... Yorkshire Tea ... and this isn't up north.", she eventually grimaced, "Ee by gum."
She went on her way, muttering something or other, and knocked on the next door and I went back inside my flat.
As it was about 'cup of tea time' I opened the box and inside were ten tea bags - big 'uns ... Read review
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A review by Sexy-Kay on Yorkshire Tea May 15th, 2003
Author's product rating:
Value for money
Average
Product Quality
Good
Product package
Excellent
Taste
Nice
How loyal are you to this brand?
Not very
Advantages:
Strong and one tea bag makes two cups of tea .
Disadvantages:
Has a bitter taste and leaves cups looking brown .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
She had a jolly round face, matching round glasses and a big smile. "Would you like a free sample of tea?", she asked.
"Erm, yea I guess so", I answered warily.
"There you go", and she handed me a small box.
"Thanks. You do realise", I said, "That this is south of Watford?"
She looked at me a bit blank, but I'm used to this.
"Oh yes ... I see ... Yorkshire Tea ... and this isn't up north.", she eventually grimaced, "Ee by gum."
She went on her way, muttering something or other, and knocked on the next door and I went back inside my flat.
As it was about 'cup of tea time' I opened the box and inside were ten tea bags - big 'uns though, and oblong shaped, not like the normal nifty neat round ones I buy. I pulled out a bag, well actually I pulled out two as they were joined together. I seperated my chosen one from it's partner, had a fleeting moment of guilt, and dropped it into a mug while switching on the kettle.
Now I normally use a teapot. I always think, or perhaps imagine, that tea tastes better made this way, but today I was in lazy mode. The kettle clicked and I poured boiling water into the mug and over the bag.
"Strewth", I mumbled to myself while peering in the mug, "That looks nearly black."
I quickly removed the tea bag and poured in a little milk. Before me was one very strong, dark looking mug of tea. I took a sip. It was very hot, well it would be, and my taste buds registered a bitter flavour. Not really to my palate at all.
I picked up the box and noticed something written on the side: 'One bag makes two cups of tea.' No wonder it was too strong and bitter for me.
My mind wandered off on a tangent and I wondered whether it was compulsory to only drink tea with a consulting partner in Yorkshire, or maybe they always have two cups each. Whatever, I decided I'd try making the tea again later in the day, and in a tea pot with the right amount of water. In the meantime I had another slurp and, yes, it was full of flavour but still definitely bitter.
"But why is it Yorkshire Tea?", I asked myself. Myself answered something about how there must be a lot of tea grown in the Dales. I could picture the women in their clogs, curlers and cross over pinnies plucking only the best leaves. Nah, that was silly. I looked to the packet for an answer.
'Our tea tasters sample hundreds of teas every week, just to find the few good enough for Yorkshire Tea. We blend together teas from about twenty gardens to give Yorkshire Tea the perfect strength and character.' Ah, so it's not from the Dales it's from the gardens of cloth capped Yorkshire men and perhaps pigeon droppings all add to t'flavour. Mind you, I thought they only had back yards.
Alright, alright. I'm sorry! The tea is, of course, only blended in Yorkshire. The blend was originated in somewhere called Bettys Tea Rooms and has been a family business for three generations. It seems that customers praised the tea so they decided to sell their special blend in packets and thus Yorkshire Tea was born - another true story.
Lets look at the box the tea comes in. It's quite attractive as there is a landscape of the Dales by the artist Lizzie Sanders covering the entire box, obviously there are cut outs for various wording and comments. 'Yorkshire Tea', it exclaims, 'Blended In The Yorkshire Dales'. The Dales are beautiful, I've walked along part of the Pennine Way, and the box captures a little of this essence.
Yorkshire Tea is sold throughout the country and in a supermarket a box of 160 tea bags will knock you back about £3.00. I think the cheapest I've seen them is £2.98 but remember, as I've already mentioned, one bag equals two cuppas.
The tea bags themselves measure in at 8x6cm, that's about 3"x2.5" to some readers. As a comparison my cute round tea bags are 6cm (2.5") in diameter. We all know an extra half an inch can make a world of difference and the manufacturers, Taylors of Harrogate, recognise this. They say, 'We believe that our traditional square tea bags are the best because they allow the full flavour of the tea develop.' Yes, bless, I know the bags aren't square but you can sort of see what they are getting at and, as we know, maths isn't for everyone.
Okay, tea time has arrived again and this time my mum is with me. Say hello. She popped in for a gossip, so it's tea for two. Just in case we want another cup, I'll use two tea bags i.e. 2 people x 2 tea bags = 4 cups.
