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7 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Great dark teaDec 09, 2009
By Richmix
I learned to love English "black" teas drinking Tetley during a study abroad trip in London. The taste is unlike anything found in coffee shops or grocery store shelves in the States. Tetley, like Typhoo, has an impressively strong English Breakfast taste--so strong that I found myself using 5-6 English breakfast teabags after my return to the US simply *trying* (and failing) to duplicate the flavor. After many unsuccessful attempts, I was disappointed to find that Tetley was not available at Costco World Market or any other import stores in my area. Reluctant to ask my British friends to mail me some, I decided to try the only brand that was available, which was Typhoo. This stuff, in my opinion, is very similar to but ever so slightly better than Tetley.
For those who haven't tried this "kind" of tea before, I'll describe it in a word as being very heavy. One teabag can powerfully flavor a large American mug of water--far more, thankfully, than the 8-ounce maxim most instant beverage companies push. Its taste, like I've said, is similar to a very strong English Breakfast tea, but that taste is so strong that I personally would hesitate to call it by that name. It's an altogether different kind of tea in my opinion, labeled on the bag simply as "black tea," reminiscent only (in my experience) of Tetley and PG-Tips. With just water, it produces a rich, slightly bitter drink with a somewhat fruity aftertaste. Adding cold milk to the already-steeped drink can smooth the tart taste a bit (as well as cool the drink if you're not one for piping hotness). Adding sugar to either the dark or "white" versions can change the flavor more than you'd expect, too. The first cup of Tetley I ever drank had *a lot* of milk and sugar in it, and the taste wasn't ruined at all: it tasted very much like a sweet and mild desert drink, something like cocoa (only with a completely different flavor). The same, I've found, is true of Typhoo. I've not tried it with honey, lemon, or any other additions.
The teabags diffuse their flavor FAST. If you're one to microwave your water (blasphemous in all parts of the world except America, and with good reason, you might know, if you've ever tried tea made with stovetop- or kettle-boiled water), you can have a cup ready in about two minutes. Electric kettles are available too that are designed specifically for boiling water and can accomplish the task faster and better than a microwave. (These products, incidentally, are great for anyone who drinks lots of hot beverages of any kind: though the devices' directions will tell you to only use them to heat water, I regularly boil milk and other non-viscous liquids in mine without problems.) To help with the steeping process, put the teabag in an empty mug or cup and pour the hot water over the bag. The water will immediately begin turning a dark amber color. After a few seconds, if the water is stirred, the diffusion process will speed up, and before you know it, poof! You have a very dark bronze, almost black, cup of tea with the strongest flavor you could hope for. Great for the office or people on the go.
Sadly, to me at least, this tea tastes horrible when cold. If you have a tendency to let your hot drinks sit undrank until they are no longer hot drinks (oh, the tragedy!), you may be disappointed in the consequences of inattention to this cuppa. The actual flavor doesn't change much, if at all, but the strong punch this beverage packs is far better suited for a hot drink than a cold one, a problem this tea's weaker English Breakfast competitors don't face. Though this is an opinion, my advice is to not allow this (or any other tea) to become cold, if only for the fact that drinking hot tea which, through apathy, preoccupation, or forgetfulness, has been forced to watch teary-eyed as its hotness slips away, is the most cruel sort of ridiculous. Be kind to your tea and drink it fast, lest it begin to believe it is not tea at all, but perhaps some mutated spawn of the Kool-Aid Man.
Ergo, this product makes for an excellent meal tea or desert drink, though not necessarily for breakfast on account of its heady flavor. Oh, and this is a good tea for English biscuits, too, though I would only drink it with the plain ones. (Chocolate doesn't get on well with this stuff.)
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Full bodied, well roundedNov 27, 2007
By Timothy Takemoto
I live in Japan, a land of excellent green tea but when it comes to brown (the Japanese call it red) I prefer British. The only British teas sold here in Japan are Twingings and Liptons. I don't like the fussy leafy taste of the most "prestigious" big British tea manufacturer, Twinings. The Liptons sold here is weak, and other brown teas here taste like cardboard. I import tea bags from Britain.
The British drink a lot of brown tea. I guess that this means that they have the purchasing power to get the best ingredients shipped, processed and packed most efficiently. Of the big three British teabag producers in order of retail volume, PG-Tips, Tetley, Typhoo, the former is for me a little too leafless and rounded, so thick it is reminscent of Cocoa and in that sense perhaps the most "British". I prefer the the "fresher" taste of Ty-Phoo and PG Tips. They are almost fruitily fresh. All are excellent and will change your perception of tea if you have not tasted tea from the small island.
5 of 6 found the following review helpful:
A great cuppa!Aug 28, 2007
By D. Belvin
"dbelv"
First discovered Typhoo teabags in an English shop on the West Coast of FL. Have since seen them in my local grocery in Eastern NC. I'll never go back to American teabags! This is a strong, dark tea & I absolutely love it! I drink mine w/ an artificial sweetener, no milk. Heavenly! Now for a good book...
Typhoo Tea bagsNov 05, 2011
By Bulldog
Tea arrived as advertised and it had a workable use by date. I hightly recommend this product without reservation if you like a good cup of tea.
This is REAL tea.Sep 23, 2011
By lge
"lge"
I endorse the opinions of previous reviewers. From time to time I have been served flavorful, enjoyable tea (in restaurants and people's homes), and I have tried long and hard to duplicate that flavor at home. But I never could. I thought I must be doing something wrong -- preparing the tea wrong, steeping it too long, getting stale tea, or something. I could never match that delicious tea flavor I remembered and liked so much.
Then I bought some Typhoo tea (at Big Lots -- cheap, but who knows when they'll have it again?). Now I know the fault wasn't mine. It was the fault of the cardboard-tasting tea I had always got in supermarkets before. There isn't a brand of tea in our supermarkets that can match the wonderful taste of this tea.
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