I must apologize, Wissotzy Earl Grey. I have re-considered you, and have found with some patience, you aren’t that bad. Upping the rating and changing the note. The other note will remain, to warn of what can happen if you don’t get EG right, but I may drop the rating.
This Earl Grey is very time and temperature sensitive, that hasn’t changed. However, now that I know so much more about properly making tea, everything has changed.
Also, as a side note: I am going back over many of my bagged teas, partially because recently, my tea strainer has been buried beneath lots of dishes and I am too lazy to get it (yes, I know, shame) and I also just want to enjoy all my teas, not just my loose leaf.
Now for the new review:
Smell: It’s not strong in the bag, though steeping it’s there. It’s not fragarent, per say, but more bold and black-tea smelling than bergamot.
Taste: If steeped too long (four or five minutes) this tea becomes very bitter. But I steeped at 3 minutes this time, and found the taste to be a bit strong, but not horrible, and with sugar and cream, everything balanced out very well. It’s not a powerful bergamot taste, but the classic Earl Grey flavor is there, just more bold and black than usual. The cream makes it softer, and I put in enough sugar to give the mouthfeel a slightly (almost) grainy charateristic. (The sugar probably didn’t fully dissolve, but it was alright.)
Over all, this still wasn’t a superb awesome EG, but it wasn’t as bad as before, and I happen to like it enough to finish off the whole box, and I MAY order more in the future. (Especially if I keep experimenting. More notes will tell.)
Oh, yeah, FYI: I used boiling water for this, BUT I know that it could have been better with maybe 180 degrees, give or take. Boiling water, if poured directly over the bag, steeps it almost instantly. But it was still good!
