Dinosara

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Dinosara drank Earl Grey Reserve by Tavalon Tea

Another purchase from the CTF. The dried leaves have a super pungent bergamot aroma, which made me a little nervous because I was afraid it might brew up bitter tasting to me.

I went ahead and only brewed it 3 minutes, not the 5 as instructed, and I think it was a good move. The liquor is a deep-dark reddish brown and the aroma is of bergamot and… something else I can’t place. Perhaps its the base teas coming through. It’s not unpleasant, and I feel like if I knew more about straight black teas I might be able to pin it down. Surprisingly the bergamot isn’t overwhelming in the aroma, but is the main flavor in the taste. I got no bitterness in this cup, just a nice strong flavor. I enjoy this Earl Grey, and look forward to drinking through the cannister I got at the show!

2011-02-23 15:37:06 -0500

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tavalontea 2011-02-24 12:43:51 -0500

Dinosara, Chris from Tavalon here! The base tea used is a ceylon – the aroma that may be alluding you is the faintly citrus flavor our Earl has, since we use real bergamot (it is an orange, after all!).

Dinosara 2011-02-24 22:13:25 -0500

I think it is the Ceylon I’m tasting. I can pick out the citrus of the bergamot, but the Ceylon I’m not quite familiar with (yet!). Thanks for the comment!

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Bio

I am tea obsessed, with the stash to match. I tend to really enjoy green oolongs, Chinese blacks, and flavored teas with high quality bases, especially florals, bergamot-based teas, and chocolate teas.

I’m a grad student and in my free time I am a birder, baker, and music/movie/tv addict.

I have an Adagio Teas UtiliTEA kettle and a Tea Forté Kati cup for brewing. I also have a Chinese Ru Kiln tea set for gongfu brewing.

Here are my rating categories, FYI:
100-90: These teas are mind-blowingly good to me.
89-80: I really really like these teas and will keep most of them in the permanent collection, but they’re not quite as spectacular as the top category
79-70: Tasty teas that I enjoy, but definitely won’t rebuy when I run out.
69-65: Teas that I would probably drink again, but wouldn’t seek out. They don’t quite do it for me in one aspect or another; often just not quite my style
64-60: Teas that I don’t really enjoy all that much and wouldn’t drink another cup of.
59-50: Bleh. I usually choose not to finish the cup because life’s too short to drink tea I dislike.
49 and below: Mega yuck. This tea is just disgusting to me.