Tag: Black Tea

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Lipton’s British Style Royal Milk Tea

British Style Royal Milk Tea by Lipton
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.68 for 262.5g (15 x 17.5g sachets)

First Impressions

I dived into the depths of the internet to figure out what was the major differences between a British style milk tea and a Hong Kong style milk tea. The biggest difference that I could find? It all comes down to the type of milk being used in the preparation.

For a Hong Kong style milk tea, a condensed or evaporated milk is typically used. I grew up preparing Hong Kong style milk tea with an unsweetened evaporated milk. While in the preparation of a British style milk tea, one will used milk – the same type of milk that you’d typically find in a grocery store carton or jug or bag – if you happen to be in select parts of Canada.

Fun fact, I grew up drinking milk purchased at the grocery store in bags, and remember carefully cutting the corner off when it came time to opening a new bag of milk. I’m not sure when it was phased out in my province, but I haven’t seen bagged milk in forever. Last I heard, it’s still available in parts of eastern Canada.

British Style Royal Milk Tea comes in individually portioned sachets, with each one containing 17.5g of powder. British Style Royal Milk Tea consists of: sugar, creamer, whole milk powder, black tea powder, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, maltodextrin, and artificial flavour. The powder isn’t particularly fragrant and is a kind of boring shade of beige with speckles of darker brown throughout.

Preparation

Lipton recommends preparing British Style Royal Milk Tea in 85°C (185°F) water, using 180mL if drinking it hot and 50mL if you intend to pour it over iced. I opted to try British Style Royal Milk Tea as a cup of hot tea, but there is an image on the bag of the packaging to use British Style Royal Milk Tea as a base for what appears to be bubble tea (and I fully support this as an option).

First Taste

British Style Royal Milk Tea mixes up quite easily into what looks like milk tea. It fully dissolves well with a quick stir of a spoon and I’m left with a cup of milky looking tea. The aroma reminds me of a milk tea, with obvious notes of dairy. The flavour of British Style Royal Milk Tea is interesting. While there is the sweetness from the sugar, I wouldn’t call it overwhelmingly sweet. The black tea base is a touch astringent and even almost bitter. The dairy carries it through with a bit of a creamy aspect to it, but it’s not as rich as I’m used to with a milk tea. British Style Royal Milk Tea almost seems like it’s trying to be like a Hong Kong style milk tea, but missing the marks on smoothness when it comes to the black tea base.

A Second Cup?

As British Style Royal Milk Tea is a powder/drink mix, there are no second steeps with the same powder.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Lipton’s British Style Royal Milk Tea was just okay. There’s something about British Style Royal Milk Tea that I liked when drinking it, but the astringency and bitterness that exist in the cup due to the black tea powder that was used in the creation of this drink mix lends itself to being a bit meh. I think coffee drinkers/lovers might appreciate British Style Royal Milk Tea more than I do because of that bitterness that might remind them of coffee. But for me, I lean towards more traditional teas, and also sweeter options when it comes to my milk tea. So while I will drink it (and finish the contents of the big package), I’m unlikely to reach for it again when I’m at the store. It’s not undrinkable, but it’s not a favourite.

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Dessert by Deb’s Lemon Drizzle Cake

Lemon Drizzle Cake by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea / Flaovured
$6.50 for 25g

First Impressions

Lemon Drizzle Cake arrived as part of the bimonthly subscription box from Dessert By Deb. If you go onto the Dessert by Deb website, you’ll notice that the subscription boxes are no longer available, but you can still order the teas/tisanes individually and basically create your own fun-filled box. Lemon Drizzle Cake comes in a matte gold pouch that is sealed and resealable, with a familiar colourful polka dot label on the front.

Lemon Drizzle Cake consists of organic: black tea, lemon peel, coconut, Canadian maple, rooibos, lemongrass, and calendula petals. The aroma is primarily lemon/lemongrass, coconut, and rooibos. The rooibos aroma is heavier than I generally prefer – that medicinal quality is stronger than the black tea base.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Lemon Drizzle Cake in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of 6 minutes.

First Taste

Lemon Drizzle Cake steeps to a deep brown-orange. The aroma is a mix of coconut and lemon, and the rooibos is strongly noticeable in the aroma of the tea. On first sip, what I notice immediately is the lemon. There’s a touch of bitterness that balances against the sweetness from the maple. And then there’s the rooibos. There is definitely a medicinal quality to the flavour of Lemon Drizzle Cake that comes from the rooibos. I find that bitterness lingers on the tongue.

A Second Cup?

I attempted a second steep of Lemon Drizzle, and found the flavour to be very familiar to the initial steep with a lot of rooibos qualities in the flavour. If you’re a fan of rooibos, I would recommend a second steep of Lemon Drizzle Cake.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like Dessert by Deb’s Lemon Drizzle Cake. I found that Lemon Drizzle Cake was very rooibos forward, and as someone who’s not generally a fan of rooibos, I didn’t appreciate it. I think if you’re someone who likes rooibos, you’ll likely enjoy it a lot more than I did. That said, if it had been more black tea forward, I would have liked it more, but alas, a rooibos-heavy blend is just not for me – and that’s okay! The great thing about the world of tea is the great variety of blends and products out there for everyone.

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Teakan’s Keemun

Keemun by Teakan
Black Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 65g

Keemun is part of Teakan’s Volume 5 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Keemun makes up 15g of the 65g kit.

First Impressions

Always willing to try a tea from Teakan, this is Keemun and is one of the five single original teas from their Volume 5 Exploration Kit – who would have thought the duo behind Teakan would be on their fifth curated collection already? As always, Keemun comes in a sealed, resealable pouch with a minimalistic label in black and white.

Keemun has wiry short dark leaves, with a few light honey coloured tips throughout. Keemun comes from Huangshan, Anhui, China, and was harvested in spring of 2021. Literally translating to “yellow mountain”, Huangshan is a mountain range in China that is a designated World Heritage Site and a major tourist location due to the beautiful mountain ranges with over 50km of footpaths (that’s 31 miles!). The aroma of Keemun is lightly floral.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Keemun in 90°C (194°F) water for western style steeping, with an initial steep of 2 to 3 minutes or 95°C (203°F) water for gongfu style steeping with an initial steep of 20 seconds. I opted to steep Keemun in the western style with an initial steep of 2 minutes.

First Taste

Keemun steeps to a deep orange, with an aroma to it that reminds me of floral sweetness. The flavour of Keemun is malty, almost yeasty, and has a dry mouthfeel to it. There’s no astringency, no bitterness, based on the 2 minute initial steep that I did. I found the flavour to be pleasant – with the floral notes adding a nice level of sweetness to it.

A Second Cup?

Resteeping Keemun was fun! I did five resteeps of the same leaves (six steeps total), and added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour stayed pretty similar to the initial steep, and the floral notes held up well with all the subsequent steeps – along with the malty flavours. I would recommend resteep Keemun if you have the time to do so.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Keemun. The way this black tea steeps works for a smooth cup of tea, and resteeping it makes for a good value when you get good cups of tea after the first one. Keemun has a great flavour profile, and the floral notes just make for a nice cup of tea! It’s got some nuances to it that I enjoy – especially the malty finish.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.