Twinings Pineapple and Grapefruit Green Tea

The moment I saw this on the shelf, the enchanting flavour idea captivated me. I drink a lot of green tea but appreciate it's not everyone's cup of tea (literally!)  as some find it very strong and bitter.

This provides a nice entry point to green tea. It's a lot less harsh and the lovely fruity flavours mellow it out. The combo works brilliantly. The tropical and fruity taste of pineapple is balanced by the more sour grapefruit tones.

Both fruits are easily detectable and the tea has a lovely aroma. It's zingy, vibrant but most of all so refreshing. The grapefruit in particular is so thirst quenching and delicious. I can't get enough of this. All of the health benefits of green tea with a truly sweet and fruity taste. If you want to give green tea another go, this is a great choice.

Price: £1.69
Score: 8/10

Twinings Lemon Zest

Another fruit tea review! I often buy the lemon and ginger Twinings, which I really enjoy, but spotted this lemon zest version in the supermarket, which I've never tried before. With it being summer, I was hoping for something zesty and refreshing. It certainly looked very summery with lovely bright yellow packaging and the attractive picture of the lemon segment.

Opening the box unusually didn't provide a very strong smell. Usually Twinings and fruit teas in general are heavily and intriguingly fragranced but only a light lemon scent could be detected.

However, with fruit teas it's ultimately about the taste. The tea was pretty subtle and a little underwhelming. It wasn't watery or weak to its credit and has a nice lemony zest that is light, mild and refreshing.

Compared to some other Twinings I've had though, it didn't really 'wow' me. It tasted nice but ultimately you could probably get the same effect from just putting a slice of fresh lemon in a mug of hot water!

Price: £1.49
Available: Major supermarkets

Pros: Healthy, light, refreshing
Cons: Nothing to get particularly excited about

Score: 6.5/10

Twinings Intensely Blackcurrent and Rhubarb

I found a free sample of this tea in a regular pack of Twinings Strawberry and Mango (which I also recommend). I'm not sure exactly how this infusion range is any different to the regular Twinings fruit teas but they cost £2.49 for 20 teabags, compared to the other fruit teas at around 1.50.

Opening the pack, I instantly got the aroma of rhubarb, which was really intriguing. It's a fruit I love, especially in a crumble, so it's interesting to see it in a tea.

This is also blackcurrent and vanilla flavoured so a real powerhouse of flavours. The blackcurrent comes through much more strongly when hot water is added and is the dominant flavour when drinking. The vanilla is very subtle in taste and although initially the rhubarb flavour does get a bit lost, it does provide a sweet aftertaste that lingers.

The tea had flavour and wasn't weak or watery but I don't see how it would justify the higher price tag when Twinings make a vast range of equally nice flavours at a lower price.

Price: £2.49
Available: Major supermarkets

Pros: Unique, new flavour concept. Sweet and refreshing. Healthy.
Cons: Overpriced with no justification for it

Score: 7/10

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Twinings Mango & Strawberry

With the hot weather, regular tea just doesn't cut it - it feels too hot, too dark and too heavy. So a fruit tea from Twinings seemed a more refreshing and lighter drink especially in this strawberry and mango flavour. There are lots of warming fruit teas for winter with spices and cinnamon but this seems more appropriate for summer.

Like all Twinings fruit teas, this has a simple list of natural ingredients and the bags are an intriguing dark red with various bits of fruit clearly visible. As a fruit tea, it's also caffeine free, which is good for these hot days when you want to stay hydrated.

This tea was really fruity with a strong strawberry sweetness that wasn't synthetic and a mellow mango background that made this lovely and thirst quenching. This would also be great to have cold as well if you let it cool and refrigerated it. The flavour comes through well in this and isn't as weak or bland as some berry fruit teas I've tried so could hold it's own as a cool drink too.

Price: £1.40 (bought on a £1 promo at Morrison's)
Available: All major supermarkets

Pros: Sweet, refreshing, healthy and an interesting flavour for a fruit tea
Cons: Mango could come through more strongly.

Score: 7/10

Twinings Infusions: Cherry & Cinnamon Review

I'm increasingly drinking more and more fruit teas. Refreshing, caffeine free and with interesting and innovative flavours, they make a great guilt free snack and are great for unwinding at the end of the day.

Twinings are probably my favorite brand due to the sheer number of enticing sounding flavours they offer. I absolutely adore cherries and happily douse my morning porridge in cinnamon so this cherry and cinnamon fruit tea sounded perfect.

Opening the box, a lovely faint cherry smell hit my nose. A really sweet one that almost reminded me of the Haribo Cherry sour sweets! The tea bags also looked very clean and natural. The ingredients list is very pure and you can see all the little bits of herbs and spices mingled in the bag.

Upon adding to hot water, the spicy aroma of cinnamon also wafted up though the lovely cherry smell also persisted. The water turned a beautiful ruby red and holding the warm, fruity smell cup in your hands is a comforting experience.

Taste is what I always worry about with fruit teas. Often they sound great, they smell even better but then taste of nothing, only vaguely scented water (blueberry tea I'm looking at you!)

Thankfully, this delivered. That Haribo like cherry smell also gave a Haribo like taste - sweet and almost Christmas like - and the cinnamon delivered a warming tingle. Although like most fruit teas, the smell was stronger than the taste.

This makes a great sugar free drink and is perfect for any time of day.

Price: £1.39
Available: Twinings website or major supermarkets

Pros: Sweet, sugar free, warming and comforting, actually tastes of cherry
Cons: Taste could be a litter bit stronger to match the smell.

Score: 7/10