all its teas are whole leaf and Rainforest Alliance Certified™ and describes its English Breakfast as a blend of Indian (Assam) and Kenyan teas.

I placed my order and watched with disappointment (but not surprise) as my tea was steeped in hot instead of boiling water. Preparation method notwithstanding, the tea was good — something I attribute partially to the whole leaf tea and fat pyramid-shaped tea bag combination.

The tea was full bodied and stood up to milk very well. In addition to the familiar malty Assam, I detected a citrus-like aroma which I figured had to be the Kenyan. It had a bright finish and hit the spot.

Who servers better tea, Starbucks or Second Cup? Second Cup all the way. Go Canada!