76
drank Earl Grey Decaf by Mighty Leaf Tea
1737 tasting notes

In tonight’s steep-off chez sherapop, two decaffeinated Earl Greys are going sniff-to-sniff, sip-to-sip, glass-to-glass, brewed under exactingly controlled conditions to eliminate irrelevant variables such as sherapop’s mood, the humidity, the time of day, and ambient planetary motions. The contenders are Numi Decaf Earl Grey and Mighty Leaf Earl Grey Decaf. (Go ahead: try to say that three times fast!) First up: Mighty Leaf.

Judging by the scent of the dried tea, Mighty Leaf would seem to be much, much better. It is highly perfumed, and the large leaves are easily seen through the diaphanous sachet. In contrast, the Numi has nearly no scent and smells basically like black tea fannings in a filter bag. I struggle even to detect the bergamot.

The second external, the sheer amount of tea in the sachet, would suggest that the MIghty Leaf is going to be vastly superior. There appears to be easily double the volume of tea in the infused sachet. That could be, however, because the larger leaves are sopping up water like sponges, which the finer particles in the Numi filter bag are not.

The only thing that really matters is the taste. The good news is that Mighty Leaf Earl Grey Decaf does not taste weak and insipid, low on the “tea” factor at all. I would not have guessed, in a blind trial, that this was a decaffeinated tea. I would have guessed, instead, that this was an Extra Earl Grey or Earl Grey Extra or Double Earl Grey or something along those lines, because the strong perfume of the dried tea survives to impart a very strong bergamot flavor to the brewed liquor, which is reddish amber, by the way.

The teas in this blend are apparently from Ceylon and China. It’s definitely decent tea. I do hope that it is decaffeinated, else I’ll be in trouble around bedtime…

Flavors: Bergamot

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 30 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 295 ML

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I have fallen off the “tea log boat”, as I am now in New Zealand and was really flailing about for a while, having depleted all of my Chinese and Japanese green tea supply! Fortunately, my first order of 2015 has now arrived! I should begin writing very soon about tea at my new blog, sherapop’s tea leaves. Please stop by and contribute your ideas—all viewpoints are welcome!

A long-time tea and perfume lover, I have recently begun to explore the intersections between the two at my blog: http://salondeparfum-sherapop.blogspot.com//

The scent of tea can be just as appealing as—sometimes more than—its taste! Tea also offers boundless visual beauty in its various forms and states of preparation.

A few words about my ratings. In assessing both teas and perfumes, my evaluation is “all things considered.” Teas do not differ very much in price (relative to perfumes or any luxury items), so I do not usually consider the price when rating a tea.

What I do consider is how the particular tea compares to teas of its own type. So I might give a high rating to a fine herbal infusion even though I would never say that it is my favorite TEA. But if it’s good for what it is, then it deserves a high rating. There is no point in wishing that a chamomile blend was an Assam or a sencha tea!

Any rating below 50 means that I find the liquid less desirable to drink than plain water. I may or may not finish the cup, depending upon how thirsty I am and whether there is another hot beverage or (in summertime) a source of fresh water available.

From 50 to 60 indicates that, while potable, the tea is not one which I would buy or repurchase, if I already made the mistake (I have learned) of purchasing it.

From 60 to 70 means that the tea is drinkable but I have criticisms of some sort, and I probably would not purchase or repurchase the tea as I can think of obvious alternatives which would be better.

From 70 to 80 is a solid brew which I would purchase again.

From 80 to 90 is good stuff, and I probably need to have some ready at hand in my humble abode.

From 90 to 100 is a tea (or infusion) which I have come to depend on and look forward to imbibing again and again—if possible!

If you are interested in perfume, you might like my 2400+ perfume reviews, most of which have been archived at sherapop’s sillage (essentially my perfumelog):

http://sherapop.blogspot.com/

Finally, please note that after a great deal of debate with myself, I have decided to use the cupboard here at Steepster as a “museum” of sorts—to commemorate all of the various teas which I have purchased and truly enjoyed since December 2013.

I do not currently possess all of the teas listed in this cupboard, but am using the function as a way of recording how many times I drank every tea which I did own at some point and wish not to forget. Teas found both in my “cupboard” and on my “wishlist” are those which I did own and intend to restock. Teas best forgotten have been removed from the cupboard once depleted (in some cases tossed…).

I have also decided (beginning in 2015) to use the tasting note function to maintain a chronological record of the teas I’ve consumed since December 15, 2013. Most new reviews will now be posted directly at my blog, sherapop’s tea leaves.

Location

Curio Bay, South Island, New Zealand

Website

http://salondeparfum-sherapop...

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