You may not believe this but I've got tea making off to a fine art. I've got a glass teapot and on the side I've marked water levels for making two cups and four cups of tea. I know it's a bit sad, but with my normal tea bags (two for two cups and three for four cups) this is spot on. Plus this also allows my boyfriend to make acceptable tea without me having to supervise. Unless, that is, there are three for tea in which case he panics - he's an accountant you see, so he can't function without a calculator.
Let's put the tea to the test. When Taylor's write, 'We never dreamt that people all over the country would fall in love with Yorkshire Tea', are they telling porkies? Would the tea now be just right? Would it still taste bitter? Would ... I'll just get on with it ...
"What do you think then, mum?"
"Nice."
"Yes, but it's not over strong is it?"
"You must have put in too much water."
So I made another pot.
"Ah, that's much better, you can taste the flavour now. I like it."
"Yea but isn't it a touch bitter?", I asked.
"No, it's the way proper tea should taste. You never let yours brew long enough."
And so the conversation went on while we dunked our dark chocolate digestives and caught up on each others news.
As for the tea. Mum really liked it, had tried it before, and said she would give it the thumbs up and a five out of five score. Me? I must be honest. There is no denying that the tea does have a full, almost rich flavour but, for me, there is a lingering taste of bitterness that slightly spoils the enjoyment. I think points wise I could only give it three, but if we average it out with my mum's opinion I'll award it four stars. I think that sounds fair.
Tea making is such a personal thing. Some let it brew, others pour it straight away, some take it with sugar and milk, others without. I'd class Yorkshire Tea as a traditional English drink. Probably best with milk and sugar, this would then take the edge off the bitterness. I don't take sugar, therefore, it's not exactly right for me. It reminds me very much of tea that an old great aunt used to dish up. This was strong enough to stand a spoon up in and was whitened with condensed milk.
I think I'm going to be boring and stick with my regular tea but I do like the sound of the people who make Yorkshire Tea. They have a £100,000 a year 'Trees for Life' Fund which supports planting and community projects at home and abroad. Since 1990 they have planted over two million trees worldwide. For doing so they have received 'The Queens Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development'. This is awarded to companies with strong social and environmental vales. Well done to them.
If you haven't tried Yorkshire Tea then do so, it may be your cup of tea, but you'll need a teapot - in my opinion at least, oh, and a friend.
Advantages: Smells and Tastes Great Disadvantages: Bit Pricey With An Aftertaste Some May Not Like
...was a green box containing Yorkshire Tea bags, not just any tea bag but Taylors of Harrogate's special blend for hard water and ten of them at that.
Pictures of rural Yorkshire adorn the box and for a few moments memories came flooding back to me. I was born 11 miles from Harrogate and the pictures returned me to the countryside I played in as a child. I was also reminded of trips with my grandparents to Harrogate market where after a busy morning, ... ...more than his share of Yorkshire ale. Such was the impression the box made on me.
Right that's memory lane visited, back to the task in hand or more accurately the hot, steaming mug of tea in hand. While that cools, a bit more on the box. Apart from the rural scenes there's a green teapot on the front of the box that states, this is the best cup of tea in Britain. A bold statement but as Taylors have been tea merchants since 1886, they must have ...
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Advantages: Refreshing, Tasty, well priced Disadvantages: none
...own homeland, yup I'm talking Yorkshire Tea here, not Tetleys or PG Tips, but good old Yorkshire Tea... I get cows, I get Sheep Shit,I get Tractors and an aura of muck spreaders..no !!! only joking, this is a wonderful product..read on No we don't have a squadron of ageing Mother-in-Laws out on the Dales Tea Plains picking only the ripest tips from the hardy Yorkshire Tea Plants, found nestling on a sunny plateau higher up in the rich tea growning ... ...try this magic blend of Yorkshire Nectar then those nice folk in Harrogate will send you a free ( don't faint !!!) YUP its a free sample from Yorkshire, just go to their website at www.yorkshiretea.co.uk and fill out the form on the free sample link, they will send you 6 tea bags for either hard or soft water, yes they have even rifined the product to take into account the type of water in your area, we are so technically advanced up here ( which ...
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Advantages: tastes nice, sell different tea bags to suit your local water, free samples Disadvantages: more expensive than our usual brand
...offer for some samples of Yorkshire Tea on a website, I thought that’s just my, erm, cup of tea!
I was also interested in them offering different types of tea depending on where you lived. Apparently, we live in a hard water area, so my free sample was a little box of six free tea bags, especially made for hard water. Now admittedly, six cups aren’t many for a test, but I often find my ordinary tea bags get a surface of foamy stuff on ... ...This didn’t happen with the Yorkshire Tea. Six perfect cups of tea. Brilliant.
