As the days turn colder I have found myself reaching for hot drinks to warm me up. I am not much of a tea or coffee drinker, instead preferring a hot chocolate. This is obviously not very good for my waistline so this year I have made a conscious effort to stock up on herbal and green teas which I am quite fond of. There was recently an offer on at Tesco's for the Twinings range where you could get 3 boxes for £3, which works out as a saving of around a pound compared to buying these individually. Ordinarily this retails at around the £1.20 mark. I stocked up on some old favourites which have already been reviewed but also decided to try some new 'flavours'. One of these was the 'Green tea with Jasmine'. Now I am quite fond of green tea and I enjoy the jasmine tea on offer when we go to eat in a Chinese restaurant so I thought the combination would work really well.

The health benefits of drinking green tea have been widely publicised in recent years. It is rich in antioxidants and is supposed to be helpful for lowering cholesterol, has the potential to protect from heart disease and cancer, aid weight loss and slows down the aging process. Quite impressive for a cuppa! As for the health benefits of Jasmine I am not so sure, but it adds a beautiful fragrance to tea.
The tea comes packaged in a green box with a pink swirl on the front. Each box contains 20 bags of tea. On opening the box I was a little disappointed that these were not individually wrapped. I know that from an environmental point of view this is a good thing but I do find it handy taking tea to work when they come wrapped.

Making a cup of tea is quite easy, although with this blend I have found that timing is of the essence. Just pop a tea bag in a mug and pour on hot water. Let it brew for 1-2 minutes and then enjoy. It is important to note that you do not exceed the brewing time as the tea becomes rather bitter and not particularly pleasant. I found it quite difficult to get right initially as it doesn't take much time to overbrew - only a matter of seconds. By the time I reached the end of the packet I had mastered it though!

Once brewed the tea is a light golden brown colour and the aroma of the jasmine really comes through at this point. The tea smells sweet, yet floral and highly fragranced. It really is quite a pleasant smell. Taking a sip the first thing I noticed was that this tasted just like green tea. Then just after swallowing the slightly sweet taste of the jasmine comes through. I would describe the tea as quite delicate and perfect to enjoy after a heavy meal, although it's just as tasty mid-morning!

Overall this is a pleasant offering from Twinings. It's not one of my favourites and can be a little tricky to brew in terms of getting the timings right. However I would still buy this again, once my current stock of teas runs out and it comes with a high recommendation from me.