An Englishman abroad's tea (Tetley Tea Bags)

Member Name: ImVeryNice

Product:	Tetley Tea Bags
Date:	17/12/08 (315 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Taste, colour, availability

Disadvantages: High price locally

Where's the "T" in Spain?
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Since taking a flat in Valencia, Spain a few years ago I have come to spend ever longer periods there, and now only return on rare visits to family and friends or, sadly, for funerals and, more happily, for weddings. What has this got to do with Tetley Tea? Well, Valencia is a pretty good place to be in most respects, but not if you are a tea drinker. Frankly, it is impossible to get a good cup of tea here and difficult to find an acceptable brew in the supermarkets too. I have learned to avoid all of the so-called "Euro" blends or "Red" teas. These have all proved to be weak, tasteless and the colour of dirty washing-up water. Even blends that claim to "Té Inglés" would get thrown down most people's sinks at home, and are ridiculously expensive to boot.

Flying in the tea
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Of course I stock up on decent tea when I return to the UK but this runs out quickly, especially since I discovered the advantage of taking hand luggage only and checking in on-line (a cost saving of about 30 Euros per person per return flight). The downside is very limited capacity for packets of tea and other goodies like Marmite and English Marmalade. So I was delighted to find my local supermarket (Mercadona - there's one on almost every street in Valencia) stocks a real English tea, Tetley. They only have the 40 tea bag packs and at around two Euros the price is double what you would pay in Sainsbury's or Tesco, but it's worth it!

Origins, taste and appearance
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Tetley thoughtfully provide information on the sources of their tea, so I know that it contains "Assam from India for body and strength", "African for the distinctive taste and red colour" and "Ceylon for a smooth refreshing finish". I suppose it's still all right to use the word "Ceylon" when referring to tea rather than the country now known as Sri Lanka. In any case, the result is a refreshing, reasonably strong tea with plenty of brightness to the colour and taste. In my opinion the blend seems to have changed in recent years, it used to have an overpowering almost hay-like smell that put me off it. However, now I find it much more than merely acceptable. It's a pretty good all-rounder in fact.

Eking them out
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The forty-bag pack weighs in at 125 g so you get around 3 g of tea per tea bag. The bags are flat and round, ideal for making a mugful. Given their scarcity and comparative expense I try to make them do for two cups, which they will without losing too much strength and flavour.

Packaging and health claims
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They come in a distinctive royal blue packet clearly marked with the word "Tetley", a pair of green tea leaves with a heart-shaped loop around them and the words "naturally rich in antioxidants..." The implication is that antioxidants are good for your heart, though Tetley seem careful not to claim this in writing, possibly because it remains medically unproven. The pack also has a clear sticky tab enabling you to reseal it, especially useful if you are travelling and haven't packed a tea caddy. However, I have found that the stickiness does not last to the end of the pack and it is necessary to use a clip or even a clothes peg to keep it sealed after a while. No great hardship there.

Summary: An excellent everyday brew