When I first began to look for better teas to drink than Lipton or Tetley, one of the very first I tried was Twinings Orange Pekoe, a blend of Ceylon teas. I found it to be very smooth and rich and it quickly became my favorite. It was my "all purpose tea" from 1993 to
1997. Around that time, the place where I bought my tea stopped carrying it, and I was becoming more interested in Twinings English Breakfast and Twinings Earl Grey, which are still two of my favorites today. I also tried a number of different teas over the past few years.Recently a local supermarket had a too-good-to-pass-up sale on Twinings products. I stocked up on English Breakfast and Earl Grey. There was also some Orange Pekoe on the shelves, so I decided it might be a good time to revisit an old favorite. I suppose my tastes have changed over the years; I tend to like stronger blends than I used to, but the Orange Pekoe is just not as good as I remembered it. Somewhere along the way Twinings added the modifier "Ceylon" to the name of this blend, and it does taste a lot like I remember Ceylon Breakfast to be (another blend I haven't had in quite a few years). It is just not as smooth as I remembered it, and there is a slight astringency to it that wasn't there before. It is probably just me, but I started to wonder if perhaps Twinings didn't change the recipe when they changed the name. Has anyone else noticed a change in this tea, or is it just my tastebuds? It is not a bad tea, but I probably will not buy it again.
Rob