Whittard Instant Fruit Teas : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk

Author's product rating:

Value for money	Average
Product Quality	Good
Product package	Good
Taste	OK
How loyal are you to this brand?	Not at all

Advantages:	Warming, flavoursome
Disadvantages:	Not necessarily a flavour you'd like !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The north wind doth blow,
And we shall have snow,
And what will the robin do then, poor thing?

It will put the kettle on and make itself a mug of Whittard’s mulled wine flavour instant tea drink. For as any ornithologist knows this is what keeps the robin’s breast red. Paddington Bear had his marmalade sandwiches, Mr Strong had his 50 boiled eggs for breakfast (as Cool Hand Luke proved – it can be done), Winnie the Pooh had his honey but robins need mulled wine tea to keep them going through the long cold winters.

PACKAGING

The tea comes in a 500g round tub, which once empty is kept by the robin for storing nuts in. There is a metal inner cover to keep the granules fresh and the robin normally has to ask his friend the woodpecker to open this for him.

There is a rather cheesy picture of a happy couple with a dog drinking steaming hot tea in the middle of a field. A strange place to drink the tea and very cruel of them not to share their beverage with their canine companion.

The container oddly boasts ‘Alcohol free, enjoyed by all!’ However, this seems to me to a contradiction of terms and the robin agrees with me and asks that you fill your bird baths with rum this winter.

THE TEA

The instructions for making a mug of tea are three tablespoons of granules per mug. However, the robin finds this a little too strong for his delicate palate and recommends only two level teaspoons. This also helps the tea to last longer!

The colour of the granules is a rather off-putting dark orange but once dissolved in hot water turns a rich chestnut colour (those clever marketing people appealing to the robins again!).

The tea has got a high sugar content, which is good for providing energy for the robin, and luckily (unlike some of the other Whittard teas) it does not actually make the tea taste too sweet. This is probably because the sweetness is offset by an undercurrent of citrus fruit. Unfortunately the tea also has a sort of ‘tanginess’ to it. The same sort of ‘edge’ that you detect when you drink heavily mineralised water. This does not ruin the drink completely but certainly distracts from its palatable qualities.

The granules can also be dissolved in cold water and drunk au naturelle. However, who on earth wants to drink cold mulled wine? Mulled wine (and items flavoured with it) are designed to be quaffed by robins in their nests after a long cold winter fly, while the worms are roasting on the fire and the fledgings calling for their dinner.

AVAILABILITY

Whittards have shops throughout the country but mostly in large towns or cities. Telephone 0800 525 092 for details of your nearest stockist.

Unfortunately for the robin dialling the number with his beak is rather difficult but instead the robin can fly to its local Tesco, which has just started to stock the teas, and where they are about 50p cheaper than Whittards itself.

DRINK UP

The tea is certainly warming and quite pleasant. However, it isn’t instantly recognisable as ‘mulled wine’ and does have a sharp note to it which is not in keeping with the taste sensation.

On a cold winter’s evening the robin likes to have a mug or two but at other times of the year and earlier in the day he prefers many of the other teas from the Whittards’ range.

Warming but not as satisfying as a large earth worm.