Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold, 160 Tea Bags 500g
Try the first mouthful before you reach for the milk. Very few everyday-format tea bags stand up black, and this one does, because the depth sitting under the malt gives the cup somewhere to go rather than leaving malt to carry it alone. Five minutes, not two; that darker layer is the last thing out of the leaf. Then add milk if you want to. It will take it without losing the plot.
Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold, in brief.
Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold is the blend the Harrogate house puts above its everyday one, 160 bags in a 500g box at roughly 3.1g of leaf each, picked into the Teas.co.uk selection as the everyday-format tea that is genuinely worth drinking black.
The leaf dose matches the standard boxes, so what you are paying for is the blend rather than a bigger bag.
The practical consequence is that Gold is one of the few everyday-format teas that is genuinely worth drinking black. It has enough structure to stand on its own, and enough weight to take milk when you want it to, which makes it the blend to keep for the first cup of the day or for a proper afternoon pot.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Common questions are answered in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
The Story Behind the Yorkshire Tea
Taylors of Harrogate is the family tea and coffee business based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and Gold is the blend it puts forward when it wants to show what the blending room can do. The house buys to a fixed cup specification rather than from a single named garden, and the blenders taste against that specification through every batch. A blend built for depth is harder to hold steady than one built for briskness, because there are more layers that can drift.
The leaf dose is the same roughly 3.1g a bag that the standard boxes carry, so the step up is in the blend rather than in the fill. That is worth saying plainly, because a lot of premium tea marketing quietly relies on a bigger bag to do the work. Here you are paying for what is in the bag, not for how much of it there is.
The exact origin statement, the leaf grades used, the bag material and any certification marks are printed on the current UK pack and change from time to time, so we do not restate them here. What we will say is that Gold is a blend, and that its character comes from the combination rather than from any single component being remarkable on its own.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our Commitment To The Planet
- A 160-bag box carries half the packaging per cup of two 80-bag boxes, which is the simplest saving available on a tea you drink daily.
- Bag material and any compostability claim are printed on the current UK pack; card, inner film and used bags take different disposal routes, so follow the pack and your local-authority guidance.
- A tea with enough structure to drink black also means less milk consumed per cup, which is a small but real part of the footprint of a tea habit.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold, 160 Tea Bags 500g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Taylors of Harrogate | Yorkshire Tea
Yorkshire Tea is the family-owned blend out of Harrogate that became Britain's favourite. The Original is the everyday workhorse; Gold steps it up with stronger Assam character; Hard Water powers through limescale areas. Taylors has been in the same family since 1886, sources ethically through the Rainforest Alliance, and famously refuses gimmicks.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
The taste profile
How does it compare
A blend built in layers needs the time for those layers to arrive. Four minutes is the working figure and five is better if you are drinking it black, because the darker notes underneath the malt are the slowest to leave the leaf. Two minutes gets you a perfectly decent everyday tea and none of what you paid for.
The First Cup of the Day
The Afternoon Pot
Made with this tea
The Black First Cup
How to drink Yorkshire Gold without milk.
- 1 bag Yorkshire Gold
- 250ml just boiled water
- A thin-walled cup if you have one
- Pour 250ml of just boiled water over one bag in a warmed cup and cover it.
- Steep for 5 minutes, which is a minute longer than you would give it with milk.
- Lift the bag out with a single squeeze and leave the milk in the fridge.
- Drink the first mouthful before it drops below scalding; the darker layer reads clearest while it is hot.
What you'll end up with: A cup with real structure to it, which is rare in an everyday-format tea bag.
The Afternoon Pot
How to make an afternoon pot with Yorkshire Gold.
- 4 bags Yorkshire Gold
- 1 litre just boiled water
- A warmed teapot
- Milk to taste
- Warm the pot with a splash from the kettle and tip it out.
- Add 4 bags and fill with 1 litre at a rolling boil, lid on.
- Steep 5 minutes, then lift all four bags out together.
- Serve in cups rather than mugs if you have them; the depth reads clearer in a thinner vessel.
