Work has kept me insanely busy, so I haven't had time to continue with more methodical tests of Twinings Earl Grey. But I do have an anectdote to offer...
This weekend, we had guests over for dessert, and served Twinings Decaf Earl Grey. This was a box fresh from the store, with the all new packaging. Our guests commented that the tea had very little flavor. The bergamot was there, but very little flavor of actual tea. My wife and I agreed. It's interesting that they brought it up without any prompting on our part.
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I'm somewhat interested by this as I have noticed no change in the Earl Grey on this side of the pond (but I usually get loose Earl Grey from Taylors, being as the store is but a mile from my office.)
ReplyDeleteI'd be happy to post you a box of British twinings Earl Grey in exchange for the new US Earl Grey and we can see if there is a difference across the pond as it were....
I'd be very interested in swapping across the pond. Email me at savetwinings at gmail dot com and we can set something up!
ReplyDeleteI also have noticed a change in the Decaffeinated Earl Gray, which was confirmed by my mother just a few moments ago. This discovery lead me to your blog, and will also lead me to email Twinings to demand that Earl Gray be returned in it's original condition! It's wonderful to see someone dedicated to the simple pleasures of a cup of tea, keep up the fight!
ReplyDeleteI also have noticed a change in the Decaffeinated Earl Gray, which was confirmed by my mother just a few moments ago. This discovery lead me to your blog, and will also lead me to email Twinings to demand that Earl Gray be returned in it's original condition! It's wonderful to see someone dedicated to the simple pleasures of a cup of tea, keep up the fight!
ReplyDeleteHi devon,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post, and for contacting Twinings. If you get a response, please come back and share what you learn!
Of course there is very little flavor in decaf tea! What do you expect?
ReplyDeleteAnd, BTW, your guests were very rude to comment on it.
I just received a comment I will pass along in the interests of transparency...
ReplyDelete"Of course there is very little flavor in decaf tea! What do you expect? And, BTW, your guests were very rude to comment on it."
I diagree on both counts. While I don't expect decaf tea to be as flavorful as the regular version, I do expect it to have a reasonable amount of flavor to it. And in fact, most decaf teas I have tried do okay in that regard. In defense of my guests, it was neither intended nor taken as a criticism of my hospitality. They are very good friends, and we value honesty in our relationship.
If others wish to share their opinions regarding decaffeinated tea versus non-decaffeinated tea, I will be happy to include them in the blog. But just a reminder--the context here is that it seems that Twinings has tinkered with their Earl Grey blend, at least as distributed in the U.S. The unexpectedly weak flavor of the decaf provides further evidence of this.
I used to work at Twinings. The blends of the tea have not changed in the new package. The only changes are it is now being packed in the UK instead of the US, and the bag is a C24 design instead of constanta.
ReplyDeleteThe blends still come from the same group they always did (which is in the UK headquarters).
The goal is to have a cup of Twinings tea taste the same across the world. The tasters taste tea from every batch to make sure it matches the master blend.
Thanks to "anonymous" for commenting based on her expertise as a former employee of Twinings.
ReplyDeleteAssuming this anonymous comment is correct, I suppose it is possible that tea packaged in the UK is less fresh when it reaches the US than the tea that was packaged in the US. The new boxes do not include a packaging date that can be interpreted by consumers (e.g. a box in my hands has this identification code: B5 L5285B 13:35).
It would also be consistent with this comment that Twinings could be having severe quality control problems. Perhaps there has been no intentional change in the blend, but the bland flavor that several people are experiencing is the result of a change in supplier, problems with the tea crop, problems in the packaging facility, or something similar.
Frankly, I'm still dubious, but to be fair I do plan to continue taste tests to confirm the problem with more certainty.
Me again... My guess is the product is about the same age. They were targeting same levels of inventory and tea takes forever to loose flavor (it has a 3 year shelf live). Not that Twinings ever would let it get that old.
ReplyDeleteThe difference might be in the bag. It is a big change for the US consumer with a much better sealed bag. It may just need to be brewed longer then the older style bag, to get full extraction.
