Grantham Breakfast Blend is one of the Downton Abbey themed teas from The Republic of Tea. This blend is built from a strong assam base with added ginger, meant to be masculine and just a touch fiery. The ginger came to life right as I poured hot water on the leaves, surprising me with an almost-chai smell for a moment. As the tea steeped and cooled, the assam really took the lead, providing deep and malty black tea tones.
This tea echoes Lord Grantham, pictured on the tin, clad in upper-class white-tie attire. Both the man and the tea are strong enough to help you power through an early morning of managing accounts, spicy enough to manage bold daughters, and warm enough to provide comfort during a family tragedy.
After trying this flavor, I had to take a look at the other Downton Abbey blends on Republic of Tea. They have several options, a few of which include Miss Patmore’s Pudding, black tea with vanilla sponge cake flavors, English Rose hibiscus tea for the lady-like sisters, and Downton Abbey Estate Earl Grey, for your more traditional tea outings.
These teas would be great for a Downton-themed tea party of your own!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Description:
Full-bodied, malty, organic Assam black tea is infused with the spicy flavor of organic ginger root. Try with a splash of warm milk and sweetener for a flavor reminiscent of sticky ginger pudding. This energizing tea is perfect for an early morning foxhunt or preparing for the dramas of the day.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Raspberry Leaf SuperHerb Tea for Women’s Health from Republic of Tea. . .
Well today was just one of those days. Everything seemed to be going wrong. Focus was just not in the stars for me. And to top it all off, I started my period (sorry if that’s TMI).
My day began at 6am when I woke up in a fright because my alarm just decided not to sound. When I woke up, I realized my stomach was sore, partially due to cramps and partially because I just wasn’t feeling great. That is when I realized most of my work pants were in the laundry, leaving me with my tight work pants to have to uncomfortably squeeze into. After stuffing my sore self into my pants, I dragged myself to work, running just a bit late and arriving at my desk to find the accounting department was upset with me for improperly opening a file which messed up billing. This would be bad enough except the file was opened properly and it was actually ACCOUNTING that f***ed up but decided to blame me for it. Then, a client caught a mistake I made in a letter and though it was a minor error that was easily fixed, it felt like the icing on top of the sh@%*ty cake that was my morning. Plus, my usual lunch partner decided to tell me AFTER we were supposed to go to lunch that she wasn’t going, leaving me unexpectedly on my own. So, today just wasn’t my day.
When I got home and saw this tea, I figured today was as good a day of any to try it out. I don’t really buy into the tea-as-medicine theory but it seemed weird drinking a tea “for Women’s Health” when it wasn’t my womanly time. Plus, if I am being honest, a tea with “SuperHerb” in the name just doesn’t appeal to me. It makes me think that this tea will taste like savory herbs instead of a sweet tea, which might be good for some but not really what I look for when I brew a cuppa. However, today was a crampy day and on the off chance this worked, I figured why not give it a try?
My first sip started off tasting of raspberry but I think I may be crazy because I swear the end of the sip tastes like a slightly underripe banana. Okay, I keep continuing to drink this and though it smells like raspberry, it continues to taste like banana. Not banana flavoring either but true-to-the-fruit banana, with a hint of strawberry. I can actually see where they are coming from when they say, “this tea is reminiscent of a fruity parfait” because it actually is. This is so simple but quite pleasant. Has it helped with the cramps? I don’t really know but it tastes good so I am happy nonetheless. I guess this day has not totally gone to s@%^ after all as this tea was a pleasant surprise.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Description
SUPERHERB® TEAS FOR WOMEN
As women, we have the power to create and nurture life, all while juggling hormonal changes and external stresses. For centuries, women have relied upon the same powerful herbs found in our organic SuperHerb Teas to keep them balanced, and now they can easily be part of your daily life as well.
Organic Tea for Women’s Health*
Red Raspberry Leaf is perhaps the most popular herb among midwives and herbalists. From fertility to pregnancy to nursing to even menopause,* this herb can help women at virtually every stage of life.* It has been long revered for its ability to help tone uterine muscles and balance menstrual cycles.* With a hint of vanilla and berry notes, this tea is reminiscent of a fruity parfait.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Downton Christmas Black Tea from Republic of Tea. . . .
I swear one of these days I will FINALLY start Downton Abbey…really I will! Until then…I have a nice selection of Downton Abbey themed teas from various companies to review…including this one from Republic of Tea. It’s called Downton Abbey Christmas Black Tea.
So what is this bagged tea made up of? Mulling spices including cinnamon, cloves, allspice and other fragrant herbs. Many of these spices have been infused into wine and cider since Victorian England and it’s what inspired this blend. Of course it also contains premium black tea and paired with the warmth of traditional mulling spices it offers a truly festive cup that will fill your manor with an aroma of the holidays, according to The Republic of Tea and it’s paraphrased description of this tea.
Personally, I first sampled this tea post-Christmas. I found it to be lovely, warming, of medium strength, and ending more spicy than when it first started. It was a decent cuppa. A good option for small groups of friends.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Description
Mulling spices – featuring cinnamon, cloves, allspice and other fragrant herbs – have been infused into wine and cider since Victorian England. Here we blend premium black tea with the warmth of traditional mulling spices for a truly festive cup that will fill your manor with an aroma of the holidays.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bates’ Brambleberry Black Tea from The Republic of Tea
In addition to being a fandom tea that I’m sure everyone who watches Downton Abbey will love, this tea has a wonderful flavor and is an awesome eco-friendly offering from the Republic of Tea. It comes in a round unbleached tea bag with no strings, staples or tags, and can be composted after you use it. It looks insubstantial enough that you could even throw it in your own non-industrial-strength compost pile (I understand some municipalities have compost pickup along with trash and recycling pickup, but mine is not that lucky so I do my own composting).
It smells excellently of berry, so I greatly enjoyed the fragrance as it steeped. I steeped it about five minutes using boiling water and it turned out reddish-brown with that very pleasing fragrance and a wonderful refreshing berry taste. It does, as advertised, remind me of summer and berry-picking. It’s called “brambleberry” so I would have expected mostly blackberry flavor (because those are the type of berry that people call brambles in England, right?), but there’s definitely a serendipitous raspberry tinge in there as well. The tea information says that it also has strawberry and blueberry flavors, but I found those to be less obvious than the raspberry and blackberry flavors.
I considered adding milk but then decided against it. I don’t think this tea is acidic enough to actually curdle the milk (although I could be wrong), but it’s definitely acidic enough to be interesting and I don’t want to dull that edge, which milk is likely to do.
Overall I really enjoyed this tea and wished I had more of it! I’ll definitely consider purchasing it if I ever get around to ordering from The Republic of Tea while they still carry it. (So many tea companies, so little time!)
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type:
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Description
This bold yet smooth premium black tea is perfectly coupled with a handful of summer fruit – blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries. A touch of sweetness to this cup will bring out the full, ripe flavor. A casual refreshment served hot or over ice with biscuits or sandwiches.
The award-winning TV series, Downton Abbey® has entranced millions of viewers and become a modern media sensation. Every episode is an explosion of drama, relationships and intrigue. Downton Abbey is home to the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants. From the pen of Academy Award® winner Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey is the most watched drama ever on PBS!
This tea is an online exclusive
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