What you'll end up with: The pot to make when someone has brought cake round.
Iced Gold with Lemon
How to make iced tea with Yorkshire Gold.
- 4 bags Yorkshire Gold
- 500ml just boiled water
- Plenty of ice
- 1 lemon
- Honey to taste
- Brew 4 bags in 500ml of just boiled water for 8 minutes for a double-strength base.
- Sweeten with honey while warm.
- Cool, then pour over a jug packed with ice and add the juice of a whole lemon.
- Serve without milk.
What you'll end up with: The depth survives dilution where a lighter blend goes watery as the ice melts.
Tea-Smoked Chicken or Duck
How to smoke over Yorkshire Gold leaf.
- 4 bags Yorkshire Gold, cut open
- 4 tablespoons raw rice
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- Foil and a lidded pan you do not love
- Line a heavy lidded pan with two layers of foil.
- Scatter the leaf from 4 bags, 4 tablespoons of raw rice and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar on the foil.
- Set a rack above it, lay the meat on the rack, put the lid on and heat until it smokes, then smoke for 12 minutes.
- Finish the meat in the oven until cooked through, and ventilate the kitchen properly.
What you'll end up with: A dark, faintly sweet smoke that suits duck and thigh meat better than it suits breast.
Yorkshire Gold Chocolate Ganache
How to infuse cream with Yorkshire Gold for ganache.
- 3 bags Yorkshire Gold
- 200ml double cream
- 200g dark chocolate
- A pinch of salt
- Heat 200ml of double cream to a bare simmer, take it off the heat and steep 3 bags in it for 10 minutes.
- Lift the bags out, pressing gently, and reheat the cream.
- Pour it over 200g of chopped dark chocolate with a pinch of salt and stir until smooth.
- Chill for 2 hours to set, or use warm as a sauce.
What you'll end up with: The winey depth of the blend reads as fruit against dark chocolate rather than as tea.
Gold-Soaked Fruit for Baking
How to soak dried fruit in Yorkshire Gold.
- 3 bags Yorkshire Gold
- 300ml just boiled water
- 400g mixed dried fruit
- 1 orange
- Brew 3 bags in 300ml of just boiled water for 10 minutes, then cool.
- Add the zest and juice of 1 orange.
- Soak 400g of mixed dried fruit in the liquid overnight.
- Use in a tea loaf, a fruit cake or a Christmas pudding in place of alcohol.
What you'll end up with: A deeper, less flat soak than a plain everyday tea gives, and it works as an alcohol-free substitute.
Brewing the perfect cup
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Black tea | 100% | The only ingredient. A blend built for depth as well as malt, which is what separates Gold from the standard everyday blend. |
| Added flavourings | none | There are none. The darker winey note is the blend, not an addition. |
Ingredients and allergens. The published ingredient list for this barcode names none of the 14 major allergens. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Ingredients, as published for this barcode: Black tea.
Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.
Pack: Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold, 160 Tea Bags 500g; roughly 3.1g of leaf per bag, 160 bags per carton, caffeinated black tea. Best-before date is printed on the pack.
Single-ingredient product, so the proportion column is simple. Leaf weight per bag is calculated from the declared pack weight and bag count rather than read off the box, and is a close figure rather than an exact one.
Sourcing & blend. Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold, 160 Tea Bags 500g is blended by Taylors of Harrogate, the family tea and coffee business based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. Components are bought to a fixed cup specification rather than from one named garden, and the blenders taste against that specification through every batch. A blend built for depth is harder to hold steady than one built for briskness, because there are more layers that can drift between batches.
What's in Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold, 160 Tea Bags 500g, and what isn't:
- In: black tea leaf and nothing else, dosed at roughly 3.1g per bag, the same fill as the standard boxes.
- No artificial colours, preservatives or added sugar: the depth is the blend.
- Bag and packaging: card carton; bag material and any compostability claim are printed on the current UK pack and should be read off the box you have.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire Gold, 160 Tea Bags 500g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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