For you next tasting I would suggest cutting open the bags of each and brewing that way. This is the way the Twinings tasters taste the tea to make sure the blend is correct.
I would doubt quality issues are the cause. The commodities group took the quality of the blends very very seriously.
Has there been any change in the flavor or quality of the Twinings Earl Grey loose tea, or does the problem only exist with the tea bags? And to the former Twinings employee, when you say "cutting open the bags of each and brewing it that way," do you mean cutting it open and emptying out the leaves, or just cutting it open and placing it in hot water?
ReplyDeleteRegarding loose leaf vs tea bags--this is a good question. I haven't delved in to that personally. When we get Earl Grey bags, we always get Twinings, but for loose leaf we tend to go for variety, and only get Twinings about 25% of the time. I don't think we've purchased Twinings loose leaf since the big change.
ReplyDeleteMy interpretation of the former employee is that I should empty the bag for steeping. I'll give this a shot this weekend and report back for all who are interested.
Thanks for the response. But if what the employee meant was to empty the teabag, then wouldn't it make more sense to just buy loose tea?
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that she meant to empty the tea bags for the purposes of testing the quality of the leaves inside rather than for daily consumption. I took it as an idea for further experimentation.
ReplyDeleteBack again... Yup, I meant to cut open and empty the teabags just for testing purposes to see if the difference you taste is from the leaves or the bag itself (I am guessing it is the bag, because that has definitely changed).
ReplyDeleteThe loose leaf has not changed at all, it has always been produced in the UK. You definitely should not see a difference there.
I would just like to mention that the taste of the Irish Breakfast tea and Lady Grey have altered slightly since the new packaging as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm having trouble understanding why the new bag would cause a difference in the flavor, as the former Twinings employee suggested. The bag hasn't changed THAT much. The new bag is slightly larger and doesn't contain any staples. It's mainly the packaging that has changed. Why would the new bag need to be steeped longer than the old ones?
ReplyDeleteI have noticed no difference in Twinings English Breakfast since the new packaging hit the store shelves. In fact, it's better than the last batch I had with the old packaging, which possibly wasn't very fresh. I haven't tried the newly packaged Earl Grey yet, but will soon, since I'm finally down to the last few bags of the old style.
I have used Twining tea bags for years, including Irish Brkfst daily plus Darjeeling, and Lapsong Suchong. Since the new packaging all three have lost their distinctive flavors and are bland even when purchased directly from their on-line store. It used to be impossible to disguise the aroma of Lapsong, for example, but now no one detects it.
ReplyDeleteLonger brewing doesn't help. I have written to the company twice. That is it for Twining for me.
To anonyous...
ReplyDeletethanks for your post. Sorry to hear you are having much the same experience that I have had, and now many others have shared on this site.
I have an invitation to you and to others who are in a similar boat. I would love to post the text of any communications you have undertaken with Twinings, or any efforts you have undertaken (as I) to try to get to the bottom of what is happening. If you feel comfortable posting letters you have sent, replies you have received, etc., I would love to add them to this collection of anecdotes and opinons. You can contact me directly at savetwinings at gmail dot com.
AHA- I just found this site by trying to find out what has happened to my favorite tea - Twinings Earl Grey I am dissappointed that it has lost its intense flavor. This blog confirms that it wasn't my imagination!! I don't think it is just the packaging. I bought mine at a supermarket in Chicago. Are they distributing inferior tea to the mass market?? or what???
ReplyDeleteSo what tea is everyone switching to or using regularly? I used to really enjoy the Twinnings Irish Breakfast tea as the others have no flavor, IMO. What is everyone using now? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe "anonymous" Twinings worker was right about the bag. I cut open a bag, poured the tea into a tea strainer, set the strainer in a mug, poured boiling water directly onto the tea, and it was amazing !!! The Earl Grey I hadn't tasted since 2005 was back. Frankly I'm quite shocked that removing the bag made all the difference. Anyway, try it and prepared to be amazed.
ReplyDelete