Mate Like Oxygen, Twinings & More

If you can't understand what would motivate someone to quip that "mate is like oxygen," then read this article by Colin Barraclough. It's from the San Francisco Chronicle and it's a rather in-depth examination - at least by newspaper standards - of yerba mate culture in Argentina.

The Save Twinings guy is still at it, trying to get Twinings to go back to their "original" Earl Grey formulation. Twinings says they have not changed the blend, but one of the company's VPs recently invited ST guy to visit their offices in New Jersey.

Imen, at Tea Obsession, offers up some information about the origin of tipping, as in gratuities. If he (she?) is to be believed, the practice originates with tea drinkers.

Last up is a new product announcement from Seagram's, whose Cooler Escapes line will now include Tea Breeze. It's a flavored malt beverage that blends peach, mango and green tea flavors.

Image: Twinings

tea, green tea, food, food and drink, yerba mate, Twinings

Adagio Teas - Free Shipping with $75 Purchase

Save Twinings Earl Grey

We've all heard of those campaigns to convince networks to bring back certain TV shows. Then there was that Classic Coke thing a few decades back. But how about a campaign to get Twinings Tea to restore the taste of their Earl Grey to what it once was?

If you didn't even realize that the taste of Twinings Earl Grey is no longer what it once was, then check out Save Twinings, a Web site formed to "Bring back the original Earl Grey!".

It remains to be seen if anything will come of this campaign. Tea Guy has never had any problems resisting the charms of Earl Grey tea of any sort, but I wish the Save Twinings gang the best of luck even so.

As always, whenever the subject of Earl Grey comes up, I present the link - as does Save Twinings - to this very comprehensive Earl Grey site. It's called Tending Toward Tea. If you are an Earl Grey fancier it's certainly worth a look.

Image: Twinings

tea, food, food and drink, Earl Grey, Twinings

Happy 300th To Twinings

Say what you want about Twinings of London, but don't say that they don't have the longevity thing figured out. The company is celebrating their 300th birthday this year and is planning to commemorate the occasion with a special tea. Here's an article on Twinings from the Toronto Star and here's some information on the company's London retail shop.

Top Tea Sellers

Courtesty of Packaged Facts, the publishing division of MarketResearch.com, here are the top purveyors of loose and bagged tea in the United States:

Lipton Tea
Celestial Seasonings
Bigelow
Private Label Tea
Twinings Tea
Red Rose/Salada
Luzianne Tea
Tetley Tea
Stash Tea
Good Earth Tea
Tazo Tea
Traditional Medicinals

Tea - Top UK Tea Makers & Brands

Here are the UK's top tea makers and brands. The source is the Mintel market research group, by way of Brand Republic.

Top Manufacturers
Tetley Group
Unilever Bestfoods
Own-label
Premier Foods
Associated British Foods
Bettys & Taylors

Top Brands
Tetley
PG Tips
Own-label
Twinings Speciality
Typhoo
Yorkshire

Tea Review 1 - Twinings Red Bush

Red Bush Herb Tea
Twinings of London

Nothing can take the place of tea. Tea, in this case, meaning a beverage made by steeping the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant - in it's black, green, white or yellow formulations - in hot water.

A problem for some tea lovers - present company included - is that tea contains caffeine. For those of us who have a sensitivity to this substance, the pleasures of the tea are somewhat negatively affected. Yes, I know there are various and sundry decaffeinated teas, but I have yet to discover one that doesn't strip out much of the flavor when it removes the caffeine.

Which is where red bush, also known as rooibos, comes into the picture. While it's not quite a caffeine free substitute for black tea, it's close enough to fit the bill until something better comes along.

Rooibos is derived from the Aspalathus linearis plant, which is grown only in the Cedarberg region of South Africa. When brewed it makes a "tea" with a dark tan/reddish color not unlike some varieties of black tea, though with a sweeter and mellower taste.

Twinings of London, one of the bastions of the English tea trade, has been doing their thing since 1706, but only introduced their brand of rooibos in recent years. Unlike so many so-called herbal teas, Twinings' brand of red bush consists of one and only one ingredient - rooibos.

Twinings Red Bush is good for drinking as a hot tea. It has a nice, smooth taste and doesn't suffer from being steeped for longer than the recommended three to five minutes. It also makes a nice iced tea and is especially good when mixed with another type of herbal tea, preferably something fruity. I've found that peach works quite nicely in a ratio of two parts to one part red bush and I usually toss in some loose green tea to spice things up a bit.

Contents: 20 tea bags per box
I paid: $2.50 (sale price)