This tea is the reason I ended up placing an order at English Tea Store, since I seem unable to resist teas with clever literature references in the name. Not that there’s a big market for that, but come on… Dorian Grey! A tea of fleeing beauty! Their “samples” are a full ounce so I ended up with quite a bit of a ton of different teas (I got 3 “sample packs”), but this is the one I’ve been wanting to try the most. It’s too hot for tea, really, but today that isn’t going to stop me!
I love earl grey and pretty much any variation of it (as long as it’s not, like, rooibos banana earl grey) but I have yet to have one with caramel. I was worried this would be a bit dessert-y instead of a nice afternoon tea, but the caramel is pretty light here. Sometimes caramel teas can get a little heavy, but the taste is quite soft and almost airy here. I found the same thing true of their chocolate mint—sweet teas, but not enough to push them into dessert territory. This looks like a very floral blend with tons of whole dried flowers (it’s so pretty!) but the floral tones are also quite soft and subtle. The bergamot is also there of course, since it is an earl grey after all! And the base is nice and malty, but not too overpowering and with no bitterness or astringency.
This strikes me as a very romantic cup, both because of the name and the wonderful melding of flavors. Soft, subtle, gentle, and warming. Definitely one of the best earl greys I’ve tried!
