Tea Palace vs Fortnum’s
Feb. 6th, 2008 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
narcasseSince Fortnum’s, at least so they claim, is the only place that produces real beef extract anymore and I’m too damn lazy to be boiling bones myself I decided that I might as well see about acquiring some and at the same time take the opportunity to sample some of their teas. Which of course meant that I ought to try a similar range from Tea Palace too for comparison so today I sat down to conduct a little taste test.
I’d ordered Rose Pouchong from both suppliers since I’m rather partial to rose flavoured teas, along with Fortnum’s standard Darjeeling, Tea Palace’s Autumnal Darjeeling, the Russian Taiga and Sultan blends, and Fortnum’s Royal Blend for variety. And I have to admit that to begin with I’d been expecting Tea Palace’s produce to trump Fortnum’s hands down simply for being a specialist store verses something of a jack of all trades. But as things turned out there really is a reason that Fortnum’s has been in business since 1707 when it comes down to it.
For starters the Tea Palace Rose Pouchong has far too subtle a taste for my liking and a second test with a longer brewing time to see if I’d underbrewed it the first time was particularly dire. Their Rose Pouchong needs to be brewed on the point and alas at that point it’s still far too mildly flavoured for my preference. On the other hand the Fortnum’s Rose Pouchong was perfect to start with.
Both Darjeeling varieties weren’t bad at least but then it’s really quite hard to go wrong with Darjeeling anyway. The Tea Palace Autumnal blend was inoffensive but not exactly anything that I’d go out of my way to purchase again. Likewise the Fortnum’s generic variety was charming enough but probably won’t need a second order. Twinings actually does just as well as far as generic Darjeeling tends to go.
Sultan which is described as a Darjeeling blend with a hint of Lapsang Souchong was again far too mild for my preference though the Russian Taiga wasn’t at all bad and might well be something that I’d happily drink again. Though there’s also the distinct possibility that I’m only saying that because it seemed a touch stronger than Whittard’s Lapsang China Eagle.
Similarly Fortnum’s Royal Blend which is Assam with a touch of Ceylon seems a nice alternative to the generic Assam that I have in the kitchen but still is not necessarily something I’ll go out of my way to purchase more of.
As an end result while I’m likely to keep experimenting with the Fortnum’s range for a little while longer, if only because I want to know what the blazes their English Cassis is about, I do suspect that the main reason for that may well lie with my disappointment at the fact that the Tea Palace blends weren’t absolutely amazing. I was expecting something fantastic but while what I got wasn’t bad, it wasn’t exactly fabulous either and there in lies the problem. But at least this does give me an excuse to indulge in whatever else from the Fortnum’s food court catches my eye for a while to come.
I’d ordered Rose Pouchong from both suppliers since I’m rather partial to rose flavoured teas, along with Fortnum’s standard Darjeeling, Tea Palace’s Autumnal Darjeeling, the Russian Taiga and Sultan blends, and Fortnum’s Royal Blend for variety. And I have to admit that to begin with I’d been expecting Tea Palace’s produce to trump Fortnum’s hands down simply for being a specialist store verses something of a jack of all trades. But as things turned out there really is a reason that Fortnum’s has been in business since 1707 when it comes down to it.
For starters the Tea Palace Rose Pouchong has far too subtle a taste for my liking and a second test with a longer brewing time to see if I’d underbrewed it the first time was particularly dire. Their Rose Pouchong needs to be brewed on the point and alas at that point it’s still far too mildly flavoured for my preference. On the other hand the Fortnum’s Rose Pouchong was perfect to start with.
Both Darjeeling varieties weren’t bad at least but then it’s really quite hard to go wrong with Darjeeling anyway. The Tea Palace Autumnal blend was inoffensive but not exactly anything that I’d go out of my way to purchase again. Likewise the Fortnum’s generic variety was charming enough but probably won’t need a second order. Twinings actually does just as well as far as generic Darjeeling tends to go.
Sultan which is described as a Darjeeling blend with a hint of Lapsang Souchong was again far too mild for my preference though the Russian Taiga wasn’t at all bad and might well be something that I’d happily drink again. Though there’s also the distinct possibility that I’m only saying that because it seemed a touch stronger than Whittard’s Lapsang China Eagle.
Similarly Fortnum’s Royal Blend which is Assam with a touch of Ceylon seems a nice alternative to the generic Assam that I have in the kitchen but still is not necessarily something I’ll go out of my way to purchase more of.
As an end result while I’m likely to keep experimenting with the Fortnum’s range for a little while longer, if only because I want to know what the blazes their English Cassis is about, I do suspect that the main reason for that may well lie with my disappointment at the fact that the Tea Palace blends weren’t absolutely amazing. I was expecting something fantastic but while what I got wasn’t bad, it wasn’t exactly fabulous either and there in lies the problem. But at least this does give me an excuse to indulge in whatever else from the Fortnum’s food court catches my eye for a while to come.
