Marks & Spencer – Luxury Gold Teabags
I have to hurry to get this tea reviewed before I take my Christmas decorations down because this here Marks and Spencer’s Luxury Gold tea is all about the packaging. It came in a silver house-shaped tin complete with a little fakey tealight that – once you remove the tea – can be hung about the house to radiate festive cheeriness.
The other slightly larger house-tin in the photograph had shortbread biscuits in it. The biscuits are all long gone. I do love me some shortbread. These were bought for me by my boyfriend who knows how fond I am of biscuits, tea and shiny Christmasy things.
The tea itself – which is available all year round in regular unfancy packaging – is a dark, robust brew. It has a malty taste and reminded me a bit of a couple of Curious Tea’s black blends I’ve tried, which I compared to Bran Flakes.
I wasn’t all that impressed with this tea the first time I had it. However, I enjoyed my second cup a lot more. I think this might be down to the mugs I used. I might be doing tea bags a disservice when I use massive mugs. There isn’t sufficient tea in the tea bag to sustain a brew in a bucket size receptacle. (It’s OK with loose leaf because you can adjust accordingly.)
When I used a more regular-sized mug for the photos, it actually produced a much better tea. It’s a lot darker than the black teas I usually drink but I rather liked its distinctive malty, bran-y, wheaty vibe.
Here’s an odd thing about it. M&S don’t state where this tea is from. That is weird, isn’t it? I mean, even PG Tips tell you the estate in Kenya where they grow their tea.
If I had to put on my Tea Fancier hat (it’s a great hat, obvs) and pretend I know what I’m talking about, I would guess that it is Kenyan. However M&S aren’t going to let themselves be pinned down any more than a brief comment on their website about sourcing teas from India, Kenya and Malawi.
They have an ‘Interactive Supplier Map‘ on their website, but that’s not really helping. (Although it’s nice that it’s there.)
This is a perfectly nice – if somewhat anonymous – brew. But without doubt the best thing about it is the tin that it comes in. A tin which, by the end of the day, will be packed away and put in the loft until December 2022.
Christmas is officially over, folks.
Today’s featured book is The Victorian House by Judith Flanders.
My friend bought me a luxury gold tea light up house from marks and Spencer which looks lovely but with no instructions how do you get the artificial tea light to stay in place inside the tin so you can switch it on and off as required
Very disappointed with it because of this
Hi Janet
My tea light is attached to the bottom (which is the lid). No problem switching it on and off.
You may have to stick it with sticky fixers or something?