The tea bags are rectangular and slightly bigger than I am used to. They make an ideal strength too and the tea is very tasty, not smoky at all, but with a bit of a tang. Hard to describe really. (I feel like that awful blonde woman from the Food and Drink programme, swilling it round my mouth and trying to find new superlatives!) But, believe me, it does make a ...
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Advantages: A strong and comforting cuppa that makes you feel good Disadvantages: Aftertaste, but no worse than with other teas.
...received a free sample of Yorkshire tea through the post. There were 6 tea bags in the pack with the usual Yorkshire Tea livery some of us are familiar with. But are we familiar with it? I for one have never tried it, although I have often seen it on the supermarket shelves. I have had two cups so far, so here goes with the low down:-
This tea brews extremely quickly. I always go for ippy dippy tea. You know, teabag in the mug, boiling water on ... ...up in the morning. Yorkshire Tea however, did not leave me with this sensation, it left me feeling warm and comforted - a feel good tea I would say. I would therefore not call this a breakfast tea, which is the time of day I like to feel fresh and awake. For me I would drink it in the afternoon (tea time of course :o) Approximately 15 minutes after I had finished my tea, I noticed a taste in my mouth. Not sure how to describe it, but I went and brushed ...
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Advantages: A proper cup of tea Disadvantages: none
...but I`m not your typical yorkshire lass. I prefer my tea very weak, that`s why I choose to drink Yorkshire tea. Some teabags can give you quite a strong taste even when only dunked for a minute or two, that`s where Yorkshire tea differs. Depending on the dunking time, you will get varying strengths and tastes.
I prefer to dunk mine with a spoon for a maximum of about ten seconds, that way I still get the full flavour of Yorkshire tea but it doesn`t ... ...they`re being short changed.
Yorkshire tea themselves describe their tea as being rich, refreshing and full bodied. I`d agree with the second and third descriptions, but I find the taste more mild than rich.
The other good thing about these tea bags, is that there is no hint of a perfume, unlike some other teas. I want a proper cup of tea, not eau de toilette tea.
If you live in a hard water area, then Yorkshire tea also do a teabag especially ...
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Advantages: Yummy, moorish, Disadvantages: Lack of availability
...There was I alone on a hot summer’s day and feeling shaky! Testing my blood sugars revealed that they had dropped to 4.1mmol and I was starting the signs of a hypoglycaemic attack. Knowing I needed sugar, but hating drinking sugared drinks I rummaged through our cupboards and found a packet of YorkshireTea Biscuits, they were covered with sugar so I thought get a nice cup of tea and settle down with them both, and then thoughts of something I hadn’t done for ages came into my head – dunking!
I got my biscuits for FREE, yes that was correct I said FREE. Yorkshiretea bags have a little token on them, and if you collect those tokens you can send off for various items including their (not so good) tea cake, toy vehicles, tea towels and of course these biscuits.
The packet is decorative enough with the Yorkshiretea logo and the word...
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Advantages: A marvellous fruit tea loaf Disadvantages: Lots of calories
...It seems that Bettys Craft bakery in Harrogate have been extremely busy and are constantly working to create new recipes to add to their already famous range of biscuits and cakes.
Take one look at the packaging and you will no doubt recognise it from somewhere. Then it dawns on you that the packaging is of the same design and colour that adorns the boxes of the famous Yorkshire teabags.
I know from reading some reviews that quite a few `Ciao`ers` are fans of the strong Yorkshiretea, I am probably in the minority because I much prefer a weaker blend of tea.
However I am rather partial to that rich moist YorkshireTea cake.
If you can just take a minute to imagine how a good rich celebration cake would taste then that will give you a good overall picture of what you can expect from a YorkshireTea Loaf.
The cake itself is...
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Advantages: apparently only to caffeine free fans Disadvantages: doesn't have the taste of 'real' tea!
...It’s strange the little things you remember from your childhood and whenever I think of my Uncle Fred, who died many years ago, I recall how he always proclaimed “I like my tea so strong that the spoon stands up in it!” This always perplexed me because I just couldn’t understand how such a feat could be accomplished and it was several years before I understood that some phrases and sayings just aren’t meant to be taken literally! As I grew up I realised I had inherited this family trait. Fortunately I didn’t take on Uncle Fred’s penchant for adding condensed milk to his brew but I love tea and it has to be a really strong cuppa. Therefore I was delighted when, many years ago, I discovered YorkshireTea because it packs such a powerful punch!
>>>Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate<<<
YorkshireTea is made by the family firm Bettys...
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The Yorkshire Post is not just any old local newspaper. It is a 'national' broadsheet for Yorkshire!
This paper has a fair amount of national and international news, as well as the more specifically local features and news items. These differ according... more
18.08.2007
